SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

hi all, ive been having a little read of some of the myths and legends of leeds and i couldnt help but notice we dont seem to have any hidden or buried treasure myths or legends not even at kirkstall abbey or temple newsham which i thought there mightve been. Just seems strange because if you look at some other cities they seem to have loads like this. does anyone know of any stories of this sort or ever heard any for leeds? i dont intend to go treasure hunting tho, not for lack of wanting to i just dont think my old 70 year old knees could take it these days! it just really fascinates me

I've heard that there might be artefacts in the tunnels that lay under Kirstall Abbey.

do the kirkstall abbey tunnels exist or are these just something we hope to be there? also about kirkstall abbey ive seen a painting on the internet and it says its a painting of the cellars of kirkstall abbey but ive been there many many times and never seen or heard anything about an underground part of the abbey has this part been sealed up? would the cellars have the entrance to the tunnels would you think?

IMO the dissolution of the monasteries and persecution of the catholic church by Cromwell will have seen many escape routes under ground bt the Cistercian monks. There are stories of very long tunnels leading to and from Kirkstall Abbey. Maybe the urban explorers on this site can verify or not whether any tunnels exist. It's feasible if any exist that there maybe artefacts in them.

Unfortunately there is no evidence of ny tunnels being dug for Monks to escape as there was no need for them to do so.The dissolution of the monastries certainly saw a "Stripping of the Alters" and the treasures of the abbeys,but the monks were on the whole just sent on their way,they returned to the life of everyday lay people.Now im not sating that there wont have been instances of ex monks pocketing something,especially given the number of these institutions up and down the country,so perhaps some items of worth may have been stashed for later retrieval,but if you think about just how long and difficult it would have been to build a tunnel in time then it would have been easier to simply do a runner on foot.

cnosni wrote: Unfortunately there is no evidence of ny tunnels being dug for Monks to escape as there was no need for them to do so.The dissolution of the monastries certainly saw a "Stripping of the Alters" and the treasures of the abbeys,but the monks were on the whole just sent on their way,they returned to the life of everyday lay people.Now im not sating that there wont have been instances of ex monks pocketing something,especially given the number of these institutions up and down the country,so perhaps some items of worth may have been stashed for later retrieval,but if you think about just how long and difficult it would have been to build a tunnel in time then it would have been easier to simply do a runner on foot. So that's where the idea behind the Leeds Abbey Dash 10km run came from! 10 km may be far enough away for the monks to safely hide a stash.

I seem to remember reading somewere that the silver and gold relics used at Kirkstall Abbey have never been found.I used to do a lot of metal detecting years ago and was well read up on this type of information.No i have not looked for it nor have i found it if anyone did i would think they would not have to work again.

There was two stories in the recent past about Kirkstall Abbey and tunnels leading to or from them. One was that there was a tunnel from Newly Lane Horsforth to the Abbey and another story that a tunnel exists from Hawksworth Wood to the Abbey. Myth or fact these stories are well documented. If tunnels do exist it would be good to know why they were built.

There were legends on buried treasure at Howley Hall ruins (near Batley Golf Club) and in Victorian times people used to go digging in the cellars so they had to be filled in.Kirkstall Abbey was supposed to have hidden treasure from the dissolution of the Abbey.

book wrote: There was two stories in the recent past about Kirkstall Abbey and tunnels leading to or from them. One was that there was a tunnel from Newly Lane Horsforth to the Abbey and another story that a tunnel exists from Hawksworth Wood to the Abbey. Myth or fact these stories are well documented. If tunnels do exist it would be good to know why they were built. I doubt very much that Newley Lane was there in the time of the Abbey so no tunnel will exist.I also read somewhere that there is supposed to be a tunnel under the old Whitbread brewery from the Abbey. How did the monks know how deep to build the tunnel so the canal and other stuff could be constructed over it?