Think of Kirkstall and most people are likely to come up with the Abbey. However anglers, canoeists and here at DNAire we are more likely to think of the weir…
The history of the weir
Kirkstall Abbey was built during the 12th century by monks. These monks lived there until 1539 when it closed by Henry VIII. The Abbey was left to slowly fall apart until it was given to Leeds City Council in 1890. It is now has over 170,000 visitors a year.
There has been a weir on the river since the original Abbey. Then it would have powered the corn mill used by the monks. The water held behind it would have held fish for the monks and allowed the movement of stone from quarries upstream.
The weir today
This 80m long weir was rebuilt in the 19th Century (and later modified in the 20th Century) to provide power for Burley Mills on Kirkstall Road. At the East end sits an the unusual keeper’s cottage in a Gothic Revival style. The keeper who lived here would have controlled the water flow to the mill using a set of eight sluice gates.
The mill race or “goit” that carried this water now runs through the strip of woodland called Kirkstall Valley Park.
A walk along the river bank will take you to two signs for fish passes previously installed by The Aire Rivers Trust at St Ann’s Mill and Burley Mills.