The Restoration
As early as 1783, a Colonel Bellew had recommended that the Abbey 
should be preserved from further destruction, for a great deal of stonework was being removed to build cottages in Kirkstall village and to repair local roads. He suggested that the cracks should be filled with best mortar, that an inspector be appointed to supervise the ruins, and that a reward of £20 should be offered to persons giving evidence leading to the conviction of anyone damaging the building.
Unfortunately no positive action was taken at this time, but from 1799 the Butler family of Kirkstall Forge, as leaseholders of the site, carried out a number of essential repairs and maintained a full time caretaker, who also provided refreshments and boats for hire.
In 1889 the Countess of Cardigan sold the Abbey to Colonel John North, who then presented it to the City of Leeds. The new owners immediately commissioned W. H. St. John Hope, the foremost authority on monastic buildings, to prepare a report on the preservation of the ruins. With J. T. Micklethwaite as architect and J. T. Irvine as clerk of works, the condition of the Abbey began to improve dramatically as ivy, grass and trees were stripped from its roofs and large sections of the walls were buttressed and repaired. On September 14th 1895, the planned works of preservation were completed, and Kirkstall Abbey was formally opened to the public by the Lord Bishop of Ripon and the Lord Mayor of Leeds.
Although the restoration of the 1890s was of the highest quality, it still left much to be completed, some of the masonry never having been re-pointed since the medieval period. In 1980, therefore, the City Council commenced a long term programme of restoration to ensure that Kirkstall Abbey, the finest of all early monastic ruins, should remain intact for the benefit of future generations.