One of Britain's best preserved abbeys, Kirkstall Abbey was founded in 1152 by a party of Cistercian monks from Fountains Abbey and was closed down in November 1539 in the Dissolution of religious houses ordered by Henry VIII. The monks were pensioned-off, the roofs stripped of lead and some buildings converted for agricultural use. Many famous artists such as JMW Turner, Thomas Girtin and Moses Griffith came to paint Kirkstall Abbey's picturesque ruins. Today large parts of the Abbey can still be seen and explored free of charge.