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Cistercian Abbeys: NETLEY Name: NETLEY Location: nr Southampton
County: Hampshire
Peter de Roches, bishop of Winchester, had made
preparations for the foundation of a house at Netley for several
years before his death in 1238. However, his plans were left incomplete
and the final arrangements were left to the hands of his executors.
A colony of monks arrived in June the following year and thus began
the existence of the abbey of Netley, the first daughter house
of
Beaulieu. The house was dedicated to
the Blessed
Virgin and St. Edward the Confessor and, as a result,
was initially known as Lieu-Saint-Edward or
'Edwardstow'.(1) King Henry III
made several early donations to the house and by 1251 seems to
have regarded himself its patron
and founder.
It seems that the king made have adopted Netley in conjunction
with the plans of his brother, Richard of Cornwall, to establish
the
prestigious Cistercian house at Hailes in Gloucestershire.(2) However,
most of the abbey’s annual income derived from those lands
that Peter de Roches had purchased for the community before his
death. During the thirteenth century the abbey prospered and the
number of monks and lay -rothers increased. However, by about
1328
the house was experiencing some financial difficulties and the
community was forced to sell much of its property. From
this time Netley
Abbey remained a poor and undistinguished Cistercian house. It
seems that the impoverishment of the abbey can be largely attributed
to its position on the south coast.
The
monks complained of the demands placed upon their hospitality by
the mariners who continually passed by their house, and to the
royal
sailors who stole great numbers of the abbey’s sheep and lambs.(3) At
the time of Dissolution only seven monks remained at the abbey
and the annual net income was valued at £100.(4) The
house was dissolved with the smaller monasteries in 1536. Following
the Dissolution,
the site was granted to Sir William Paulet (d. 1572), later marquis
of Winchester, who converted the monastery into a Tudor mansion.
The premises were occupied by the Paulet family until the late
seventeenth century, when the property was sold to a Southampton
builder called Taylor.
He intended to demolish the entire church, but while supervising
the demolition of the west end Taylor was crushed to death by
the falling
tracery of the west window. This was interpreted as a sign that
the building should not be demolished.(5) The
property remained in private
ownership until 1922 when it was given over to the Ministry
of Works. Today the remains include much of the church and the
east
range of the claustral buildings. King Henry’s foundation
stone can still be seen in the footings of the north-east crossing
pier. The inscription translates as‘Henry, by the grace of
God, King of England’.(6) Netley
is now under the care of English Heritage and is open to the public
at all reasonable times.
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