Beaulieu Abbey

Beaulieu Abbey was a fairly late foundation but it began with several advantages as a royal establishment. The foundation charter was dated 25th January 1205 and the grant was from King John himself. He gave this new Cistercian monastery the manors of Great and Little farringdon, Great and Little Coxwell, Shilton, Inglesham and the King's land in Langford. Some of the churches associated with these manors were also given to the monastery.

Two years before he had founded a monastery at Farringdon in Berkshire, but upon the Beaulieu foundation the embryo Farringdon house became a cell of Beaulieu. There was provision for 30 monks. John also gave them 100 marks, 100 cows, 10 bulls and a gold chalice to make their start. the following year he gave more money, a further 20 cows and 2 bulls. 

This promising start was impeded by the dispute between John and Pope Innocent III which resulted in the whole of England being under Papal Interdict from 1208 to 1213. The abbey's lands had been seized by King John during this period but when peace and harmony reigned between Innocent and John the lands were restored together with further grants towards building costs - 400 marks in 1213, 500 marks the following year. John made a further grant of £200 and another £50 in 1215. There were subsequent charters from Henry III and Edward I which increased the abbey's holdings.

It is therefore not surprising that the abbey buildings were huge. The photograph above gives some idea of the scale of the building from the obvious length of the nave. The model below, on display at Beaulieu,  shows how the church and chapter house dwarfed the conventual buildings around the cloister. Many of these surviving today are spacious buildings.

The abbey supported 30 monks and a large number of lay brothers. By the 14th century this number had risen to 36. Like most religious houses it went into a steady decline in the 15th century and at the time of the dissolution in 1538 had only 21 monks.

The church was the largest Cistercian church in England. Its length was 336 feet overall and its width spanned 186 feet. The nave had nine bays. The eastern chancel housed ten chapels in a circular formation and the north and south transepts accommodated three more chapels. The building was gradually picked apart after the reformation for various building projects and only the ruins of the north transept and the north wall of the nave survive.

The last picture here, on display in the museum, illustrate the extent of the Beaulieu estate.