Netley Abbey after the Dissolution

Sir William Paulet, later Marquess of Winchester was one of the great survivors of the turbulent Tudor years. He was once asked how he managed to survive (and indeed benefit) from the political storms of the period and is reputed to have replied, after a moment's thought, "by being a willow not an oak."

He was born in the years 1483-1485 possibly at Fisherton Delamere in Wiltshire. His father was Sir John Paulet of a well-established west country family.

Quite early in his life he came to some prominence in Hampshire and was appointed High Sheriff for the county in 1512. He also held that office in 1519, 1523 and 1529. This last year brought him to London when he was elected to Parliament for Hampshire. He was the in his mid forties, well past the age when bright young men of the Tudor age were already making their mark, but clearly his intelligence, maturity and good sense commended itself to the king and he was soon entrusted with important missions.

In 1532 he accompanied the king to Calais and two years later was sent with the Duke of Norfolk to Rome to discuss Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. He was quickly rewarded. In 1536 he was appointed Keeper of Pamber Forest, a royal forest in North Hampshire. Subsequently he was appointed Steward of the Bishopric of Winchester and Comptroller of the Royal Household. He was closely associated with both Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Crowell. He was created Baron St. John.

From the mid-1530s Paulet was always at the centre of government. He was a judge at several important trials, those of Sir Thomas More, the unfortunates who were held to be accomplices of Anne Boleyn and Bishop Fisher. He was given the job of Lord Chamberlain in 1535 and three years later became Treasurer of the Royal household.

It is a testament to his political skill that he survived the transition from Henry VIII to the court of Edward VI without losing office. In a similar fashion he lasted the reign of Mary and as a very old man was still at the centre of government during the reign of Elizabeth I. Honours accriued to him. n 1550 he was made earl of Wiltshire and in 1551 Marquess of Winchester. He died March 10th 1572.

During the course of this career he became wealthy and could  easily afford to buy Netley Abbey in 1538 at the time of dissolution. Like many of his contemporaries he set about converting the old Abbey into a fine country house. Much of the old buildings were re-used and re-purposed. The nave of the church became a great hall and kitchens. The eastern end of the church was converted into spacious apartments and the cloister was retained as a courtyard. The south range was re-built in brick to accommodate a fashionable turreted gatehouse.

Drawing of the house as it may have appeared in the 16th century. (taken from English Heritage)

The mansion survived in this form until the end of the 17th century when the then owner, Sir berkeley lucy, decided that the house was uninhabitable and decided to demolish it for the sale of the building materials. This work was contracted to William Taylor, a builder from Southampton in 1704. Unfortunately, part way through the course of this demolition the unfortunate Mr Taylor was killed by a falling stone  and further demolition was abandoned.

What was left fell into ruin and decay. In 1760 Thomas Dummer moved the north transept to Cranbury Park near Winchester to construct a fashionable folly. It is still there.

In the late 18th and early 19th century, during the age known as the Romantic Period, many tourists came to the site to experience these old ruins. In 1860 an archaeological excavation was undertaken and at the same time most of the Tudor brickwork was removed to make the ruin more "authentic".

Netley Abbey

Netley Abbey. on the eastern shore of Southampton Water, can date its foundation to St James Day, 25th July1239. It was the brainchild of the Bishop of Winchester, Peter des Roches, who had already established Titchfield Abbey, and towards the end of his life he completed the land assembly and started construction. After he died in 1238 the project continued but without the personal driving force of Peter des Roches it began its life under endowed.  Monks from the established Cistercian house of Beaulieu colonised the new monastery.

Some years later Henry III was encouraged to take an interest in the project and the royal patronage gave the abbey, literally, a firm foundation. In 1251 he was recognised as patron and co-founder of the abbey and at his insistence the abbey was jointly dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary (as were all Cistercian houses) and Edward the Confessor, who was Henry's own role model. Building work may have started seriously at this time. There remains a foundation stone on the plinth of one of the crossing piers inscribed H. DI. GRA. REX ANGL. (Henry, by the grace of God, King of the English)       Henry donated roofing materials in 1251 and 1252 so it is possible that the church and cloister became usable shortly after this date. Building work continued for some decades after this and was probably not complete until 1290 when Edward I was on the throne.

Inscription at the base of a pillar

The king completed the preparatory work of Peter des Roches by making substantial land and property grants. On March 7th 1251 he confirmed to the Abbey the site of the monastery itself, with the manors of Netley, Hound, Wellow, Totton, Gomshall, Nordley, Kingston Deverell, Waldon, Aynley and Lacton, and rents in Southampton, Charelton and Southwark, the church at Shere manor in Surrey and 100 acres. Two weeks later he granted market rights at Hound and free warren on the previously granted lands.  There were additional benefactions, not least of which was a tun of wine yearly from Southampton. The income of the abbey in 1291 was a substantial £81 6s.

In the reign of Edward III the monastery got into financial difficulties. The causes are not clear but in 1328 the abbey had to seek protection against creditors and sell a good part of its property. In 1338 the abbot again petitioned the king for relief. As a consequence they were permitted to rent some of their lands and fisheries at Totton and Testwood.

Remains of the Abbot's House

Apart from their financial difficulties the house seems to have been free of any other controversy. The monks lived free of scandal and the house was much used and respected by sailors.

The plan below depicts a conventional Cistercian arrangement of buildings.

When the time came for the general dissolution of monasteries Netley Abbey, as a small house, was vulnerable to the first wave of takeovers the commissioners of 1536 made this report:

A hedde house of Monkes of thorder of Cisteaux, being of large building and situate on the Ryvage of the Sees. To the Kinge's Subjects and Strangers travelling the same Sees great Relief and Comforte.

At this time there were 7 monks and 32 other inmate, two of whom were Franciscan friars and the rest servants and officials. The total revenue was £181 2s. 8d. and the buildings were in good repair. Debts amounted to £42 3s. 4d but £28 5s. was owing to the house. Taken with various liquid assets the monastery ended its life more or less solvent.

A few months later the buildings and the surrounding manors were granted to Sir William Paulet. the properties in Surrey and Wiltshire and further afield in Hampshire were granted to others.

Aerial view of the ruins

King John and Beaulieu Abbey

If Beaulieu Abbey had produced a chronicler in the 13th century we might have been provided with a more positive view of John's reign. As it is we have the words of Matthew Paris, a brilliant chronicler but not always disposed to historical balance. His own abbey at St Albans was punitively treated by John but other abbeys, including Beaulieu, were reasonably well treated. Abbot Hugh was plainly on good terms with the king and was sent to meet with Pope Innocent III to negotiate during their dispute.

John and Innocent were well matched adversaries. John was clever and unscrupulous and knew when to stand his ground. Innocent III was also a forceful and intelligent man who did much to extend the power of the Papacy. The cause of the break between them was almost trivial and neither man anticipated the escalation that followed. Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, died in 1205. His successor by convention was elected by the cathedral chapter; however, there was an equally strong and practical convention that the monks would always elect the king's nominee. Much as the purists might have preferred otherwise the archbishop was a tenant-in-chief of the king and owed all his lands and income to the king. A rogue archbishop could lose all temporal holdings and thus diminish the power and prestige of the office.

Usually common sense prevailed, but not in this case.Upon Hubert Walter's death the monks got together and secretly elected one of their own, a man named Reginald. he was then sent off to Rome to seek the Pope's approval. Word got back to John  who was understandably furious, he stormed off to Canterbury to confront the monks who timidly denied that there had been an election. John then insisted that there should be an election and the monks unanimously elected John's chosen candidate John Gray. The bishop's approval was sought and given; all that remained was the approval of the Pope, which, since there were no issues about Gray himself, ought to have been automatic.
 
Innocent, now presented with two claimants, dealt with the matter by deciding that both elections had been improper and required the chapter to conduct a fresh election. Now they divided 50-50; half voted for Reginald, the other half for John Gray. Innocent then responded by appointing  Stephen Langton, one of he foremost academics at the University of Paris. It must have appeared to innocent an inspired solution.

The monks agreed, but John, when he heard about it did not. He would not surrender his right to licence the election of an archbishop. letters were exchanged. Positions were entrenched.

John started to play some of the cards at his disposal. he would not allow Langton to enter the country. He seized the archbishop's estates and expelled the monks, who then had to spend several miserable years in exile in France. The Pope gave John some time to come round but by the summer of 1207 he had decided to play a tough game himself. If John would not allow Langton to take up his place the country would be placed under interdict. This meant that the clergy were to withdraw their services, so no burials in consecrated ground, no weddings, no absolution for sin, and in many cases no baptisms. In theory it could be an effective weapon for the times.

In actual fact many in England were not out of sympathy with the king. They regarded it as right and proper that the king should have an archbishop who was acceptable to him. In any case, nobody had a bad word to say about Gray and very few had even heard of Langton who, although English born, had spent most of his life in France.

John handled the impasse cleverly. He presented himslef to the country as the aggrieved party and let it be known that he was prepared to negotiate. His ambassador for this purpose was Hugh, the Abbot of Beaulieu. Talks went on throughout the winter of 1207-8, but when it became apparent to Innocent that John was stalling, the Pope pronounced the Interdict at the end of March 1208. John was ready for this and on march 24th, the very day that the Interdict came into effect, Sherrifs and their officers moved in to sieze all monastic property in the king's name. Lay administrators were appointed to manage the clerical estates and four men from each parish were empowered to assess the clergy's needs and provide them with a maintenance allowance. All surplus revenue went to the crown.

The effect of the Interdict was to bring huge surpluses into the treasury, make little difference to public opinion, and to leave the church in straitened circumstances. Several bishops who did not support John stayed in exile. several bishoprics were left vacant, which meant in any case that the revenues went directly to the crown

There were ways around this. Most clergy were able to reclaim their property on payment of a fine, and the larger institutions had to pay large sums for the privilege of running their own estates.
Archbishop of Canterbury who had no reason to love John.

Beaulieu did very well out of the patronage of their founder. It was well-endowed from the beginning and successive grants from John and his son ensured the continued prosperity of the house. I don't think the Cistercians had any illusions about John's character. There is a legend from Beaulieu that the house was founded because of John's guilt at having tried to impose a tax of the Cistercians of England in 1200. It was said that he had a terrible dream in which he was flogged by Cistercian abbots and that he endowed, first Farringdon, then Beaulieu as a penance.

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.

The ancient religious house at Quarr

By coincidence, the first abbey at Quarr also had a French connection. Its founder, Baldwin de Redvers, brought monks from Savigny Abbey in Normandy in 1131 to start the colony. The abbey was consecrated in 1150. The construction phase appears to have been a long one because a licence to surround the abbey with walls was given in 1340 and this work was still in progress in 1366.

The location on the north shore was well chosen. To the west is a river and a port and to the east a stone quarry, from which the abbey takes its name. Building materials did not have to travel any distance.

The plan of the abbey, drawn from a 19th century excavation, is a conventional Cistercian arrangement, except for building the church on the south side. The church had a total length of 160 feet and a width of 110 feet, making it an impressive building. Other than this, little can be gleaned about its appearance since it was immediately dismantled after dissolution in 1536. The quarried and dressed stone was quite hard and therefore worth salvaging. A lot of the stone from the former abbey was used to build two defensive blockhouses at East and West Cowes in 1539.

The abbey was a prosperous one and by 1536 held the manors of Quarr, Newnham, Arreton, Staplehurst, Sheat, Shaldcomb, Newport, Comley, Fowewod cum Forewey, Compton, Haseley, Lovecombe, Hamstede, Roughbarowe, Bydeborough, Charke in Rowner, together with various properties in many other places in southern Hampshire. The Vlor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 put a value of £134 3s 11d. on the abbey.

It was therefore a tempting property and despite the good report of the commissioners the house was nevertheless dissolved. Sir Thomas Wriothesley, later the 1st Earl of Southampton, acquired all the Hampshire manorial rights on February 17th 1537 and then scooped up the Devonshire properties in November of that year. The abbey itself was leased to John Mill of Southampton in March 1537 for 21 years but in 1544 John and George Mill acquired a grant of the property. It continued in private ownership until it was sold in 1907 to the Benedictine monks of Solesme.

Because so much of the abbey was dismantled in the 16th century and employed elsewhere very little remains of the original abbey. Even some of the foundations were removed. However, there are some walls and ruins remaining to remind us of its medieval heritage.

Quarr Abbey

A dull January day took me on the ferry from Southampton across to Cowes and from there by bus to a piece of undeveloped countryside on the north of the island. The bus stops on the road' literally in the middle of nowhere. From there it was a short walk up the drive.

Quarr Abbey has many echoes down the centuries. It is now a functioning 20th century Benedictine Monastery. This was built on to a 19th century mansion, also called Quarr Abbey. Just to the east are the ruins of the ancient Quarr Abbey, originally built in the 12th century and dissolved in the 16th century. In its day it was a Cistercian house. It is a curiosity that two different orders should inhabit the same land at different periods of history but that helps to make this a more interesting story.

The modern history goes back to 1901 when a group of Benedictine monks exiled themselves from their native France because the French government of the day were making life difficult for them. French monasteries were first dissolved in 1790 and had their assets seized by the revolutionary government. They were probably worse treated than the monasteries were in the 1530s by Henry VIII's regime in England. Nevertheless they recovered only to encounter further punitive legislation later in the 19th century.
The monks did indeed run into more troubles, this was due to the political climate about in France which had been prevalent for a number of years before and culminated with a government anti-clérical,Léon Gambetta a future Prime Minister (he was only in power for three months ) is quoted as saying "le cléricalisme voila l'ennemi!" In 1880 his successor Jules Ferry decided to get rid of religious congregations and reduce the influence of the church in universities. The monks of Solemnes, who were later to come to the Isle of Wight, were expelled on the 6th of November of that year. They found shelter where they could in local houses and manors with sympathisers. They attempted over the next twenty years to return but in spite of some further building work their stay was always precarious.
Finally in 1901 Prime Minister Émile Combes's government brought in Law Anticongréganistes which quite simply forbade religious communities and  led to the Great Exile. They left for countries such as Belgium, Italy, Spain, England, the Channel Islands and South America and the USA. It is somewhat ironic that England was seen as a safe haven by 1901.

The monks first established themselves at Appuldurcombe  House near Ventnor, but a few years later, when their lease ran out, they were able to purchase Quarr Abbey in 1907. Quarr Abbey by this time was a large Victorian Mansion facing the north shore of the island. Osborne House was a neighbour. The monks at first used the house for accommodation and brought their wooden church from the south of the island; of course it was taken apart on the older site and re-assembled at Quarr.

Within a few years money was made available for new buildings, essentially the devotional part of the monastery, built on the south side of the Victorian mansion. The architect was himself a monk, Dom Paul Beliot, himself a trained architect, undertook the design and supervised construction.

The results are impressive and at the time was probably daring. Nineteenth century architects tended to build with brick but face with stone to give a sense of timelessness and continuity with the past. Beliot chose to make a virtue of the brick and used it in a decorative as well as structural medium. The colours of the chosen brick, which apparently came from Belgium, emanate a very rich and warm feeling.

The interior is more austere. the chapel is high and wide and could accommodate many. In reality there are only 8 monks living there so there is no opportunity to do other than contemplate God in the chapel.

Gradually, English monks began to replace the French. The guide for the day, and seemingly the point of contact with the outside world, is Father Luke Bell and English now seems to be the everyday language of the institution. The monastery probably subsists on donations from benefactors and the proceeds of its various activities - the tea rooms, visitors, guests who are able to stay at the monastery and retreats.

The monks keep pigs, aparently to keep  their hand in doing useful practical work. the pigs may be the noisiest animals at this peaceful site.