Netley Abbey
Ruins of 13th-century abbey at Hampshire, England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Netley Abbey is a ruined late medieval monastery in the village of Netley near Southampton in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1239 as a house for monks of the austere Cistercian order. Despite royal patronage, Netley was never rich, produced no influential scholars nor churchmen, and its nearly 300-year history was quiet. The monks were best known to their neighbours for the generous hospitality they offered to travellers on land and sea.
Monastery information | |
---|---|
Full name | The Abbey Church of St Mary of Edwardstow (Sanctae Mariae de Loco Sancti Edwardi) |
Other names | Latin: Laetus Locus (Happy Place), Lieu-Saint-Edward, Letley |
Order | Cistercians |
Established | 1239 |
Disestablished | 1536/7 |
Mother house | Beaulieu Abbey |
Dedicated to | Virgin Mary and Edward the Confessor |
Diocese | Diocese of Winchester |
People | |
Founder(s) | Peter des Roches and Henry III |
Important associated figures | William Paulet, Abbot Thomas Stevens |
Site | |
Location | Netley, Hampshire, United Kingdom |
Grid reference | SU453090 |
Visible remains | major ruins of church, monastic buildings and post-Dissolution mansion |
Public access | open to the public (English Heritage) |
In 1536, Netley Abbey was seized by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the buildings granted to William Paulet, a wealthy Tudor politician, who converted them into a mansion. The abbey was used as a country house until the beginning of the eighteenth century, after which it was abandoned and partially demolished for building materials. Subsequently the ruins became a tourist attraction, and provided inspiration to poets and artists of the Romantic movement. In the early twentieth century the site was given to the nation, and it is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, cared for by English Heritage. The extensive remains consist of the church, cloister buildings, abbot's house, and fragments of the post-Dissolution mansion. Netley Abbey is one of the best preserved medieval Cistercian monasteries in southern England.