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BELL'S CATHEDRAL SERIES

ROMSEY ABBEY

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF
ROMSEY ABBEY
A DESCRIPTION OF THE FABRIC AND
NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF THE
CONVENT OF SS. MARY & ETHELFLEDA
BY THE REV. T. PERKINS
RECTOR OF TURNWORTH, DORSET
AUTHOR OF "AMIENS," "ROUEN," "WIMBORNE
AND CHRISTCHURCH," ETC.

WITH XXXII

ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON GEORGE BELL AND SONS 1907

CHISWICK PRESS ; CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

PREFACE
The architectural and descriptive part of this book is the result
of careful personal examination of the fabric, made vfhen the
author has visited the abbey at various times during the last
twenty years. The illustrations are reproduced from photo
graphs taken by him on the occasions of these visits.
The historical information has been derived from many
sources. Among these may especially be mentioned "An Essay
descriptive of the Abbey Church of Romsey,'' by C. Spence,
the first edition of which was published in 1851; the small
official guide sold in the church, and " Records of Romsey
Abbey, compiled from manuscript and printed records," by
the Rev. Henry G, D. Liveing, M.A., Vicar of Hyde, Win
chester, 1906. This last-named work contains all that is at
present known, or that is likely to be known, of the history
of the abbey from its foundation early in the ninth century up
to the year 1558. To this book the reader who desires fuller
information and minuter details than could be given in the
following pages is referred.
The thanks of the writer are due to the late and present
Vicars for kind permission to examine the building, and to
take photographs of it from any point of view he desired.
TuRNWORTH Rectory,
Blandfokd, Dorset.
March, 1907.

CONTENTS
CAGE
Chapter I. History of the Building . . 15
n. The Exterior ... 27
HL The Interior ... 39
IV. The Abbesses of Romsey . 67
Vicars of Romsey ..... 79
Index . . . . .81
Dimensions of the Abbey Church 82

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Romsey Abbey from the east
Abbess's Seal
Apsidal Chapel, South Transept .
The Nave, looking west .
Junction of Norman and Early English work
View from the north-west
The Abbess's Door ....
The West End and South Transept
The South Transept from the west
The Saxon Rood . ...
The Choir, south side
The Nave, north side
Cylindrical Pier : North Nave Arcade
The Clerestory of Nave .
Early English Bays of the Nave
The South Side of the Choir .
Triforium Arch in the North Transept
The Interior from the west .
Base of a Pier in the Nave
Arcading in the Tower
In the Ringers' Chamber ....
The West Wall of North Transept
The North Choir Aisle
The Ambulatory . . . .
The South Choir Aisle

PAGE

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spiece

Title

-page

1419

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2123 2629313335
38
404143
44 45464748
49 5051
52 55
ROMSEY ABBEY

Saxon Carving, South Aisle .
The North-East Angle of the Crossing
Tomb and Effigy in the South Transept
The North Aisle of the Nave .
The South Transept
Pier in the North Nave Arcade
Plan ....

5657
61
63
66 73
End

APSIDAL CHAPEL, SOUTH TRANSEPT

ROMSEY ABBEY
CHAPTER I
history or the building
The etymology of the name Romsey has been much disputed.
There can be no doubt about the meaning of the termination
" ey " — island — which we meet with under different speUings
in m.any place-names, such as Athelney, Ely, Lundy, Mersea
and others, for Romsey stands upon an island, or rather group
of islands, formed by the division of the river Test into a number
of streams, which again flow together to the south of the town,
and at last, after a course of about seven miles, empty themselves
into Southampton Water. But several derivations have been
suggested for the first syllable of the name. Some writers derive
it from Rome, and regard Romsey as a hybrid word taking the
place of " Romana insula," the first word having been shortened
and the second translated into Old English, or Saxon as some
prefer to call it. Now it is true that there were several important
Roman stations in the neighbourhood: Sorbiodunum (Old
Saram), Brige (Broughton), Venta Belgarum (^\^inchester),
and Clausentum (near Southampton), and in passing to and fro
between these the Roman legions must frequently have marched
either through or near to the site of Romsey. Roman coins
found in the immediate neighbourhood clearly show that the
place was inhabited during the Roman occupation. Another
derivation is the Celtic word " Ruimne" (marshy); this would
make the name mean "Marshy island," and there can be no
doubt that this would be an apt description of the place in
olden times; against this may be alleged that again the word
would be hybrid. Yet another derivation which avoids this ob
jection is the Old English " Rum," from whence we get " room,"
and if we adopt this derivation Romsey, or Rumsey as it is
15

x6 ROMSEY ABBEY
still sometimes written and more often pronounced, would
mean the roomy or " Spacious Island." The reader can form his
own opinion as to which is the most probable of these three
suggestions. The writer is inclined to favour the third. But
the visitor who, arriving at the railway station either by the
branch line via Redbridge or by that which runs from Eastleigh,
or from Salisbury, or Andover, proceeds to the Abbey, would
not realize when he arrived at his destination that he was in an
island, for the minor streams are not spanned by bridges, but
have been completely covered in and run through small tunnels
beneath some of the streets.
We have no records of Romsey before the original foundation
of the Abbey, nor indeed for many years afterwards. The first
authentic mention of the abbey is found in the chronicle of
Florence of A\'orcester, who died in 1118, and whose work, at ,
least that part of it which deals with English history, is a Latin
translation of the Old English Chronicle. He writes " In anno ¦
967. Rex Anglorum pacificus Edgarus in monasterio Rumesige,
quod avus suus Rex Anglorum Eadwardus senior construxerat,
sanctimoniales collocavit, sanctamque Marewynnam super eas
Abbatismam'constituit." ^
This Eadward, also surnamed the Unconquered, was the son
and successor of the greatest of the Old Enghsh Kings, .Alfred,
and reigned from 901 to 925. Sometime during his reign he
founded the Romsey nunnery. There is no documentary
evidence to fix the exact date, but it is generally assumed to
have been 907. It is said that about two centuries earlier there
had been a monastery at Nursling nearer the mouth of the Test,
and on the tideway of the river. It was here that the great
missionary to the Germans Winfrid or St. Boniface had been
trained, but it was within reach of the ships of the Danish
pirates, and in 716 they had ravaged it and reduced it to such
utter ruin that scarcely one stone remained on another to mark
the site. This monastery was never rebuilt, and Eadward, pro
bably having its fate in mind, now chose a safer position for the
new foundation, for the river at Romsey was too shallow to allow
of the seagoing vessels of the marauding Danes to reach it.
Eadward's eldest daughter yElflaed and her sister y^ithelhild
' In the year 967, Eadgar the Peaceable, King of the English, placed
nuns iu the monastery which his grandfather, Eadward the Elder, King of
the English, had built, and appointed St. Meriwenna abbess over them.

HISTORY OF THE BUILDING 17
both adopted the religious life, and hved for a time at the
monastery at Wilton. Here ^-Ethelhild was buried, while .'Klflted
was buried at Romsey. Their half-sister St. Eadburh became
abbess of St. Mary's Abbey at Winchester; and it is highly
probable that .FllflEed ruled as abbess over the sister establish
ment at Romsey. Probably this was only a small religious
community. Whether it was continued or not when she died no
record remains to tell, but, as we have seen, it was refounded by
Eadgar the Peaceable in 967, and on Christmas day of the year
974 St. Meriwenna was put in charge of the completed Abbey,
which was constituted according to the Benedictine Rule.
Some traces of this church still remain, though only discovered
in 1900. Under the pavement of the present church, immediately
below the tower, the foundations of an apsidal east ending of a
church were found; now as it is well known that this is a Norman
form for the east end, it must not be supposed that this apse
was built in the time of Eadgar, but it very probably occupied
the same position as the choir of his church. Other foundations
were then looked for and found. And as a result of this investi
gation, it appears that the nave of Eadgar's church extended as
far to the west as the fourth bay of the present nave, that its cross
ing lay immediately to the west of the present transept, and that
the apsidal choir was as wide as the .present nave, and extended
eastward as far as the screen now dividing the choir from the
transept. Thus the total interior length of the church was about
go ft. instead of about 220 ft., the length of the present build
ing. Although the church was comparatively small, Eadgar
made provision in the domestic buildings for one hundred
nuns, a number rarely exceeded in after days. Peter de
Langtoft, a canon of Bridlington who died early in the four
teenth century, writing of Eadgar says :
.Mikille he wirschiped God, and served our Lady ;
The Abbey of Romege he feffed richely
With rentes full gode and kirkes of pris,
He did ther in of Nunnes a hundreth ladies.
Eadgar's church, however, was not destined to last long. Early
in the year 1003, according to one of the few legends connected
with the abbey, the form of St. ^-lilflcsd appeared during mass
to the Abbess Elwina, and warned her that the Danes were at
hand, and would plunder and destroy the abbey; whereupon

t
i8 ROMSEY ABBEY
she, not disobedient to the heavenly vision, gathered her nuns
together; and, collecting all the treasures that could be carried
away, sought safety at Winchester, and there they abode until
the danger was past; on their return they found the abbey
in ruins. The inroad of the Danes in this year, led by Swegen,
was undertaken as a retribution on the English for the cowardly
and barbarous massacre on St. Brice's Day, November 13th of
the previous year, in which Swegen's sister, in spite of the fact
that she had embraced Christianity, had been condemned to
death by yEthelred.'
There is no record ofthe rebuilding ofthe abbey after this de
struction, but it could not have been long delayed, since we hear
that in 1012 yfithelred's wife ^Elfgyfu (who afterwards married
Knut, and is known under the name Emma) gave lands to the
abbey, and shortly after Knut came to the throne, we learn
from a still existing list that, including two who are marked as
abbesses, there were fifty-four nuns at Romsey.^
The church restored after the raid mentioned above probably
remained untouched until after the Conquest, when possibly the
apsidal east end was built. It would seem that about 1120 the
present church was begun, as usual from the east. As this
church is so much larger than the earlier one, it is quite
possible that its outer walls were built without in any way dis
turbing the eleventh century church within them, so that the
services could be conducted without inteiTuption. The general
character of the work is late Norman. At this time a double
eastern chapel measuring about 2 i ft. from east to west and
25 ft. from north to south, as we know from excavations made
by the late vicar, the Rev. Edward Lyon Berthon, was built to
the east of the choir. This was entered by two arches, which
' According to some accounts, the raid in which the abbey was destroyed
took place in 994, but the later date is more probable since it is said that
Swegen's son, Knut, who was born in 994, took part in it.
^ This list shows us what were the names most in favour at the time.
Eight nuns bore the name of Jilfgyfu, six of ^Iflted, four of Eadgyth
(Edith), four of Eadgyfu, three of Wulfloed; besides these there were two,
each bearing the names of rEthelgyfu, -Klfgyth, ^Elfhild, Byrhflted, Wulf-
thrylh, Wulfrun. It is worthy of note that none of these, and only one of
the remaining seventeen nuns, namely, Godgyfu, had a scriptural or Christian
name. The old names common among Iheir heathen ancestors still survived,
no less than ten being compounded of the word ^Elf, the modern Elf, or
mountain spirit.

THE NAVE, LOOKING WEST

20 ROMSEY ABBEY
may still be seen leading out of the ambulatory. Traces of
the position of two altars were found; the floor was lower than
that of the rest of the church.
The three western bays were added in the thirteenth century,
and at the end of the same, or the beginning of the fourteenth,
two windows with plate tracery were inserted in the east wall,
and two chapels measuring forty feet from east to west took
the place of the double Norman chapels mentioned above.
It will be seen, then, that the church shows specimens of
Norman, Early English, and Decorated work, all of the best
periods of the style, and therefore it is a splendid example for
the student of architecture. We may be thankful that, with the
exception of a few windows on the north side there -is no Per
pendicular work. When we remember that the wealth which
flowed into the coffers of many cathedral and abbey churches
during the Middle Ages chiefly in the form of offerings from
pilgrims at wonder-working shrines, was often used in almost
entirely rebuilding, or, at any rate remodelling, the churches in
the fifteenth century, we may be surprised to find so little work
of this period at Romsey. Possibly it is due to the fact that it
did not possess any such shrine, and sp did not attract pilgrims.
It is not improbable that Henry of Blois, the builder of the
Church at St. Cross, near Winchester, may have had something
to do with designing the Norman part of the church at Romsey.
We know that Mary, the daughter of his brother. King Stephen,
was abbess from about 1155 until she broke her vows, left the
Abbey, and married Matthew of Alsace, son of the Count of
Flanders, about ii6i. Henry was Bishop of Winchester from
1129 until 1171. What more likely, then, than that Mary should
consult her uncle, known to be a great builder, about the
erection of the large church at Romsey?
In the time of Juliana, who probably succeeded Mary, and
was certainly abbess for about thirty years before her death in
II 99, the transitional work in the clerestory of the nave was
carried out.
In the next century the church was extended westward by
the erection of three bays and the west front with its three
tall lancets and the small cinquefoil window above the central
one, all inclosed within a pointed comprising arch. This
work was done during the time when Henry III was king;
there are records of several gifts to the abbey of timber by him

HISTORY OF THE BUILDING 21
from the royal forest. This was no doubt used in constructing
the roof of the westward extension of the nave and aisles.
The next work was the insertion of the two large east windows

JUNCTION OF NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH WORK, ON
THE NORTH SIDE OF THE NAVE

and the building ofthe pair of Decorated chapels, one of which
was dedicated to Our Lady, and the other to St. .'Ethelflsed, or
Ethelfleda, as her name was then spelt. They were probably
divided by an arcade, and stood until the dissolution of the

22 ROMSEY ABBEY ,
Abbey, when they were, pulled down, being of no further use in
the church of the abbey which was purchased by the people
of Romsey and converted into a parish church.
It has been said that Httle Perpendicular work is to be seen
in Romsey Abbey, but some did exist at one time. At
Romsey, as at Sherborne, there were disputes between the
abbey and the town, though fortunately at Romsey an amic
able arrangement was arrived at. The north aisle of the
abbey church had been for many years set apart for the use
of the people of Romsey as a parish church, and was known
by the name of St. Laurence; in the year 1333 the abbess
endowed a vicarage. As the town increased in size the north
aisle became too strait for the parishioners, and at times of
great festivals they used to encroach on the nuns' church.
This led to disputes, and the matter was referred to William of
Wykeham, the celebrated Bishop of Winchester, remodeller of
his cathedral church, and founder of Winchester School, and
New College, Oxford. He persuaded the nuns to give up the
north arm of the crossing to make a choir for a new parish
church to be built adjoining the abbey church, in such a way
that the north aisle should be cut off by a wall and included
in the new church. The north aisle of the abbey church thus
became the south aisle of the parish church, the new building
its nave, and the north end of the transept of the abbey church
the parish chancel, the Norman apsidal chantry attached to
the transept made a fitting eastern termination to the chancel.
A chantry ol the Confraternity of St. George, built on the
north side of the new church, took the place of a north aisle.
This was separated from the nave by a carved oak screen, part
of which has been utiUzed in the construction of the screen
between the nave and choir of the existing church. The
building of this new parish church unfortunately involved the
destruction of the north porch of the abbey church. When,
after the dissolution of the nunnery, the people bought the
abbey church of the King, the nave and north aisle of the new
parish church were no longer needed, and were therefore de
molished, the windows were inserted in the arches that had
been cut in the wall of the north aisle of the abbey church,
when these openings were again walled up. Two of these have,
however, been removed, and modern Norman windows con
structed on the old mouldings have taken their place. A, door-

HISTORY OF THE BUILDING 23
way which had been cut in the north wall of the transept when
the new parish church was built was no longer used after the
church was pulled down, and a low side window near it has
been blocked up and converted into a cupboard. The two
eastern . chapels were also demolished, and their east windows
were inserted in the masonry used to block up the entrances
into the chapels from the ambulatory. During the time that
succeeded the Reformation many changes were made in the

VIEW FROM THE NORTH-WEST
fittings of the church, galleries were erected in the transept
and at the west end of the nave where the organ was placed.
The Avails were covered with whitewash, and probably with a
view to make it easier to warm the church, walls were built
behind the triforium arcading all round the church. These walls
are shown in some of the illustrations made a few years ago;
they have now been entirely removed. The internal appearance
of the church about the middle of the nineteenth century was
extremel)' distasteful to those affected by the Gothic revival,

24 ROMSEY ABBEY
and drastic changes were made. " Restoration " was begun at
first under the direction of Mr. Ferrey, who also restored Christ-
church Priory. The inner roof of the three western bays of the
nave aisles which had not been, hke those of the other bays,
vaulted in stone, were restored in wood and plaster about 1850,
when the Hon. Gerard Noel was vicar; the nave roof was re
built a little later. Under the direction of Mr. Christian, archi
tect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the chancel roof was
restored, and the roof of the north arm of the transept was
taken in hand by Mr. Berthon. Other work has been done
more recently, and the present vicar has the intention of
building a porch with a room over it on the north side, to take
the place of the porch which was destroyed when the nave of
the church of St. Laurence was built in the time of William of
Wykeham, as already described.
The curious wooden erection on the top of the tower, some
what resembling a hen coop or gigantic lobster pot, was added
in comparatively recent times to contain the bells; drawings
made at the beginning ofthe nineteenth century do not show it,
but, those made about the middle of the century do. It is ugly;
and adds nothing to the dignity of the church; probably the
tower was originally crowned by a pyramidal roof which gave
it the appearance of height so much required.
The east ends of the two choir aisles have in quite recent
years been provided with altars and fitted up as chapels for
week-day services. The two apsidal chapels attached to the
transept are used as vestries, the one on the south for clergy
and that on the north for the choir.

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|i^v^
THE ABBESS S DOOR
CHAPTER II
the exterior
The site of Romsey abbey church is not a commanding one.
There are some cathedral churches, such as Ely, built on marsh-
formed islands which rise considerably above the surrounding
flats, and so form conspicuous objects in the landscape seen
from far or near; but this is not the case with the abbey church
with which we have to deal. The level of its floor does not rise
much above the level of the river valley in which it stands, the
building is not large or lofty, the parapets of its central tower,
about 92 ft. above the ground, rise little above the ridges of the
roofs of nave and choir and the north arm of the transept. But
it has one great advantage: there is no part of the exterior of
the building that cannot be fully examined. Perhaps we might
be glad if the space from which it may be seen were here and
there a little wider, yet nowhere do we find a garden wall or
a building barring our passage as we make the circuit of the
exterior of the church. On the north side lies the churchyard
stretching a considerable distance to the north, from which an
admirable general view is obtained; and again, there is open
ground to the west, so that the unique and splendid western
fagade can be well seen. The space to the south side of the
building is more hmited; it is entered through an iron gateway
running in a line with the west front; should this gate be
locked, the space to the east of it may be entered by passing
from the inside of the church through either the nuns' or the
abbess's doorway; when access to this little strip of churchyard
has once been gained, it is easy to pass right along the south
side of the nave round the south end of the crossing and then
to the eastern wall of the ambulatory.
As we follow the winding lanes and streets that lead from '
the station to the church, we get our first view of it from the
road that skirts its northern wall. On the left hand there is a
27

28 ROMSEY ABBEY
wall running from the north-east corner of the choir, which ^
conceals indeed a few details of the lower part of the east end,
but does not hide the two beautiful geometrical windows in the
east wall of the choir, inserted within the semicircular headed
mouldings of the original Norman windows. We may also 'see
the square-faced termination of the north choir aisle projecting
eastward of the wall that forms the east end of the choir. The
next noteworthy object is an apsidal chapel or chantry running
out from the east wall of the transept, its walls pierced by wide
round headed windows. This is also a good point from which
to study the clerestory as seen in choir and crossing. The same
general arrangement prevails throughout the building, though
here and there certain modifications will be noticed. Each
clerestory bay on the north side has a window consisting of
three arches, the central and wider one is glazed, the two others
are blocked with stone. Three tiers (two in each) of round
headed windows light the ends of the transepts.
On the north side the windows of the nave aisle are very irre
gular; this is due to the fact, mentioned in Chapter I, that con
siderable alterations were made in this part of the church at
the beginning of the fourteenth century in order to provide a
parish church for the inhabitants of the town. The north wall
of the aisle was largely cut away in order to throw this aisle
open to the new building erected parallel to the Abbey church,
which was to be used as the nave of the parish church. Joining
this on the north side was a chantry of the confraternity of
St. George which formed a kind of north aisle for the parish
church. Windows would of course be required to light this new
building and would of necessity be designed in accordance with
the style — the Perpendicular — then prevailing. When, after the,
dissolution of the nunnery, the Abbey church became the
church ofthe parish, the recently erected Perpendicular church,
would be no longer of any use, and the keeping of it in repair
a continual source of expense; hence it was pulled down, the
openings in what had been the original north wall of the nave
aisle of the Abbey church were walled up, and the mouldings
and glass of the Perpendicular windows on the north side of
the parish church were inserted in these new walls. Hence we
get windows of different heights and levels between the great
north door and the transept: recent alterations have still further
increased the irregularity. The parish church did not, appar-

THE EXTERIOR

29

ently, extend so far to the west as the Abbey church, hence
the two windows to the west of the north door were not inter
fered with when the parish church was built. It has been already
pointed out that the three western bays of the nave are of later
date and later in style than the rest of the nave ; they were buiU
in the thirteenth century, and consequently all the windows
found in this part of the church have pointed heads.

THE WEST END AND SOUTH TRANSEPT

The ^A^est Front. A unique feature of this church is its west
front. It is one of singular beauty, but its beauty does not de
pend on any enrichment of decoration, for a simpler front it
would be impossible to find: there is not a single carved stone
about it. Its beauty is due to the exquisite proportions of the
various parts. The nave and aisles are of the same length. At
the corners ofthe aisles are rectangular buttresses and two similar
ones stand at the ends of the main walls of the nave. String-
c

30 ROMSEY ABBEY
courses, starting from the aisle buttresses, run below the aisle
windows and round the buttresses of the nave, but are not con
tinued across the nave beneath the lancet windows. The but
tresses do not quite rise to the full height of the side walls of the
nave, and not a pinnacle is to be met with anywhere. The sill
of the west window is about fifteen feet from the ground, and
from it three tall lancets about four feet wide rise- to a height of
nearly thirty feet. They are placed under a comprising pointed
arch, just beneath the point of which, and over the central
lancet, is a cinquefoil opening. The wall finishes in a gable
and the whole west wall is a true termination of the nave which
lies behind. We notice that the glass is set well towards the
outside of the openings, and also that no western doorway
exists or ever existed here. The probable reason of this is that it,
was a nuns' church, and that the nuns found their way into the
church from the domestic buildings through the doors on the
south side. There is still a doorway (there was formerly a porch)
on the north side, by which, on special occasions, outsiders -
were admitted to the north aisle, but as the parishioners had
no right of entry into the nave it was unnecessary to make any
provision for them in the form of a west doorway. From this
position at the west ofthe building we notice that the roof of
the south end of the transept differs from that at the north end.
We can see no tiles above the parapet. Originally, no doubt, all
the roofs had a high pitch, their central ridge rising almost to
the parapet of the tower, but here, as in many another church,
when the timbers of the roof decayed, it was found more eco
nomical to decrease the slope of the roof, and in some cases
simply to lay horizontal beams across the tops of the wall, which
of course did not give rise to the outward thrust of sloping
timbers. This appears to have happened at Romsey; but,
since the time when the restoration was begun, all the roofs
save that of the south end of the transept have been raised to
their original pitch. This roof, no doubt, will in due course be
altered in a similar way.
A fine and noteworthy feature in this church is the corbel table
which runs nearly all round it. Here and here only do we find
any carving on the exterior walls, but these corbels are carved
into many fantastic devices : among them we find the very
common forms of evil spirits and lost souls driven away from
the sacred building. A legend is connected with a corbel stone

THE EXTERIOR

31

near the west end of the north aisle. It is fashioned into the
likeness of a grindstone and it is handed down by tradition
that once upon a time towards the end of the twelfth century
or the beginning of the thirteenth a nobleman ran away with a

SOUTH TRANSEPT, FROM THE WEST
blacksmith's wife, but afterwards repented of his sin and had
imposed on him as penance the completion of the west end of
the Abbey church. The grindstone, emblem of the blacksmith's
calling, was, it is said, placed on the newly erected western bay
to commemorate the incident.
The South Side of the Church differs from the north in

32 ROMSEY ABBEY
some respects : there is not the same rich arcading along the.
clerestory level of the nave, only the real windows appear, not
the blind arcading. The windows of the south aisle have not
been altered and re-altered as have been those ofthe north aisle.
Their sills are set sufliciently high to allow the cloister arcades
to be placed below them, but the cloister alleys have all dis
appeared. There is a fine late thirteenth-century door in the
second bay from the western end of the south aisle, and another
very beautiful one known as the Abbess's door at the extreme
east end of the wall of the south nave aisle, in Norman style
(see p. 26). The mouldings round the head are richly orna
mented, and two twisted columns stand on each side of the
door. Unfortunately a slanting groove has been cut through the
upper mouldings of it. It is said that at one time a stone
mason's shed stood here, probably the mason employed after
the purchase of the church by the town, to keep the building
in repair. We may regret the mutilation of the doorway, yet at
the same time not condemn the existence of this shed as an
unmixed evil, for it covered and protected a most interesting
relic on the w-est wall of the transept from destruction by wind
and sun and rain — the celebrated Romsey Rood, which, as far
as England is concerned, is absolutely unique. The illustration
reproduced from a negative taken about twenty years ago will
give a better idea of the character and position of the rood
than verbal description. Since the photograph was taken, a
projecting pent house has been very wisely erected over the
crucifix to protect it from the weather, but at the same time the
addition does not exhibit it to advantage; hence the photo
graph which shows its previous condition has become valuable.
Various opinions as to the date of this crucifix have been held.
The first hasty opinion likely to be formed is that it is not older
than the wall in which it appears, and therefore must be of
Norman date, but careful examination of the stone work will
show that it is older than the wall, and has been inserted in its
present position, probably at the time when the existing Norman
transept was built. Mr. Edward S. Prior, in his " History of
Gothic Art in England," says that it is the best work of its date,
in high relief of any size to be found in England, and adds that
it is by some considered to be of Saxon date. This seems very
probable. It is Byzantine in character. The limbs are clothed
in a short tunic; the figure does not hang drooping from the

THE EXTERIOR

33

nails, the arms are stretched out horizontally, the head is erect,
and the eyes open. It represents not a dead Christ, but Christ
reigning on the Tree ; above the head the Father's hand is

THE SAXON ROOD

shown surrounded at the wrist by clouds. This may be taken
to represent the pointing out of the beloved Son, in whom the
Father is well pleased, or we may suppose that the hand has
been extended downwards in answer to the words "Father, into
Thy hands I commend my spirit." Some clue to the date is

34 ROMSEY ABBEY
given by a drawing in a manuscript in the British Museum — the
homihes of Archbishop ^Ifric (about 994) — in which a crucifix
almost identical with this may be seen. By the side of the
figure is a rectangular recess, with small holes at the top to
carry off smoke : probably it was customary to keep a lamp or
taper constantly burning within this recess. The crucifix, con
sidering its age and position, is in a wonderful state of preserva
tion. How it escaped mutilation in the seventeenth century is
hard to explain, for a crucifix would be particularly obnoxious to
the Puritan mind, and, standing as this one does almost on the
level of the ground, it would seem to have been especially
exposed to risk of destruction. Fortunately, however, it has
escaped with only the loss of part of the right forearm and
shoulder. Passing round the south face of the transept, we come to
the apsidal chapel attached to its eastern wall. (See illustra
tion, p. 14.) The round-headed windows and the original parapet
are worthy of notice. Quite recently a new high-pitched roof
has been placed over this chantry. The illustration shows it
before this change was made. Beyond this we come to the
south aisle of the choir, with its three bays, each containing a
round-headed window. The arrangement here is rather peculiar. ¦
The east wall of the choir, containing the two fourteenth-cen
tury windows side by side, rises just to the east of the second.
bay; the outer eastern wall of lower height at the extremity of
the third bay is the east wall of the ambulatory or retro-choir.
This was originally pierced by two arches, leading into the two
paraUel chapels, dedicated respectively to St. Mary and St. Ethel
fleda, which were built in the fourteenth century, taking the
place of two chapels, in Norman style, only about half their
length measured from west to east. These two chapels were
pulled down after the parish bought the church, to save the
expense of keeping them in repair. The two arches leading
into them were built up, but the geometrical east windows of
the chapels were inserted in them, and now give light to the
retro-choir. The ends of the choir aisles are apsidal within, but
flat without. This arrangement leads to great thickness at the
corners ofthe walls.
At one time there was a detached campanile for the bells of
Romsey. This was pulled down in 1625 and the bells placed
in the wooden cage erected for them on the roof of the central

THE EXTERIOR

35

tower. At this time there were six bells only, but in 1791 they
were, according to one account, taken down and sold, and a
fresh peal of eight bells cast for the church. According to
another account the six bells were melted down, fresh metal

HB

^^

^^BSS^^^ ^^^M

^^Bbii^

i^^^H
MHp^lfe^^Jtt jjs^"^-^-^^
^^^
SIBBfel ^l^i^iAX^nll
1^
1
h
jKajHrei
m
E 1 "[^^
fifi
i
B
m
¦
THE CHOIR, SOUTH SIDE
added, and from this the larger peal of eight bells was cast. It
is said to be in perfect condition now, the tenor bell weighing
26 cwt.
The stone of which the Abbey Church is built, was quarried
at Binstead, in the Isle of Wight. These quarries are now en-
36 ROMSEY ABBEY
tirely worked out, so that no stone can be obtained thence for
repairs. It is not to be expected that the restoration has met with
universal approval, but it may be truly said that the alterations
have been far less drastic than in many churches, and that the
interior of the Abbey Church, as we see it to-day, has much
the appearance which it had after it had become the parish
church of Romsey about the middle of the sixteenth century.

THE NAVE, NORTH SIDE

CHAPTER III
the interior
Immediately after entering the Abbey Church by the north
door, it will be well, in order to get a general idea of its size and
beauty, to take one's stand close to the west wall under the
large lancet window. There is nothing to break the view from
the west to the east walls of choir and ambulatory, a total dis
tance of about 250 feet; for the wooden screen which separates
the choir from the crossing is too light and open to break the
vista. It will be noticed that with the exception of the western
bays of the nave, and the three-light geometrical windows in
the eastern wall of the choir, and the two windows of the am
bulatory, everything is Norman or transitional in character.
The aisles have stone quadripartite vaulting except in the added
bays to the west, where the vaulting is merely plaster. The high
roof, like many in Norman churches, is a wooden one, for
Norman builders rarely dared to throw a stone vault over the
nave or choir, for as yet the principle that allows such a piece of
engineering to be carried out with safety, namely, the balancing
of thrust and counter-thrust, by means of vaulting ribs and ex
ternal flying buttresses, had not been fully realized in England.
In some few cases it is true that late Norman vaults may be
found, but more often where stone vaults exist in Norman
churches they were added in after times. In Romsey Abbey
one of the most noteworthy features is that very little alteration
was made in the church when once it was built. True there
was a westward extension in the thirteenth century, and some
insertion of windows in the fourteenth century, but nothing of
the original church seems to have been swept away, as was so
often the case, to make room for extensions and alterations.
The Nave has seven bays, to the east of which is the
transept, and beyond it the choir, which has three bays. Further
39

4°

ROMSEY ABBEY

to the east, as we shall find in due course, may be seen the lovy
vaulted retro-choir or ambulatory of one bay.
It is well known that Norman choirs were generally short,
and that when we find a considerable length of building east
ward of the crossing, this
eastward extension was
made in the thirteenth ,
or fourteenth century;
the new building being'
often begun to the east
of the Norman choir,
and the choir left un
touched until the eastern
part was finished, when
very frequently the old
Norman choir and pres
bytery were demolished,
and the new work joined
on to the transept by
masonry in the later
style. The inconvenience of
a short architectural
choir was very often
avoided by bringing the
ritual choir westward
into the nave, an ar
rangement which exists
up to the present day at
the Abbey Church at
Westminster. This seems
to have been done at
Romsey, the choir ex
tending across the tran
sept as far as the third
pillar of the nave, count
ing from the east. But although the eastern bays of the nave
and all of those of the choir are Norman, yet they are by no
means of an ordinary type. There is much about this church
that is unique, and certain arrangements are found only here
and at St. Friedeswide's, now Christ Church, Oxford, Dunstable

CYLINDRICAL PIER: NORTH NAVE ARCADE

THE INTERIOR

43

Priory, and Jedburgh Abbey. There is no strict uniformity:
one bay frequently differs from another in its details.
It may be well at the outset to point out that of the three

EARLY ENGLISH BAYS OF THE NAVE

horizontal divisions of the nave the main arcading occupies
approximately three-sevenths of the total height of the wall, while
the triforium and clerestory each occupy about two-sevenths.
The three western bays are early English in date and style,
but they differ considerably from the typical early English of

44

ROMSEY ABBEY

Salisbury ; we do not find the detached shafts of Purbeck
marble, nor the central cylindrical shaft ; the bases, too, are

THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE CHOIR

rectangular, nor are there any enriched mouldings with dog-tooth
ornament. In the triforium_in some cases there are three, in
other cases two subordinate arches, each with cusped heads,
and the wall space above these smaller arches and the com-

THE INTERIOR 45
prising one is pierced by a quatrefoil opening. The clerestory
throughout the nave, whether in the Early EngHsh bays to the
west or the Norman bays to the east, is of the same character.

TRIFORIUM ARCH IN THE NORTH TRANSEPT
having three pointed arches in each bay with a window on
the outside of the middle one. A passage protected by two iron
rails runs right round the church at this level, and it is well
worth ascending to this passage, as from it a good idea of the
D

46

ROMSEY ABBEY

height of the church may be obtained. The^ clerestory of the
transept and also that of the choir bear a general likeness to
that of the nave, but are of earlier date, the arcading having
semicircular and not pointed arches. The illustrations will show
how shafts run on the face of the arcading right up from floor
to roof. In the Norman part of the building the triforium is

THE INTERIOR FROM THE WEST

very peculiar ; generally speaking, there are two subordinate
round-headed arches, under the general round-headed com
prising arch, but the tympanum or space above the former is
left open, and from the point where the two smaller arches meet
a shaft runs up to the centre of the main outer arch. I do not
know of any similar arrangement in any other church, and, as
it is a very peculiar one, hard to explaiii clearly in words, the
reader should carefully study the illustrations in which the tri-

THE INTERIOR

47

forium appears. On the east side of the north arm of the tran
sept a more elaborate arrangement of one of the arches may be
seen. Here there are three, instead of two, subsidiary arches,
which are interlaced, but here, also, the shaft above them ap
pears, though necessarily much reduced in height. These shafts
do not add to the beauty of the triforium, and they hardly seem
necessary to give support to the outer arch (see illustrations,
PP- 44> 4S)'
The arch at the east end of the triforium on the south side,
which opens out to the transept, is worthy of special notice.
Underthe outer round-headed
arch is a solid tympanum,
beneath which are two very
narrow round-headed arches,
separated by a huge cylindri
cal shaft which has as its base
a large plain rectangular block
of stone.
The two eastern bays of
the nave on both sides are
peculiar. Between them runs
up a solid cylindrical pier,
which has its capital at the
level of the spring' of the
main arches of the triforium.
The arches ofthe main arcade
spring from corbels on the
sides of these great pillars, so
that it seems as if the tri
forium gallery were hanging beneath the arches which spring
below the clerestory. A somewhat similar arrangement may be
seen at the cathedral church of Christ Church at Oxford;
some authorities have from this similarity asserted that the
buildings must have been contemporaneous, but this does not
seem to have been the case. Mr. Prior considers the Romsey
work forty years earlier than that at Oxford, dating it about
II20 against the Oxford work, to which he assigns the date of
about 1 1 60. It may be noticed that the Romsey builder did
not continue this arrangement throughout the nave and choir,
whereas this was done at Oxford.
Generally speaking, the Norman piers at Romsey are com-

BASE OF A PIER IN THE NAVE

48

ROMSEY ABBEY

pound ones, formed of many minor shafts. The plain cyhndrical
form seen at Gloucester and Waltham is not met with at Rom
sey except in the pillar described above. The Norman aisles
have stone vaults, except in the three western bays, and it is
noteworthy that the arches leading into the transept are of
horseshoe type. These are very elaborately moulded, the outer
sides being ornamented with chevron decoration. The capitals
in the choir aisles are elaborately and grotesquely carved, though

ARCADING IN THE TOWER ABOVE THE MAIN ARCHES
it is not easy to interpret the subjects of this carving; on one
capital in the north aisle is represented a fight between two
kings, stayed by two winged figures; in the south aisle a
crowned figure stands, holding a pyramid, possibly intended as
a symbol of the church, while near by a seated figure and an
angel between them hold a V-shaped scroll on which may be
read the words, " Robert me fecit." Another somewhat similar
chevron bears the words, " Robert tute consule x. d. s.", but
who Robert was it is impossible to say. Henry I had a son
Robert, Earl of Gloucester, who is spoken of as " Consul "; he

THE INTERIOR 49
it was who fought for his half-sister Maud against Stephen. He
would have been alive at the time the church was built, but
whether he had any part in the erection of it we cannot say,
though he seems to have been interested in building, for the

IN THE ringers' CHAMBER OF THE TOWER
castles at Bristol and Cardiff and the tower of Tewkesbury
Abbey Church are attributed to him.
The tower of Romsey was at one time a lantern, open to
the roof,, but when the bells were placed in the wooden cage
on the roof, a ringing floor was inserted below. The arcading
running round the interior of the tower is very beautiful. The

5°

ROMSEY ABBEY

ringers' chamber is a spacious room, a good idea of the plain
architectural character of which is given in the accompanying
illustration. In the west wall of the north end of the transept a
perpendicular window has been cut through a group of Norman
windows, showing how little regard mediaeval builders had for the
preservation of earlier work. Opposite to this is one of the two
apsidal chantries, which in its'time has served various purposes.
Originally it was a chapel or chantry where mass was said for
the repose of the soul
of some private bene
factor of the Abbey;
then it became the
eastern apse of the par
ish church of St. Law
rence; still later it was
used as a school, and
now serves the purpose
ofa choir vestry. There
are within it two pis
cinae and two aumbries
at different levels, in
dicating, no doubt, an
alteration of level in
the altar itself during
the period that this
chantry was in use. An
elaborate monument
now stands under the
eastern wall.
In Mr. Spence's
" Essay on the Abbey
Church of Romsey "
(1851), this tomb is described as standing in the south ambu
latory. It commemorates one Robert Brackley, who died
Aug. 14, 1628.

THE WEST WALL OF NORTH TRANSEPT

A man that gave to the poor
Some means out of his little store
Let none therefore this fame deny him.
But rather take example by him
In spight of death in after dayes,
To purchase to himself like prayse.

THE INTERIOR

51

The tomb, which is of imitation porphyry, takes the form of
a sarcophagus, beneath an arch the soiifit of which is adorned
with red and white roses. Corinthian pillars of black marble
support the structure.

THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE

In the North Choir Aisle, on opposite sides, may be seen
two interesting mediaeval relics. On the north side is part of
a fourteenth-century reredos, probably that which stood behind
the high altar. It was found at the back of the present altar,
concealed behind the regulation panels on which the Lord's

52

ROMSEY ABBEY

Prayer and the Ten Commandments were painted. It had
evidently been itself partially repainted in a rougher style than
the original. The painting represents the Resurrection. The
portrait of an abbess is to be seen in the left-hand corner; above
is a row of ten figures — saints, bishops, and holy women. On
the opposite wall, carefully preserved behind a sheet of glass, is
a piece of fifteenth-century needlework; originally it was a cope,
and was in more recent
times used as an altar
cloth, its shape having of
course been altered to
adapt it to its new u.se.
The east end of the
north choir aisle, intern
ally apsidal though not
externally, is now fitted
up with an altar as a
chapel for week-day or
early morning services.
Passing to the south we
enter the ambulatory. It
is vaulted in stone, and
the plain horseshoe
arches at the end without
any ribs (see illustra
tion), are worthy of no
tice. In this space several
interesting relics of the
old abbey, and some con
jectural models of the
church in its former con
dition, may be seen.
Here, too, is a fifteenth-century walnut wood chest : and here
are two stone cressets, possibly used by the builders, which
when done with were built by them into the walls, where they
remained until discovered during the nineteenth-century re
storation of the church.
Among the relics is a very curious one which was found in
1839. A grave was being dug in the south aisle near the
abbess's door, and about five feet below the floor the work
men came upon a singular leaden coffin. It was 18 in. wide at

THE AMBULATORY, LOOKING NORTH

THE INTERIOR 53
the head and tapered gradually to 13 in. at the foot; it was
only 5 ft. long and 15 in. deep. The lead was very thick, and
the seams were folded over and welded, no solder being used.
The lead was much decayed. The curious thing about it is that
when it was opened not a bone was found within it; the lead
coffin had contained an oaken shell which crumbled into dust
on exposure to the air, but within the coffin lying on a block of
oak, so shaped as to receive the head of the corpse, was a tress of
auburn hair forming a plait about eighteen inches long. It was in
perfect condition and looked as if the skull had only recently
been removed from it. Why the hair and the block on which it
lay should alone have been preserved is sufficiently mysterious;
but there are other problems difficult of solution connected with
this relic; it was found beneath a mass of concrete and rubbish;
moreover the coffin lay partly beneath one of the piers of the
main arcading of the nave, and was not placed in the usual direc
tion, east and west, but the head was tutned towards the north
west. This leads one to suppose that this coffin was originally
buried in one of the earlier churches, and may have been some
what disturbed from its original position at the time when the
Norman church was built. Anyhow, it is strange that we should
be able to look on that tress of golden hair probably belonging
to some young damsel of high degree, one akin, it may be, to
the royal house of Wessex, who was being educated at this
Saxon nunnery so many centuries ago.
This relic was at one time left exposed, but as it was thought
that the hair was shrinking and losing its colour, it was covered
with glass and kept in a locked wooden case.
Here, too, may be seen several coins, including a "long cross''
silver penny, not earlier than the second half of the thirteenth
century, which was dug up in the churchyard; a ball probably
discharged from a Parliamentary culverin which was found em
bedded in the north face of the tower; a clumsy pair of forceps
which were used for extracting the teeth of nuns suffering from
toothache; a mason's punch found under the floor of the des
troyed Lady Chapel, and a Roman spearhead found at Great-
bridge, a short distance to the north ofthe town.
But among many precious relics, one recently recovered for
the church is of the greatest interest, namely, the Romsey
Psalter. This is a small octavo manuscript containing thirty pages of

54 ROMSEY ABBEY
vellum measuring 6.9 by 4.7 inches, each page containing as a
rule twenty-two lines. The approximate date is probably about
the middle of the fifteenth century. This is arrived at partly
from the character of the writing, and partly from the fact that
the Kalendar in it contains no mention of the Feast of the
Visitation of the Virgin on 2nd July, a feast which was ordered
to be used by the convocation of the province of Canterbury
in 1480. Hence it would seem that this Psalter with its Kalendar
must have been written before this date. The capital letters are
painted either red or blue, and besides these there are eight
illuminated initial letters, seven of which occupy a space equi
valent to eight manuscript lines, and the other a space equal to
nine lines. Connected with these illuminated letters are floral
borders on the left-hand side of the page, and in most cases at
the top or bottom also. The first and last pages of the book
are soiled, probably from the book for some long period of its
existence having been left lying about without covers. The
present binding is of much more recent date.
There are reasons for supposing that the book was the private
property of some abbess or nun, or, at any rate, of some one con
nected with the nunnery, and not a public service book.
It is also thought that the book was written by a Franciscan
friar for the use of some one in a Benedictine house. For in the
invocation of saints in the Litany which the book contains, the
names of the monastic saints are arranged in the following
order: Benedict, Francis, Anthony, Dominic (Bernard being
omitted), instead of the usual order: Anthony, Benedict, Ber
nard, Dominic, Francis.
The fact that the death days added to the Kalendar in the
sixteenth century are chiefly those of the abbesses of St. Mary's
nunnery, Winchester, seems to indicate that the book somehow
before that date had passed from Romsey to the nunnery at
Winchester. Of its further history nothing is known save that
at one time it belonged to a certain T. H. Lloyd, whose name is
written in it, until at last it was advertised for sale by Quaritch
in his catalogue of old books in 1900. The Dean of Winchester
happened to see this list, and called the attention of the Vicar
of Romsey to the fact that a book of such interest might, pro
vided the money to purchase it could be found, once more pass
back into the possession of the church, where it had been used
in its early days. There was little difficulty in collecting the

THE INTERIOR

55

money, and the book may now be seen preserved in a glass
case in the ambulatory at Romsey.
It is viforth notice that in this book the Psalms^are so divided

THE SOUTH CHOIR AISLE

that the first 109 would be recited at Mattins in the course of
a week, the others being used at Vespers during the same time.
There are certain hymns appointed for use on Sundays,
canticles from the Old and New Testament, the Te Deum,

56

ROMSEY ABBEY

Benedicite, and Quicunque Vult. Also a Litany, and sundry
additional prayers.
The east endof the South Choir Aisle corresponding to that
of the north choir aisle is now fitted up with an altar for week
day services. But this chapelhas in it one of the oldest if not
the very oldest piece of carved work connected with the abbey.
Taking the place of a reredos, is a carving of the Crucifixion
of unmistakable pre-Conquest character, its probable date is

1

^y//:'/- -

¦ ¦¦-

IB ,'?y-'ig* >A \^tSiV  1 KJteil.u

1

1 ¦

¦

xi-z tii^-tii., ...jti'
HHH9
^s^
SAXON CARVING AT THE EAST END OF THE SOUTH AISLE
about 1030. The figures are Byzantine in character, and besides
the Virgin and St. John who are so often represented in carv
ings and paintings of the Crucifixion, there are two of the
Roman soldiers, one holding the spear with which afterwards
the side of Jesus was pierced, and the other offering the sponge
of vinegar on the hyssop rod.
What the original position of this carving was we do not know,
it is described in 1742 as being on the south wall near the
communion table; then it appears to have been built face in-
THE NORTH-EAST ANGLE OF THE CROSSING

THE INTERIOR 59
wards, into the wall, and was placed in its present position by
the late vicar, the Rev. E. L. Berthon.
The apsidal chantry attached to the east wall of the southern
arm of the crossing is now used as the clergy vestry, and con
tains in a frame the deed of sale of the abbey church to the
parishioners of Romsey after the dissolution of the nunnery. It
is dated 20th February, 1544.
The Screen. The screen that divides the choir from the
crossing looks at first sight distinctly modern, yet it contains
some ancient carving dating from 1372. It has occupied various
positions in the church. At one time it was used to separate
from the Abbey Church the chancel of the parish church,
formed as already described from the north arm of the crossing.
It was afterwards placed across the nave, near the west end,
under the organ which blocked up the great triple lancet window.
In a guide book in the abbey, published in 1828, we read that
" there is a curious oaken screen of neat Gothic workmanship,
which now separates the west end from the part which is fitted
up for worship. It formerly stood in the northern transept, and
separated it from the body of the church, but when the altera
tion in the pewing was made, it was removed to the place it
now occupies, immediately under the organ : it was then painted.
The top of the screen is crowned with running foliage, under
neath which, in twenty-three Gothic trefoils, are as many carved
faces. They are evidently portraits very tolerably executed, and
on this account curious and interesting. One of them is crowned,
and all of them have their heads covered with flowing hair, or
wigs, or caps; the last on the right hand is a head thrusting out
its tongue, perhaps a sportive essay of the carver." When the
restoration was begun about the middle of the nineteenth cen
tury, this screen was removed, treated as useless lumber, and
stowed away in the triforium, which at that time, as already
described, was separated from the church by a wall. Here in
1880 the vicar, the Rev. E. L. Berthon, found, to use his own
words, " the ancient oak-carvings of heads in trefoils with a
curious cresting above." He resolved to utilize it in the con
struction of the chancel screen. The lower part is modern, de
signed to match the old work. The seats in the choir were de
signed by Mr. Berthon, and the heads intended to represent
various kings, saints, and abbesses, were carved in the town.
The pulpit was erected in 1891, the figures being carved by

6o ROMSEY ABBEY
Harry Hems of Exeter, who has done so much wood and stone
carving in restored reredoses and screens in various churches.
The Organ stands under the westernmost arch of the choir
on the north side.
The mediaeval Monuments remaining at Romsey are not nu
merous, being for the most part the graves and coffins of former
abbesses, many of them incapable of identification. The Old
Enghsh chronicle states that Eadward the Elder, his son Alfred,
his daughter Eadburh, St. /Ethelflsed, Eadmund, brother of King
.fithelred, were all buried here, but their graves are unknown,
and not a stone remains to commemorate them. There is one
very beautiful effigy of Purbeck marble now placed under an
ogee canopy at the south-east corner of the transept, but whom
it represents we cannot say. The slab is about 7 ft. long. A
small piece at the left-hand upper corner is broken off: were
this replaced the stone would be 2 ft. 3 in. wide at the head,
tapering downwards to about i ft. 3 in. at the foot. The re
cumbent figure is itself about 6 ft. in length. The lady is dressed
in a tight-sleeved loose robe, which falls in folds to the feet,
but is girt about the waist with band and buckle; the right
hand holds a fold of the robe; the left hand, lying on thebosom,
is in the position seen in so many of the figures on the west
front of the Cathedral Church at Wells, grasping the cord that
holds up the mantle to the shoulders ; the head rests on a
cushion; beneath the head-dress the wimple may be seen
passing beneath the chin. The pointed shoes rest on an
animal, possibly intended for a dog. This effigy bears a strong
resemblance to that of Eleanor, wife of Edward I, at Westmin
ster, and is certainly late thirteenth century work. There is
no staff or other symbol to show that the lady was an abbess.
By some it has been supposed that it was erected to the
memory of Isabella de Kilpec by her daughter, Alicia Walrand,
who was abbess from 1268 to 1298. At any rate, the date fits
in well with the character of the monument. Its original posi
tion in the church is unknown. It was found somewhere towards
the west end of the nave, by some workmen who were engaged
in digging a grave, and as it chanced to fit the ogee canopy in
the transept, it was laid under it, but it must not be supposed
that it originally had any connection with it. Near by is a seven
teenth century monument of John St. Barbe, and Grissel his
wife, whose family owned the estate of Broadlands, near Romsey,

THE INTERIOR

6i

which was afterwards bought by the great-grandfather of the
well-known statesman, Lord Palmerston. Several coffin lids of
various dates have been found, among them, that of the Abbess,
Joan Icthe, who died in 1349, of the terrible scourge that

TOMB AND EFFIGY IN THE SOUTH 1 RANSEPT

visited England in the fourteenth century, known as the Black
Death. Almost all the persons buried in the abbey were women,
but one curious exception may be noted. In 1845 a coffin was
discovered in the nave, under an enormous slab of stone,
measuring 11 ft. 5 in. by 3 ft. 9 in. Mr. Ferry, the architect,
E

62 ROMSEY ABBEY
under whose supervision the restoration of the abbey was then
being carried out, thus describes the discovery :
" Great care was exercised in raising the stone. Upon its
being moved, there was discovered immediately under it a
stone coffin, 5 ft. 10 in. long, by 2 ft. wide in the broadest part,
and I ft. deep ; containing the skeleton of a priest in good pre
servation, the figure measuring only 5 ft. 4 in. in length; the
head elevated and resting in a shallow cavity worked out of
the stone, so as to form a cushion. He had been buried in the
vestments peculiar to his office, viz., the alb and tunic. Across
the left arm was the maniple, and in his hand the chalice
covered with the paten. Considering these remains to be about
five hundred years old, it is remarkable that they should be
in such preservation. The chahce and paten are of pewter,'
the latter much corroded . a great portion of the linen alb
remains; the maniple is of brown velvet fringed at the ex
tremity, and lined with silk ; portions of the stockings remain,
and also all the parts of the boots, though from the decay of
the sewing, they have fallen in pieces. About 2 ft. from the
eiid of the coffin is a square hole through the bottom'; with
channels worked in the stone leading to it. This was probably
a provision to carry off the fluids, which would be caused by
the decomposition of the body. On the sides of the coffin
could be traced the marks of the corpse when it was first de
posited, from which it would appear that the deceased had
been stout as well as short of stature. It is to be regretted that
the inscription being stripped from the verge of the slab, we
have no means of knowing whose remains these are. The
Purbeck marble slab has never been disturbed, being found
strongly secured by mortar to the top of the stone coffin. It is
curious that the covering should be so gigantic, and the coffin
under it so small : judging by the size of the slab and the beauty
of the large floriated cross, it might have been supposed to
cover some dignified ecclesiastic. This is clearly not the case.
In the absence of any known date, judging from the im
press on the marble, and the shape of the stone coffin, I should
assign both to the early part of the fourteenth century."
There are sundry mural tablets of modern date, and near the
west end an altar tomb, with the recumbent effigy by West-
' It was common to bury not the real silver vessels used by the dead
priest, but imitations in baser metal.

THE INTERIOR

63

macott of Sir William Petty, the founder of the Lansdowne
family, who was born at Romsey in 1623, and was buried within
the abbey, and on the north side a tomb on which a child lies
on its side as if asleep, with its limbs carelessly stretched out.

I ^^^HIH

1

WMtrnMrn

iff i

^^H V

^

1

"^flUr

^^H^^HSr^^^V

H^^ i

'S
2
^Bg^^^^^^^^^^^B^BH^M^^^^^B
THE NORTH AISLE OF THE NAVE
There is no painted glass of mediaeval date to be seen in
the church; such as we find is modern. The three lancets at
the west are the work of Messrs. Clayton and Bell, and were
inserted as a memorial to Lord Palmerston, who died in 1865.
The glass in the windows in the east wall of the ambulatory
64 ROMSEY ABBEY
commemorating C. B. Footner, who died in 1889, was painted
by the same firm. The two east windows, painted by Messrs.
Powell, were inserted as a memorial to Lord Mount-Temple,
who died in 1888. To the same firm are due the windows in
the transept, which commemorate the Hon. Ralph Dutton,
Lady Mount-Temple, Mr. Tylee, Professor Ramsey, and the
Rev. E. L. Berthon, and the one in the north chancel aisle
erected to the memory of the wife of the Right Hon. Evelyn
Ashley. The window at the east end of the north aisle is by
Kempe, and commemorates Mr. G. B. Footner.
The Font is in the north aisle of the nave, dates from about
the middle of the last century, and stands on the same spot as
the ancient font of the church of St. Laurence. The conventual
church, of course, would not need a font. But in post-Reforma
tion times one stood on a raised platform at the west end of
the church.

THE SOUTH TRANSEPT

CHAPTER IV
THE ABBESSES OF ROMSEY
A COMPLETE list of the abbesses who ruled the religious house
at Romsey is not in existence ; there are several gaps of many
years in the succession. The exact dates of the election of some
of those whose names have been handed down to us are not
known. The following list is as complete as possible. The
names printed in ordinary type are taken from a board sus
pended in the retro-choir, those printed in italics are added
from a list given in the " Records of Romsey Abbey," by the
Rev. H. G. D. Liveing, 1906, which embodies the result of the
most recent research Whenever the date is uncertain c. for
"circa" is prefixed; the date of death when known is added,
marked with 0. for " obiit." The spelling of many of the names
is uncertain; in the list below the spelling follows that given by
the authorities quoted above :
c. 907 yElflseda, 0. c. 959.
966 S. Merwenna.
c. ggg Elwina.
c. 1003 ^thelflfeda.
c. 1016 IVulfynn.
c 1025 ^Ifgyfu.
* * * *
c. 1 1 30 Hadewis.
cii^o Matilda, o. 1155.
1 153 Mary, married ii6r, (5. 1182.
c. iiyi Juliana, 0. 1199.^
1 199 Matilda Walrane.
' Christina is mentioned as abbess in 1190, in the list suspended in the
church, but it is uncertain if she was an abbess.
67

68 ROMSEY ABBEY
1219 Matilda (Paria), (7. 1230.
I2J0 Matilda de Barbfle, o. 1237.
I2J'/' Isabella de Nevtll.
I2j8 Cecilia.
124."/ Constancia.
1261 Amicia de Sulhere.
1268 AUcia Walerand, o. 1298.
I2g8 Philippa de Stokes.
130"/ Clementia de Guildford, 0. 13 14.
I 31 4 Alicia de Wyntereshulle, 0. 131 5.
1313 Sybil Carbonel, o. 1333.
1333 loane Jacke (or Icthe).
1349 lohanna Gervas (or Gertieys).
1352 Isabella de Camoys.
1396 Lucy Everard.
140J Felicia Aas.
1417 Matilda Lovell.
1462 loan Bryggys.
1472 Elizabeth Broke, o. 1502.
1502 Joyce Rowse, resigned 1515.
/jzj Ann Westbroke, 0. 1523.
1523 Elizabeth Ryprose, dispossessed 1539.
About the majority of the abbesses httle or nothing is known;
some, indeed, were women of exemplary piety, others were
remarkable for their adniinistrative abilities, and did good work
in their own way; but of many all that can be said is that
In due time, one by one,
Some'with lives that came to nothing, some with deeds as well undone,
Death stepped tacitly and took them where they never see the sun.^
In this chapter will be narrated any incidents connected
with the lives of the abbesses and the nuns over whom they
ruled that seem to the writer likely to be of interest to the
general reader. It is noteworthy that the story of the nunnery
is, for the most part, pre-eminently credible; with a few ex
ceptions we hear nothing about visions or miracles;- here and
there we have touches of romance, which show that the life of
discipHne within "narrowing nunnery walls" is not always able
' "A Toccata of Galuppi's," R. Browning.

THE ABBESSES OF ROMSEY 69
to quell human passion, especially when pressure had been
brought to bear by friends and relations upon women scarcely
more than children, to induce them to take the veil. And as
time went on grave scandals arose, which even the energetic
action of reforming bishops was not altogether successful in
stopping, so that although the greed of Henry VIII and his
courtiers was, no doubt, the prime factor leading to the sup
pression of the rehgious houses, yet the unholy lives of the
inmates gave them some valid reasons, or at rate excuses, for
their action in closing nunneries and monasteries.
A story is told of King Eadgar which, indirectly, has some
bearing on the Abbey of Romsey. About the year 960 he heard
of the surpassing beauty of one ^Ifthryth,' daughter of Ordgar
of Devon, and possibly never having heard ofthe mischief that
befell Arthur when he sent Launcelot to ask at her father's
hands his fair daughter Guinevere, or to Mark when he sent
Tristram on a similar errand to Iseault's father, he sent his
trusted and hitherto trustworthy friend ^thelwold to Ordgar.
But yEthelwold as soon as he saw ^Elfthryth fell hopelessly in
love with her, and so hid the king's message, and wooed and
won the fair damsel for himself; and on his return told the king
that the accounts of her beauty were altogether false, that she
was vulgar and commonplace. So the king, believing his friend,
turned his thoughts to other ladies ; but before long some
rumours of the way in which he had been deceived came to the
king's ear, and he, dissembling his purpose and not telling him
of what he had heard, simply told ^thelwold that on a certain
day he intended to visit the lady himself yEthelwold, in alarm,
hurried to his wife and begged her to conceal her beauty and
clothe herself in unbecoming attire, so that she might not win
the king's admiration; but she did just the reverse, and enhanced
her natural beauty by donning handsome raiment and jewellery.
Her plan succeeded, the king fell in love with her and, accord
ing to one account, slew y^lthelwold with his own hand while
they were hunting, and when no man was by; or, according to
another version, he sent him to hold a dangerous command in
the north and slew him by the sword of the Northumbrians. It
is, however, doubtful if Eadgar compassed his death at all, but
two years after it he married his widow, whose beauty was her
' The Elgiva of school histories.

70 ROMSEY ABBEY
chief recommendation, for though it has nothing to do with
Romsey, it may be mentioned in passing that it was she by
whose order Eadgar's eldest son by his first wife, Eadward the
Martyr, was murdered at Corfegate, where the well-known castle
afterwards rose and where its ruins remain until this day. Now
/Ethelwold had previously had to wife one Brichgyfu, a kins
woman of Eadgar, and had had by her many sons and daughters,
the last born of them was named ^^thelflaed; according to other
accounts, ^.thelflsed was born after her father's death, and there
fore must have been ^.Ifthryth's child. Be this as it may, she
was in any case akin to the king or queen, and was by them
entrusted to the care of St. Merwynn of Romsey. A true mother
in God the abbess proved, and a dutiful and loving daughter
was ^thelflsed. In due time she took the veil, and the sanctity
of her life was shown in various ways, and was attested by
miracles. She made no display of her austerities, pretended to
eat and drink with the other nuns but hid the food in order to
give it to the poor, and used to leave her dormitory at night,
even in winter time, to plunge naked into one of the streams and
there remain until she had chanted the Psalms of the day. Once
in her younger days, when the abbess was cutting some switches
from the river banks wherewith to chastise the girls under her
charge, the stone walls of the nunnery became clear as trans
parent glass to the eyes of TF^thelflasd, and she saw what the
abbess was doing, and when she came in she besought her with
many tears not to beat her or her companions. The abbess,
much astonished, asked her how she knew that she was going to
beat them; to which -T^thelflfed replied that she had seen her
cutting the switches, and that they were even now hidden under
her cloak. Another miracle is recorded which, for the saint's
reputation, one would hope was a pure invention of the
chronicler, since if it were true it might lay her open to the
charge of performing an easy trick with phosphorus in order
to gain credit for miraculous power. It is said that one night
when it was her turn to read the lesson the lamp which she held
in her hand went out, but that her fingers became luminous and
shed sufficient light upon the book to enable her to read the
lesson to the end. Other miracles are related of her, and though
she was not elected abbess on the death of St. Merwynn she
obtained that honour three years afterwards on the death of
Abbess Ailwynn. ^

THE ABBESSES OF ROMSEY 71
The next sainted woman who calls for mention is Christine,
daughter of Eadmund Ironside, and sister of Eadgar the .:F;thel-
ing, and of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, who became a nun
at Romsey, and is supposed by some to have been Abbess,
though this is very doubtful. The Scotch king Malcolm Can-
more and Margaret his queen, sent their two daughters Eadgyth
and Mary to be educated by their aunt Christine. Aunt Chris
tine acted on the principle of the proverb, "Spare the rod,
spoil the child," and Eadgyth spoke in after days of the whip
pings she had received because she refused to wear a nun's
veil. Professor Freeman tells us how on one occasion the Red
King came to Romsey to woo Eadgyth, for it must be remem
bered that she was now the eldest female representative of the
old Wessex kings, and a marriage with her would do much to
weld together Normans and English. But, although he was
admitted to the nunnery, Christine persuaded Eadgyth to put
on a nun's garb as a disguise — she was at the time about twelve
years old — and told her to go into the choir; to allow time for
the change of raiment she invited the king to come and see the
flowers in the cloister garden. As he went thither, he caught
sight of Eadgyth in her veil, and imagined that he was too late,
for even he, bad as he was, would not care to press his suit,
especially as it was prompted by policy, not by love, and a
marriage with a nun would be counted illegal and so would fail
to have the result he desired.
This took place in 1093. Later in the same year it is said that
another king, her father Malcolm of Scotland, came to see her
and was vexed to see her wearing a veil and tore it from her
head, saying he did not wish her to be a nun but a wife.
Another suitor in due course came to woo her, a more eligible
one than Rufus, namely his brother Henry I. In this case the
union was dictated not only by policy but by love. But there
were certain difficulties. There was no doubt that Eadgyth had
worn a veil, but whether simply as a disguise or a professed
nun was open to argument; so a solemn assembly was called
by Anselm to hear evidence on the subject. The decision it
came to was that she was not a nun, and, to use Mr. Freeman's
words, Anselm " gave her his blessing and she went forth as we
may say Lady-Elect of the English."
On her marriage she laid aside her Enghsh name Eadgyth,
and assumed that of Matilda or Maud. Robert of Gloucester

72 ROMSEY ABBEY
calls her "Molde the gode quene." And Peter de Langtoft
says of her Malde bight that mayden, many of her spak.
Fair scho was, thei saiden, and gode witliouten lak. •
***** Henry wedded dame Molde, that king was and sire,
Saynt Anselme men tolde corouned him and hire.
The corounyng of Henry and of Malde that may.
At London was solemply on St. Martyn's day.
Henry and Matilda were benefactors to many abbeys, and
naturally the queen was not forgetful of Romsey when the days
of her girlhood had been passed. She was the mother of the
prince who perished in the White Ship, and of Matilda who
married the Count of Anjou, and carried on warfare against
Stephen on behalf of her son Henry. Matilda of Romsey died
in 1118 and was buried at Winchester.
The next abbess worthy of notice was Mary, daughter of
King Stephen, of whom a true and romantic story is told, and
who, by breaking her vows and marrying caused a great scandal
at the time. She was the youngest daughter of the king, and a
granddaughter on her mother's side of Mary, whom Christine .
had brought up with her sister Eadgyth. She was educated at
Bourges, then was transferred with other French nuns to the
abbey at Stratford le Bowe, but as the original English nuris
and the imported French ones did not agree, the latter went to
a Benedictine house near Rochester, which had been founded
by Stephen, and later on, about 1155, Mary became Abbess of
Romsey. Her brother Williarn, Count of Boulogne, died about
1159, and his estates passed to his sister. Matthew of Alsace
cast covetous eyes on her broad lands and encouraged, it is
said, by Henry II, who thought thereby to gain a powerful
friend on the continent and, at the same time, annoy Thomas
Becket, sought the abbess's hand in marriage. He persuaded
her to leave Romsey and become his wife : it is thought that
Henry II may have brought some pressure to bear upon her to
induce her to take this step. Anyhow, she was married in 1161.
Her new people gladly received her, and her kindness of heart
won and held their affection. For ten years Matthew and Mary
hved happily together, or would have been happy if it had not
been for the ban of the church. Then either on account of
conscientious scruples about their past conduct, or on account

PIER IN TIIE NORTH NAVE ARCADE

THE ABBESSES OF ROMSEY 75
ofthe disabilities imposed on them by the church, they separ
ated, and Mary once more took on her the religious life, but
not at Romsey. No doubt she thought it better to go to a con
vent entirely new to her, that at Montreuil, where she would
not be constantly reminded of her former misconduct. Here
she died in 1 182, aged forty-five. It is noteworthy that her two
daughters were legitimatized, their names were Ida and Maud.
Ida, the elder, married first Gerard of Gueldres, and then Regi
nald of Damartin, and the younger, Maud, married the Duke of
Brabant, so that it would seem that the pope did not take a very
serious view of the Abbess Mary's broken vows.
The thirteenth century abbesses followed one another in quick
succession, no good thing for the discipline of the abbey. When
Matilda died in 12 19, the old gallows on which the abbess had
had the right of hanging offenders condemned by her court,
fell into disuse, but the right was restored by the King to
Amicia. Towards the end of the century, episcopal visita
tions began, and the Bishop of Winchester looked into various
disorders that had grown up among the abbesses and sisters.
The various methods of procedure and the things forbidden
give us some idea of the abuses that prevailed. The abbess was
required in the injunction issued about 1283 not to exercise an
autocratic power but only a constitutional one, being guided by
the advice of her chapter. It was forbidden to any men except
the confessor, and the doctor in case of illness of a nun to enter
the convent; all conversation with outsiders was to take place in
the presence of witnesses and in an appointed place. The nuns
were forbidden to visit the laity in Romsey, and other like
ordinances were enjoined.
Philippa de Stokes and Clementia de Guildeford were infirm,
and dementia's successor, Alicia de WynterseshuU, was poisoned
soon after her election, but no evidence could be produced to
convict the murderer.
Many episcopal visitations took place during the fourteenth,
fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. The injunctions issued at
many of them are in existence: these deal only with what is
blameworthy, not with that which calls for no reproof. Some of
the things objected to seem to us very trivial. On one occasion
the nuns were forbidden to keep pet animals, as the abbess was
charged with giving her dogs and monkeys the food intended
for the sisters. Sometimes the abbess was forbidden to take

76 ROMSEY ABBEY
into the convent more than a certain number of nuns. In i<333
there were ninety-one, but after a time the numbers decreased,
and at the dissolution there were only twenty-six. The injunc
tions of 131 1 were very strict, some of them deal with the lock
ing of doors, forbid the presence of children, whether boy or
girl, in the dormitory or in the choir.
Romsey, like many other religious houses, suffered severely
at the time of the Black Death. The number and names of the
ninety-one nuns voting in 1333 at the election of Johanna Ichte
has come down to us. The pestilence reached Weymouth from
the east in August, 1348, and of it died the abbess Johanna,
two vicars, one prebendary, and no doubt many of the sisters,
as in 1478 the number of nuns had dropped from ninety-one to
eighteen, and after this there were never more than twenty-six
nuns at Romsey. The reduction in the nuns not only decreased
the importance of the abbey but led to a terrible relaxation of
discipline. The worst scandal arose when Elizabeth Broke was abbess.
The evidence given before Dr. Hede, Commissary of the Prior
of Canterbury, is still extant. There were various charges against
her, that she allowed some of the sisters to wear long hair, did
not prevent the nuns going into the town and drinking at the
taverns, treated some witTi great severity, did not keep the
convent accounts accurately, suffered sundry roofs to get out of
order, and that she was much under the influence of the chaplain.
Master Bryce. Some years before this she had been charged
with adultery; this she seems to have denied with oaths, and
finally, when she could brazen it out no further, she confessed
to adultery and perjury and resigned her office, the only thing
she could do; but the most remarkable part of the story is still
to come : the sisters being required to fill the vacant post by the
election of an abbess, almost unanimously re-elected Elizabeth
Broke. Two only, Elizabeth herself and one other, did not vote
for her. The bishop thereupon restored her to her position as
abbess, but to mark his displeasure with her he forbade her to
use the abbatial staff for seven years. The remaining years of
her rule were not satisfactory. The sisters took advantage of
the scandal she had caused to act in an insubordinate way to
wards her. The next abbess was Joyce Rowse, but she was utterly
unable to reinstate the old disciphne — we hear of her revelling
with some of the sisters in the abbess's quarters. Bishop Fox in

THE ABBESSES OF ROMSEY 77
his injunctions in 1507 forbade sundry priests to hold any com
munication with the abbess or with any of the nuns. William
Scott was forbidden to gossip with the nuns at the kitchen win
dow. Nature it would seem was much the same in the sixteenth
century as it is now, and the convent servants loved gossip as
much as ours do.
The abbess, finding that she could not maintain her authority
in the abbey, resigned, and Anne Westbrooke, formerly mistress
of the convent school, was appointed to succeed her in 15 15.
She died in 1593, and was succeeded by the last abbess,
Elizabeth Ryprose; she seems to have been a capable woman,
and tried hard to do her duty. But it was too late to purify the
abbey. Various nuns were reprimanded or punished in 1527 by
the vicar-general. Alice Gorsyn confessed to having used bad
language and having spread false and defamatory stories about
the sisters; on her confession she was admitted to penance, but
it was ordered that if she transgressed again in like manner she
was to wear a tongue made of red cloth under her chin for a
whole month, and the abbess was ordered to see the sentence
carried out.
Clemence Malyn was deposed from her office of sub-prioress
and sextoness on account of the careless manner in which she
had performed the duties of these offices, and she also, in
answer to questions asked by the vicar-general, acknowledged
that she had frequently hidden a key of the abbey church in a
hole so that a certain Richard Johans might find it and enter
the church, and might drink in the sacristy wine with which
she provided him, though she denied having ever drunk with
him or otherwise misconducted herself Margaret Doumar con
fessed that she had been guilty of incontinence with Thomas
Hordes, and she was severely punished: she was to be impri
soned for a year, to hold no conversation with any sister save
her gaoler, she was to eat no food except bread and water every
third and sixth day of the week, and to receive chastisement
on those days in the Chapter House.
The nunnery was suppressed in 1539, and the fact that no
pensions were given to the abbess or sisters seems to point to
the fact that the abbess did not voluntarily surrender. Where
this was done the monks or nuns were generously treated by
the King's commissioners, but when they refused to surrender
they were expelled without any provision being made for them.

78 ROMSEY ABBEY
What became of the majority of these expelled monks and nuns
we do not know, possibly any of those who were in priest's
orders found work in parish churches, but the case of the nuns
was harder. We hear nothing of the after life of any of the
Romsey nuns save Jane Wadham, who married one John
Forster, who had been the collector of the abbey rents. She
declared that she had been forced to take the veil against her
will, and he said he had been similarly forced to enter the
priesthood. After the suppression the domestic buildings of the abbey
disappeared — but the church was sold to the people of Romsey
by Henry VIII for the small sum of ^^loo. The deed of sale
may still be seen in the clergy vestry at Romsey. Queen Mary,
at the beginning of her reign, restored some of the church plate.
And so the history of the religious house at Romsey ends.
In one respect it was more fortunate than the neighbouring
nunneries at Shaftesbury, Wilton, and Amesbury. The abbey
church remains until this day, and enables us to form an idea
of the arrangements in force in the churches of Benedictine
sisterhoods. Many monastic churches remain, some having be
come cathedrals, as Gloucester, some parish churches, as Sher
borne, but few of the churches belonging to nunneries survived
the suppression of the religious houses; one at Cambridge, now
used as the chapel of Jesus College, and the church at Romsey,
are, however, among the few exceptions. W"e could wish that
we knew more about the history of this religious house, but
sufficient is known to show us that it was once a very famous
abbey, and a place of instruction for many royal and noble
ladies, in its early days the discipline of the Benedictine rule
seems to have been well maintained, though in later years faith
grew cold and worldhness prevailed within its walls, as indeed
it did in many another monastery and nunnery, so that when
the old order changed giving place to new, the people of the
country, especially in what was once the original kingdom of the
West Saxons, saw them suppressed without any great feelings of
regret. The architectural student and the archaeologist,. indeed,
regret that so many of the abbey churches have become little
more than picturesque ruins such as Glastonbury, or mere grass-
covered foundations such as Bindon and Shaftesbury, and when
so many have perished we cannot be too thankful that the
splendid abbey church at Romsey still stands in all its pristine
beauty and interest.

VICARS OF ROMSEV

79

VICARS OF ROMSEV

As given in a list suspended in the Retro-choir

1282 Solomon de Roffa, Pre
bendary of St. Laurence
Major.
1292 John de Romese, Pre
bendary of Edington.
1304 John de London, Pre
bendary of Edington.
1312 Gilbert de Middleton,
Prebendary of Eding
ton.
1322 Henry de Chilmark.
1325 Richard de Chaddesley,
D.C.L.
1342 Nicholas de Gulleston.
1344 Nicholas de Ballestone.
1349 John de Minstede.
c. 1360 Thomas Eggesworth.
137 1 John FfoUiott.
1380 Roger Purge.
1400 John Winfrey orUmfray.
1420 John Bayley, M.A.
1464 John Green, M.A.
1482 Edward Coleman, M.A.

1500 John Hopwood.
1519 John Newman, LL.B.
1546 Roger Richardson.
1586 Samuel Adams.
1620 Anthony White, M.A.
1648 John AVarren (an in
truder).
1662 Thomas Doughty.
1666 Jacobus Wood.
1669 Samuel Walensius.
1680 Thomas Donne.
1690 William Mayo.
1727 John King.
1746 John Peverell.
1 78 1 John Woodbron.
1808 Daniel Williams.
1833 WiUiam Vaux, Canon.
1841 Gerard Noel, Canon.
1849 William Carus, Canon.'
1855 Charles Avery Moore.
i860 Edward Lyon Berthon.
1892 James Cooke Yar-
borouffh.

' Well known at Cambridge, where the Carus Greelc Testament Prizes
perpetuate his memory.

INDEX

Abbesses, historical list of, 67-78.
Aelfgyfu (Emma), benefactress, 18.
Aelflaed, 16, 17.
Aisles, 24, 4S; north choir, 22, 28;
south, 56.
Ambulatory, 52.
Apse, foundations of, 17.
Apsidal chapels, 24, 34, 50, 59.
Bells, 34.
Berthon, Rev. E. L., 18, 24, 59.
Brackley tomb, 50-
Broke, Eliz. , Abbess, 76.
Capitals, carved, 48.
Chantry of St. George destroyed,
22, 28.
Choir rebuilt, 40.
Christ Church, Oxford, 47.
Church purchased by the people,
22, 78.
Clerestory, 45.
Corbel table, 30.
Danes, destruction by, 18.
Dimensions, 82.
Doors, 32.
Eadgyth (Queen Maud), 71.
Font, 64.
Foundation, 16.
Horse-shoe arches, 52.
Icthe, Joan, Abbess, 61.
Kilpec, Isabella de, supposed effigy
of, 60.

Lawrence, St., Parish Church, 22,
28, 50.
Mary, Abbess, 72.
Monuments, 60-63.
Nave, interior, 39.
Organ, 60.
Petty, Sir W., tomb of, 63.
Relics, hair, 52; sundry, 53.
Reredos, fourteenth-century, Si-
Restoration, 24, 36.
Robert, Earl of Gloucester, 48.
Romsey Psalter, 53.
 Rood, 32.
Ryprose, E., last Abbess, 77.
St. Barbe John, monument of, 60.
.Saxon carving, 56.
Screen, choir, 59.
Suppression of the nunnery, 77.
Tomb of priest, 62 ; of unknown
lady, 60.
Tower, top, 24; interior, 49.
Triforium, 44, 46.
Vaults, 39, 48.
West front, 29.
Western (Early English) addition,
20, 43.
Windows, east, 21, 28, 64; west, 63.

DIMENSIONS
Total length of church, including buttresses . 263 feet.
,, ,, from outer faces of walls . 256
Total width of nave and choir from outer faces of walls 86
Total length of transept : exterior .... 140
,, ,, interior .... 127
Length of nave, interior ...... 165
,, choir ,,  54
Width of retro-choir, interior, east and west . I S
,, nave, interior, between centre of piers . 39
,, aisles, interior, from centre of piers to walls 18
Height of nave walls to wall plate .... 70
Height of tower ....... 93
Length and breadth of tower, interior ... 28
Total area . . . 21,470 square feet.

Sz

A Saxon Rood.
B Saxon Reredos.
C Effigy of Lady.
D Sir W. Petty's
Monument.
E Choir Screen.
I Organ.
G Font.
H Abbess's Door.
J Nuns' Door.
K North Door.
L Clergy Vestry.
M Choir Vestry.
J (The three western
bays are of thir-
t eenth-cen tury
work).

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