Romsey Abbey
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A S H O RT ACCO UN T OF ROMSEY AB B EY . A D ESCRI PTI ON OF T H E FAB RI C ‘ AN D NOT E S ON T H E H I STO RY OF T H E V MARY CON ENT OF S S . ET H E LF LED A -“V [A r BY THE RE V. T . PE RKINS R OF N R SE R E CTO TU R WO TH , DOR T “ ” ” “ A EN S E N B N E AUTHOR OF M I , ROU , WIM OR ” A N D S E T C. CHRI TCHURCH , W I TH $ $$I I ILLUS TRATIONS LONDON GEORGE BE L L AND S ONS 1 9 07 O CH ’S WI CK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTI N GHAM AN D CO v Q . ‘ s l O KS R N N N D N . O COU T , CHA CERY LA E , LO O P R E F ACE I T H E architecturaland descriptive part of this book is the result of a of careful personal examination the f bric, made when the author has visited the abbey at various times during the last twenty years . The illustrations are reproduced from photo of graphs taken by him on the occasions these visits . The historical information has been derived from many “ sources . Among these may especially be mentioned An Essay ” C . descriptive of the Abbey Church of Romsey, by Spence, the first edition of which was published in 1 85 1 ; the small ofiicial guide sold in the church , and Records of Romsey m Abbey, compiled from anuscript and printed records, by . L ivein . A . the Rev Henry G D g, M , Vicar of Hyde, Win 1 06 - chester, 9 . This last named work contains all that is at is of present known , or that likely to be known , the history of the abbey from its foundation early in the ninth cen tury up to the year 1 5 5 8 . To this book the reader who desires fuller information and minuter details than could be given in the e e following pages is ref rr d . The thanks of the writer are d u e to the late and present a for Vic rs kind permission to examine the building, and to take photographs of it from any point of view he desired . T N R EC UR WORTH TORY , B L AN D F O R I ) D SE . , OR T r Ala m, 1 9 07 . CON T E N T S PA G E H R I C A PTE I . H ISTOR Y OF THE BUI L D NG T H E $ R R I I . E TE IO T H E R R III . I NTE IO V T H E R M E v I . ABBESSES OF o S VICAR S OF ROM SEY I N D E $ D I M ENSIO N S OF THE ABBEY CHU R CH L I S T OF I L L US T R AT I ON S PA GE R O M SEY ABBEY F R O M THE EAST ABBESS’S SEAL A I D A A S T R AN PS L CH PEL, OUTH SEPT T H E A K I N N VE , LOO G WEST J UNCTION OF NO R M AN AN D E A R LY E NGLISH WO R K VI EW F R OM THE NOR TH - WEST T H E AE E E ss ’s D OOR T H E W EST E N D AN D SOUTH T R ANSEPT T H E SOUTH T R ANSEPT F R OM THE WEST T H E SA$ ON R OO D T H E R SI D CHOI , SOUTH E T H E A N R D N VE, O TH SI E CYLI N D R ICAL P I ER NO R TH N AVE AR CA D E T H E CLER ESTOR Y OF NAVE E AR LY E NGLISH B AYS OF THE N AVE T HE SOUTH SI D E OF T H E CHOI R T R I FO R IU M A R C H I N THE NO R TH T R ANS E PT T H E I N TE R IO R F R OM THE WEST B ASE OF A P I E R I N THE N AVE AR CAD ING I N THE T OWER I N THE R I N GER S ’ CHA M BE R T H E W EST W ALL OF NO R TH T R ANSEPT T H E NO R TH CHOI R AISLE T H E AM BULATO R Y T H E SOUTH C HOI R AIS L E 1 2 ROMSEY ABB EY SA$ A R IN S E ON C V G, OUTH AISL T H E NO R TH - E AST ANGLE OF T H E C R OSSI NG T O M E AN D E FFIGY I N THE SOUTH T R ANSEPT T H E NOR TH AISLE OF THE NAVE T H E SOUTH T R ANSEPT P I ER I N THE NO R TH N AVE AR CAD E P LAN S D A I . E S N SE A P I CHAP L , OUTH TRA PT R O M S E Y A B B E Y C H APTER I HISTOR Y OF T H E BUILD I NG T H E 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 spellings - e e e E l in many place nam s , such as Ath ln y, y, Lundy, Mersea a and others, for Romsey st nds upon an island, or rather group th e e Te t of islands , formed by the division of riv r s into a number m w th e of strea s, hich again flow together to the south of 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 om it from R e, and regard Romsey as a hybrid word taking the ” s th e fi place of Romana in ula, rst word having been shortened a O h axon and the second tr nslated into ld Englis , or S as some prefer to call it . Now it is true that there were several important Roman stations in the neighbourh ood : S orbiod un u m $Old u E V B el aru m Sar m), rige $Broughton), enta g $Winchester), Clau sen tu m and $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 S how that th e m place was inhabited during the Ro an occupation . Anoth er ” derivation is the Celtic word R u im n e $marshy); this w ould m be ake the name mean Marshy island , and there can no doubt that this would be an apt description of the place in olden tim es against this may be alleged that again the word would be hybrid . Y et another derivation which avoids this o b ” ecti n Old R fim we j o is the English , from whence get room , m m and if we adopt this derivation Ro sey, or Ru sey as it is 1 6 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 thes e three suggestions . The writer is inclined to favour the third . But th e i visitor who, arriv ng at the railway station either by the e or h branch lin via Redbridge by that which runs from Eastleig , 01 e th e e or from Salisbury, Andov r, proceeds to Abb y, would not realize when he arrived at his destination that he was in an d island , for the minor streams are not spanned by bri ges , but have been completely covered in and run through small tunnels h beneath some of t e streets . We have no records of Romsey before the original foundation for w . T h e fi of the Abbey, nor indeed many years after ards rst authentic mention of the abbey is foun d in the chronicl e of e e e 1 1 1 8 Florenc of Worc ster, who di d in , and whose work , at e a e l ast that p rt of it which d als with English history, is a Latin translation of the Old English Chronicle . He writes I n anno 6 . An loru m ac ificu s E d aru s R u mesi e 9 7 Rex g p g in monasterio g , An loru m E ad ward u s c o nstruxerat quod avus suus Rex g senior , san ctimo n iales collo cavit san ctam u e M arew n n a m , q y super eas ” Abbatis mam c on stitu it . T h E adward u e th e U e e was is , also s rnam d nconqu r d , the son a n e O fE lfred d successor of the great st of the ld English Kings , , 2 ri h e and reigned from 9 0 1 to 9 5 .