[BEAULIEU (Mitred Cistercian)]
1204, Founded by King John—1539, Dissolved. Annual revenue, £326, 13s. 2d.
The spiritual brothers of every monastic order had in common, it would seem, the gift of discerning for their foundations sites as perfect in natural charms and resources as in their adaptability for lives of study and meditation, and in their security against encroachments from without. Beaulieu and Netley had each in a measure these advantages. At the time of the Dissolution remoteness and inaccessibility proved the salvation of Netley Abbey. The vast mother-abbey of Beaulieu however lay along tide-water, and its stones were materially available for the king’s purposes. Very little remains therefore of this seat of a mitred abbot except a few of the domestic buildings, including the refectory, now used as the parish church of Beaulieu (Early English), some remnants of the cloisters, and also the fratry and kitchen. On the east side of the cloister area three arches of the chapter-house still stand. The ruins of the abbey may be reached through a stone gateway adjoining the abbot’s house—now a modern mansion, in the Decorated hall of which is a particularly fine vaulted roof. Surrounding the house is a moat constructed by an Earl of Montague as a defence against the attacks of French privateers.
The site of the abbey church was fully disclosed during excavations undertaken at the instigation of members of the ducal house of Buccleuch, and we may trace the location of every wall and pier of what must once have been a noble church with its great nave of nine bays and complete double-aisled choir with a circular termination. The body of Isabella, wife of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, known as King of the Romans, has been found in front of the high altar. The loss of Beaulieu is irreparable in the history of English architecture. One can but be thankful that the little that remains is in the hands of so thoughtful and reverent a custodian, and that the exquisite natural charms are left, not only undisturbed, but are tended with such appreciation and discrimination that “Bellus locus” justifies its name as fully as ever it did. Close to the New Forest, surrounded by majestic trees, the beauty of the scene is greatly enhanced by the sheet of water which spreads itself in sight of the foliage—whilst glimpses of a tidal river can be seen winding between banks edged with trees towards the not far distant ocean.
“Now sunk, deserted and with weeds o’ergrown
Yon prostrate walls their awful fate bewail;
Low on the ground their topmost spires are thrown,
Once friendly marks to guide the wandering sail.
The ivy now with rude luxuriance bends
Its tangled foliage through the cloistered space
O’er the green windows ’mouldering height ascends
And fondly clasps it with a last embrace.”