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 confessed that she had been guilty of incontinence with Thomas Hordes, and she was severely punished: she was to be imprisoned 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. 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 £100. 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 become cathedrals, as Gloucester, some parish churches, as Sherborne, 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. We 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 worldliness 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.
As given in a list suspended in the Retro-choir
1282
1292
1304
1312
1322
1325
1342
1344
1349
c. 1360
1371
1380
1400
1420
1464
1482
1500
1519
1546
Solomon de Roffa, Prebendary of St. Laurence Major.
John de Romese, Prebendary of Edington.
John de London, Prebendary of Edington.
Gilbert de Middleton, Prebendary of Edington.
Henry de Chilmark.
Richard de Chaddesley, D.C.L.
Nicholas de Gutleston.
Nicholas de Ballestone.
John de Minstede.
Thomas Eggesworth.
John Ffolliott.
Roger Purge.
John Winfrey or Umfray.
John Bayley, M.A.
John Green, M.A.
Edward Coleman, M.A.
John Hopwood.
John Newman, LL.B.
Roger Richardson.