The Derelict Titchfield Abbey Hampshire
by Terri Waters
Title
The Derelict Titchfield Abbey Hampshire
Artist
Terri Waters
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
The derelict Titchfield Abbey has no roof and is open to the elements and regularly floods.
With stone hard to come by in the county of Hampshire, the abbey was built mainly using stone brought in from neighbouring Dorset, the Isle of Wight and possibly even as far afield as Caen in France.The abbey buildings were centred around the church, which was comparatively small and lacking in grandeur. It was cruciform in plan with a narrow, aisle-less nave, a short eastern arm, six side chapels in the transepts and a tower with bells. It was in some ways a rather old fashioned design and deliberately austere, perhaps reflecting the strict doctrines of the order at the period of construction.
North of the church stood a cloister surrounded on three sides by the domestic buildings of the house, including the chapter house, dormitory, kitchen, refectory, library, food storage rooms and quarters for the abbot. Though not large, the surviving ruins show that the abbey buildings were of very high quality with fine masonry and carving. As the Middle Ages progressed considerable investment was made to upgrade the domestic buildings to meet rising living standards, and it is probable that by the mid fourteenth century they were rather luxurious, as evidenced by the elaborate polychrome floor tiles (an expensive and high status product) still seen today all over the site.
Titchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market. Near to the village are the ruins of Titchfield Abbey, a place with strong associations with Shakespeare, through his patron, the Earl of Southampton.
Once home to a community of Premonstatensian canons, Titchfield Abbey was later transformed into a grand mansion called Place House.
In 1537, Titchfield Abbey was granted to Thomas Wriothesley, later earl of
Southampton, who was a loyal servant to King Henry VIII. He played a key part in the king's suppression of the monasteries and was given monastic lands as a reward.
Wriothesley transformed the main abbey building into Place House, a residence fit for a rising courtier.
Several royal visitors were entertained here, including Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. William Shakespeare was a friend of the family and it is thought some of his plays were first performed here.
On the death of the fourth earl of Southampton, Titchfield passed through several families, until it was eventually dismantled in 1781.
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Uploaded
May 5th, 2013
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