Romsey Abbey
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Romsey Abbey is the name currently given to a
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
in
Romsey Romsey ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is situated northwest of Southampton, southwest of Winchester and southeast of Salisbury. It sits on the outskirts of the New Forest, just over northeast of ...
, a market town in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, England. Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was the church of a
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
nunnery. The surviving Norman-era church is the town's outstanding feature and is now the largest parish church in the county of
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
since changes in county boundaries led to the larger
Christchurch Priory Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire). It is one of the longest parish churches in the country and is as large as many of the Church o ...
being now included in Dorset. The current vicar is the Reverend Thomas Wharton, who took up the post in September 2018.


Monastic history

The church was originally built during the 10th century, as part of a monastic foundation of
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
women. In 968, the abbey was gifted land by
Edgar, King of England Edgar (or Eadgar; 8 July 975), known sometimes as Edgar the Peacemaker or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Edm ...
and rededicated. The religious community continued to grow and a village grew around it. Both suffered already in the 10th century, when
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9â ...
raiders sacked the village and burnt down the original church in 993. However, the abbey was rebuilt in stone in around 1000 and the village quickly recovered. The abbey and its community of nuns flourished and was renowned as a seat of learning – especially for the children of the nobility. In Norman times a substantial, new stone abbey was built on the old Anglo-Saxon foundation ( to 1140 AD) by Henry Blois, Bishop of Winchester and Abbot of Glastonbury, younger brother of King Stephen. In this general period, the community prospered and by 1240 the nuns numbered more than 100. It was in this period that the dramatic case arose of Princess Marie (1136–1182), youngest daughter of
Stephen of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne '' jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 113 ...
. Marie had become a novice at the Priory of Lillechurch in
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, but transferred to Romsey in the years 1148–1155, being elected Abbess in 1155, the year following her father's death. In 1159, the death of her brother
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
left her as the ''suo jure'' Countess of Boulogne and the following year prompted
Matthew of Alsace Matthew, Count of Boulogne (–1173), also known as Matthew of Alsace, was the second son of Thierry, Count of Flanders and Sibylla of Anjou. Matthew forcibly abducted the nun Marie de Boulogne, daughter of Stephen, King of England, and constr ...
to abduct her from her abbey and force her to marry him despite her religious vows, so that he became ''
jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title '' suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could beco ...
''
Count of Boulogne Count of Boulogne was a historical title in the Kingdom of France. The city of Boulogne-sur-Mer became the centre of the County of Boulogne during the ninth century. Little is known of the early counts, but the first holder of the title is rec ...
and co-ruler. Though couple had two daughters, the marriage was annulled in 1170 and Marie returned to life as a
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
nun at the Abbey of Sainte-Austreberthe at Montreuil, where she died in 1182, aged about 46. Despite the faithful service in prayer of many of the nuns over many centuries, there are scattered traces of irregularities in the conduct of the house, of which the evidence would merit impartial investigation with modern historiographical methods, rather than stale prejudice. Some sources accuse the abbess Elizabeth Broke (1472–1502) of ruling over a period of scandal, including allowing poor dress standards for nuns, allowing nuns to go to the towns taverns, poor account keeping and an unhealthy relationships with the Chaplain.Rev. Thomas Perkins
''Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey, A Description of the Fabric and Notes on the History of the Convent of Ss. Mary & Ethelfleda''
(Library of Alexandria).
The abbey continued to grow and prosper until the
Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
struck the town in 1348–9. While it is thought that as much as half of the population of the town – which was then about 1,000 – died as a result, the number of nuns fell by over 80% to 19. 72 nuns died including Abbess Johanna. After the plague there were never more than 26 nuns in the Abbey. This so affected the area that the overall prosperity of the abbey dwindled, though it remained an important local institution and continued its traditional functions of prayer and charity towards the local people.


List of Abbesses of Romsey


Post-Reformation parish

Although the community of nuns itself was forcibly dispersed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the abbey buildings escaped the general fate of other religious and charitable establishments at this time and were not demolished. This was because the abbey church had a substantial section dedicated to
St Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman emperor Valerian ordered in 258. ...
which served as a place of worship for the townspeople. This arrangement, found also elsewhere in various forms, was designed to preserve the particular life of the nuns, with its heavy schedule of church services, from encroachment by the needs of the people. The latter were catered for, however, by celebrations of the liturgy ensured by the nuns' chaplains. Subsequently, the town purchased the abbey buildings from
the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
for £100 in 1544. The operation presumably aimed, under the cloak of public service, at furthering private interests, since the town's magnates then soon set about demolishing that very section, set aside as the church of St Lawrence, that had ensured the survival of buildings in the first place. All over the country, the demolition of religious buildings brought for private enterprise a rich harvest of lead and building materials. During the English Civil War the building suffered further material damage at the hands of Parliamentarian troops in 1643, including destruction of the organ. What survives of the abbey buildings today, though limited to a remodelled and restored form of the former abbey church, is arguably due especially to the efforts of a 19th-century incumbent, the Reverend Edward Lyon Berthon. It now forms the largest
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
parish church in the county of
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.


Bells

The church's bells were once housed in a detached
campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
. After its demolition in 1625, the set of six bells was transferred to a wooden belfry on top of the central tower. They were replaced by a new set of eight in 1791; the heaviest, the tenor, weighing 26 cwt. Three of the bells were recast in 1932. The bells and their eighteenth-century bell frame were restored in 2007, when removing the crown reduced the weight of the tenor to 22 cwt. The bells are now known across the region for being one of the finest rings of 8 bells.


Music


Choir

Romsey Abbey has a choir of boy choristers (only formed in the late 19th Century) and a back row of adult altos, tenors and basses drawn from the local area. Owing to the original foundation of the Abbey, the traditional choir was of young women. Today there is a choir of girls, a senior girls choir, a training choir of youngsters and a consort of voluntary singers and members of the congregation who sing when the choirs are on holiday. Over the years the choirs have recorded multiple CDs, sung for royalty, enjoyed choir tours to numerous UK Cathedrals, Belgium, Italy and France and have a twinning relationship with a German choir from
Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr (, ; ; ) and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home ...
. They have appeared numerous times on BBC ''
Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Ch ...
'' as well as featuring in a BBC Documentary in 2018. The current director of music is Martin Seymour.


Organs

Romsey Abbey has two organs. The main instrument was built by J W Walker & Sons in 1858 and replaced an earlier instrument by Henry Coster. The Walker Organ was rebuilt in its present position and enlarged in 1888. Major restoration work was carried out by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd in 1995/96 under the supervision of the abbey's organist, Jeffrey Williams, restoring the mechanical actions and overhauling all of the pipe work. In 1999 a completely new nave organ by Walkers was constructed with its pipe work located on the south triforium. This can be played either from a mobile console in the nave or from the main console.


Organist and master of the choristers

*Miss Elizabeth Smith (becomes Mrs Messum in 1835) ???? - 1835 *S.T. Cromwell 1836 – 1849 *Francis Wellman *??? Beazley *W. Mason 1864 – 1865 (afterwards organist of Trinity Church, South Shields) *E.W. Perren 1866 – 1867 (afterwards organist of St Thomas Church, Winchester) *W. Channon Cornwall 1867 – 1876 *Robert S. Airey 1887–1888 (formerly organist of St John's Church, Penzance) *William Cary Bliss 1888 – 1899 *J. C. Richards ca. 1907 *R. T. Bevan ca. 1921 *Charles Tryhorn 1926-1957 *Charles Piper 1957-1980 *Anthony Burns-Cox 1980–1990 *Jeffrey Williams 1990–2004 *Robert Fielding 2004–2015 *George Richford 2015–2019 (afterwards Professor of Music, Royal Marines and Director of Music at Portsmouth Cathedral) *Canon Peter Gould 2019–2019 (Interim Director of Music) *Martin Seymour 2019 - (Director of Music)


Assistant organists

*Keith Tomkinson 1974-1982 *Jeffrey Williams 1982–1990 *Paul Isted 1991–1996 *Timothy Rogerson 1996–2005 *David Coram 2005–2008 *James Eaton 2008–2010 *Adrian Taylor 2011–2021 *Richard McVeigh 2022-


Notable burials

Among the tombs housed in the present church are: Reportedly, that of Prince Edmund Atheling (c. 966 – c. 970), the eldest son of
Edgar the Peaceful Edgar (or Eadgar; 8 July 975), known sometimes as Edgar the Peacemaker or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Edm ...
, King of Northumbria and Mercia, by his third wife, Ælfthryth, the elder brother of King
Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II (,Different spellings of this king's name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern dialect word . ; ; 966 â ...
(c. 968–1016) who died in infancy and was buried in the old Romsey Abbey. John and Grissell St Barbe, both died in 1658. The family acquired the abbey estate shortly after the dissolution and held it until 1723.
William Petty Sir William Petty (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth in Cromwellian conquest of I ...
(1623-1687), in his day a noted English economist, scientist, philosopher, Fellow of the Royal Society and politician. He first came to prominence serving
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
and the
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
in Ireland and, like many others, later served under King Charles II and
King James II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...
. Knighted in 1661, he became the great-grandfather of Prime Minister William Petty Fitzmaurice, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne. John Latham (1740-1837), English physician, naturalist and ornithologist, one of the first to examine scientifically birds discovered in Australia. He was elected to the 
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
 in 1775, took part in the creation of the 
Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...
, and in 1812, he was elected a foreign member of the 
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...
. The
Earl Mountbatten of Burma Earl Mountbatten of Burma is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1947 for Rear Admiral Louis Mountbatten, who in 1946 had been created the first Viscount Mountbatten of Burma. He was later promoted to Admiral of the Fleet. ...
(1900–1979). On being given his
Earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...
in 1947, Mountbatten had been granted the lesser title of Baron Romsey and he lived locally at Broadlands House. On 27 August 1979, Mountbatten, his grandson Nicholas, and two others were assassinated by a bomb, set by members of the
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
, hidden aboard his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, County Sligo,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. He was buried here following a Ceremonial Funeral in Westminster Abbey. By request, his grave is aligned north–south, rather than the conventional east–west, so that he faces the sea where his wife, Edwina's, ashes were scattered. Buried in the churchyard is Major General Sir Richard Harman Luce (1867-1952), an English surgeon, British Army officer and politician, who served for a time as MP for Derby in 1924 and later as Mayor of Romsey.


''Titanic'' connection

One of the 's engineering officers, Arthur (Bob) Ward, who died in the sinking, is commemorated in the Abbey with a plaque in one of the chapels.


St Swithun's, Crampmoor

The village of Crampmoor, to the east of Romsey, is within the ecclesiastical parish of Romsey. St Swithun's, Crampmoor, is Romsey Abbey's daughter church. It was built in the nineteenth century to serve a rural community as both a church and a school. There were originally two other such combined use buildings in the parish; the school moved out from St Swithun's in 1927.St Swithun's, Crampmoor, daughter church of Romsey Abbey
/ref>


See also

* List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches * List of monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII of England


References


Sources

* *


External links


Romsey Abbey WebsiteRomsey Abbey Choir WebsiteRomsey Abbey ImagesStained Glass Windows at Romsey Abbey
{{Greater Churches Monasteries in Hampshire Benedictine monasteries in England Benedictine nunneries in England Christian monasteries established in the 10th century Christian monasticism 10th-century establishments in England 1539 disestablishments in England Women of medieval England 907 establishments Religious buildings and structures completed in the 900s Anglo-Saxon monastic houses Abbeys in Hampshire Tourist attractions in Hampshire Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire Burial sites of the Mountbatten family Grade I listed monasteries Romsey Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation