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1544 - Romsey people buy the Abbey Church and a Processional Way
The town loses its monastery
Because much of Romsey's Public Walk and Pleasure Ground is land that originally lay within the walls of Romsey Abbey, we have to look back to that time to tell the whole of its story.
The Abbey was one of the larger monasteries in the country, but by the time of the Dissolution it had been in decline for many years and its occupants had dwindled to the Abbess and 25 sisters.
Reconstruction of Romsey Abbey
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Henry VIII's reasons for closing down the monasteries are arguable but the need to top up the coffers of the Treasury was certainly a driving force among some of the people concerned. Henry’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, had previously reported on nearly every monastery in the country and had concluded that:
"manifest sin, vicious, carnal and abominable living is daily used and committed among the little and small abbeys".
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This allegation helped Henry to present his Suppression Act of 1536 as an act of reformation in which he promised that proceeds from closing the smaller monasteries would be committed to good causes. As with so many promises from government, this one was never fulfilled and the proceeds finished up in the Treasury.
Although it was one of the larger monasteries, Romsey Abbey certainly contributed to their generally poor reputation for it had a long history of scandals. It hit a new low under Abbess Elizabeth Broke who in 1478 confessed to perjury and adultery amidst allegations of financial mismanagement(1). Under subsequent abbesses, the Abbey never seemed to recover from this event and early in 1539 it was surrendered to the King. It was a sad ending for a monastery that had once been renowned for its piety and good work.
Romsey parishioners buy the Abbey Church and Processional Way
During the rule of the abbesses, Romsey parishioners had been allowed to use the north aisle of the Abbey Church for worship. As the population increased, more space was needed and in the 1400s the Bishop of Winchester gave permission for parishioners to use the north transept and to build an extension to the north aisle. This newly formed area was known as the Church of St Laurence.
At the time of the Dissolution, there was no other church in Romsey so in 1544 parishioners were allowed to buy the whole of the Abbey Church from the King. They paid £100 for it - a considerable sum of money at that time and the large church would subsequently prove to be a great burden on the small community that had to maintain it. The original conveyance, signed by Henry, is displayed in the south aisle of the Abbey. A translation of it made in 1774 by the Reverend Watson shows that in addition to the church, the sale also included a piece of land around it:
"… for an ambit and a processional way and not otherwise to be exercised and used containing in breadth twenty four feet by standard measure…"
It was the 24 ft wide Processional Way running along the west wall of the Abbey Church which caused Churchwardens Biggs and Clark such concern some 200 years later and it recurs throughout the story of Romsey's Public Walk and Pleasure Ground.
1. Henry Liveing - 'Records of Romsey Abbey' - an account of the Benedictine House of Nuns. (1912)
