DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6914#0221
ROMSEY CHURCH.
189
oecame so extensive as to be valued in the Domesday-Book at the then very con-
siderable sum of one hundred and forty-eight pounds ten shillings per annum. Other
grants were subsequently made, and at the period of the Reformation, the possessions
01 this abbey were returned as of the annual amount of five hundred and twenty-eight
P°unds, eight shillings, and tenpence halfpenny in the gross, and three hundred and
nmety-three pounds, ten shillings, and tenpence halfpenny nett revenue.56
No particulars relating to the buildings of this Abbey, either of the Saxon or
Norman eras, are known to be extant, except the mere mention of the church, and
^'at incidentally, in the Domesday Book,57 by which it appears to have been dedi-
Cated to the virgin, St. Mary. In this total absence of documentary evidence, we
Can be governed by analogy only in affixing any particular date to the erection of
^ds fabric. It appears to be the received opinion that it was built either by King
Edward the Elder, or by King Edgar, the founder and re-founder, as they may be
called, of this Abbey,53 yet the completely symmetrical and cathedral plan of the
edifice, the quality of the workmanship, the arrangements, and almost every archi-
tectural characteristic of the ancient parts, assimilate it so immediately with build
U1§s known to be of the Norman, or Anglo-Norman times, that we cannot but refer
•ts erection either to the latter part of the eleventh, or to the beginning of the
twelfth century. The ancient door-way (now closed up with masonry) forming the
Astern entrance from the cloister into the nave, marked b in the Ground Plan, (see
^late of Plans, No. 80), and the very singular sculpture in low relief, marked c,
°f Christ extended upon the Cross,59 in the adjacent wall of the transept, have indi-
^ere ; and though she was secretly conveyed to Flanders, and married to Matthew, son of the earl of that
t°Untry> by whom she had two daughters, she was eventually compelled, by the anathemas of the Church,
SeParate from her husband, and return to her convent.
• alor Ecclesiasticus, 26 Hen. VIII. Among the privileges which the nuns of Romsey enjoyed under
e Srant of King Edgar was that to set up a gallows and try offenders. In the time of Edward the Third
ey also obtained charters of Free Warren in their manors at Romsey, and in Wiltshire.
" Abbatia de Romesyg tenet totam villain in qua sedet ipsa ecclesia."
; Vide
" Archaaologise," vol. xiv. pp. 132-142; and vol. xv. p. 306. See also Carter's " Ancient
capture," vol. i. p. i.; and Gent. Mag. Jan. 1814, p. 12.
The height of this figure is about five feet four inches ; it is sculptured on three stones, the body
vid ^'n^ one °^triem. and the arms the two others. Over the head of the Saviour is the hand of Pro-
e"ce extended from the clouds. Near to this extraordinary crucifix is a square recess in the wall, with
«io t ^ orations over as though to give issue to the smoke of a lamp, which in the Catholic times was
Probably kept continually burning here.
189
oecame so extensive as to be valued in the Domesday-Book at the then very con-
siderable sum of one hundred and forty-eight pounds ten shillings per annum. Other
grants were subsequently made, and at the period of the Reformation, the possessions
01 this abbey were returned as of the annual amount of five hundred and twenty-eight
P°unds, eight shillings, and tenpence halfpenny in the gross, and three hundred and
nmety-three pounds, ten shillings, and tenpence halfpenny nett revenue.56
No particulars relating to the buildings of this Abbey, either of the Saxon or
Norman eras, are known to be extant, except the mere mention of the church, and
^'at incidentally, in the Domesday Book,57 by which it appears to have been dedi-
Cated to the virgin, St. Mary. In this total absence of documentary evidence, we
Can be governed by analogy only in affixing any particular date to the erection of
^ds fabric. It appears to be the received opinion that it was built either by King
Edward the Elder, or by King Edgar, the founder and re-founder, as they may be
called, of this Abbey,53 yet the completely symmetrical and cathedral plan of the
edifice, the quality of the workmanship, the arrangements, and almost every archi-
tectural characteristic of the ancient parts, assimilate it so immediately with build
U1§s known to be of the Norman, or Anglo-Norman times, that we cannot but refer
•ts erection either to the latter part of the eleventh, or to the beginning of the
twelfth century. The ancient door-way (now closed up with masonry) forming the
Astern entrance from the cloister into the nave, marked b in the Ground Plan, (see
^late of Plans, No. 80), and the very singular sculpture in low relief, marked c,
°f Christ extended upon the Cross,59 in the adjacent wall of the transept, have indi-
^ere ; and though she was secretly conveyed to Flanders, and married to Matthew, son of the earl of that
t°Untry> by whom she had two daughters, she was eventually compelled, by the anathemas of the Church,
SeParate from her husband, and return to her convent.
• alor Ecclesiasticus, 26 Hen. VIII. Among the privileges which the nuns of Romsey enjoyed under
e Srant of King Edgar was that to set up a gallows and try offenders. In the time of Edward the Third
ey also obtained charters of Free Warren in their manors at Romsey, and in Wiltshire.
" Abbatia de Romesyg tenet totam villain in qua sedet ipsa ecclesia."
; Vide
" Archaaologise," vol. xiv. pp. 132-142; and vol. xv. p. 306. See also Carter's " Ancient
capture," vol. i. p. i.; and Gent. Mag. Jan. 1814, p. 12.
The height of this figure is about five feet four inches ; it is sculptured on three stones, the body
vid ^'n^ one °^triem. and the arms the two others. Over the head of the Saviour is the hand of Pro-
e"ce extended from the clouds. Near to this extraordinary crucifix is a square recess in the wall, with
«io t ^ orations over as though to give issue to the smoke of a lamp, which in the Catholic times was
Probably kept continually burning here.