A small group assembled at Titchfield Abbey at 10:30am on Wednesday 19th June, greeted by our hosts Marilyn and Colin Wilton- Smith, members of the Titchfield Historical Society. Although a ruin now, the Abbey, founded early in the 13th century by Peter de Roches, the Bishop of Winchester, was initially the home of Premonstratensian canons and later it was transformed into a house. The history of the Abbey and its owners also influences the local history due to land ownership and the Abbey owners’ life stories. Many kings and queens visited the location; in particular, we learnt from Marilyn and Colin that this is the location where Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou. After the Reformation, Henry VIII, passed the site to Sir Thomas Wriothesley, the 1st Earl of Southampton, as a payment for his services to the Crown, who converted the buildings to a Tudor mansion called Place House. In addition to visits from Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Charles I spent his last night at Place House before fleeing to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight that became his prison for a year and a half prior to his execution in 1649.
During this visit, some more of Titchfield Abbey’s early modern history was shared, with our group being informed that Henry, the 3rd Earl of Southampton was a patron to William Shakespeare who dedicated the narrative poem Venue and Adonis to Henry. The 3rd Earl of Southampton terminated a canal that had been built to connect Titchfield with the Solent, though it is not known why. This event had been until recently celebrated every year with a ceremonial burning of an effigy of the Earl of Southampton.
Marilyn and Colin also pointed out different parts of the Abbey, providing architectural and historical backgrounds, including very old graffiti on the walls.
As part of this outing, a small group of us enjoyed each other’s company over a plate of sandwiches in Monk Rest cafe at the village before continuing the historical tour of the village. We followed Colin around the village as he pointed out interesting architectural features, explaining how the village developed, combined with some stories of the village inhabitants.
Our final stop was at St Peter’s Church, dating back to 680 A.D., and which was inspired by Saint Winifred who had travelled from Northumbria. David Mugford, the local church historian, explained in detail how over the years the Church’s architecture has undergone many transformations as it increased in size. There were many artefacts in the in the Church, such as the burial places of Thomas Wriothesley, his wife Lady Jane, and their son Henry Wriothesley, who are interned in a decorative crypt known as the Southampton Chapel. The Montagu family of Beaulieu descend from the Wriothesley family and Lord Montagu takes a keen and active interested in Titchfield’s history. The Barring family (Barring Bank) are also connected to the Church
We ended the afternoon just before 4pm, when everyone headed home. It was a successful day, with ideal weather for walking around the village. A big thank you to our hosts, David Mugford, Marilyn and Colin Wilton-Smith, as without them, the day could not have proceeded. For those who wish to know more about the Abbey and Titchfield, the Titchfield Historical Society supported the publication of a number of booklets that can be found The Titchfield Papers – Magic Flute Publishing.
Author: Barbara Gibson
Bio: Barbara is HAT’s event organiser. Barbara has spent her working life in business, initially in developing aircraft flight deck systems and later, in IT project delivery in the telecom industry. Approaching retirement, she is eager to explore other avenues and interests. She has a keen interest in her family history leading her to work with archived material that revealed exciting family history discoveries previously unknown to her, driving her to want to learn more about the past and share this knowledge with others. To support this passion, she is studying short online history Oxford University courses. Her business life has given her valuable transferable skills especially in terms of organisation, planning, building/managing stakeholder/customer relationships, and the use of IT.