Netley Abbey; Interior

“Netley Abbey...has little besides its present beauty to interest the imagination. No striking histories present themselves in its annals; in fact, its annals are lost; no register of the abbey is known to exist. In this respect, the glorious old Abbey of Beaulieu, whence its monks originally came, has much the advantage over it...Netley, situated nearer to the coast...appears singularly to have escaped, and to have slumbered on in a dream-like, poetical quiet, through its days of prosperity. Its present remains show plainly its date. Its light and lofty arches and pointed windows are of the early English order, according with the date of its foundation in 1239, by Henry III., who dedicated it to the Virgin Mary and St. Edward.”

Excerpt from “Netley Abbey”, in ‘Ruined Abbeys and Castles of Great Britain and Ireland’ by William Howitt.