The Abbey owes its origin to Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester 1204 -1238. Cistercian monks from nearby Beaulieu arrived to establish the new religious house on St James` Day, 25th July 1239. The area was described as a `spot remote from towns, quiet and peaceful, on a river well supplied with fish`. Henry 111 took the Abbey under his protection in 1251 and it was dissolved in 1536 following an argument with King Henry V111 about his divorce but the reason given, was that the monks had given up their hard life and taken up wordly pleasures, even to having ladies in the monastery! Hence the legend of a young lady `walled up with never achink, no light-no air-no victuals-no drink! The cellars and vaults were used by local smugglers to store their contraband and the grounds became popular for entertainment, they are still used today as a stage for plays by William Shakespeare.
The Fort, now known as The Castle, was built by William Paulet, Earl of Witshire and subsequent Marquis of Winchester in 1547. It was changed to a dwelling (?) in 1627, in 1938, it became a convalescent home, which it remains to this day.
These are the row of houses along the road towards the village, they overlook the Solent.
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