Beaulieu

The End of an Era

The 16th century was a time of dramatic change at Beaulieu. It saw the end of the monastic way of life, the destruction of the Abbey's main buildings and the estate's acquisition by a new owner.

During the 1530's Henry VIII began the process by which the Roman Catholic church in England, owing allegiance to the Pope in Rome, was dismantled and became 'the Church in England' owing allegiance to the monarch. Part of the process is popularly termed 'the Dissolution of the Mona steries'

Henry's motives for the Dissolution were a complex mixture of the personal, political and fiscal. Politically, religious nonconformity automatically became treason against the state. On a personal level Henry was anxious for a male heir and hoped that divorcing his wife and marrying Anne Boleyn might prove successful. Only by making himself head of the Church could he obtain the necessary authority. Financially, Henry benefitted for the abbeys and monasteries were wealthy institutions and by closing them he was able to take their lands for himself, or sell them to his friends and supporters.

When it closed Beaulieu Abbey, like many others, was not being run according to the rules laid down by the Cistercian order. An Inquiry Commission reported that the system of lay brothers had fallen into abeyance and outsiders were becoming increasingly important in its affairs. They were appointed as receivers, attornies and stewards, and took up lodgings within the Abbey precinct.

On the 2nd April, 1538, Abbot Thomas Stevens formally surrendered the Abbey to the Crown. He received an annual pension of £66 and the other monks received between £4 and £6 with the possibility of Church appointments elsewhere. Not surprisingly, although most monks were provided with a pension or alternative employment, there were those who rebelled against these enforced changes, but this was primarily in the North.

The Dissolution, however, brought about one unusual problem for the Abbey of Beaulieu. It was the only place in central southern England which offered permanent sanctuary for criminals, the most famous fugitive being Perkin Warbeck, in 'Pretender' to the throne of Henry VII. In 1538 there were 32 men claiming sanctuary at the Abbey. With its closu re the right was abolished and a compromise effected: debtors and others "of good family" were set free, perhaps becoming ancestors of some villagers today, but murderers and felons would have to face trial for their crimes.

The Government issued ins tructions that the religious buildings were to be destroyed beyond the possibility of restoration. The Church, as the spiritual centre of the Precinct was the first part to be demolished, closely followed by the Cloisters and Chapter House. Some buildings which could be put to secular use were allowed to remain.

The stone and lead from the Abbey was used to build three defensive castles at Hurst, Calshot and Cowes as protection against the threat of attack and invasion from France in the 1540's. All the Abbey's movable goods were taken to London by the Government. This was the end of the original purpose of the Abbey and marked its transition to a Family Home.