The Act of 1526
suppressing the lesser monasteries, in which so many Cistercian houses
perished, did not touch Beaulieu, but Netley fell early in the
following year, and the monks were sent to Beaulieu. Many then looked
for the spoil of the great abbey, among them Lord Lisle who besought
Thomas Cromwell for it, but he was denied. Indeed there seems to have
been no idea of suppressing the house at that time. But the Abbot
Stevens was a traitor. In 1538 he eagerly signed the surrender demanded
by the infamous Layton and Petre, and the site was granted to Thomas
Wriothesley, afterwards Earl of Southampton, from whose family it came
in the time of William III. to Lord Montagu, and so to the Dukes of
Buccleuch, who still hold it.
Nothing can exceed the beauty of the remains of the house there by the
river, in perhaps the loveliest corner of southern England. The great
abbey church has gone, destroyed at the Suppression, but not a little
of the monastery remains. The great Gate House called the abbot's
lodging and now the Palace House, the seat of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu,
a fine Decorated building with a beautiful entrance hall, may sometimes
be seen.
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