Two Girls One Building

A bit of a change for this post as I visited Netley Abbey with some friends, technically ruins instead of an abandoned and derelict building, a site accessible for all. I never planned to do a post on the Abbey, but found some of its history and lore fascinating. Netley Abbey is the most complete surviving Cistercian Monastery in Southern England. Peter Des Roches, Bishop of Winchester was the man responsible for the build of the Monastery in 1238. Ironically he passed away before the build even began. Work continued without him and King Henry the III became it's patron. Once completed it was home to fifteen monks and thirty lay brothers and servants. In 1536 Monastery life came to a halt, and the building was gifted by King Henry III to a Sir William Paulet, for his loyal service to the king. A powerful political figure, Sir Paulet set about transforming the Abbey into a Tudor Mansion Home. Many of the conversions he built were in red brick, but largely removed in the later 1...