King Edward the Elder first settled some nuns at The Abbey Church of St Mary and St Ethelflaeda in 907. They were placed under the charge of his daughter Ethelflaeda. Edward was the son of the Saxon King Alfred the Great.

In 960 the nunnery came under the rule of St. Benedict as it was refounded by Edgar. The structure was built of stone during the Norman times and was a place for the education of the daughters of kings and noblemen.

The present building began in about 1120. The last three arches were added at the West end of the Nave in about 1230. There were about 100 nuns at at the foundation at that time. About 1349 a second aisle was built on the North side of the Abbey to accommodate a church for the townspeople. After the dissolution of the monasteries that was brought on by Henry VIII, the townspeople were allowed to buy the church in 1544 to be used as their parish church. The aisle that had been built on the North was demolished as the church was too large for them.

West windows of Romsey Abbey

The church went through a period of neglect and then in the nineteenth century it was revived again and is now the largest parish church in Hampshire.

Tombs in Romsey Abbey, including that of Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

Permission to use all of the above photos:
Photography: Alan Ford - 25 May 2005
I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain.
This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible,
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose,
without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

SOURCES:
Information from Wikipedia.com
Submitted by Robby Robinson