71ie Cloisters, Church, and Refectory. G7 



project the corbels which carried the cloister-roof. Here and 

 there, too, as at the two north doors leading into the church, 

 some of the original pavement still remains. 



The church, however, has long since been destroyed. 

 Nothing, except a portion of the south transept, is left. The 

 foundations, though, can be accurately traced, showing the nave 

 and aisles, and the large circular apse at the east end. Scattered 

 about, too, appear the tesselated floor, bright as on the day 

 it was laid down, and the graves of the abbots, and of Isabella, 

 first wife of Eichard Earl of Cornwall.* 



Out in the fields beyond stand the ruins of a building, now 

 a mere pinfold for cattle, called by tradition the Monk's Vine- 

 Press, whilst the meadows beyond, lying on the slope of the 

 hill, are still known as "the Vineyards." f 



But the refectory still remains on the south side of the 

 cloisters, from which a doorway, still ornamented with iron 

 scroll-work, used to lead. Ever since the Reformation it has 

 served as the parish church, differing only in its appearance by 



* Her remains were lately discovered near the high altar, with part of 

 the inscription on her gravestone. (See the Rev. F. AV. Baker's account in 

 the Gentleman's Magazine, \o\. ccxiv. p. 63.) A carved head with a crown 

 in the refectory preserves the memory of her husband, crowned at Aix-la- 

 Charpelle King of the Romans, and whose heart was buried, in a marble 

 vase, beside his wife. (Leland, as before, iv. 149.) Tradition says that 

 Eleanor of Acquitaine was also buried here, but she lies with her husband 

 at Fontevraud. 



t Warner (vol. i. 255) mentions that in his time there was still brandy 

 in the steward's cellars made from the vines growing on the spot. Domesdmj 

 gives several entries of wines (see Ellis's Introduction, vol. i. pp. 116, 117), 

 though none in the Forest district. But the term 'Vineyards' is still fre- 

 quently found hereabouts as the name of fields generally marked by a 

 southern slope, as at Beckley and Hern, near Christchurch, showing 

 how common formerly was the cultivation of the vine, first introduced into 

 England by the Romans. 



K 2 67 



