[ 137 3 



AMESBURY 

 . . ABBEY, 



AMESBURY. WILTS. 



THE SEAT 

 or 



SIR EDMUND ANTROBUS. B.rt 



Fit- >M ihe garden pont of view Amesbury i ch elly 

 interesting for the richress o its t..liage and the 

 superb character of its garden architecture. The 

 place itself Is abundantly interesting also, and i is 

 i i possible to say how far its legendary antiquity 

 might he carried back into the dim prehistoric age*. 1 here 

 are those who say that the name signifies 1 IK- Land "t 

 Ambrosius." the Brit>-Rmai General ssh> cam-.-, invited 

 over by Vortigern, to a sist in expelling from B-itain the 

 barbarous Saxons. The conventual house of Ameshurv is 

 associated with the Arthurian legend as the refuge of (,Hi <. -n 

 Guinevere in her flight. We all know Tennyson'-, description 

 of how she came to the " Holy House at Almesbury." and 



. ed the paring blessing of King Arthur, the "waving of 

 h s hands that blest " as he left her for ever to meet his doom in 

 the "Great Battle," she finally bving clu sen Abbess. Malory's 

 account in the " Morte d' Arthur " is somewhat different. 



The site of the convent of Am?shury lies to the east and 

 south-east of the present house, and, tradition tells us, once 

 covered a space of thirteen acres ; at the present day not one 

 stone above ground tells the tale of its former grandeur. The 

 foundations of nuns' cells have been discovered, however, 

 in many places by digging. The site of the monastery is 

 unknown. Could it have crowned the great British earthwork 

 (locally known as Vespasian's Camp and the Ramp.irts) which 

 surrounds the wood to the west of Amesbury ? 



Alfred the Great presented fe monasteries of Ambresbury 

 and Banwell to Asser. Bishop of Sherbornc, m recognition 



Of his M-I \ki-s. Urn-til 1:1 i ida founded tin- lle-ie lid '' 

 at Ambreshury n qSo. t 'he murder <-l her st, , 



Kdwird (the M.iitvt). at Corfe. I'obert of Gloucester 

 a'ludes 'o the circumstance. In 1177 Hmrv II. dis 

 the nuns, and gave thi- hous- to tin- M-tvy ot 1'i.nltev.iult in 

 Normandy. A priest and twenty-four nu s came tlwnce to 

 ArnNesb-arv, and the c<>;.vent increased in glory and riches. 

 King John conferred upon it important privileges, an I Hleinor, 

 sole daughter f Gt-ofliv tarl ot Brt-t.i^iu-. at lu-r own request, 

 uas buried there. Mary, si\t i daughter ot l-.dward I., in 

 companv with thi teen ladies ot noble Ivrth. t..,,k the veil 

 there in u!;. and two years after .vards I leal -\ of 



Hei-.ry III., and motlier of Edward I., .iNo t" >k tin- \c-il at 

 Ambresbury, an.i di-d th re June 2IM. I2)i. during the 

 :ue of her son in Scotia id On his return, he summoned 

 a'l his cli-rgv and barons t>> AmlTi-s u v, where he solemnly 

 completed the ent mbment t his mother, on the day of the 

 itv of the Virgin Marv, in the conventual church 

 foimde I by her, and where her obsequies were reve ently 

 celebrated. Isabella of Lancaster, ton th daughter of Henry 

 L.irl ot Lancaster, was prioress in 1202. Florence Bormewe, 

 the last prioress but one, at the dissolution of the monasteries 

 refused to surrend-r her abbey to the Kind's emissaries. They 

 u ! te : Albeit we have used as ma iy ways as our poor wits 

 could attain, yet in tin- e ul we could not by any per-u 

 bring her to conformity, but at all times he resleth at 

 remaineth in these terms.' -he .mswered : "It the King's 

 highness commanded me from the house I will gladly u, though 



"KENT HOUSE" THE EAST GATE. 



