RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



Euphemia, most worthy to be remembered, who, 

 by our affection and good fellowship, and with 

 divine sanction, succeeded the late abbess Maud 

 of sweet memory. It is, therefore, most fitting 

 that we should always perpetuate the memory, in 

 our special prayers and suffrages, of one who ever 

 worked for the glory of God, and for the weal of 

 both our souls and bodies. For she increased the 

 number of the Lord's handmaids in this monastery 

 from forty to eighty, to the exaltation of the wor- 

 ship of God. To her sisters, both in health and 

 sickness, she administered the necessaries of life 

 with piety, prudence, care, and honesty. She also 

 increased the sum allowed for garments by \id. 

 each. The example of her holy conversation and 

 charity, in conjunction with her pious exhortations 

 and regular discipline, caused each one to know how, 

 in the words of the Apostle, to possess her vessel in 

 sanctification and honour. She also, with maternal 

 piety and careful forethought, built, for the use of 

 both sick and sound, a new and large farmery away 

 from the main buildings, and in conjunction with 

 it a dorter and other necessary offices. Beneath 

 the farmery she constructed a watercourse, through 

 which a stream flowed with sufficient force to 

 carry off all refuse that might corrupt the air. 



Moreover she built there a place set apart for 

 the refreshment of the soul, namely a chapel of 

 the Blessed Virgin, which was erected outside the 

 cloister behind the farmery. With the chapel she 

 enclosed a large space, which was adorned on the 

 north side with pleasant vines and trees. On the 

 other side, by the river bank, she built pffices for 

 various uses, a space being left in the centre where 

 the nuns are able from time to time to enjoy the 

 pure air. In these and in other numberless ways, 

 the blessed mother Euphemia provided for the 

 worship of God and the welfare of the sisters. 

 But notwithstanding all this, she also so conducted 

 herself with regard to exterior affairs, that she 

 seemed to have the spirit of a man rather than a 

 woman. The court of the abbey manor, owing to 

 the useless mass of squalid outbuildings, and the 

 propinquity of the kitchen to the granary and old 

 hall, was in much danger of fire ; whilst the con- 

 fined area and the amount of animal refuse was a 

 cause of offence to both the feet and nostrils of 

 those who had occasion to pass through. The 

 mother Euphemia, realizing that the Lord had 

 called her to the rule of the abbey of Wherwell, 

 not that she might live there at ease, but that she 

 might, with due care and despatch, uproot and 

 destroy and dissipate all that was noxious, and 

 establish and erect that which would be useful, 

 demolished the whole of these buildings, levelled 

 the court, and erected a new hall of suitable size 

 and height. She also built a new mill, some dis- 

 tance from the hall, and constructed it with great 

 care in order that more work than formerly might 

 be done therein for the service of the house. She 

 surrounded the court with a wall and the necessary 

 buildings, and round it she made gardens and 

 vineyards and shrubberies in places that were for- 

 merly useless and barren, and which now became 

 both serviceable and pleasant. The manor house 



of Middleton, which occupied a dry situation and 

 was close to a public thoroughfare, and was further 

 disfigured by old and crumbling buildings, she 

 moved to another site, where she erected perma- 

 nent buildings, new and strong, on the bank of 

 the river, together with farmhouses. She also set 

 to work in the same way at Tufton, in order that 

 the buildings of both the manor houses in that 

 neighbourhood might be of greater service and 

 safer against the danger of fire. These and other 

 innumerable works, our good superior Euphemia 

 performed for the advantage of the house, but she 

 was none the less zealous in works of charity, gladly 

 and freely exercising hospitality, so that she and 

 her daughters might find favour with One Whom 

 Lot and Abraham and others have pleased by the 

 grace of hospitality. Moreover, because she greatly 

 loved to honour duly the House of God and the 

 place where His glory dwells, she adorned the 

 church with crosses, reliquaries, precious stones, 

 vestments, and books. And because the bell tower 

 above the dorter fell down through decay one 

 night, about the hour of mattins, when by an 

 obvious miracle from heaven, though the nuns 

 were at that moment in the dorter, some in bed 

 and some in prayer before their beds, all escaped 

 not only death but even any bodily injury, she 

 caused another bell tower of worked stone to be 

 erected, conformable to the fair appearance of the 

 church and the rest of the buildings, of command- 

 ing height, and of exquisite workmanship. But as 

 she advanced in years, towards the end of her life, 

 there was imminent danger of the complete collapse 

 of the presbytery of the church ; by the advice of 

 skilled builders, she caused the presbytery to be 

 taken down to the last stones of the foundations ; 

 and because the ground was found to be under- 

 mined and unsafe, she caused the damp soil to be 

 dug out to a depth of twelve feet till firm and dry 

 ground was found, when, having invoked the grace 

 of the Holy Spirit, with prayers and tears she laid 

 with her own hands the first stone of the founda- 

 tions. Moreover she rejoiced to have found favour 

 with God, so that before her last days were ended 

 she saw this work that she had begun brought to 

 its desired end. Thus she, who had devoted her- 

 self when amongst us to the service of His house 

 and the habitation of His glory, found the due 

 reward for her merits with our Lord Jesus Christ, 

 through the prayers and merits of the Blessed 

 Virgin Mary and of the blessed apostles Sts. Peter 

 and Paul, in whose honour, at the instigation of 

 the abbess Euphemia, this church was dedicated, 

 who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever 

 liveth and reigneth God through all the ages of 

 eternity. Amen. 



The taxation of 1291 valued the tempor- 

 alities of the Abbey of Wherwell at the very 

 considerable sum of 201 181. ^\d. ; and, in 

 addition to this, the abbess received pensions 

 of ji IOJ. from the church of Wallop and 

 jTi 6s. 8d. from the church of Berton. 



On 12 August, 1291, Pope Nicholas IV. 

 granted a relaxation of one year and forty 



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