House and Garden 
by other men 
to the glory 
of religion. 
The - space 
enclosed with¬ 
in the Abbey 
grounds is of 
large extent; 
the church, 
which must 
have been one 
of the largest 
in England, 
has all been 
accurately 
traced and 
marked out 
by the present 
owner, whde 
in some parts 
the old tiled 
flooring has 
been uncov¬ 
ered and can 
still be seen. 
The refectory 
is the best 
preserved por- 
t i o n of the 
BEAULIEU PARISH CHURCH, FORMERLY THE REFECTORY 
Abbey. It 
was converted into the Beaulieu Parish Church after 
the Dissolution and has been used as such ever 
since. Hardly any alteration has ever been made 
in it and the sermon is still preached from the 
splendid old stone pulpit, reached by a passage 
and steps cut in the wall, and which was, when 
used by the monks, the place where one of the 
brothers read to the others during meals. The roof 
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CLOISTER 
PLAN OF THE ABBEY 
is beautifully carved with armorial bearings and 
heads of benefactors. Between the refectory and 
the church are the remains of the cloisters and 
many of the fine arches are still perfect. In the 
centre of the cloisters there was always a lawn 
as in the present day which was walled round on 
all four sides with an open arcade covered with 
a lean-to roof which gave the monks shelter, how¬ 
ever bad the weather might be, for their daily 
walk in the cloister garth. 
There was an entrance to the church for 
the monks through a beautifully carved door¬ 
way which still exists, as does also the old 
wooden door. Three handsome arches of 
the chapter-house still remain. The rest 
of the spacious buildings consisted of the 
dormitories, the roof of which is of Spanish 
chestnut, and consequently in a fine state of 
preservation, as that wood never harbours 
flies or any other insects, nor do spiders 
weave their webs nor birds build nests in it. 
Then there was the Abbot’s room and the 
guest house, for in those days all monasteries 
had to be ready to receive belated travelers 
at any time of the day or night. Then, 
too, there were the granaries, which were on 
a large scale, and the brew-house, for all the 
wants of the Abbey had to be supplied by 
184 
