National Gazetteer (1868) - Beaulieu

"BEAULIEU, (or Bewley), a parish in the liberty of the same name, Southampton division of the county of Southampton, 6½ miles to the N.E. of Lymington, and 5 S.E, of Beaulieu Road railway station, on the Southampton and Dorchester railway. The village is pleasantly seated on a stream bearing the same name, which rises a little beyond Lyndhurst, expands, and becomes navigable here for small vessels, and falls into the Solent. In the year 1204, a Cistercian abbey was founded here by King John. It was dedicated to the Virgin, and was valued at the Dissolution at £428. The privilege of sanctuary was attached to it, and among those who made it an asylum was Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI., who, with her son, took refuge here for a time after the battle of Barnet, in 1471; and Perkin Warbeck, in 1498.

Freedom from arrest for debt is a privilege still enjoyed in the manor. The workpeople are chiefly employed in ship-building, and the manufacture of coarse sacking. The living is a rest.* in the diocese of Winchester, vat. £140, in the patronage of the Duke of Buccleuch, to whom the manor now belongs. The church is dedicated to St. Bartholomew. It was originally the refectory of the abbey, and is the most perfect portion of the remains now existing. The pulpit is of stone, singular for its graceful form and rich sculpture, nearly resembling that at Magdalen College, Oxford. The ruins, which are situated in a sheltered valley, comprise the abbot's lodging-a square building since converted into a residence for the Duke of Buccleuch, and known as Palace (louse, the dormitory, and the kitchen. The walls appear to have enclosed an area of 20 acres.

A hospital, of earlier origin than the abbey, belonging to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem; stood on high ground near it, commanding a fine prospect over the sea, whence the village has derived its name. Two granges belonged to the abbey, remains of which exist in the neighbourhood. At Park Farm, one of them, is the chapel, built of atone, and containing a stone screen. Not far from this is St. Leonard's chapel, and the barn connected with it, above 220 feet long, and nearly 80 feet broad. There is a chapel belonging to the Baptists in the village. Fairs for the sale of horses and cattle are held on the 15th April and the 4th September. The parish is very extensive, comprising about 12,040 acres, including Beaulieu Heath, part of a large tract of heath land adjoining the forest. "BUCKLER'S HARD, a village in the parish and liberty of Beaulieu, in the county of Southampton, 7 miles to the N.E. of Lymington. It is seated on the banks of the Beaulieu river. Here are several shipyards, in which most of the inhabitants are employed."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]