Mottisfont

"MOTTISFONT, a parish in the hundred of Thorngate, county Hants, 4½ miles N. of Romsey, its post town, and 12 from Salisbury. It has a railway station at Dunbridge. The village, which is of small extent, is situated in a valley on the river Anton, and is chiefly agricultural. Prior to the reign of Henry VII. Mottisfont was of some importance. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £500. The living is a rectory* with the curacies of Lockerley and East Dean annexed, in the diocese of Winchester, value £900. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is an ancient flint and stone structure with a square wooden belfry containing five bells. The church is partly covered with ivy, and is adorned with several stained windows. The principal residence is Mottisfont Abbey, an ancient mansion erected on the site of an Austin priory founded by William de Briwere in the reign of King John. It was intended to have been suppressed by Henry VII., who procured a bull to that effect from Pope Alexander, but it continued till the Dissolution, when its revenues were valued at £167 15s. 8d. The site was given to Lord Sandys by Henry VIII. in exchange for Chelsea, in Middlesex. "

[From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]