Romsey Abbey and the Waterloo Memorial

The inscription on the column reads:

"This column was erected by a young architect of the town in commemoration of the victorious battle of WATERLOO in which British valour was triumphant and secured to the contending forces of Europe TRANQUILITY and PEACE June 18th 1815.

Behind the column is the imposing transept of the Norman Romsey Abbey. The new stone abbey, designed as a convent, was built on old Anglo-Saxon foundation between 1130 and 1140 by Henry Blois, Bishop of Winchester and Abbot of Glastonbury.

Bishop Henry was the younger brother of King Stephen and the building dominates the town to this day. By 1240 100+ nuns were living in the community.

The abbey continued to prosper until the Black Death in 1348-9. It is thought that as much as half of the population of the town – then about 1,000 – died as a result, and the number of nuns fell by over 80% to 19. The overall prosperity of the abbey dwindled.

It was suppressed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.