[Illustration: THE PRIORY, FROM THE QUAY, AND PLACE MILLS,
CHRISTCHURCH.]
[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH.]
[Illustration: OLD NORMAN HOUSE AND VIEW FROM THE MINSTER,
CHRISTCHURCH.]
From Brockenhurst the Lymington River flows southward out of the New
Forest into the Solent, across which is the Isle of Wight, steamers
connecting Lymington at the mouth of the river with Yarmouth on the
island. About twelve miles westward from Lymington is Christchurch, at
the confluence of the Avon and Stour Rivers, which here form the estuary
known as Christchurch Bay. The Avon flows down past Ringwood on the
western verge of the New Forest, its lower valley being a wide grassy
trough in a rolling plateau of slight elevation. The moors, with many
parts too arid for cultivation, extend to the sea, having glens here and
there whose sandy slopes are often thickly wooded, and whose beds are
traversed by the "bournes" that give names to so many localities in this
region. Along all the sea-border fashionable watering-places are
springing up, which enjoy views over the water to the distant
chalk-downs of the Isle of Wight, one of the best being that from
Boscombe Chine. Through this land the Avon flows, and the Stour enters
it from the west, with the ancient town of Christchurch standing on the
broad angle between them. It is of Roman origin, and the remains of a
British castle crown the neighboring promontory of Hengistbury Head. The
chief attraction is the magnificent Priory Church, founded before the
Norman Conquest, but rebuilt afterwards and dedicated to the Holy
Trinity. The ancient town was known as Twynham from the two rivers, and
it then became Christchurch-at-Twynham, but the original name was
ultimately dropped. It was a royal demesne in Edward I.'s reign, and
Edward III. granted it to the Earl of Salisbury, whose countess was the
heroine of the institution of the Order of the Garter. It is a sleepy,
old-fashioned place, with little of interest excepting the Priory Church
and the castle. The square church-tower rises high above the Avon, a
landmark from afar, its mass of gray masonry catching the eye from away
over the sea. The church is of large dimensions, cruciform in plan, with
short transepts, and a Lady chapel having the unusual peculiarity of an
upper story. It is about three hundred and ten feet long, with the
tower at the western end, and a large northern porch. The oldest part of
the church was built in the twelfth century by Flambard, Bishop of
Durham, who was granted this priory by William Rufus. Subsequently, he
fell into disfavor, and the priory became a college of the Augustinians.
Only the nave and transepts are left of his Norman church, the remainder
being of later construction. The north porch, which has an extremely
rich Decorated doorway, is of unusual size, having an upper chamber, and
dating from the thirteenth century. The nave is of great beauty, being
separated from the aisles by massive semicircular arches, rich in
general effect, with a triforium above consisting of a double arcade,
making it worthy to compete with the finest naves in England. The
clerestory is more modern, being of Pointed Gothic, and the aisles are
also of later construction: the northern aisle contains a beam to which
is attached the legend that the timber was drawn out as if an elastic
material "by the touch of a strange workman who wrought without wages
and never spoke a word with his fellows." The western tower is of
Perpendicular architecture, added by the later builders, and beneath it
is the handsome marble monument erected to the memory of the poet
Shelley, drowned at Spezzia in 1822: his family lived near Christchurch.
The tower contains a peal of eight bells, two of them ancient, and from
the belfry there is a noble view over the valleys of the two rivers, the
distant moorlands and woods of the New Forest, the estuary winding
seaward and glittering in the sun, while beneath are the houses and
gardens of the town spread out as on a map. Among the many monuments in
the church is that to Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, the last of the
line who possessed the priory, and the closing heiress of the race of
Plantagenets. She was the mother of Cardinal Pole, who upheld the cause
of the pope against Henry VIII., and she was a prisoner in the Tower,
held as hostage for his good behavior. At seventy years of age she was
ordered out for execution, but refused to lay her head upon the block,
saying, "So should traitors do, and I am none." Then, the historian
says, "turning her gray head in every way, she bade the executioner, if
he would have her head, to get it as he could, so that he was
constrained to fetch it off slovenly." She was beheaded in May, 1541,
being too near in kinship to the throne to be allowed to live. Little is
left of the ancient priory buildings beyond the ruins of the old Norman
gateway. The castle of Christchurch has also almost disappeared, leaving
only massive fragments of the wall of the keep crowning a mound. It was
of slight historical importance; and a more perfect relic is the ruin of
the ancient Norman house standing near by on the bank of the Stour, an
ivy-clad shell of masonry still showing the staircase and interior
apartments. This crumbling memorial of the twelfth century was the home
of Baldwin de Redvers, then Earl of Devon.