Churches in South East England Information about Churches, Abbeys and Cathedrals in the South East of England, Battle Abbey, Beaulieu Abbey, Bishop's Waltham Palace, Portsmouth Cathedral, Rycote Chapel, where to go and day out.
Beaulieu Abbey was founded in 1204 by Cistercian monks on land given to them by King John. Although much of the Abbey was destroyed during the reign of Henry VIII, visitors can still learn about the magnificent buildings of the Abbey, originally called Bellus Locus Regis - the beautiful place of the King.
Around the year 1180 Jean de Gisors, a wealthy Norman merchant and Lord of the Manor of Titchfield, gave land in his new town of Portsmouth to the Augustinian canons of Southwick Priory so that they could build a chapel "to the glorious honour of the martyr Thomas of Canterbury, one time Archbishop, on (my) land which is called Sudewede, the island of Portsea". From humble beginnings, this chapel was to become in turn a parish church in the 14th century and a cathedral in the 20th century.
St. Thomas's Street, Old Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 2HH
