The nuns of Romsey Abbey were Benedictine, following the Rule of Saint Benedict. Numbers fluctuated, but in the early 14th century, there were typically 100 nuns here at any one time. After the Black Death in 1349 numbers were drastically reduced. In 1478 there were only 18 nuns recorded and numbers never again rose above 25 until the Abbey was “dissolved” by Henry VIII in 1539.
All nuns in the Middle Ages were well-born and in the Norman period were French-speaking. They were led by an abbess who had absolute authority in both the Abbey and the evolving settlement of Romsey. The abbess was assisted by a prioress and a number of senior nuns who were given specific duties. Unlike monks, a nun could not become a priest and for this reason services in Romsey Abbey required a number of male priests.
A nun was expected to wear simple clothing as a symbol of her shunning of worldly goods and distractions. The long tunic was typical attire, with a veil to cover all but the face as a symbol of her role as a 'Bride of Christ'. The veil hid the nun's hair which had to be kept cut short. Nuns were not supposed to leave the Abbey and contact with outside visitors, especially men, was kept to an absolute minimum. Despite this, there were cases of serious scandal, such as the mysterious death in 1315 of Abbess Alice de Wyntershull, who was said to have been poisoned. In 1478, Elizabeth Brooke confessed to crimes of adultery and perjury and resigned after six years as Abbess, only for the sisters to re-elect her!
The nuns were required to attend various services throughout the day and say prayers for those in the outside world – in particular for the souls of those who had made donations to the nunnery. Nuns also spent a lot of time reading, writing, illustrating and performing tasks of needlework such as embroidering robes and textiles for use in church services. Here in Romsey the nuns provided an elementary education for royal or aristocratic girls. The girls would learn to read, sing and develop good morals, good religion and good housecraft.
Nuns gave back to the community through charitable work, especially distributing clothes and food to the poor on a daily basis and giving out larger quantities on special anniversaries.
Each day, the nuns ate their main meal at about midday in the refectory, while one of the sisters read from an edifying book. The meal was very often a thick pottage eaten on trenchers of bread. The nuns also took a quick ‘breakfast’ of bread and beer after prime and a light supper after vespers. The nuns drank a lot of this weak ale as the water was not normally fit to drink. Sometimes the nuns would eat fish, caught in the Abbey’s own fish ponds to the west of the church.
Walk now towards the west side of the south transept.
