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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Titchfield



When a friend saw on Facebook that we were heading for Portsmouth, she suggested that we might like to explore a village called Titchfield...so we did! 

A lovely little village with old cottages....




We had seen a church spire so headed down the little side street....







Like a lot of old churches this one had a graveyard...just a few graves at the side but around the back the graveyard was large...all beautifully maintained...

This was the grave of a little baby...so sad.

My friend had mentioned that there was an old Abbey at Titchfield but it obviously wasn't in the village so we programmed the GPS and headed off to find it...
The building originally was home to an order of monks who were driven out when Henry viii basically banned the Catholic Church in England. Henry gifted the building to the Earl of Southampton in 1567 and a fine mansion was built within the Abbey. Sadly it's been a ruin for a long time, but it was wonderful to wander around it...








The view at the back showing where walls once stood...

So thanks to my friend Kate, DH and I were able to wander around a picturesque little village and also wander around the ruins of an old abbey...places we had never heard of and which were not really mentioned in the tourist brochures. :-)

6 comments:

Susan said...

What a gorgeous little village. Oh those lovely houses.
Nice to get off the usual touristy routes no doubt!
Thanks for sharing your travels with us :D)

Bev C said...

Hello Maria,

The first few photo's I thought I was watching Midsummer Murders. The villages are so cute and neat. Amazing buildings, think of all the work that went into that Abbey. Thanks to your friend we all get to something that is not on the tourist trail. Have a great day,hope the sun continues to shine!

Happy days.
Bev.

Una said...

I'm amazed I have never heard of these lovely places and they are not too far from my home. Shocking.

Anthea said...

I am loving to see all these travels pic posts Maria - and yes there are indeed some amazing things to see when you go 'off the beaten track'... take care x

Nanette said...

You could expect to see Time Team come bustling into that Abbey and setting up camp ready to dig. Still enjoying the trip with you Maria.

Janice said...

It is so good to find things off the beaten track, and to feel you are discovering them for yourself.... I love taking tips from friends or strangers when travelling. Some of the best bits of our recent down under travels were when we visited places mentioned to us by a lady in a little cafe south of Perth....without her we would never have discovered Eagle bay or Walpole. Keep enjoying !
Apart from seeing Hebden bridge if you get this far north eventually, do try to see Saltaire just outside Bradford.....Salt's mill is a stunning place...once the largest woolen mill in Europe...in fact, the largest "factory" in Europe...now a gorgeous gallery. Jx