Exterior view

The first third of the twelfth century saw the start and extension of several important monastery and bishop's churches. The Normans built the large current abbey that dominates the small market town Romsey in the county of Hampshire (between c. 1120 and 1140) on the site of the original Saxon church. By 1240, 100 nuns lived in the convent.

The church is among the earliest buildings to have rectangular choirs or ambulatories. This type of ambulatory, which appears to be an invention of the English Romanesque period, can be traced back to continental ambulatory crypts of the late Carolinian period. The best preserved is the choir of Romsey Abbey, which only lost its probably two-storeyed east chapel.

The photo shows the west façade of the church.

View the ground plan of Romsey Abbey.