Down By The Waterside

Follow Steve Davison as he heads to Netley for a wander through Royal Victoria Country Park with views over Southampton Water.

- Steve Davison

BEFORE starting the walk at the little village of Hound, take a look at St Mary’s Church with its weather-boarded tower; it was built around 1230 by Cistercian monks from St Andrew’s Priory at Hamble le Rice. The first part meanders through St Mary’s Wood – a local community woodland – before following the railway line for a while and then heading through Westwood nature reserve to arrive at the romantic ruins of Netley Abbey.

Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, founded the Cistercian abbey in 1238, however, following Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, the abbey was granted to Sir William Paulet who converted the buildings into a grand mansion. By the late 18th century, the buildings lay in ruins and became the inspiration for artists such as John Constable who painted Netley Abbey by Moonlight in the 1830’s and writers including the poet Thomas Gray; Hampshire’s famed author, Jane Austen, is said to have gained inspiration for Northanger Abbey after visiting the ruins.

We leave the abbey behind, following part of the Solent Way, a 60-mile distance from Milford-on-Sea to Emsworth Harbour, towards Netley, making a loop round the ‘Cricket Field’ for a view over Southampton Water which has, over the centuries, seen many great ships sail past.