Place House

In 1537, after the suppression of the monasteries, Titchfield Abbey was transformed into a grand mansion called Place House.

Titchfield Abbey in the mid 16th century, after its conversion into a fashionable mansion.  Drawing by Roger Hutchings © English Heritage Photo Library The abbey was granted to Thomas Wriothesley, later earl of Southampton, who was a loyal civil servant to King Henry VIII. He played a key part in the king’s suppression of the monasteries and was given monastic lands as a reward.

Central to Wriothesley’s new domain were the 11 manors and 5,000 acres (2,024 hectares) surrounding Titchfield Abbey. He transformed the main abbey buildings into Place House, a residence fit for a rising courtier.

Several royal visitors were entertained at Place House, including Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. William Shakespeare was a friend of the family and probably visited. It is thought that some of his plays were first performed at the house.

On the death of the fourth earl of Southampton, Titchfield passed through several families, until it was eventually dismantled in 1781.

  This drawing from 1733, by the Buck brothers, shows the south front of Place House, much as it appeared when the Wriothesleys lived here.