Beaulieu or Bewley, a village and a parish in Hants. The village stands at the head of a creek, 7 1/2 miles SE of Lyndhurst Road station on the L. & S.W.R., and 7 NE of Lymington. It is a quaint old-fashioned place, and was formerly of more note than now. It has a post office under Southampton, and has fairs on 15 April and 4 September. Area of the parish, 8521 acres of land and 1397 of foreshore and water; population, 864. The creek at the village goes 4 1/2 miles south-south-eastward to the Solent, is navigable hither, and receives at the head a streamlet of 5 miles, coming from the vicinity of Lyndhurst, and called variously the Beaulieu and the Exe. Palace House, an ancient residence, is the seat of Lord Montagu. A Cistercian abbey was founded here, in the neighbourhood of the village, in 1204, by King John; had the privilege of sanctuary, and gave shelter to Margaret of Anjou and to Perkin Warbeck. the gate house, the refectory, the cloister walls, the dormitory, and the ruins of the sacristy, fratry, and chapterhouse still remain. The refectory is now the parish church, measures 125 feet by 30 1/2, and shows the characters of late Early English. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester; gross value, £365 with residence. Patron, Lord Montagu. There are three church mission chapels.
