Netley Abbey
The Joseph F. McCrindle Collection.
This watercolor depicts the most complete surviving Cistercian monastery in southern England, Netley Abbey, which was given to Sir William Paulet (1483 or 1485-1575) by Henry VIII after the suppression of the monasteries in 1536. Paulet converted the site into a Tudor courtyard house that had fallen into ruins by the time Ince painted it. Other Romantic writers and artists would also look to Netley Abbey as a source of inspiration. Ince lived briefly in London; however, he spent much of his life in Wales where he was born. His subjects, like the one in the present sheet, predominantly featured rustic England.