The abbey was a minor house of its order, and became neither wealthy nor influential during its three centuries of monastic life; the inhabitants were devoted to scholarship, as shown by their very impressive library.

The abbey was closed in 1537 by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the building was converted into a mansion by Thomas Wriothesley, a powerful courtier.

They lived communally, following a very strict interpretation of the Rule of St Augustine, but in addition to engaging in a life of study and prayer within their abbeys, they also had a pastoral mission and served as parish priests ministering to the spiritual needs of the laity.

Though it was restored once after nearly falling to ruin,[1] unlike many of their fellows the canons of Titchfield never succumbed to the desire to create an elaborate new church in the later Middle Ages and kept their original building until the end of monastic life at the abbey.

As the Middle Ages progressed considerable investment was made to upgrade the domestic buildings to meet rising living standards, and it is probable that by the mid fourteenth century they were rather luxurious, as evidenced by the elaborate polychrome floor tiles (an expensive and high status product) still seen today all over the site.

[8][9] The abbey's location near Southampton and Portsmouth made it a convenient stopping place for journeys from England to continental Europe and it hence received many important visitors.

On 23 April 1445, the abbey church was the venue for a royal wedding; the marriage of Henry VI to Margaret of Anjou was celebrated there by William Ayscough, Bishop of Salisbury.

[1] In 1535 the abbey's income was assessed in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, Henry VIII's great survey of church finances, at £280 gross, £249 net,[1] so it avoided being destroyed in the first round of suppressions in 1536.

However, several important courtiers, especially Thomas Wriothesley,[1] desired to seize the abbey for themselves and put great pressure on the abbot, John Salisbury, Suffragan Bishop of Thetford[12] to surrender on terms before he was made to by force.

Within days of the departure of the canons the commissioners who had taken the surrender of Titchfield sent a report to Wriothesley detailing the state of his new property: The church is the most naked and barren thing that ever we knew, being of such long continuance.

At Michelmas last there were two teams of oxen and now not one ox, but a few calves and lambs, hogs of small value; certain brewing vessels, a dozen rusty platters, dishes and saucers... As for the few hangings left, we esteem them at 20 shillings...[14]The royal commissioners went on to note that the cost of converting the abbey into a house would be on the order of £200, but the charges on the estate from paying the pensions of the canons and the abbot would be £120 yearly.

Eleven days after the surrender of the abbey a consortium of local men led by a Mr Shelonde contracted to buy marble, altars, sculpture and other fittings from the church.

It was an imaginative scheme, built under the direction of master mason Thomas Bartewe, a prominent contractor for King Henry's contemporary fortification works along the South Coast.

[15] He constructed a spectacular castellated gatehouse with four octagonal turrets which was forced through the middle of the nave to provide the appropriate seigneurial emphasis needed for a classic Tudor courtyard house.

[17] The cloister became the central courtyard of the house (a magnificent fountain was placed in the middle), the old refectory, with the addition of a grand porch, became the great hall, while the rest of the abbey was turned into fine apartments for the family.

The church tower was initially kept as part of the house but it was soon demolished on the advice of John Crayford, one of the king's commissioners who helped to oversee the reconstruction on behalf of Wriothesley.

Under the fourth Earl, Titchfield was host to Charles I twice, once in 1625 in company with Queen Henrietta Maria, the second time in November 1647 when the king was on the run from Parliamentary forces after having escaped from the Hampton Court.

Following the expulsion of the canons, these were concealed beneath the spiral staircases installed in Wriothesley's reconstruction, and therefore escaped being torn out with the rest of the tiles along the cloister walk.