Netley Abbey is a ruined medieval monastery in the village of Netley near Southampton in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1239 as a house for monks of the austere Cistercian order. Despite being a royal abbey, Netley was never rich, produced no influential scholars or churchmen, and its nearly 300-year history was quiet. The monks were best known to their neighbours for the generous hospitality they offered to travellers on land and sea. In 1536, Netley was closed by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the building was converted into a mansion by William Paulet, a wealthy Tudor politician. The abbey was used as a country house until the beginning of the eighteenth century, after which it was abandoned and partially demolished for building materials. Subsequently the ruins became a tourist attraction, and provided inspiration to poets and artists of the romantic movement. In the early twentieth century the site was given to the nation, and it is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, cared for by English Heritage. The extensive remains consist of the church, cloister buildings, abbot's house, and fragments of the post-Dissolution mansion.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1828:

Congress passed the largest tariff in United States history, which resulted in severe economic hardship in the American South. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_of_1828

1845:

Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition departed from Greenhithe, England; the entire 129-man complement would be lost. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition

1911:

Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, was established as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_Canada

1997:

The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, which encompasses the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, was established as a result of grassroots efforts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Gorda

2010:

In Bangkok, the Thai military concluded a week-long crackdown on widespread protests by forcing the surrender of opposition leaders. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Thai_military_crackdown

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Ruritanian (adj): 1. Of or having the characteristics of adventure, romance, and intrigue, as in works of romantic fiction. 2. Used to describe a fictitious and generic foreign government or person, as used to state a general or hypothetical situation http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ruritanian

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I wish to live because life has within it that which is good, that which is beautiful and that which is love. Therefore, since I have known all of these things, I have found them to be reason enough and — I wish to live. Moreover, because this is so, I wish others to live for generations and generations and generations. --Lorraine Hansberry http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry