Romsey
Romsey is a small market town, in the county of
Hampshire,
England.
Romsey is situated 8
miles (6
km) north-west of the city of
Southampton and 11 miles (18 km) south-west of
Winchester. It occupies an area of approximately 4.93 square kilometres, and is home to a population of just over 13,000 people. It is located on the banks of the
River Test, a river famous for
trout fishing. Romsey is one of the principal towns in the
Test Valley Borough.
Romsey's MP is
Sandra Gidley of the
Liberal Democrats, who contested the seat in a by-election in
2000 after the death of the
Conservative Michael Colvin, who died with his wife in a house fire. Sandra Gidley retained the seat the following year in the
2001 General Election and again in the
2005 General Election, despite being targeted by the
Countryside Alliance because of her opposition to fox hunting.
Romsey is
twinned with
Paimpol in
Brittany,
France and
Battenberg,
Germany.
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Arms of Romsey Town Council |
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Romsey town centre |
Middle Ages to The Civil War
The name Romsey is believed to have originated from the term
Rūm's Eg, meaning "Rūm's area surrounded by marsh". Rūm is probably an abbreviated form of a personal name, like Rūmwald (glorious leader).
What was to become
Romsey Abbey was founded in
907 AD. Nuns, led by Elflaeda daughter of
Edward the Elder, son of
Alfred the Great, founded a community — at his direction — in what was then a small village. Later, King Edgar refounded the
nunnery, circa
960 AD, as a
Benedictine house under the rule of St. Ethelflaeda whose acts of sanctity included the chanting of
psalms whilst standing naked in the freezing water of the
River Test.
The village swelled alongside the religious community it provided with local produce only to suffer at the hands of
Viking raiders in
993 AD. The village was sacked and the original church burnt down but both recovered and the abbey was rebuilt in stone in circa
1000 AD. The abbey and the religious community flourished as a seat of learning — especially for the children of the nobility — such that a market was soon established outside the abbey gates.
In
Norman times a substantial, new stone abbey was built (between circa
1120 and
1140 AD) on the site of the original
Saxon church and this dominates the town to this day. By
1240 AD 100 nuns were living in the nunnery.
King Henry I granted the town its first charter providing the townspeople with certain rights and permitting a market to be held every Sunday and a fair for four days in May each year. Later in the
13th century,
Henry III allowed the town to hold an additional fair in October.
The town appears to owe its continued growth during the
Middle Ages to a lucrative woollen industry.
Wool was brought to the town where is was woven and then
fulled — that is pounded with wooden hammers whilst being washed. On being dyed it was taken to nearby
Southampton from where it was exported.
Romsey continued to grow and prosper until
plague, in the shape of the
Black Death, struck the town in
1348-
9. It is thought that as much as half of the population of the town — which numbered about 1,000 — died as a result and the number of nuns fell as low as 19. This so affected the area that the overall prosperity of the abbey never recovered and it was finally suppressed by
Henry VIII during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in
1539.
Were it not for the fact that the abbey had become
"dual use" and contained within it a church dedicated to
St Lawrence used solely by the townspeople, there can be little doubt that the abbey buildings would have been demolished like so many other religious communities at the time. The town purchased the abbey from
the Crown for £100 in
1544 and, somewhat ironically, then demolished that section set aside as the church of St Lawrence that had ensured its survival in the first place.
By the mid-16th century Romsey's population was about 1,500 with its woollen and tanning industries fuelling its growth. In
1607 the town was granted a charter making it a
borough.
During the
English Civil War the town was occupied by the
Royalist forces during late
1643 and following a skirmish between them and
Parliamentary or
Roundhead troops the former fled. The town was plundered by the victorious soldiers who retained it for barely a year before the Royalists returned and plundered it themselves towards the end of
1644. They remained in control of the borough until January
1645.
The 18th and 19th centuries
The town's woollen industry survived through until the middle of the
18th century by which time it was unable to compete with the fast growing and substantial industry of the north of England. However new enterprises soon filled the gap with
brewing,
papermaking and
sackmaking — all reliant upon the abundant waters of the Test, expanding quickly.
By
1794 Romsey was connected to
Redbridge — at the mouth of the
River Test — and
Andover, by
canal and its industry continued to grow such that the first
census of
1801 recorded its population at 4,274 — at a time when the population of Southampton was only 8,000.
It was by any measure a reasonably large town by the standards of the time but its expansion did not continue through the
19th century — even though the
railway arrived in
1847. In
1851 its population was 5,654 and this dwindled to 5,597 by the time of the
1901 census.
During this period the town was home to
Lord Palmerston, the 19th century
British Prime Minister who was born and lived at
Broadlands, a large country estate on the outskirts of the town. A statue of Palmerston still stands in the Market Place outside the Town Hall.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries Romsey was famous for the manufacture of collapsible boats. The Rev. Edward Lyon Berthon invented the collapsible boat in 1851 and they were manufactured at the Berthon Boatyard in Romsey from 1870 until 1917. They were used as lifeboats on ocean-going liners including the
Titanic.
Broadlands later became the home of
Lord Mountbatten of Burma, known locally as
Lord Louis who, having been murdered in an
IRA bomb explosion in
Ireland on
27 August 1979, was buried in
Romsey Abbey, the local parish church. He was given his Earldom in
1947, and was at the same time given the lesser title "Baron Romsey, of Romsey in the County of Southampton".
After Lord Mountbatten of Burma death, his titles passed to his elder daughter,
Lady Brabourne, who thus became Lady Mountbatten of Burma. Her eldest son is now styled by the
courtesy title "Lord Romsey".
It was at the
Broadlands estate where
The Prince and
Princess of Wales spent the first night of their honeymoon after their marriage.
Watermills have played an important part in Romsey's history as an industrial town. The
Domesday Book of
1086 provides the earliest record of
mills in Romsey, which identifies three (possibly four) mills.
Sadler's Mill is probably the best known of Romsey's surviving mills and is apparently the only mill to be developed on the main course of the
River Test. The existence of Sadler's Mill is first recorded in the 16th century, when it was owned by the manor of Great and Little Spursholt. Functioning as a corn and grist mill, it has passed through a succession of owners including
Lord Palmerston who rebuilt it in
1747 and sold it in 1777 to one Benjamin Dawkins. Following another succession of owners it returned to the
Broadlands estate in
1889. Milling ceased in
1932, when the mill building became redundant. The
Broadlands estate sold the building in
2003, at which point it was close to collapse having been derelict for many years. The new owners, Anthony and Sarah de Sigley, restored the building in
2005, rebuilding much of the original structure. During the restoration evidence of an earlier structure was found;
carbon 14 dating established the age of this to be
circa 1650.
King John's House & Tudor Cottage was allegedly a hunting lodge used by King
John of England whilst hunting in the
New Forest. However the exisiting building dates from much later. It does contain a number of extremely unusual and exciting historical features - including medieval wall decorations and graffitti as well as a floor made of animal bones.
The body of
King William II "Rufus" was carried through Bell Street in Romsey on its way to Winchester, after he had been killed whilst hunting in the New Forest.
The town's memorial park contains a Japanese
World War II artillery gun, one of a pair captured by the British and brought back to Romsey by Lord Mountbatten of Burma. One was donated to the town by Lord Mountbatten and the other was retained in the grounds of his country estate,
Broadlands.
The town contains a swimming pool, the
Romsey Rapids.
It has a
railway station with most services between
Portsmouth and
Bristol. Of note, a new service which runs to
Eastleigh and then down to
Southampton started in 2004 and also serves
Chandler's Ford. This line attracted many complaints from local residents and is currently threatened with closure.
The Mayor's Picnic takes place in early-mid summer and is held in Romsey's Memorial Park. There is music performed by local schools, a variety of stalls, and the popular Duck Race, in which numbered plastic ducks 'race' each other along the river Test, to be scrupulously retrieved before awarding a prize to whoever chose the winning duck.
The
Beggars Fair is held in the streets and pubs of Romsey on the 2nd Saturday in July. It is a free festival featuring all types of music, together with dance and other street entertainment.
Romsey Carnival week takes place during a week in July with the highlight being the procession through the streets of Romsey on the final Saturday evening.
The
Romsey Show is a large agricultural show which takes place every September at Broadlands.
The
Winter Carnival takes places each year when Romsey's Christmas lights are switched on.
Shortly after, on one Friday evening in December, to the delight of local children,
Santa Claus appears on the rooftops, to be rescued by the local fire brigade. This marks the beginning of Romsey's Christmas late night shopping evening. Santa is always located on the same roof quite possibly because of an agreement with the owners
The
Romsey Arts Festival occurs every 3 years, showcasing talent from local area. The next festival is due in 2008.
The official town shell is the Pod razor (Ensis Siliqua).
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The Romsey Advertiser Romsey's local paper
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Romseynet*
King John's House 
