Middle Wallop

This famous firm was developed from a combination of various Romsey breweries in the latter part of the 19th century, when rail transport made it possible to carry beer over considerable distances. Strong’s became one of the main employers in the town for about a hundred years, but the need for modernisation caused brewing to cease in 1981; the operation, by that time part of Whitbread Wessex, was finally closed in 1990. Part of the site has been cleared, but the main buildings, some converted to offices, remain — the heritage of late 19th-century and early 20th-century builders.
An extract from from"Romsey Town and City Memories".

With nine mill sites in the town, many enterprises used water to power the machinery necessary for their businesses — corn, paper, and cloth-fulling mills, saw mills, and tanneries. Most written material about Romsey’s mills seems to relate to problems in obtaining that most important item — water. Romsey’s mills depended on the river Test and its branches for their power. Competition was keen, and resulted in many legal disputes arising from millers upstream diverting the water from those downstream. There was a series of disputes in Tudor times at Sadler’s Mill: its owner suffered from the work of millers upstream, who ‘with divers and sondrie lewde and desperate persons ... erected a pilinge over athwart the mayne Channel of the Ryver and thereby stopped turned and diverted the said Mayne River of Terste out of his aunciente and common Course ...’ Troubles of this kind continued through the following centuries, providing the legal profession with a steady source of income. As late as the early 20th century, wooden stakes were still being placed incorrectly to control the water flow. At that time, photographic evidence was offered in court; an unfortunate river keeper was shown standing in the faulty area to demonstrate the depths.
An extract from from"Romsey Town and City Memories".

A quarter of a century apart, this and the previous view of the High Street show how little it changed throughout the 20th century, with the exception of traffic problems and an increased number of tourists. Apart from the introduction of a pedestrianisation scheme and some new shop fronts, it remains much the same today.
An extract from from"Winchester Pocket Album".

Beyond the water meadows of the River Itchen is the Iron Age hillfort of St Catherine’s Hill, the site of a maze which perhaps was used by penitent local monks, who would be blindfolded as they attempted to trace its paths. The view from the hill is one of the finest in Hampshire.
An extract from from"Winchester Pocket Album".

Westgate dominated the western defences of the old city. It dates originally from the 12th century, and was reinforced during the Hundred Years War in anticipation of an attack by the French. The entire structure stands on the site of an earlier Roman fortification.
An extract from from"Winchester Pocket Album".