Romsey
Romsey maps (2 available)
Map of Hampshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Romsey books (21 available)
- 55 photos on Romsey appear in 5 Frith books - View photos of Romsey
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Romsey and Hampshire
Romsey memories
Read and share memories of Romsey and Hampshire inspired by Frith photos
Family connections.
My late husband's father and uncle owned the grocery shop known as Hook Brothers. This shop was forced to close when Barclays Bank took over the building in the early 1960s. The closure meant that links were severed with noted local residents such as the Mountbatten family at Broadlands.
Contributed by Mrs J K-Hook
Hampshire memories
Family connections.
My late husband's father and uncle owned the grocery shop known as Hook Brothers. This shop was forced to close when Barclays Bank took over the building in the early 1960s. The closure meant that links were severed with noted local residents such as the Mountbatten family at Broadlands.
A memory of Romsey contributed by Mrs J K-Hook
The Sanitorium - Mid1960's
I remember the perimeter fence was of corrugated iron, my brothers and our pals used to climb through the gaps to steal the apples. Unfortunately the only trees to have eating apples were situated near to the main buildings. We used to swap sweaters and take it turns to run the gauntlet for them. No harm was intended or any damage done.
In later years we used to pick wild flowers for the residents and talk to the ones that were able to go outside.
A memory of Chandlers Ford contributed by Elaine Brook
In Memory of my Grandfather John Young
With many Thanks to Larry and Gill who have now enabled me to find the "Resting place" of John Young who died in 1917 {WW1} As far as we know his Widow Mary travelled to Hursley from Barking and he was buried at this Church Cemetery. I am in hopes that I may one day visit the grave, till then RIP dear granddad.
Edna x
A memory of Hursley contributed by Edna Reynolds
Extracts From Romsey & Hampshire books
To the right of Romsey's Corn Exchange, built in 1864, is a glimpse of Romsey Abbey, which until the mid-16th century was home to a Benedictine order of nuns. At the time of the Dissolution, the abbey was saved from destruction by the people of Romsey, who paid £100 for it. On the right is Ely's, an ironmonger's.
An extract from from"Hampshire Revisited Photographic Memories".
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".
Beyond the grassy expanse lies Romsey's great Norman church, one of the most impressive in Europe and certainly the finest in Hampshire. The abbey was founded in AD 907 by Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great, but the main part of the building was built in the 12th century by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester.
An extract from from"Hampshire Revisited Photographic 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".
To the right at 27 Market Place is the post office. In July 1965 this was transformed into the Westminster Bank, where Mr Gambrill was the manager - he had been with the bank for 31 years. Boots is still here, and there is a regular market. In 1956 Norman Thelwell, the world-renowned cartoonist who had produced 60 covers and 1,500 illustrations for ‘Punch’ magazine, moved to Braishfield near Romsey, where he gained a reputation for exemplary property restoration. In 1968 the Thelwells moved to nearby Timsbury where Thelwell fulfilled a lifetime ambition by building a lake close to his beloved River Test.
An extract from from"Hampshire Living Memories".