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Romsey
Romsey is a small market town, near the New Forest
in the county of Hampshire, England. It is 8 miles (13 km)
north-west of Southampton and 11 miles (18 km) south-west of
Winchester. Just over 13,000 people live in Romsey, which has an
area of about 4.93 square kilometres. (*more information at bottom
of page)
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Bed and Breakfast =
B&B |
Self Catering =
S/C |
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 Telephone-
01794 342400
 E.mail-woodpeckersbandb@aol.com |
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Bed and
Breakfast -
CLICK HERE to see more of this B&B
WOODPECKERS is a luxury
bed and breakfast in a peaceful location 10 minutes from the
new forest and the small market town of Romsey. We are a small
family run business with a friendly atmosphere. Breakfast on
eggs from our own free range chicken and home made preserves.
The accommodation comprises of a double bedroom sitting room
with TV and DVD , bathroom with bath and shower all for your
own private use. You can pick up a network of footpaths just
outside of our door leading to woodlands local villages,
restaurants and pubs. |
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01794 342400
woodpeckersbandb@aol.com |
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Bed and
Breakfast
The Cricketers, Top Green, Lockerley, Romsey SO51 0JP
Email
john.clark@TheCricketersBnB.co.uk
Phone: 01794 341947 Mobile:
07717 233496 |
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Camp site
Hill Farm Caravan Park, Branches Lane, Sherfield English,
Romsey SO51 6FH
Phone: 01794 340402 Fax: 01794 342358
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Romsey lies on the River Test,
which is famous for trout fishing. It is one of the principal
towns in the Test Valley Borough. A large Norman abbey
dominates the centre of the town.
Romsey was home of the late Lord Mountbatten of Burma, the
19th century British prime minister Lord Palmerston, and the
17th century philosopher and economist William Petty.
Romsey's MP has been Sandra Gidley of the Liberal Democrats
since a by-election in 2000 after the previous Conservative MP
Michael Colvin died with his wife in a house fire. Gidley's
majority was cut to 125 votes in the 2005 General Election,
partly because the Countryside Alliance targeted her as she
opposes fox hunting.
Romsey is twinned with Paimpol in Brittany, France and
Battenberg, Germany.
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 devotional acts included chanting
psalms while standing naked in the cold water of the River
Test.
The village swelled alongside the religious community. Viking
raiders sacked Romsey in 993 AD, burning the down the church.
But the village recovered, and the abbey was rebuilt in stone
in circa 1000 AD. The religious community flourished as a seat
of learning ? especially for the children of the nobility. A
market was established outside the abbey gates.
The Normans built the large current abbey that dominates the
town (between circa 1120 and 1140 AD) on the site of the
original Saxon church. By 1240 AD, 100 nuns lived in the
convent.
King Henry I granted Romsey its first charter. This allowed a
market to be held every Sunday, and a four-day annual fair in
May. In the 13th century, Henry III permitted an additional
fair in October.
The lucrative woollen industry appears to have powered
Romsey's growth during the Middle Ages. Wool was woven and
then fulled ? pounded with wooden hammers whilst being washed.
It was dyed, and then exported from nearby Southampton.
Romsey continued to grow and prosper until plague struck the
town in 1348-9. The Black Death is thought to have killed up
to half of the Romsey's population of 1000. The number of nuns
fell as low as 19. Prosperity never returned to the abbey. It
was finally suppressed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution of
the Monasteries in 1539. Many religious buildings were
destroyed during this time.
But the abbey was saved from demolition because part of it was
a parish church for the people of Romsey. The town purchased
the abbey from the Crown for ?100 in 1544. Ironically, the
part of the abbey that had saved the abbey, the church of St
Lawrence, was then demolished.
By the mid-16th century Romsey's population was about 1,500;
its woollen and tanning industries fuelled growth. In 1607 the
town was granted a charter making it a borough.
Romsey changed hands several times during the English Civil
War. Both Royalist and Parliamentary or Roundhead troops
occupied and plundered the town. Royalists remained in control
of the borough until January 1645. |
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email:
info@new-forest-bed-breakfast.co.uk |
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