Editing Romsey (section)

==History==
===Middle Ages to the Civil War===
====Toponymy====
Romsey's name is believed to originate from the [[Old English]] ''Rūm's eg'', meaning "Rūm's island". ''Rūm'' is probably an abbreviation of a personal name like ''Rumwald'' (meaning "glorious leader"; compare the twain Saints [[Rumwold]]), and ''eg'' (meaning ''"''island") may have denoted a monastic retreat in the [[Early Middle Ages]], since it is common among religious [[toponymy|placenames]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/Religpns.htm|title=At the Edge: Recovering the lost religious place-names of England|last=Smith|first=Gavin|website=At The Edge|year=1996|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000129172831/http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/religpns.htm|archive-date=29 January 2000|access-date=15 August 2019}} [http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magazines/United%20Kingdom/At%20The%20Edge%20(Bob%20Trubshaw)/At%20The%20Edge%20-%20No%2003%20-%201996%2009.pdf Alt URL]</ref>

====Beginnings====
The first church in Romsey was founded by [[Edward the Elder]] in 907 AD for his daughter, Ælflæd, a nun who became the first [[abbess]] of Romsey. [[Edgar the Peaceful]] re-founded the abbey under the [[Rule of Benedict]] in 967 AD, appointing as abbess a noblewoman named [[Mærwynn|Merewenna]] in 974 AD. Merewenna was given charge of Edgar's stepdaughter, [[Æthelflæda of Romsey|Æthelflæd]], who later served as abbess herself. Both Merewenna and Æthelflæd are revered as saints.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22880?msg=welcome_stranger#ROMSEY_ABBEY|title=Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey, by Thomas Perkins|last=Perkins|first=Thomas|date=1907|via=Gutenberg.org|publisher=Chiswick Press|location=London|page=17}}</ref>

The surrounding village prospered alongside the religious community. In 1003 the [[Danes]] sacked Romsey and destroyed the Anglo-Saxon church in retaliation for the [[St. Brice's Day massacre|St Brice's Day Massacre]]. While there is no record of the abbey's restoration, it is written that in 1012 [[Emma of Normandy]] gave lands to the abbey and that there were a total of 54 nuns in Romsey during the reign of [[Cnut the Great]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22880/22880-h/22880-h.htm#ROMSEY_ABBEY|title=Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey, by Thomas Perkins|last=Perkins|first=Thomas|date=1907|website=Gutenberg.org|publisher=Chiswick Press|location=London|page=18|access-date=14 August 2019}}</ref>

The [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 refers to a population of 127 households in Romsey, along with the earliest records of the [[watermill]]s that would later establish it as an industrial town. Relative to other Domesday settlements, Romsey had a large population and paid a considerable amount of tax.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/SU3521/romsey/|title=Romsey {{!}} Domesday Book|website=Opendomesday.org|access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref>

Along with [[Wilton Abbey]] nearby, Romsey Abbey became known as a place of learning in the [[High Middle Ages]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Henry I|last=Hollister|first=C. Warren|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780300143720|editor-last=Clark Frost|editor-first=Amanda|pages=128}}</ref> In 1086, [[Matilda of Scotland]] was sent there to be educated by her aunt, [[Cristina, daughter of Edward the Exile|Cristina]], who was then the abbess.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York|last=Hilton|first=Lisa|publisher=Pegasus Books LLC|year=2010|isbn=9781605981055|location=New York|pages=42}}</ref> A number of hopeful suitors visited the princess in Romsey, including the later king [[William II of England|William Rufus]], whose advances were hindered by her aunt.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Matilda of Scotland: A Study in Medieval Queenship|last=Huneycutt|first=Lois L|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2003|isbn=9781846151149|pages=18}}</ref> William was killed in 1100 while hunting in the [[New Forest]], after which his body was carried through Bell Street in Romsey on its way to [[Winchester Cathedral]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Secret Romsey|last=Dickerson|first=Ian|publisher=Amberley Publishing|year=2018|isbn=978-1445678955|pages=34}}</ref>

The existing abbey was built in the [[Norman architecture|Norman style]] between 1120 and 1140 using [[Chilmark stone]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1092649|desc=ABBEY CHURCH OF ST MARY AND ST ETHELFLAEDA, Romsey |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> It was likely designed by [[Henry of Blois]], the brother of [[Stephen, King of England|King Stephen]] and builder of the [[Hospital of St Cross]] in Winchester.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22880/22880-h/22880-h.htm#Footnote_2_2|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey, by Thomas Perkins|last=Perkins|first=Thomas|date=1907|website=Gutenberg.org|publisher=Chiswick Press|location=London|access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> The final three arches were added between 1230 and 1240, at which time more than 100 nuns belonged to the foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.romseyabbey.org.uk/about/history/|title=About Romsey Abbey: A brief history|last=Hallett|first=Liz|website=Romsey Abbey|date=25 April 2010 |access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> The north transept of the original Saxon church is still visible today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.romseyabbey.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Education-60-Minute-Guide.pdf|title=Education 60 Minute Guide to Outside and Inside Romsey Abbey|website=Romsey Abbey|access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref>

[[Henry I of England|Henry I]] granted Romsey its first charter, allowing it to hold a full market each Sunday and a four-day fair at the Feast of St Æthelflæd the Virgin. This was confirmed by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in 1268 and extended to the Feast of St Philip and St James by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] in 1272.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol4/pp452-469|title=Parishes: Romsey Extra and Infra {{!}} British History Online|website=British-history.ac.uk|access-date=15 August 2019}}</ref> Given these charters, it can be assumed that Romsey was flourishing in the 13th century, perhaps supported by a lucrative woollen industry whereby wool was woven and then fulled or pounded before being dyed and exported from nearby Southampton.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.testvalley.gov.uk/assets/attach/7921/34XX%20Romsey%20Heritage%20Trail%20Leaflet%20Web.pdf|title=Romsey Heritage Trail – Test Valley Borough Council|website=Test Valley Borough Council|access-date=15 August 2019|archive-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924062153/https://testvalley.gov.uk/assets/attach/7921/34XX%20Romsey%20Heritage%20Trail%20Leaflet%20Web.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is suggested that towns like Romsey and [[New Alresford]] prospered as a result of their location, which allowed them to exploit the [[downland]] sheep economy while retaining access to a major port to the south.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jervis|first=Ben|date=2017|title=Decline or Transformation? Archaeology and the Late Medieval 'Urban Decline' in Southern England|url=https://orca.cf.ac.uk/94046/1/12-5-2016_Decline%20or.pdf|journal=The Archaeological Journal|volume=174|pages=231|doi=10.1080/00665983.2017.1229895|s2cid=157800150|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Romsey continued to grow and prosper until the [[Black Death]] struck the town in 1348–9, killing up to half its population of roughly 1,000 individuals. It is recorded that 90 nuns voted in the 1333 [[abbatial election]] but never more than 25 in elections held from 1350 onwards.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATOlhaEvN3wC&pg=PA88|title=A History of Bubonic Plague in the British Isles|last=Shrewsbury|first=J.F.D.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=0521022479|location=Cambridge|page=88}}</ref> Plague arrived again in 1526, with [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] abandoning his plans to spend the eve of the [[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]] in Romsey and instead heading to Winchester.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol4/pp452-469#fnn25|title=Parishes: Romsey Extra and Infra {{!}} British History Online|last=A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4|date=1911|website=British-history.ac.uk|access-date=16 August 2019}}</ref> Prosperity never returned to the abbey.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.visitromsey.co.uk/html/about_romsey.html|title=About Romsey Hampshire {{!}} Tourist and Visitor Information {{!}} Market Town {{!}} Visit Romsey {{!}} UK|website=Visitromsey.co.uk|access-date=16 August 2019}}</ref>

Romsey Abbey was finally suppressed by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] upon the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1539, during which time many religious buildings were destroyed. The abbey itself was saved from demolition, ostensibly due to a section dedicated to [[St Lawrence]] that was used as the parish church. In 1544, the townspeople were allowed to purchase the abbey from [[the Crown]] for a sum of £100. The section that saved it was subsequently demolished, however, with the remainder being used as the parish church that exists today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.romseyabbey.org.uk/about/history/|title=A brief history|date=25 April 2010|website=Romseyabbey.org.uk|language=en-US|access-date=16 August 2019}}</ref>

By the mid-16th century Romsey's population was about 1,500, its woollen and tanning industries having fuelled growth. After his visit to Broadlands in 1607, [[James VI and I|James I]] granted the town a charter and made it a [[borough]]. This gave official status to an informal local government that had been running the town's affairs since the Dissolution in 1539. Romsey could now have a corporation comprising a mayor, six aldermen, twelve chief burgesses and a town clerk.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol4/pp452-469#anchorn26|title=Parishes: Romsey Extra and Infra {{!}} British History Online|website=British-history.ac.uk|access-date=16 August 2019}}</ref> There was also to be a local law court under a Court Recorder assisted by two sergeants-at-mace and, over all, a [[High steward (civic)|High Steward]], the first of whom was the [[Earl of Southampton]].<ref name="auto"/>

Romsey changed hands several times during the [[English Civil War]], with both [[Cavalier|Royalist]] and [[Parliamentary]] troops occupying and plundering the town. Most significant were the events of 1643 in which [[William Waller]], having captured Winchester, marched southwest to Romsey where his soldiers defaced the abbey and destroyed its organ.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/civilwarinhampsh00godwrich/page/74|title=The Civil War in Hampshire (1642–45) and the Story of Basing House|last=Godwin|first=George Nelson|publisher=H.M. Gilbert and Son|year=1904|isbn=1169342469|location=Southampton|pages=74}}</ref> A skirmish on Middle Bridge, downstream of [[Sadler's Mill]], may have preceded these events.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mason|first=Anne W.|date=1976|title=The History of Middle Bridge, Romsey|url=http://www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/publications/hampshirestudies/digital/1970s/vol32/Mason.pdf|journal=Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society|volume=30|pages=51}}</ref>

===18th to 20th centuries===
The town's woollen industry struggled through the 18th century, with competition from [[Northern England|the North]] effectively halving the wages of woollen workers in the southern and eastern parts of the country by the 1770s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Albion's People: English Society 1714–1815|last=Rule|first=John|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=978-1317895947|location=London|pages=171–2}}</ref> As the townspeople looked for more stable work in burgeoning industries like [[brewing]], [[papermaking]] and [[Paper sack|sackmaking]], Romsey continued to grow as a modern market town. In 1794 a canal was dug from [[Redbridge, Southampton|Redbridge]] to [[Andover, Hampshire|Andover]], passing through Romsey and thus improving its access to nearby trade centres.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.localhistories.org/romsey.html|title=A History of Romsey|website=Localhistories.org|access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref> The town's population was 4,274 in the first [[census]] of 1801.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol4/pp315-361#h3-0073|title=Table of population, 1801–1951 {{!}} British History Online|website=British-history.ac.uk|access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>

Lord Palmerston, the 19th-century British prime minister, lived at Broadlands in his autumn years. In the 1850s he delivered a number of political and religious lectures about the town, including one to the Labourers' Encouragement Society in 1859.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eFp4l0zpUqcC&q=romsey|title=Palmerston: A Biography|last=Brown|first=David|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0300168440}}</ref> Though he had hoped to be buried at Romsey Abbey, he was in 1865 given a [[state funeral]] and subsequently buried at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1525930/Prime-ministers-who-were-given-a-state-funeral.html|title=Prime ministers who were given a state funeral|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=8 August 2006|access-date=19 August 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> His statue, sculpted by [[Matthew Noble]], has stood in Market Place since 1868.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1232293 |desc=Statue of Lord Palmerston, Market Place |access-date=19 September 2022}}</ref>   

Despite the [[History of rail transport in Great Britain 1830–1922|arrival of the railway in 1847]], the town's expansion slowed in the mid-19th century. Whilst its population had grown to 5,654 in 1851, it stagnated in subsequent decades and—by the time of the 1901 census—the population was just 5,597. The town also enjoyed a significant trade in corn: the [[Corn Exchange, Romsey|Corn Exchange]], which is a Grade II* listed building, was completed in 1864.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1231877|desc=Former Corn Exchange, Romsey, Hampshire|access-date=12 June 2023}}</ref>

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Romsey became known for making [[Berthon Boat]]s, a type of collapsible lifeboat invented by [[Edward Lyon Berthon]] in 1851. In 1873, having been the vicar of Romsey Abbey since 1860, Berthon erected a shed outside the nearby vicarage to meet the increasing demand for collapsible boats in the 1870s. In 1877 he appointed his son as manager and moved the enterprise to Lortemore Place. The boatyard continued to make boats until 1917, when it became Berthon Boat Co. and relocated to [[Lymington]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.berthon.co.uk/about-berthon/berthon-history/|title=A Berthon History and Timeline from 1272 to the Present Day.|website=Berthon|language=en|access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref> The abbey installed a window commemorating Berthon in 1902.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/art/stainedglass/jamespowell/23.html|title=Berthon Memorial Window, Romsey Abbey, Hampshire|website=Victorianweb.org|access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref>

With Romsey's expansion as a brewing town in the mid-19th century, it became known for its extraordinary number of pubs and, more generally, its fashionable drinking culture. By 1911 it boasted more than 80 public houses, twice the national average and effectively one pub for every 151.5 residents.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Secret Romsey|last=Dickerson|first=Ian|publisher=Amberley Publishing|year=2018|isbn=978-1445678955|pages=27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/heritage/2010022.so-drunk-he-must-have-been-to-romsey/|title=So drunk he must have been to Romsey!|website=Daily Echo|date=February 2008 |language=en|access-date=5 September 2019}}</ref> Based on the old Hampshire saying ''so drunk he must have been to Romsey'', a book of the same name was published in 1974 as a comprehensive guide to the town's drinking establishments.<ref>{{Cite book|title=So Drunk He Must Have Been to Romsey: A History of Romsey's Pubs & Inns|last=Anonymous|publisher=The History Section of the Lower Test Valley Archaeological Study Group|year=1974|asin=B0016OI17I}}</ref> [[File:Statue of Lord Palmerston, Romsey - geograph.org.uk - 1720490.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of [[Lord Palmerston]]]]
The Willis Fleming family of [[North Stoneham Park]] were major landowners at Romsey from the 17th until early 20th centuries, and were lords of the manors of Romsey Infra and Romsey Extra.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/estates/hants_and_iow/Romsey_Estates|title=Romsey Estates|website=Willisfleming.org.uk}}</ref>

Broadlands later became the home of [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma]], known locally as 'Lord Louis'. In 1947 he was given his earldom and the lesser title of Baron Romsey, of Romsey in the County of Southampton.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Mountbatten-1st-Earl-Mountbatten|title=Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten {{!}} British statesman|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref> Mountbatten was buried in Romsey Abbey after being killed in an [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA]] bomb explosion in Ireland on 27 August 1979. After his death his titles passed to his elder daughter, [[Patricia Mountbatten, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma|Lady Brabourne]], who thus became Countess Mountbatten of Burma. Her eldest son was styled by the [[Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom|courtesy title]] 'Lord Romsey' until he inherited the title of Lord Brabourne in 2005, and then the [[Earl Mountbatten of Burma|earldom]] in 2017.<ref>BBC News (2005).[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4275336.stm Death on the Nile producer dies] Retrieved 1 November 2007</ref>

[[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] was Mountbatten's nephew and, when he married [[Elizabeth II]] on 20 November 1947, the pair departed London by train and spent their honeymoon at Broadlands. They attended the service at Romsey Abbey the following Sunday.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eXERDgAAQBAJ|title=My Husband and I: The Inside Story of 70 Years of the Royal Marriage|last=Seward|first=Ingrid|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2017|isbn=978-1471159589|location=London}}</ref> Like his parents, [[Charles, Prince of Wales]] and his first wife [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] spent the first part of their own honeymoon at Broadlands in 1981. In 2011, [[Prince William, Duke of Cambridge|William, Duke of Cambridge]] and [[Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge]] broke tradition by spending their first night as a married couple at [[Buckingham Palace]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a22583968/prince-william-kate-middleton-wedding-night/|title=Will and Kate Broke Royal Tradition With Where They Decided to Spend Their Wedding Night|last=Roberts|first=Kayleigh|date=29 July 2018|website=ELLE|language=en-US|access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref>

In 2007 Romsey celebrated the 400th anniversary of James I's charter with a programme of events hosted from March through to September, including a visit on 8 June from Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.<ref>BBC News (2007).[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6734411.stm Queen marks charter anniversary] Retrieved 1 November 2007</ref> The cost of the visit created some local controversy, with particular attention being paid to the £5,000 spent on a new toilet for Her Majesty's use, though in the event she did not make use of it.<ref>BBC News (2007).[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7049255.stm Town left with royal toilet bill] Retrieved 3 November 2007</ref>

===Present===
The town centre has had a large Waitrose supermarket since 1969,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://waitrosememorystore.org.uk/content/branches-3/branches-o-r/romsey-671/waitrose_romsey|title=Waitrose Romsey|date=22 February 2013|website=Waitrosememorystore.org.uk|language=en|access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref> along with an independent department store named [[Bradbeers]] and a range of other independent shops and high street chains. Romsey was described by ''[[The Guardian]]'' as 'resoundingly, timelessly English' in 2014, with the newspaper remarking on the town's representation of [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] provincial life.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/nov/28/lets-move-to-romsey-hampshire|title=Let's move to Romsey, Hampshire|last=Dyckhoff|first=Tom|date=28 November 2014|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=20 August 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> It is popular among retirees.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hampshire-life.co.uk/out-about/places/what-it-s-like-to-live-in-romsey-1-4868993|title=We find out what it's like to live in Romsey|last=Caulton|first=Emma|website=Hampshire-life.co.uk|date=11 March 2019|language=en|access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref>

Three [[industrial estate|industrial and trading estates]] focus mainly on [[service industry|service industries]] and small-scale manufacturing. Three scientific and high technology employers—[[Roke Manor Research]], [[Southampton Science Park]] and [[IBM]]—have establishments nearby.