Royal Romsey

Above: Mark Bramley

Above: Mark Bramley

Above: Romsey grew up around the River Test. Photograph: National Trust/David Watson

Above: Whenever you visit Romsey, make the Heritage and Visitor Centre your first stop

Above: Romsey Abbey. Photograph: Alejandra DeRichardson

Above: Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey. Photograph: National Trust/Nick White

Above: Carla Howard

There’s something very reassuring about Romsey. It is a town with a real heart centred on the Cornmarket and the large and beautiful Abbey is just around the corner.
It’s also a place where people feel at home, make their homes and want to be involved in the community, as Mark Bramley told me while we sipped tea in his delightful listed 17th century home.
Mark, who was elected to the town council a year ago, was born in the New Forest, but bought his house as a weekend retreat while working as a director of sales for hotels in London.
He then made it his base when he became Director of Sales for the Macdonald Botley Park Hotel. Mark is now working for Hotel Info, a company which represents small and privately-owned hotels on a sales and marketing basis.
“One becomes very passionate about Romsey,” he said.  “I became a councillor to give something back to the community. Although it is important for Romsey to move forward, it is also important that it does so in the way that we give the next generation the town we would like them to have.”

Royal connection
“I love Romsey. It is still compact and small with a market town mentality. It has a very good sense of community. It is safe. It has all the things a community should have: social events, societies and entertainment, all within the town. And not every small town has a royal at the end of the road!”
He met Her Majesty the Queen when she visited the town to celebrate the 400th anniversary of its charter last summer and they agreed they were both fortunate to have Romsey!
“The Mountbatten family, who live at Broadlands, are held in great respect in the town and there is a sense of old-fashioned manners and respect for older people. The young help the older people and the older people are not scared of the youngsters.”
It’s also a sociable place, with plenty of excellent pubs. Romsey once had more pubs per head than any other town in the country, Mark said: “There was a saying, ‘He’s so drunk he must have been to Romsey’.”
 
Past and present
The town grew up around the River Test, and the Saxons established an iron-smelting industry south of where the Abbey now stands. The arrival of nuns, in the tenth century, led to the founding of the Abbey and the development of the town.
The cloth trade developed, in 1607 King James I gave the town borough status and in the late 19th century Strong’s Brewery was founded in the town.
Much of the town’s lovely architecture has been preserved over the centuries but this is certainly not a place where time stands still.
The shopping centre is bustling, there’s a town market twice a week and this year Romsey is preparing for its arts festival from July 5-20. First celebrated in 1987, it happens only every three years.
“This year it is going to be even bigger and better, with 100 events scheduled,” said David Pantling of Romsey Arts Festival Committee. One of the most colourful will be the Beggars’ Fair, held on the evening of July 11 and during the day on July 12. Venues include the Abbey, local halls and community premises and many performances will be taking part in Romsey’s surrounding villages.
Romsey Town Hall will be the setting for an evening with Germaine Greer and Jacqui Dankworth and her band will be playing at the Wheatsheaf Inn at nearby Braishfield.
 
Warm welcome
Dutch-born Carla Howard loves the town and, as information assistant in Romsey’s Heritage and Visitor Centre, knows a great deal about where to go and what to do.
Carla, who came to the UK 40 years ago as au pair to newsreader Reginald Bosanquet, has been a familiar face in the Church Street centre for 10 years.
“It is the longest time I have ever been in a job,” she told me. “I speak several European languages so I thought I could use them and I like to meet people – I am a people-person.
“I find Romsey has everything you need, shopping and culture-wise. There are nice, individual shops you don’t find anywhere else and there is always something happening. I find I don’t need to go into Southampton, I can get everything I need here.”
And she praised the 1,000-strong Romsey and District Society, which was formed in 1974, for its active involvement in local issues.
Carla recommends that as well as visiting King John’s House, people should see the gardens and the adjacent Miss Moody’s Tearooms.
Whenever you visit Romsey, make the Heritage and Visitor Centre your first stop – it’s right opposite the Abbey – and you’re bound not to miss the very best of this lively and beautiful Hampshire market town.