Essential core

How different the Corn Market in Romsey looked early this morning from the weekend carnival when the area was packed.
But at 9am today there was scarcely anyone in sight, and this historic corner of the town was perhaps shown off at its best, reflecting the varying architectural styles and all worth preserving. Although much is in the hands of the town’s department store, townsfolk have made it clear they do not want to see the character changed or any part of it redeveloped.
Right in the centre, and also centre photo, is the Tudor Rose pub, reckoned to date from the 15th century, and today a no-frills pub with a single timbered bar, slap bang in the town centre.  It’s got history too, and it’s on record that it was once a workhouse, also a house of mercy and at some time a brothel.  Once it was known as the Bugle and was renamed in the 1920s.
Above the bar is a half-timbered Tudor hall with a stone fireplace which was once the meeting place of a forerunner of the local council, but today, fire-regulations mean that it is not open to the public.

The Corn Market itself is just a step or two from the Market Place and is the epitome of what I regard as the essential core of a small town, and which must  be preserved for ever.