Adopted home

I always look upon the Hampshire market town of Romsey as my adopted home.

True, I was born and brought up in another part of Hampshire, but I have lived in and around the town for nigh on 40 years, that I believe I can justify a claim to some allegiance to the area.

.I revel in the history of the town, once believed to have been called Rum’s Eg. But while a lot has changed even in the years that I have known the town, it still claims a charm of its own.

Look back into history and you’ll find tales of Benedectine nunnery and the town initially growing alongside the religious community, the founding of the Abbey itself, attacks by the Vikings, the decimation of much of the population in medieval times by the Black Death and a canal linking the town with Southampton.

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. In 1607 King James I granted the town a second charter making it a borough.

Lord Palmerston, the 19th-century British Prime Minister, was born and lived at Broadlands, a large country estate on the outskirts of the town. His statue pictured here stands in the Market Place outside the Town Hall.

Eleven years ago, the town celebrated the 400th Anniversary of the granting of its Charter by King James I including a visit in June of that year from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to unveil a Charter Syone near the Market Square.