Romsey, United Kingdom

Along with Wilton Abbey nearby, Romsey Abbey became known as a place of learning in the High Middle Ages. In 1086, Matilda of Scotland was sent there to be educated by her aunt, Cristina, who was then the abbess. A number of hopeful suitors visited the princess in Romsey, including the later king William Rufus, whose advances were hindered by her aunt. 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.

The existing abbey was built in the Norman style between 1120 and 1140 using Chilmark stone. It was likely designed by Henry of Blois, the brother of King Stephen and builder of the Hospital of St Cross in Winchester. The final three arches were added between 1230 and 1240, at which time more than 100 nuns belonged to the foundation. The north transept of the original Saxon church is still visible today.

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 in 1268 and extended to the Feast of St Philip and St James by Henry III in 1272. 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. 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.

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. Plague arrived again in 1526, with Henry VIII abandoning his plans to spend the eve of the Assumption in Romsey and instead heading to Winchester. Prosperity never returned to the abbey.

Romsey Abbey was finally suppressed by 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.

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 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. 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, the first of whom was the Earl of Southampton.

Romsey changed hands several times during the English Civil War, with both 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. A skirmish on Middle Bridge, downstream of Sadler's Mill, may have preceded these events.

The town's woollen industry struggled through the 18th century, with competition from the North effectively halving the wages of woollen workers in the southern and eastern parts of the country by the 1770s. As the townspeople looked for more stable work in burgeoning industries like brewing, papermaking and sackmaking, Romsey continued to grow as a modern market town. In 1794 a canal was dug from Redbridge to Andover, passing through Romsey and thus improving its access to nearby trade centres. The town's population was 4,274 in the first census of 1801.

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. Though he had hoped to be buried at Romsey Abbey, he was in 1865 given a state funeral and subsequently buried at Westminster Abbey. His statue, sculpted by Matthew Noble, has stood in Market Place since 1868.