Romsey | EPFL Graph Search

Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?

Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.

Romsey (ˈrɒmzi ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the town centre since 1857. The town was also home to the 20th-century naval officer and statesman Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who lived at Broadlands. Romsey Abbey, the largest parish church in Hampshire, dominates the centre of the town. Other notable buildings include a 13th-century hunting lodge, an 18th-century coaching inn and the 19th-century corn exchange. The town is situated northwest of Southampton, southwest of Winchester and southeast of Salisbury. It sits on the outskirts of the New Forest, just over northeast of its eastern edge. The population of Romsey was 14,768 at the 2011 Census. Romsey is one of the principal towns in the Test Valley Borough and lies on the River Test, which is known for fly fishing, predominantly trout. In 2019, the town centre underwent substantial remodelling, removing the roundabout around the statue of Lord Palmerston, and creating a pedestrianised area. Romsey is twinned with Paimpol in Brittany (France), Battenberg in Germany and Treviglio in Italy. 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 Rūmwald (meaning "glorious leader"), and eg (meaning "island") may have denoted a monastic retreat in the Early Middle Ages, since it is common among religious place names. 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 Merewenna in 974 AD. Merewenna was given charge of Edgar's stepdaughter, Æthelflæd, who later served as abbess herself. Both Merewenna and Æthelflæd are revered as saints.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (5)

Eastleigh

Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, one of England's premier chalk streams for fly fishing, and a designated site of Special Scientific Interest. The area was originally villages until the 19th century, when Eastleigh was developed as a railway town by the London and South-Western Railway.

New Forest

The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featuring in the Domesday Book. It is the home of the New Forest Commoners, whose ancient rights of common pasture are still recognised and exercised, enforced by official verderers and agisters. In the 18th century, the New Forest became a source of timber for the Royal Navy.

Romsey