This chain was used to measure lengths accurately and reliably. The  flat end off the “D” was laid on a known point and the surveyor stands on the chain. At the other end  the survey assistant was directed…

  William Cowper- Temple , MP, of Broadlands was ahead of his time. A teetotaller and vegetarian, he was a keen supporter of religious tolerance, the environment and animal welfare. In 1886, by which time he was Lord Mount Temple,…

This wooden box bears the following inscription: ‘Part of the apple tree cut down on the top of Romsey Church, 1821.’ In the 18th and early 19th century Romsey Abbey was badly neglected, and the apple tree that grew on…

Box6-3WigCurlers Discovered in Cherville Street, Romsey, in the 1980’s, these wig curlers are thought to have belonged to a John Marsh, who lived in Romsey from 1767 to 1776. Fashion in the eighteenth century, especially the latter half of the…

A post medieval feature of house construction was a bone floor created from the knucklebones of sheep and, in rare cases, cattle and horses. Although these types of floors were widespread for a very short period between the late 17th…

  Robert Smetham was a local Romsey lad who was known for his heroic action in stopping a runway horse and cart from trampling over people on market day held on 22 February 1912. He hung on to the horse…

“> This week’s object is a pair of porcelain money boxes given to children for regular attendance at Sunday Schools. These particular money boxes were awarded to a Romsey girl in the 1870s or ‘80s and have been given to…

From the Thirteenth Century, craftsmen became more creative with the way they decorated their wares. At King John’s House we have an example of this in the form of a medieval face jug. The jugs were intended to be both…

Last week marked the 36th anniversary of the death of Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Mountbatten was killed by an IRA bomb whilst fishing off the coast of Ireland. He was both a member of the Royal Family,…