Streets and Street Furniture

The streets of central Romsey were laid out well before there were cars and lorries. In consequence they are narrow as are most of the pavements. The main streets twist and turn opening up a series of vistas in a very short distance. Some of the lesser streets are tucked away and only found by chance, such as Narrow Lane, Abbey Water, Pembroke Close or Spring Place.

The sinuous nature of Portersbridge Street.

Pembroke Close

Most of the streets are covered with tarmac, although cobbles and setts are found in Church Place and the Corn Market. There is some concern about the Corn Market as the surface is not easy for wheel chairs or push chairs. Some of the footways are paved in the central part of town, but further afield, tarmac is the usual surface.

Overhead, several streets are festooned with wires and cables that do nothing to enhance them. Mill Lane and Church Lane suffer especially in this regard. By contrast the Christmas lights erected annually mostly by fire-fighters and window cleaners are much liked and with seasonal displays in shop windows make the town centre very attractive and friendly. In summer the town is enhanced by flower troughs and hanging baskets which are to be found right across the commercial area.

The antique style lamp standards and soft lighting in The Abbey area is sympathetic to the age of the houses there. There are old style lamp posts in The Hundred which are appropriate to an old street. Elsewhere concrete or modern style lamp standards fit less easily into the historic environment.

Lamp standards

Balancing the provision of signs creates problems. On the one hand there can be too many signs, for example in the vicinity of The Hundred and Latimer Street. Conversely the various streets leading from the Market Place are not clearly indicated. Similarly, people who use the town’s car parks often have difficulty finding their way to The Hundred and the Market Place, despite the presence of maps by the parking ticket machine booths.

Bracket and sign outside Conservative Club

Statue of Lord Palmerston in Market Place

The statue of Lord Palmerston is the most prominent piece of public art in the town centre and is an important symbol for Romsey. The horse inside the entry to the old brewery is a recent addition to the town’s statuary. A number of buildings have old trade signs from previous uses that add to the feeling of continuity in the town centre.

The Town Hall is adorned with an ornamental gas lamp bracket that was probably made in the 1860s when the building was opened. Other decorative features include a weather vane on the turret of Lloyds TSB Bank and a clock that faces the Market Place. W H Smith and Sons has a trade sign depicting a paper boy dating from around 1930.

The former drinking fountain outside the Corn Exchange is an attractive feature from Romsey’s past. The recently-erected decorative wrought iron cycle racks and signpost display in Market Place are attractive as is the decorative archway at Stirling Walk.

19th Century drinking fountain in Corn Market

Design Recommendations

	Change the solid shape of the flower troughs in the town centre to something more artistic.
	Review the street signs and their effect on the townscape
	Improve signage for the exits from the Market Place
	More cycle racks, especially for Bell Street
	Remove overhead cables from the entire conservation area and review cabling over shopfronts
	Review lamp standards with the objective of making them appropriate for an historic environment

Footpaths and pavements

In several of the old streets, the pavements are narrow and pedestrians have little room. For example, in parts of Bell Street, Cherville Street and Middlebridge Street it is difficult for two people to pass without one having to step into the road.

There is little or no footway in most of Love Lane nor parts of Mill Lane. Other examples may be found in Middlebridge Street by Broadwater Road or at the northern end of Church Street. The Abbey (road) suffers from having a very narrow, sloping footway beside the URC and none at all further west.

By contrast, in part of the southern side of Broadwater Road the footway is protected from the road by a grass verge. The only other footway in this part of Romsey that is separated from the carriageway by a grass verge can be found alongside the By Pass, but it is often rather neglected, littered, overgrown and muddy.

Repeated re-surfacing work on the old streets has resulted in a significant rise in the road level, and in places this is above the level of the adjoining footways and entrances to neighbouring premises. In order to avoid raising footways above the level of door sills, pavements have been sloped down from the road. This together with pavements that slope to accommodate dropped kerbs means that across much of the town pedestrians cannot rely on horizontal pavement surfaces for their use.

Walkway between bus station and Market Place: a visually muddled link to the town centre

Church Lane, shared by cars and pedestrians

As is customary in old towns, there are a number of ways that enable people to filter through the central part of Romsey. Some of these are only available to those on foot, such as the path between the Corn Market and the bus station, or the walkway through the archway forming Abbey Walk, or the courtyard beside Dukes Mill. Others are open to traffic but are primarily used by walkers, such as the little road between Love Lane and The Hundred. The Meads, Church Place, Church Road and Church Lane are other examples of space shared by pedestrians and vehicles.

The Back Lane behind the western side of Cherville Street that leads from Mill Lane to Priestlands is primarily a footpath but the southern part is used by cars. It provides access from the town to The Romsey Community School. Amongst the purely pedestrian footpaths, there is a short walk beside one of the braids of the Test that links Hollman Drive to Priestlands.

These paths and footways add to the permeability of the town. New developments that do not allow people to filter across them change the character of an old town.

Design Recommendations

	Retain the permeability of the centre of Romsey for pedestrians
	Provide footways that are level and non-sloping for pedestrians to walk along wherever possible.
	Review signage to ensure that it is informative for both pedestrians and vehicles

Trees, Hedges and other Landscape features

The core of Romsey has many trees, in both public and private spaces. The urban landscape is both softened and enhanced by its trees, whether in groups, in rows or as single specimens. A wide variety flourish but limes, maples, sycamore and white beam predominate, with willow and horse chestnut being common. Among the smaller trees, there is plenty of holly, alder and some rowan.

The greater number of trees is to be found adjacent to the larger braids of the Test. For example the Memorial Park has a variety of trees including limes, black mulberry and London plane. The grounds of the nearby convent similarly contain a large number of trees, some of them of considerable age, such as those that abut the new part of Newton Lane. Similarly there is a wide variety of trees north of Riverside Gardens across to Mill Lane and into Millstream Rise.

The By Pass is renowned for its row of ornamental cherries that brighten the roadside in spring. Specimen trees are found in the two garths and on other lands near the Abbey church. Among the individual trees of importance is the large copper beech to the west of Lloyds TSB Bank and another in Church Road. Judas trees, magnolias and a blue cedar also grow in this part of town.

Trees lining the Bypass in winter

Design Recommendations

	Mature trees form an important feature of the landscape and as such should be retained wherever possible.
	Trees that are cut down should be sensitively replaced

Shrubs between Middlebridge Street and the By pass

There is a scattering of hedges across the town centre, some flowering. A good example of the latter is the group of cotoneasters which form a barrier screening the houses at the southern end of Middlebridge Street where it runs alongside the By-pass. Another significant hedge is that alongside the Holbrook between it and Lortemore car park.

Among the privately owned hedges are the privet hedges that line the front gardens of houses in The Meads including Bartlett’s Almshouses. A privet hedge is also to be found around The Thatched Cottage in Mill Lane. In addition to these, there are a few short lengths of hedge in front gardens.

Trees providing a screen in Broadwater Road.

Boundary Features

There are a number of sets of railings that enhance the town. Amongst the newer installations are railings that were placed between the bus station and the Holbrook and the railings that surround the park. Both sets have improved the look of their surroundings.

There is a variety of railings alongside the stream in Middlebridge Street, including some that are decorative, and others that are shaped so that steam engines could suck water from the stream.

Palmerston Street in 1908 with railings There are a few railings alongside front gardens, but many have not been replaced since they were removed in the early 1940s. Old photos show what the streets looked like with these railings.

Linden House, The Hundred. Several properties have attractive railings around them, and there are some striking brick gateways and walls.

By contrast a chain link fence separates the White Horse and Lortemore car parks which does not enhance the appearance of either area. Chain link fence between Lortemore car park and White Horse Hotel car park.

Southern gateway to the Abbey Church

There is an attractive metal gate at the western entrance to King John’s Garden and there are gates and railings around the Abbey church precinct. The South Garth of the Abbey church can be reached through a fine modern memorial gateway.

Those over the Tadburn Lake, for example at Palmerston Street and are the better for recent painting. Many of the other bridges in the town are in need of attention. The bridges either side of the park, anciently known as the White Bridge and the Black Bridge are composed of wooden slats which detract from the appearance of one of the most popular walks in Romsey.

Fencing on the bridge by the War Memorial Park.

The bridge over the Holbrook that leads into King John’s Garden is substantial and rustic. The solid gate beyond is not particularly ornamental but provides security.

The bridges in Mill Lane are attractive and give good views of the rivers. Other places where roads cross waterways are largely hidden from public gaze.

Design Recommendations

	The provision of ornamental railings around new developments and the replacement of railings removed in the 1940s should be encouraged.
	Replace wooden palings on White Bridge with white railings.
	Improve the barriers on the so-called Black Bridge.
	High walls and solid fences should generally be avoided where they sterilise the landscape or street scene.
	Owners of railings and fences should be encouraged to keep them suitably painted.