Sir William Petty's house
Around 1800, a local historian Dr Latham made a number of sketches of the large late medieval house (shown with double pitched roof in the above sketch) that was the birthplace of Sir William Petty in 1623. A remarkable man, he is remembered on a plaque fixed to 30 Church Street. One of the sketches shows all or part of the facades of the four Abbey Close houses in Church Street. But what made the above sketch possible was the discovery in Bowood House of a very detailed drawing of the back of the house by the third Marchioness of Lansdowne which she drew in 1800. This showed that an extension had been built at the rear of the house and judging from the row of windows on the first floor it was intended to be used as a weaving shed. This would be consistent with the fact that the house had always been associated with the wool trade. The house stayed in the Lansdowne family until 1927.

The Sharp family
In the late 1700s the house (then known as Lansdowne House) was rented from Lord Lansdowne by a mercer, Richard Sharp. It seems likely that he would have built the extension and also the malthouse as the turnpike roads were developing at the time making transport easier. Hence the concentration of activities such as weaving and malting became practicable.

Anna’s comb shop
When Richard Sharp died in 1783, his wife Mary and her sister Anna Overton went to live in the cottages to the left of the above sketch. Anna had a shop in a corner of the malthouse from which she sold combs to the many wool-combers on their way to work at the Abbey Mills. They used to walk through the archway which still exists between 30/32 Church Street and out through the iron gates shown in the sketch. In return for an annuity, Anna gave a local maltster, William Tarver the right to use the malthouse which would become his when she died. Hence the name ‘Tarvers Malthouse’ on the nameplate of number 32 Church Street.

Trades people and the old belfry ground
The remaining two houses in Church Street were mostly occupied by trades people who rented the stable (thatched at this time) from the Church. They were owned by Winchester College along with many other properties in Romsey. The deeds have been transcribed and summarised in a book by Sheila Himsworth so it is easy to discover who lived in them. The original deeds are kept in immaculate condition at the college and these contain useful plans of the sites.

The two cottages
The two timber-framed cottages adjacent to the stable were also owned by Winchester College. It is possible to get a good idea of what they look like from photographs which were taken in 1974 when they were demolished.

TOP 17th century