2
Romsey's Public Walk and Pleasure Ground - an outline of its story
Romsey is an old market town that grew up alongside Romsey Abbey on the eastern bank of the River Test; a chalk stream famous for its fishing that flows full and clear throughout the seasons. It is ringed by small villages that separate it from Salisbury, Winchester and Southampton which are all nearby. The Broadlands Estate, once the home of Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, is at its southern edge and the town itself is dominated by the magnificent 12th century Abbey Church which is all that remains of the once proud and prosperous Abbey.
Romsey’s Public Walk (hatched) at the west end of the Abbey Church
|
Romsey's Public Walk and Pleasure Ground is the piece of open ground which lies to the west of the Abbey Church. It is bounded by the old vicarage, the new vicarage and the church hall and is about the same size as the town’s Market Place. At present, half of it is grassed and the other half, surprisingly for a sensitive part of a conservation area, has been covered with patchwork tarmac and is used as an unregulated public car park. In the 1820s, Lord Palmerston noted that the town had no public space for such things as fairs or shows and offered to contribute towards one. In response to this generous proposal, Romsey Corporation organised a public appeal to raise the rest of the money needed to buy some land. Most of the land shown hatched in the sketch was purchased and was to be held by the Corporation: |
"Upon Trust to permit the said pieces or parcels of ground to be used at all times for ever hereafter as a Public Walk or Pleasure Ground for all peaceable and orderly persons…" (1)
These words, which are found in the conveyances, are important as they constitute a declaration of a binding Public Trust.
In the 170 years or so that have elapsed since the Trust was set up, the land that it governs has been the subject of many arguments and exchanges between townspeople, the local council and the Church Authorities. During the 19th century, the authority of the Trust was challenged on several occasions but it proved to be resilient after being referred to some of the highest legal authorities in the country.
During the 20th century, following the acquisition of the Memorial Park, the Public Walk became forgotten but it surfaced again in 1985 when plans for a new vicarage at its western edge were announced. Questions about who owned the adjacent Public Walk and who had the rights over it were raised just as they had been when the Reverend Avery Moore built the first vicarage at its northern edge in 1855.
In the early 1990s, a local resident who was studying the history of Romsey Abbey came across references to the Public Walk and Pleasure Ground. This led to the formation of a small group of people who wanted to clarify the ownership of the land, the rights of the owners and the status of the Trust. They hoped that their work would lead to the restoration of this small part of the town's lost heritage and promote the enhancement of the area. It was, after all, once part of the precinct of Romsey Abbey.
In this book, the story of this piece of land begins in 1544 and ends in 2001 when the Charity Commission instructed the local council to register the land as a Public Trust. This triggered a new series of legal arguments about rights and ownership. Events over this period are well documented (2) and the personalities of some of the more colourful characters involved emerge through their actions and their letters.
1. This is an extract from the conveyances of land from Sharp and Young to Romsey Corporation dated 1st and 2nd December 1826.
2. Copies of most of the papers relating to the history of the Public Walk are being lodged with the Hampshire Record Office in Winchester and the Romsey local history society, the LTVAS Group.
