Discover 9 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Romsey (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Mottisfont, Romsey Abbey, and Romsey Town Hall. Also, be sure to include Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Romsey (England).
Table of Contents
Mottisfont
Riverside abbey and historic house museum. Mottisfont Abbey is a historical priory and country estate in Hampshire, England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. 393,250 people visited the site in 2019. The site includes the historic house museum which features regularly changing art exhibitions, gardens, including a walled rose garden which is home to the National Collection of ancestral species and 19th-century rose cultivars, and a riverside walk. It is a Grade I listed building[1]
Address: Mottisfont Ln, SO51 0LP Romsey
Romsey Abbey
Monastery. Romsey Abbey is the name currently given to a parish church of the Church of England in Romsey, a market town in Hampshire, England. Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was the church of a Benedictine nunnery. The surviving Norman-era church is the town's outstanding feature and is now the largest parish church in the county of Hampshire since changes in county boundaries led to the larger Christchurch Priory being now included in Dorset. The current vicar is the Reverend Thomas Wharton, who took up the post in September 2018.[2]
Address: Church Place, SO51 8EP Romsey
Romsey Town Hall
Romsey Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place in Romsey, Hampshire, England. The structure is the meeting place of Romsey Town Council.[3]
Sir Harold Hillier Gardens
Botanical garden in England. The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens is an arboretum comprising 72 hectares accommodating over 42,000 trees and shrubs in about 12,000 taxa, notably a collection of oaks, camellia, magnolia and rhododendron.
The Gardens are located 5 km (3 mi) northeast of the town of Romsey in Hampshire, England, and were formerly known simply as the Hillier Arboretum, founded by nurseryman Harold Hillier in June 1953 when he acquired Jermyn's House and its grounds.
The arboretum was given to Hampshire County Council in 1977 to be managed as a charitable trust. Sir Harold Hillier was knighted in 1983, just two years before his death at age 80 in 1985.
The Gardens were listed as Grade II on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens in 1997.[4]
Address: Jermyns House Jermyns Lane, SO51 0QA Romsey
Broadlands
Guided tours of a Georgian stately home. Broadlands is an English country house, located in the civil parish of Romsey Extra, near the town of Romsey in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The formal gardens and historic landscape of Broadlands are Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The house itself is Grade I listed.[5]
Tadburn Meadows
Nature reserve in Romsey, England. Tadburn Meadows is a 5.1-hectare Local Nature Reserve in Romsey in Hampshire. It is owned and managed by Test Valley Borough Council.
Tadburn Lake runs through this valley site, which has wet willow and alder woodland lower down and dry habitats higher up. Fauna include green woodpeckers, kingfishers and water voles. There is grassland south of the brook.[6]
King John's House & Heritage Centre
Historical place, Museum
Address: King Johns House Church Street, SO51 8BT Romsey
Romsey Signal Box
Specialty museum, Museum
Address: Brick Lane, SO51 8LG Romsey
Sadler's Mill
Sadler's Mill, also referred to as Saddlers Mill, is a watermill in Romsey, Hampshire, England. It is probably the best known of Romsey's surviving mills and is apparently the only mill to be developed on the main course of the River Test. The existence of Sadler's Mill is first recorded in the 16th century, when it was owned by the manor of Great and Little Spursholt. Functioning as a corn and grist mill, it has passed through a succession of owners including Lord Palmerston who rebuilt it in 1747 and sold it in 1777 to one Benjamin Dawkins. Following another succession of owners it returned to the Broadlands estate in 1889. Milling ceased in 1932, when the mill building became redundant. The Broadlands estate sold the building in 2003, at which point it was close to collapse having been derelict for many years. Anthony and Sarah de Sigley, restored the building in 2005, rebuilding much of the original structure. During the restoration evidence of an earlier structure was found; carbon-14 dating established the age of this to be c. 1650. The restoration was completed by Dave Northway and Amanda Deeming, the new owners from 2008 onwards.
It is a Grade II listed building.[7]