The Charter Stone

Where is this?

It's the Charter Stone sculpture outside the Former Magistrate Court, by the Abbey.

The Charter Stone is a Portland stone column beside the old Magistrates Court, close to Romsey Abbey. It was erected in 2007 to mark the 400th anniversary of Romsey receiving a borough charter, which was granted by King James I in 1607.

Queen Elizabeth II unveiled it on 8 June 2007. The sculptor was Gary Breeze, and the column combines words and images to form a "sculptural map" of the town. The carving includes the names of all the town's waterways and bridges, both ancient and modern. That reflects how much water shapes Romsey, with the Test and its many channels running through the town.

The 1607 charter was the document that made Romsey a borough with its own corporation. King James I granted it on 6 April 1607.

It gave official status to an informal local government that had run the town's affairs since the abbey was dissolved in 1539. The Victoria County History makes a similar point: although Henry VIII had in 1544 made the inhabitants a single corporate body to hold the abbey church, Romsey wasn't regularly incorporated until 1607. FandomBritish History Online

What it set up

• A corporation of a mayor, six aldermen and twelve chief burgesses, with a town clerk for administration. Fandom

• A local law court under a Recorder, assisted by two sergeants-at-mace. Fandom

• A High Steward as the senior honorary post, the first being the Earl of Southampton. Fandom

• Powers to hold a weekly court of record on Thursdays, plus a court of pie powder (a market court), though the latter was never actually held. British History Online

Afterwards. A second charter was later needed so the Corporation could hold additional charitable property. The borough was reformed in 1835.

Text by Claude AI

You can read more about the creation of the Stone HERE