Nursling is a village in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Nursling and Rownhams, in the

Test Valley Test Valley is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. The council is based in the borough's largest town of Andover. The borough also contains the town of Romsey and nume ...

district, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England, about north-west of the city of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. Formerly called Nhutscelle (in an 8th-century life of

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

), then Nutsall, Nutshalling or Nutshullyng until the mid-19th century, it has now been absorbed into the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s of Southampton, although it is not part of the district of Southampton (remaining part of the Test Valley borough).

History

At (Nursling) Romans erected a bridge (probably a wooden one as no trace of stone abutments remains) across the

River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. The river's vall ...

, below which it widens into its estuary, and there are traces of the Roman road from Nursling to Stoney Cross. At Nhutscelle a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery was established in 686, the earliest Benedictine establishment in

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

according to

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

. It became a major seat of learning, and at the end of the 7th century, Winfrith (subsequently

) studied here under the abbot Winberht, producing the first

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

grammar to be written in England. He left in 710 for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, returning briefly around 716 before going to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

. The Danes destroyed the monastery in 878 and it was never rebuilt; its exact site has not been identified, though the parish church is dedicated to St. Boniface. Thirty households lived in Hnutscilling, according to the Domesday Survey, belonging to the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

. The church of St. Boniface largely dates from the 14th century with some 13th century possibly Saxon material. It was restored over two years from 1881 and again in 1890. A rectory was across the road from the church in 1778. It survives as Nursling House. O. G. S. Crawford, the

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

, lived in Nursling during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and kept much rare material from the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

office in

in his garage. This foresight saved much important historical material from destruction when the offices were burnt out in an air raid. The cricketer

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

was born in Nursling. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 727. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished to form "Nursling and Rownhams".

Present day

Nursling Industrial Estate, adjacent to the M271, houses several major businesses, such as Tesco, Norbert Dentressangle and Meachers, and is ably served by transport links, the motorway giving easy access to the Southampton container terminal, as well as the motorway links to London and the Midlands. Nursling is also home to one of the two South Central Ambulance Service stations that serve the

area. Grove Place is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in Nursling. Now converted into retirement apartments, the building was originally a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

and was converted into a

lunatic asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

, Later it became a private school, the Northcliffe School for boys, then, later, the Atherley girls' school, before being developed for its present purpose.

References

External links

Parish of Nursling and RownhamsNursling and Rownhams History Group
Local History in Nursling and Rownhams, Hampshire
St Boniface Church, NurslingRomsey Local History Society
Local History in Romsey and its surrounding area
Nursling, A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1908.
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Former civil parishes in Hampshire Test Valley