Cllr O. Richards, mine host of the Fleming Arms, and chairman of the Borough’s Lighting Committee, said that this number would leave parts of the Borough in darkness, but it was better than nothing. It was not until 1948 that an adequate scheme was introduced.

Most of the 48 street lamps were placed at street junctions, but at least four were attached to buildings around the Market Place, including the Town Hall and W. H. Smith & Son.

From the 1830s, Romsey had had one of the earliest gas works in Hampshire, and the gas company provided and managed gas lights in the streets.

Publicly available electricity was kept out of the town until 1928 when the West Hampshire Electricity Company made power available. Before that, a few places had their own dynamos. In particular the Daughters of Wisdom at their Convent in The Abbey, and Mitchell’s Garage in Middlebridge Street. In both cases were these powered by water mills.

During the war, strict black-out was in force so no street lighting was allowed.

Then a few electric street lights were set up, as mentioned above. However, some street lighting was then or later powered by gas because I remember one person telling me of the ‘whoomph’ when the gas light by her bedroom window came on at night and she was only born around 1950.

Over the years, street lighting has become more sophisticated. It is now much brighter than it was, and the covers designed so that they pollute the skies less, although seeing the stars at night is still difficult when they are lit. Electronic bulbs have been fitted which are much more efficient, and modern technology makes it easier to control when the lights come on or go off.

One economy is the (controversial) extinguishing of the lights for a part of the night, when few people are out and about. This gives a chance for trees to sleep, for night animals to conduct their affairs, for amateur astronomers to star gaze, and for a saving of council tax to be effected.

Phoebe Merrick

Romsey Local History Society