Probably the most famous memorial tree in the area is the mulberry planted in Broadlands by James I.

The leaves of the white mulberry form the diet of silk worm caterpillars, but the king planted the a black mulberry which would have been no help in his campaign to develop the English silk industry. The tree, although somewhat geriatric is still there and cared for.

In the 20th century, there were suggestions that a mulberry tree be planted in the grounds of Romsey Abbey, but the vicar feared for the surplices of the choirboys. Mulberries are notorious for staining clothes and he had a preference for a clean choir.

For Queen Elizabeth II’s golden jubilee, three mulberries were planted around the town, but I am not sure which have survived. There is a mulberry in the Memorial Park but I cannot find out when it was planted.

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Romsey is home to many beautiful trees. Some were planted to enhance the landscape and others as a way to commemorate people or events. Some are still with us but others have gone. Some rare trees often found in gardens were planted locally, for example in the garden of Abbotsford House, which, in the 1920s became the South Garth of Romsey Abbey, and also in the grounds of Linden House, in The Hundred.

The arboretum at Greatbridge Mill was planted by Sir Harold Hillier in the 1930s and is occasionally open to the public at one of other of the fund raising events held there.

The avenue of horse chestnuts along Malmesbury Road has largely been replaced by less intrusive trees, allowing more space for car parking and light to the front windows of the houses behind.

The horse chestnut that was planted in 1912 far too close to the main road outside the Duke’s Head has been removed fairly recently.

The horse chestnut outside the library in Station Road has survived and enhances the area. It was won by scholars of the boys’ school in the 1920s in a competition to write about nature organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Probably the oddest sight are the remains of a Second World War gun emplacement in a field maple in Knatchbull Close, facing down Mile Wall, the A27. A metal bar on which to place a gun and a telephone connection can still be seen.

The local history society has a fine collection of photos of Romsey trees taken early in this century.