Broadlands House is exceptional in this area.

Unlike the other great houses that surround Romsey, it is still in the hands of the family who bought it nearly 200 years ago. 

I have looked at a number of local mansion houses and of those I considered, only Broadlands and Lockerley Hall are still residential.

In 1900 most of these estates were in the hands of wealthy people who had bought them recently and their families sold them after a few years.

It became harder to recruit and retain the armies of servants and gardeners needed to provide the services and landscapes that such property required. This, together with the decline in farm rents in the later part of the 19th century, meant owners could no longer rely on their lands for their wealth. These houses were bought by the rich who had other sources of income and were not dependent on the estate itself to provide for all their needs. From the 1940s most of them ceased to be family homes.

Grove Place during the renovations of the 1860s (Image: Romsey Local History Society)

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Three no longer exist. Lee Manor was demolished in the early 19th century, and its former home farm is now called the manor house. East Tytherley manor house had been abandoned and was in such a ruinous condition that it was demolished in 1903.

Paultons House had been the home of Major Sloane Stanley, the pillar of the local Boy Scout movement. The house became a hotel after the war and was then abandoned. It was destroyed by fire in 1963. Paultons Park opened to the public as a theme park in 1983.
Two buildings went via school to retirement village. One of these is Stanbridge Earls and the other Grove Place at Nursling.

In the early 19th century Grove Place was acquired by Dr James Middleton who converted it into a lunatic asylum, which continued after his death, until 1854. The house was then unused for some years. It was renovated in the 1860s and reverted to residential use, but became a school in 1954.
Three buildings became schools and have remained in school use. These are Embley, Norman Court at West Tytherley and Sherfield English. 

Embley has remained a school, or rather a series of schools, as has been the case of Norman Court. Sherfield English has been more settled. It is the home of St Edward’s School which is run by the Catholic church and caters for boys with a range of personality problems.

Only one local house has been acquired by the National Trust, namely Mottisfont Abbey, which was given them in 1957 by its then owner, Mrs Maud Russell.