As part of Romsey Local History Society's study of buildings in Romsey the group are looking at houses with name and date stones.

Although civic buildings, schools and almshouses often had inscriptions recording the date of their building and the names of the people or groups who funded them it was largely only in the the late Victorian and Edwardian periods that builders put names and dates on houses which were to be private dwellings.

In Romsey the most flamboyant is the terracotta moulded plaque on Queens Terrace in Winchester Road, commemorating Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897.  Further along Winchester Road are Victoria Cottages dated 1869.  Above the central window is a portrait head, possibly of the queen. This house even has a brick recording the builders name W. Read with date. In Alma Road ( itself named after the 1871 battle of Alma in the Crimean War) are Coronation Villas 1902 commemorating the coronation of Edward VII and the adjacent dwelling is named Alexandra Villas in honour of his queen, Alexandra of Denmark. Slightly later into the 20th century are 22-24 Cherville Street named and dated Coronation Cottages 1911 for the coronation of George V and Queen Mary.

Some houses just have date stones, 24 Station Road is dated 1905. 6  Church Lane has a date stone of 1855, and while this is the correct date for the house the stone has probably been added in more recent times.

In fact the naming of houses and streets can often give an indication of their age even when there is no date stone. In Winchester Road are two pairs of semi-detached houses named Alexandra Cottages and Denmark Cottages. There are no dates on these but they probably also date from the coronation of Queen Alexandra in 1902 although they may have been inspired by her marriage to Edward, Prince of Wales  in 1863. Further study of the architectural details may enable us to settle this. Also in Winchester Road are Pretoria Villas which are likely to have been named soon after the fall of Pretoria in 1900 during the 2nd Boer War.

After this period house date plaques seem to go out of fashion and those that are used are   named more for personal and local reasons than for nationalistic ones like Ivydene and Priestlands Terrace in Greatbridge Road, both 1909.