The striking statue of St Nicholas holding a boat was carved from a piece of driftwood by Peter Eugene Ball, and installed in 2005. It has areas of gilding and is burnished with copper. St Nicholas is associated with the giving of gifts and is the patron saint of, amongst others, sailors, merchants, pawnbrokers and children.
To the right of St Nicholas, the colourful memorial commemorates John and Grissell St Barbe of Broadlands, the estate in Romsey which had originally belonged to the Abbey. They died, within hours of each other, in 1658 from the ‘sweating sickness’. Their four children were all boys; the one without the symbolic sprig of greenery, had died before his parents.
After the St Barbe family, the Broadlands estate passed in 1736 to Lord Palmerston, the great grandfather of the 3rd Viscount who held the office of Prime Minister between 1855 and 1858, whose statue can be seen in Romsey’s Market Place. The estate passed through inheritance to the Ashley family and, finally, by marriage to the Mountbattens.
Earl Mountbatten of Burma was assassinated by the IRA in 1979. After his funeral service in Westminster Abbey he was brought here and laid to rest. He wanted to be buried in the Abbey and had gained special permission some years earlier. Unusually, he was buried facing south, rather than the customary east.
The medieval effigy is to an unknown lady and dates from around 1300. It is made from Purbeck marble. The ogee canopy above it dates from the 15th century and is unrelated to the effigy.
Return to the statue of St Nicholas and then continue eastwards (right) for a few metres until you reach a display case on your left.
