Nursling is a village in Hampshire, England, situated in the parish of Nursling and Rownhams, about north-west of the city ofSouthampton. Formerly called Nhutscelle, then Nutshalling or Nutshullyng until the mid-19th century, it has now been absorbed into the suburbs of Southampton, although it is not officially part of the city.
History
At Onna , the Romans erected a bridge across the River Test, below which it widens into its estuary, and there are traces of the Roman road from Nursling to Stoney Cross. At Nhutscelle a Benedictine monastery was established in 686, the earliest Benedictine establishment in Wessex according to Bede. It became a major seat of learning, and at the end of the 7th century, Winfrith studied here under the abbot Winberht, producing the first Latin grammar to be written in England. He left in 710 for Canterbury, returning briefly around 716 before going toGermany as a missionary. The Danes destroyed the monastery in 878 and it was never rebuilt; its exact site has not been reestablished, though the is dedicated to St. Boniface. Thirty households lived in Hnutscilling, according to the Domesday Survey, belonging to the Bishop of Winchester. O. G. S. Crawford, the archeologist, lived in Nursling during World War II, and kept much rare material from the Ordnance Survey office in Southampton in his garage. This foresight saved much important historical material from destruction when the offices were burnt out in an air raid. The cricketer William Henry Harrison was born in Nursling.
Present day
Nursling Industrial Estate, adjacent to the M271, houses several major businesses, such as Tesco, Norbert Dentressangle and Meachers, and is ably served by transport links, the motorway giving easy access to the Southampton container terminal, as well as the motorway links to London and the Midlands. Nursling is also home to one of the two South Central Ambulance Service stations that serve the Southampton area. Grove Place is a Grade I listed building in Nursling. Now converted into retirement apartments, the building was originally a country house and was converted into a lunatic asylum, Later it became a private school, the Northcliffe School for boys, then, later, the Atherley girl's school, before being developed for its present purpose.
