A ROMSEY landmark is hailing the success of its VE Day celebrations as it continues to recover from a devastating fire.

King John's House (KJH) reopened its gardens to the public as part of its VE 80 event on Monday, May 5.

Museum manager Jade Poulton said: "It's been an amazing experience to see our Romsey community back at King John's House and Museum and sharing memories of VE Day with us."

The event on Monday, May 5, was well attended (Image: King John's House) Monday's event marked the first time members of the public, other than volunteers, were able to visit the KJH's gardens following the fire in February, which gutted much of the house and destroyed many artefacts.

According to the museum's management, despite the bad weather, the event, which included wartime rationing tips, workshops, sing-alongs and a presentation by historian and writer Terri Reid was well attended.

The MP for Romsey and Southampton North, Caroline Nokes, who helped cut the ribbon to reopen the gardens, said: "It was wonderful to officially re-open the garden of King John’s House in time for the VE Day celebrations.

"The garden is absolutely beautiful in its own right, and important for the trustees to be able to continue to tell the story of the house and its garden for visitors.  The VE Day celebrations we incredibly well attended and so many people were pleased just to be able to be back.  

"Of course there is an enormous job to be done to get the House restored and the trustees are looking for support from the community for that, but this was an important first step.

"There was also a display of WW2 artefacts telling a small part of the story of Romsey’s contribution to the war, which were fascinating and incredibly well preserved.

"I was particularly pleased to get a look at Mary Greggains’ ration book from the end of the war, where she seemed not to have collected some of the eggs to which she was entitled."

The museum's current focus is on removing moisture, after the museum manager said "water was used to extinguish the fire" on February 23.

She said: "[An] important first part of restoring the building is removing excess moisture from the air inside. Levels of humidity are being monitored with sensors, and fans are circulating the air. 

"The water extracted from the process is fed via a tube to the outside and we are looking at a way to possibly extend that tube so that the slow drip of condensed water can be used to water some of the plants outside."