Romsey'S first female curate is heading for pastures new.

The Rev Cate Irvine takes her last services at Romsey Abbey this Sunday.

On Tuesday pupils at Romsey Abbey Primary school presented 34-year-old Cate with a farewell gift and wished her the best of luck in her new job at St Matthias Church in Richmond, Greater London.

Former Suffragan Bishop of Southampton, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, ordained Cate as a deacon at Romsey Abbey in 2001 and the curate was priested the following year.

Her appointment as team vicar at Richmond is a challenge Cate is looking forward to. But she admits she will miss her flock at Romsey Abbey and St Swithun's Church, Crampmoor, as well as the town itself.

"I will miss the people and the buildings. Romsey is not to far from the sea or the New Forest. I feel privileged to have worked in a building like Romsey Abbey," she said.

"Romsey is very special to me because my two sons Rufus and Douglas were born at the hospital. I moved here in June, 2001, when I was heavily pregnant with Rufus.

Romsey is a very special community and very welcoming. People like Romsey and stay here, it's a lovely place to be. I was the first woman in the Winchester Diocese to be ordained and that was at Romsey Abbey. One of the lovely things about this job is the opportunities that it has," said Cate.

Cate first thought about joining the Church when she was at London's King's College University where she met her husband, Brian, who is a qualified teacher.

"I was studying theology and got very much involved with the chaplaincy there," she said.

Her role in Romsey parish also included acting as chaplain to Romsey Sea Cadets and visiting schools.

"I've enjoyed working with the schools. I've been going into Romsey Abbey Primary School regularly and occasionally other junior and infant schools in the parish," said Cate.

One big difference Cate will notice is the size of the congregation at St Matthias.

"The congregation is between 60-80 on a Sunday morning at St Matthias. Here in Romsey it is somewhere between 250-300 people. It shows the Church of England is alive and kicking.

Former religious education teacher, Brian now looks after the couple's children full-time and runs a website for clergy husbands - CucumberSandwiches.