The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. The river's valley gives its name to the local government district of Test Valley. Below the village of Longparish, the river is broadly followed by the Test Way, a long-distance footpath.
Much of the Test is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.[Environment Agency (2006). Fact file on the River Test. Retrieved 8 February 2006. ]
Etymology
Recorded forms are Terstan from 877 and 901, Tarstan stream in 1045, Terstein 1234, and Test in 1425. In
Common Brittonic, not
Old English, all related dictionaries show three suitable words beginning with Tre- and none with extremely rare Ter-. There is precedent to such metathesis: as for the
river Tern in the far west, from tren 'strong'.
[ If so it most likely relates to the Welsh language tres (tumult, commotion, contention, uproar) or trais (force, might in older Welsh).]
Course
The river rises near the village of Ashe, to the west of Basingstoke (at ), and flows west through the villages of Overton, Laverstoke, and the town of Whitchurch, before joining with the Bourne Rivulet at Testbourne and turning in a more southerly direction. It then proceeds through the villages of Longparish and Middleton to Wherwell and Chilbolton, where the Rivers River Dever and River Anton join.[Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map 144 – Basingstoke, Alton & Whitchurch. .]
From Chilbolton the river goes through the villages of Leckford, Longstock, Stockbridge and Houghton to Mottisfont and Kimbridge, where the River Dun joins the flow. From here the village of Timsbury is passed, then through the grounds of Roke Manor before reaching the town of Romsey. On the western edge of Romsey, Sadler's Mill, an 18th-century watermill, sits astride the River Test.[Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map 131 – Romsey, Andover & Test Valley. .]
South of Romsey, the river passes the country house of Broadlands, and then Nursling, once the site of a Roman Empire bridge. Finally the river is joined by the River Blackwater and soon becomes tidal, widening out into a considerable estuary that is lined on its northern bank by the container terminals and of the Port of Southampton. The Test estuary then meets that of the River Itchen and the two continue to the sea as Southampton Water.[Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map OL22 – New Forest. .]
Between Chilbolton and Redbridge, the river was once paralleled by the Andover Canal, which was itself converted to a railway in 1865, and then in turn abandoned. Most traces of the canal have disappeared, although the remains of a stretch can still be seen between Timsbury and Romsey.[Andover Town Central (2000–2006). The Andover Canal . Retrieved 9 February 2006.]
Ecology
This chalk stream has one of the richest fauna and flora of any lowland river in England. More than 100 species of flowering plant have been recorded along its banks and 232 invertebrate taxa in the river. It is also important for wetland birds, with breeding species including kingfishers, and .
Water quality
The Environment Agency measure water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of , and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[ Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.]
Water quality of the River Test in 2019:
In popular culture
The river features in Richard Adams' 1972 novel Watership Down.
Tributaries
The following are the named tributaries of the River Test, listed in order upstream from Southampton Water.[Ordnance Survey (1995). OS Landranger Map 185 – Winchester and Basingstoke. .]
See also
-
Rivers of the United Kingdom
External links
