River Test

The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire that flows south for 40 miles from near Basingstoke to Southampton Water. It passes through small towns like Stockbridge and Romsey and gives its name to the Test Valley district. The river is followed by the Test Way footpath below Longparish and forms part of a protected Ramsar site. Fly fishing for trout is practised along most of its length. The name comes from an old form meaning ‘tumult’ or ‘force’. The river supports a rich variety of wildlife, with over 100 flowering plants and 232 kinds of invertebrates recorded. Wetland birds such as kingfishers, grey wagtails and little grebes breed along its banks. The water quality is measured by the Environment Agency and has been rated good in recent assessments. The Test also appears in Richard Adams’ novel Watership Down, where rabbits escape pursuit by punt down the smooth-flowing river. A Sherlock Holmes-style story by August Derleth features the river as the scene of a detective’s investigation. Visitors can walk sections of the Test Way, which runs beside the river for long stretches. At Sadler’s Mill near Romsey an 18th-century watermill still stands across the water. Broadlands, a country house south of Romsey, overlooks the river before it reaches the tidal estuary. The estuary meets Southampton Water alongside the container terminals of the port. Traces of the old Andover Canal can still be seen between Timsbury and Romsey.