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C o o r d i n a t e s : 5 0 ° 5 5 ′ 30 ″ N 1 ° 2 8 ′ 45 ″ W / 5 0 . 9 2 5 1 ° N 1 . 4 7 9 2 ° W / 50.9251; -1.4792
F r o m W i k i p e d i a , t h e f r e e e n c y c l o p e d i a
River in Hampshire, England
The Test downstream of Sadler's Mill,
Romsey
River Test highlighted in red, shown in South East England
England
Hampshire
Ashe, near Overton, Hampshire , United Kingdom
51°14′43 ″N 1°14′21 ″W / 51.2454°N 1.2392°W / 51.2454; -1.2392
90 m (300 ft )
Southampton Water
Southampton, Hampshire
50°55′30 ″N 1°28′45 ″W / 50.9251°N 1.4792°W / 50.9251; -1.4792
0 m (0 ft )
64 km (40 mi )
1 m (3 ft 3 in )
20 m (66 ft )
56 m (184 ft )
0.5 m (1 ft 8 in )
2 m (6 ft 7 in )
4 m (13 ft )
River Blackwater , River Dun , Wallop Brook , River Anton , Pilhill Brook
River Dever , Bourne Rivulet , River Swift
SU 384 355 [1]
Biological
438.0 hectares (1,082 acres)[1]
1996[1]
Magic Map
The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England . It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for 40 miles (64 km ) 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.[2]
Much of the Test is a 438-hectare (1,080-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest .[1] [3] It is part of the Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site [4] and Special Protection Area .[5] The river is used for fly fishing for trout from its source to its tidal limit.[6]
Etymology [ edit ]
Recorded forms are Terstan from 877 and 901, Tarstan stream in 1045, Terstein 1234, and Test in 1425. If 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'.[7] If so it most likely relates to the Welsh tres (tumult, commotion, contention, uproar) or trais (force, might in older Welsh).[7] A close set of words (diversely conjugated and pronounced) in Old English is (f )irst(en ), the meaning of which is as at present, first.
The Test is tidal in Southampton and is lined with quays
The river rises near the village of Ashe , 7 miles (11 km ) to the west of Basingstoke (at grid reference SU 532,498 ), 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 Dever and Anton join.[8]
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.[9]
South of Romsey, the river passes the country house of Broadlands , and then Nursling , once the site of a Roman 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 quays 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 .[10]
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.[11]
Ecology [ edit ]
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 , grey wagtails and little grebes .[12]
Water quality [ edit ]
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 invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[13]
Water quality of the River Test in 2019:
Overall Status
Length
Catchment
Channel
Good
Fail
Moderate
14.803 km (9.198 mi )
177.062 km 2 (68.364 sq mi )
Test - Bourne Rivulet to conf Dever[15]
Good
Fail
Moderate
8.286 km (5.149 mi )
32.01 km 2 (12.36 sq mi )
Test - conf Dever to conf Anton[16]
Good
Fail
Moderate
3.869 km (2.404 mi )
13.295 km 2 (5.133 sq mi )
Test - conf Anton to conf Dun[17]
Good
Fail
Moderate
28.075 km (17.445 mi )
56.88 km 2 (21.96 sq mi )
Test - conf Dun to Tadburn Lake[18]
Moderate
Fail
Moderate
8.439 km (5.244 mi )
19.045 km 2 (7.353 sq mi )
heavily modified
Good
Fail
Moderate
8.579 km (5.331 mi )
3.91 km 2 (1.51 sq mi )
In popular culture [ edit ]
The river features in Richard Adams' 1972 novel Watership Down .[20] When the Watership rabbits are pursued by an enemy force, one rabbit carries out a plan which leads to their successful escape down the Test on a punt . In the text, readers are told that this plan would not have been possible on most rivers, but the Test's smooth-flowing, weed-free nature makes it an exception. The punt becomes lodged on a low bridge, and the surviving rabbits are forced to swim under the bridge to the riverbank.[20]
Tributaries [ edit ]
The following are the named tributaries of the River Test, listed in order upstream from Southampton Water .[21]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
^ "Map of River Test" . Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 18 May 2020 .
^ "Designated Sites View: Solent and Southampton Water" . Ramsar Site. Natural England. Retrieved 23 April 2020 .
^ "Designated Sites View: Solent and Southampton Water" . Special Protection Areas. Natural England. Retrieved 23 April 2020 .
^ Environment Agency (2006). Fact file on the River Test . Retrieved 8 February 2006. Archived 8 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
^ a b Breeze, Andrew (1998). "The name of the River Test" (PDF) . Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society . 53 : 226–227. Retrieved 27 January 2017 .
^ Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map 144 – Basingstoke, Alton & Whitchurch . ISBN 0-319-23606-4 .
^ Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map 131 – Romsey, Andover & Test Valley . ISBN 0-319-23600-5 .
^ Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map OL22 – New Forest . ISBN 0-319-23616-1 .
^ Andover Town Central (2000–2006). The Andover Canal Archived 6 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 9 February 2006.
^ "River Test citation" (PDF) . Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 18 May 2020 .
^ "Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)" . Catchment Data Explorer . Environment Agency. 17 February 2016. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0 . © Crown copyright.
^ "Test (Upper)" . Catchment Data Explorer . Environment Agency.
^ "Test - Bourne Rivulet to conf Dever" . Catchment Data Explorer . Environment Agency.
^ "Test - conf Dever to conf Anton" . Catchment Data Explorer . Environment Agency.
^ "Test - conf Anton to conf Dun" . Catchment Data Explorer . Environment Agency.
^ "Test - conf Dun to Tadburn Lake" . Catchment Data Explorer . Environment Agency.
^ "Test (Lower)" . Catchment Data Explorer . Environment Agency.
^ a b Rock, Peter (15 May 2018). "On the Unsettling Allure of 'Watership Down' " . The New York Times . Retrieved 3 April 2021 .
^ Ordnance Survey (1995). OS Landranger Map 185 – Winchester and Basingstoke . ISBN 0-319-22185-7 .
^ Burgess, Lawrence (1982). The Streams and Watercourses Of Southampton . Friends of Old Southampton. p. 4.
External links [ edit ]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
River Test .
Ashford Hill Woods and Meadows
Avon Valley (Bickton to Christchurch)
Baddesley Common
Basingstoke Canal
Beacon Hill, Warnford
Bentley Station Meadow
Bere Mill Meadows
Binswood
Blackwater Valley
Botley Wood and Everett's and Mushes Copses
Boulsbury Wood
Bourley and Long Valley
Bramshill
Bramshott and Ludshott Commons
Bransbury Common
Breamore Marsh
Brickworth Down and Dean Hill
Brockley Warren
Broughton Down
Browndown
Broxhead and Kingsley Commons
Burghclere Beacon
Burton Common
Butser Hill
Butter Wood
Castle Bottom to Yateley and Hawley Commons
Catherington Down
Cheesefoot Head
Chichester Harbour
Chilbolton Common
Coombe Wood and The Lythe
Coulters Dean
Crab Wood
Danebury Hill
Dibden Bay
East Aston Common
Ebblake Bog
Eelmoor Marsh
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Fleet Pond
Fletchwood Meadows
Foxlease and Ancells Meadows
Galley Down Wood
Gilkicker Lagoon
Greywell Fen
Greywell Tunnel
Hazeley Heath
Highclere Park
Hook Common and Bartley Heath
Hook Heath Meadows
Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary
Hythe to Calshot Marshes
Itchen Navigation
Ladle Hill
Langstone Harbour
Lee-on-The Solent to Itchen Estuary
Lincegrove and Hackett's Marshes
Lower Test Valley
Lye Heath Marsh
Lymington River
Lymington River Reedbeds
Mapledurwell Fen
Martin and Tidpit Downs
Micheldever Spoil Heaps
Moorgreen Meadows
The Moors, Bishop's Waltham
Mottisfont Bats
The New Forest
Noar Hill
Norley Copse and Meadow
North Solent
Odiham Common with Bagwell Green and Shaw
Old Burghclere Lime Quarry
Old Winchester Hill
Pamber Forest and Silchester Common
Peake Wood
Poors Common
Porton Down
Portsdown
Portsmouth Harbour
Quarley Hill Fort
Ratlake Meadows
River Avon System
River Itchen
River Test
Ron Ward's Meadow With Tadley Pastures
Roydon Woods
Rushmore and Conholt Downs
Selborne Common
Shortheath Common
Sidley Wood
Sinah Common
Southampton Common
Sowley Pond
St. Catherine's Hill
Stockbridge Common Marsh
Stockbridge Down
Stockbridge Fen
Titchfield Haven
Toyd Down and Quarry
Trodds Copse
Upper Greensand Hangers: Empshott to Hawkley
Upper Greensand Hangers: Wyck to Wheatley
Upper Hamble Estuary and Woods
Waltham Chase Meadows
Warblington Meadow
Warnborough Green
Wealden Edge Hangers
West Minley Meadow
West Woodhay Down
Wick Wood and Worldham Hangers
The Wild Grounds
Woolmer Forest
Downend Chalk Pit
Dunbridge Pit
Duncroft Farm Pit
Heath Brow
Highcliffe to Milford Cliffs
Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary
Lee-on-The Solent to Itchen Estuary
Lymington River
The New Forest
North Solent
Cove Brook
Bow Brook
Candover Brook
Monks Brook
Blackwater
Bourne Rivulet or Swift
River Dever
River Dun
Kingsley Stream
River Avon
Bartley Water
Beaulieu River
Dark Water
River Ems
River Hamble
Lymington River
River Meon
River Rother
Tanner's Brook
River Wallington
Basingstoke Canal
Itchen Navigation
Portsmouth and Arundel Canal
Salisbury and Southampton Canal
Titchfield Canal
West End Brook
Lakes, ponds and wetlands
Eyeworth Pond
Farlington Marshes
Fleet Pond
Keyhaven, Pennington, Oxey and Normandy Marshes
Lakeside Country Park
Manor Farm duck pond
Sowley Pond
Testwood Lakes
Waggoners Wells
Langstone Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour
The Solent
Southampton Water
United States
R e t r i e v e d f r o m " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=River_Test&oldid=1205936920 "
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