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{{Short description|River in Hampshire, England}}{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}

factoids

1abbr=on}}20abbr=on}}56abbr=on}}0.5abbr=on}}2abbr=on}}4abbr=on}}| discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = | source1_location = Ashe, near Overton, Hampshire, United Kingdom51.24541.2392display=inline}}90abbr=on}}| mouth = Southampton Water| mouth_location = Southampton, Hampshire50.92511.4792display=inline,title}}0abbr=on}}| progression = | river_system = | basin_size = River Blackwater (River Test)>River Blackwater, River Dun, Wallop Brook, River Anton, Pilhill Brook| tributaries_right = River Dever, Bourne Rivulet, River Swift| extra =

factoids

438.0acre|abbr=off}}|notifydate = 1996|map = 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 {{convert|40|mi}} 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.WEB,www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/countryside/walking/testway, The Test Way, Hampshire County Council, 7 September 2020, Much of the Test is a {{convert| 438|ha|acre|abbr=off|adj=on}} biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.WEB,designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S2000170&SiteName=&countyCode=19&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=, Designated Sites View: River Test, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Natural England, 18 May 2020, WEB,magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%272000170%27, Map of River Test, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Natural England, 18 May 2020, It is part of the Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar siteWEB,designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UK11063&SiteName=&countyCode=19&responsiblePerson=&unitId=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=, Designated Sites View: Solent and Southampton Water, Ramsar Site, Natural England, 23 April 2020, and Special Protection Area.WEB,designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UK9011061&SiteName=&countyCode=19&responsiblePerson=&unitId=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=, Designated Sites View: Solent and Southampton Water, Special Protection Areas, Natural England, 23 April 2020, The river is used for fly fishing for trout from its source to its tidal limit.Environment Agency (2006). Fact file on the River Test. Retrieved 8 February 2006. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050408095342www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/river_test__627604pdf |date=8 April 2005 }}

Etymology

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’. If so it most likely relates to the Welsh tres (tumult, commotion, contention, uproar) or trais (force, might in older Welsh).JOURNAL, Breeze, Andrew, 1998, The name of the River Test,www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/publications/hampshirestudies/digital/1990s/vol53/Breeze.pdf, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society, 53, 226–227, 27 January 2017, 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.

Course

File:Soton river test docks 01.jpg|thumb|260px|right|The Test is tidal in SouthamptonSouthamptonThe river rises near the village of Ashe, {{convert|7|mi|km|sigfig=2}} to the west of Basingstoke (at {{gbmapping|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.Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map 144 – Basingstoke, Alton & Whitchurch. {{ISBN|0-319-23606-4}}.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. {{ISBN|0-319-23600-5}}.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.Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map OL22 – New Forest. {{ISBN|0-319-23616-1}}.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 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706132758www.andover.towncentral.co.uk/Andover/canal.asp |date=6 July 2008 }}. 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, grey wagtails and little grebes.WEB,designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/2000170.pdf, River Test citation, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Natural England, 18 May 2020,

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 invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.WEB,environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/help/glossary, Catchment Data Explorer, Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status), Environment Agency, 17 February 2016, (File:UKOpenGovernmentLicence.svg|30px) 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:{| class=“wikitable”! Section !! EcologicalStatus !! ChemicalStatus !! OverallStatus !! Length !! Catchment !! Channeldesc=Test (Upper) |asset= GB107042022710}} | {{waterqual_good}} | {{waterqual_fail}} | {{waterqual_mod}} 14.803 mi|abbr=on}} 177.062 sqmi|abbr=on}}| desc= Test - Bourne Rivulet to conf Dever |asset= GB107042022700}} | {{waterqual_good}} | {{waterqual_fail}} | {{waterqual_mod}} 8.286 mi|abbr=on}} 32.01 sqmi|abbr=on}}| desc= Test - conf Dever to conf Anton |asset= GB107042022750}} | {{waterqual_good}} | {{waterqual_fail}} | {{waterqual_mod}} 3.869 mi|abbr=on}} 13.295 sqmi|abbr=on}}| desc= Test - conf Anton to conf Dun |asset= GB107042022670}} | {{waterqual_good}} | {{waterqual_fail}} | {{waterqual_mod}} 28.075 mi|abbr=on}} 56.88 sqmi|abbr=on}}| desc= Test - conf Dun to Tadburn Lake |asset= GB107042016460}} | {{waterqual_mod}} | {{waterqual_fail}} | {{waterqual_mod}} 8.439 mi|abbr=on}} 19.045 sqmi|abbr=on}}| heavily modifieddesc= Test (Lower) |asset= GB107042016840}} | {{waterqual_good}} | {{waterqual_fail}} | {{waterqual_mod}} 8.579 mi|abbr=on}} 3.91 sqmi|abbr=on}}|

In popular culture

The river features in Richard Adams’ 1972 novel Watership Down.NEWS, On the Unsettling Allure of ‘Watership Down’,www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/t-magazine/watership-down-hampshire-england.html, The New York Times, Rock, Peter, May 15, 2018, April 3, 2021, 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.

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. {{ISBN|0-319-22185-7}}.

• Tanners Brook
• Wimpson stream (historically; due to the extension of the docks it now merges with Tanners Brook just before it reaches the Test)BOOK, Burgess, Lawrence, 1982, The Streams and Watercourses Of Southampton, Friends of Old Southampton, 4,
• River Blackwater
• River Dun
• Wallop Brook
• River Anton
  • Pillhill Brook
• River Dever
• Bourne Rivulet
  • River Swift

See also

• Rivers of the United Kingdom

References

{{reflist}}

External links

www.openstreetmap.org/relation/7700461

{{Commons category}}{{SSSIs Hampshire}}{{Hydrology of Hampshire}}{{authority control}}