Overview of Whitchurch

Whitchurch is a town in Hampshire, England. It is on the River Test, 13 miles (21 km) from Newbury, Berkshire, 12 miles (19 km) from Winchester, 7 miles (11 km) miles from Andover and 12 miles (19 km) miles from Basingstoke. Much of the town is a Conservation Area. Because of the amount of wildlife in and near the river, parts of the town are designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest. Much of the land to the south of the town centre is old water meadow. The old maps show how it was fed by springs. One key spring still exists at Ninesprings Nursery on The Weir. It originally fed what is now thought to be some of the oldest watercress beds in Britain. They are shown on the 1810 map and the 1872 and 1876 maps show them clearly also the history of how the River Test was diverted. The site now grows aquatic plants that are distributed nationally. The adjacent Millennium Green exposes an old dam used for flooding the meadow in the past and a sluice and wooden sheep dip hundreds of years old. Whitchurch is the largest town to not have traffic lights. The West of England Main Line links the town's railway station to London, and two main roads that by-pass the town (A34 – a major north-south route, and A303 – a major east west route).