The Test Way is a http://documents.hants.gov.uk/countryside/walks/TestWayleaflet.pdf long-distance

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from

Walbury Hill Walbury Hill is a summit of the North Wessex Downs in Berkshire, England. With an elevation of , it is the highest natural point in South East England. On the hill's summit is the Iron Age hill fort of Walbury Camp, whilst the flanks of the hill ...

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Distric ...

to Eling in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, which follows much of the course of the

River Test 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. Below the village o ...

. The northern end of the

starts in the car park on

. It passes through the towns of

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the t ...

and Totton and the villages of

Linkenholt Linkenholt is a village near Andover in Hampshire, England with about 40 inhabitants. It is in the civil Parish of Faccombe. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as ''Linchehou'', when it was part of the land of the Abbey of St Peter of Glouces ...

, Ibthorpe, Hurstbourne Tarrant,

St Mary Bourne St Mary Bourne is a village and civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It lies on the valley of the Bourne Rivulet, a tributary of the River Test, northeast of Andover. Governance The village of St. Mary Bour ...

Longparish Longparish is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is composed of the four hamlets of Middleton, East Aston, West Aston and Forton that over time have expanded and effectively joined up to become one village. Longparish is situate ...

, Forton,

Wherwell Wherwell is a village on the River Test in Hampshire, England. The name may derive from its bubbling springs resulting in the Middle Ages place name “Hwerwyl” noted in AD 955, possibly meaning “kettle springs” or “cauldron springs.” ...

Chilbolton Chilbolton is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, near to Stockbridge. It is situated north of Southampton and south of Andover. Its most notable feature is the Chilbolton Observatory situated on the disused RAF Chilbolton airf ...

, Stockbridge,

Horsebridge Horsebridge is a small village in the civil parish of King's Somborne in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Stockbridge, which lies approximately 3.6 miles (5.2 km) north-east from the village. The village ...

and

Mottisfont Mottisfont is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, approximately 7 km north west of Romsey. The village is best known as the location of Mottisfont Abbey. Much of the surrounding land, which is part o ...

. The southern end of the footpath is at

Eling Quay Eling may refer to the following places: * Eling, Berkshire, England * Eling, Hampshire, England * Eling Park, Chongqing See also * Ealing (disambiguation) * Eeling {{Geodis ...

. The trail also passes alongside

Horsebridge railway station Horsebridge was a railway station on the closed Sprat and Winkle Line which served the Hampshire village of Houghton. It closed in 1964, a casualty of the closure programme proposed by the Beeching Axe which sounded the death knell for many ru ...

. Much of the route between Kimbridge and Chilbolton follows the route of the former Andover and Redbridge Railway. The entire route is waymarked by metal and plastic disks found attached to wooden and metal posts, trees and

street furniture Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes benches, traffic barriers, bollards, post boxes, phone boxes, streetlamps, traffic lights, traf ...

. There are several wooden 'finger' signs along the route that count down the number of miles along the

in both directions. This route is shown as a series of green diamonds on Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps and as a series of red diamonds on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 maps

is also the start of the

Wayfarers Walk The Wayfarer's Walk is a 71 mile long distance footpath in England from Walbury Hill, Berkshire to Emsworth, Hampshire. The north-west end is at the car park on top of Walbury Hill, near to the landmark Combe Gibbet, and the south-east end is ...

Places of interest

The following places of interest and hills can be found along the length of the Test Way, listed from

: *

Combe Gibbet Combe Gibbet is a gibbet at the top of Gallows Down, near the village and just within the civil parish of Combe in Berkshire (formerly Hampshire). Location The gibbet is located at , on the Test Way close to the Berkshire-Hampshire border, it ...

* Ham Hill * Hart Hill Down * Wallop Hill Down *

Mottisfont Abbey Mottisfont Abbey is a historical priory and country estate in Hampshire, England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. 393,250 people visited the site in 2019. The site includes the histo ...

Roke Manor Roke Manor is a 17th-century manor house approximately north-west of Romsey in Hampshire, England. The house and grounds are the headquarters of Roke Manor Research Ltd, a subsidiary of Chemring Group. History The first known reference t ...

* Lower Test nature reserve

The route

These maps show the footpath in relation to nearby major roads. Maps are not on the same scale.

References

External links

Hampshire County Council

Walking on the Web

{{coord , 51.1112, -1.49, dim:80000_region:GB, display=title Footpaths in Berkshire Footpaths in Hampshire Long-distance footpaths in England