The River Anton is a

chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

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

in south east England. It rises in Andover and flows southwards for approximately to meet 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 of ...

near

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 ...

. The principal tributary of the Anton, the Pillhill Brook, joins the river at

Upper Clatford Upper Clatford is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. The village is in the valley of the River Anton, upstream from the point where it joins the River Test at the south. Clatford is to the south from Andover town centre, the mos ...

Course

The river rises in

Anton Lakes Anton Lakes is a Local Nature Reserve in Andover in Hampshire. It is owned by Test Valley Borough Council and managed by the council together with The Anton River Conservation Association. The River Anton rises in the site and flows through f ...

nature reserve, in north Andover, just below King Arthur's Way, and flows through the centre of the town. It then flows in a southerly direction through the villages of

Goodworth Clatford Goodworth Clatford (formerly Goodworth and Lower Clatford which then joined) is a village located in Hampshire, England. It is south of the town of Andover in the valley of the River Anton. The neighbouring village to the north is Upper Clatford ...

and

Cottonworth Cottonworth is a small village in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The village lies on the A3057 road between Andover and Romsey. According to the PostOffice the 2011 Census population was included in the civil parish of Wherwell. ...

before meeting the Test just below

. It is a chalk stream with failing quality water and supports a wide variety of wildlife. The river is the subject of the "River Anton Enhancement Strategy", a partnership with several agencies and local organisations to improve the river.

Leisure facilities

The Anton has some very good trout fishing with frequent catches of large specimens; fly fishing is the only method allowed. The fishing rights are private. Created as part of its Enhancement Scheme, the River Anton Way was originally a scenic walk along the river from Charlton Lakes in the north, via the town centre to

Rooksbury Mill Rooksbury Mill is an old watermill on the River Anton in Andover, Hampshire, England, and a Grade II listed building. The building and its associated structures are privately owned, but the surrounding land is owned by the Test Valley Borough Co ...

Local Nature Reserve in the south. In 2015, proposed by the Andover Ramblers and sponsored by Test Valley Borough Council, the way was extended by through the parishes of Upper Clatford, Goodworth Clatford, Wherwell and Chilbolton.

Watermills

There were five watermills along the river; Anton Mill, Town Mill, and Rooksbury Mill, all in Andover, along with Copthall Place Mill at Clatford and Fullerton Mill. Flour is still milled in Andover but at the electrically powered Junction Mills.

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

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. Water quality of the River Anton in 2019:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anton Rivers of Hampshire 1Anton