Why move to Andover

Above: Visit the Hawk Conservancy - just a few miles outsde Andover

Above: Rooksbury Mill Park

Above: Andover town centre

People have been settling in Andover since the prehistoric era, when it occupied a prominent spot on the Harrow Way.
When the Romans arrived, it was a popular place because it was right by the Portway, the busy London-Weymouth road, and in Saxon times its wool trade flourished.

Granted a royal charter in 1175 it grew steadily and the Georgian architecture you see all around you in the centre bears testimony to Andover’s continued prosperity. The coming of the stagecoach and later the railway ensured it continued to attract residents.

But it was the then London County Council which caused Andover to double in population. In 1961 the town agreed to take the city’s ‘overspill’ and that decision led to a huge boom in industry, leisure and housing close to the town.

All grown up
New shops and services were needed as Andover expanded to today’s figure of almost 40,000 inhabitants. There is a thriving shopping centre, including the Chantry Centre, an undercover development which is home to more than 40 retailers.
But Andover retains its market town feel, with plenty of individual businesses in the High Street and a wonderful variety of historic inns in the centre, including the Angel Inn, one of Hampshire’s finest half-timbered buildings.

And the market tradition continues with market days on Thursdays and Saturdays and monthly Hampshire Farmers’ Markets in the High Street (this month on November 16).
The biggest plus for new residents is that you really get value for money when you buy in Andover, as prices can be much lower than in other Hampshire towns.
On the A303 with its superb links to the M3 and A34 as well as a fast train service to London Waterloo, Andover offers life in a lovely Hampshire town combined with easy commuting.

Read the rest of this article in the November issue of Hampshire Life