Bed and breakfast availability
Andover b&b, guest house and hotel accommodation

Visit Andover and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Andover, Hampshire. Although the town seems new, it is in fact very long established, and was already a municipal borough under King John, and later achieved importance for its wool trade.

The 19^th-century Church of St Mary, built by a former headmaster of Winchester, is fine. In Early English style and set on a hill, it stands out well from its surroundings.

Andover is a good centre, ringed by places of interest. 1 mile south west of the town is an early Iron Age camp, named Bury Hill, which gives good views over the countryside.

Of the pretty villages in the area, Abbots Ann has charm and is linked to an interesting custom. In the church, rebuilt in 1716, hang white paper garlands. Right up to this century they were carried at the funerals of maidens and bachelors who were “reputed to have died virgins”, as Gilbert White of Selborne delicately phrases it.

Amport lies nearby, and has thatched cottages, a green, and a stream trickling through it. Amport House is a 19^th-century Elizabethan house belonging to the Marquess of Winchester.

A little further west is Quarley, almost on the border with Wiltshire. Nearby Quarley Hill soars to over 560 ft and gives marvellous views. It is a well-known landmark and has an old Iron Age hill-fort, excavated in 1938, and Bronze Age boundary ditches can also be seen.

Longparish, just south east of Andover, has a long main street, as its name would indicate. It is set on the Test and has attractive thatched cottages. To the north west is Hiarwood Forest, with a beech avenue leading from the Andover road to Deadman's Plack, which commemorates the murder of Ethelwulf by King Edgar, 959-76. Edgar sent Ethelwulf to seek out a beauty named Elfrida. Unfortunately Ethelwulf fell for her charm and married her himself. When Edgar found out, he killed Ethelwuif and subsequently made Elfrida his queen.

To the north east of Andover is St Mary Bourne, a charming village set on the River Bourne. The church here is particularly remarkable for its enormous black marble carved font brought from Tournai. A similar one can be seen at Winchester Cathedral.

Nearby cities: Salisbury, Southampton, Winchester

Nearby towns: Amesbury, Durrington, Ludgershall, Romsey, Tidworth, Whitchurch,

Nearby villages: Abbots Ann, Goodworth Clatford, Hurstbourne Tarrant, St Mary Bourne, Stockbridge, Weyhill

Have you decided to visit Andover or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Andover bed and breakfast (a Andover B&B or Andover b and b)
• a Andover guest house (also spelt guesthouse)
• a Andover hotel (or motel)
• a Andover self-catering establishment, or
• other Andover accommodation