During the Whitchurch Design Day held by the team in March 2003, we asked visitors to put stickers on a map to mark their favourite views of Whitchurch. More than 100 views were identified, covering both built-up areas and country scenes.
Although they were well scattered across the parish, certain viewpoints and what we can call “scenic stretches” emerged as clear favourites among residents.
The six most favourite were:
Church Street stretch (A)
…from All Hallows parish church, curving around The Lawn, The Mount and past two 16th century cruck-frame cottages;
Fulling Mill stretch (B)
…along a public footpath bordering the Test, with fields, King’s Lodge, St Cross House and All Hallows spire in the distance;
The Weir viewpoint (C)
…looking west across a water meadow with a tithe barn, the river Test and the spire of All Hallows in the distance;
Town Mill Lane stretch (D)
…along the lane from London Street past fields with ponies and a leat of the Test with splashing ducks and moorhens to Town Mill itself;
Upper Lynch path viewpoint (E)
…from a footpath along the chalk-digging escarpment looking south with the houses of London Street immediately below, the River Test in the middle distance and wider views of the fields and ridge beyond;
Winchester Road stretch (F)
…from the A34 exit road past Ivy Cottage along the tree-lined southern approach to the town, with houses set well back on the right and the Millennium Meadow on the left.