Landscape and Surroundings

The countryside surrounding the village

The village of Abbotts Ann lies in the valley of the Pillhill Brook, and on either side of the brook the ground rises over chalk hills and down land onto a plateau with minor valleys. The surrounding land is mostly arable and is used mainly to grow cereal crops in rotation with others such as oil seed rape. Trees and hedgerows dominate the landscape.

Along the Pillhill Brook there are watercress beds and a trout farm. The Pillhill Brook is an important tributary of the rivers Anton and Test, and also part of the beautiful and valued chalk stream system of Hampshire. This system is vulnerable to change, and the environment of the Pillhill Brook and its associated water meadows represent an important open space that should be maintained.

The farmland to the south of the brook is still owned by the Abbotts Ann Estate. This area is a mixture of arable land and a patchwork of woodland and coppices, some of which are managed. Both large and small, these provide a habitat for both flora and fauna, and it is common to see deer, brown hares and buzzards in the area. The contrast between the open nature and the abundance of ancient trees in this countryside is an important distinctive feature of the landscape.

The northern slope of the valley provides a backdrop to the village and screens it from the A303 trunk road and the built-up area of Andover that lie just over the ridge. This stretch of countryside is of strategic importance in marking the southwest extremity of Andover and maintaining the village identity of Abbotts Ann.

The village appears from all angles to have a defined boundary. This boundary mainly comprises mature trees and hedgerows, which make the village appear compact, despite its development in a linear fashion. On the outskirts of the village there is the covered site of a Roman villa, and also a Victorian viaduct that still carries the main railway line from London to Salisbury and the South West.

Criss-crossing the parish are sixteen footpaths, two of which have only recently become 'rights of way'. Several are ancient, such as The Drove, Green Lane and the Old Coach Road. Most of the footpaths, which are bounded by mature trees and hedgerows, are marked on all the old maps of the parish.

The character of Little Park

Little Park lies to the north of the parish, on a ridge that forms the northern slope of the Pillhill Brook valley. The other boundaries are the road to Monxton to the north and the A303 and A343 trunk roads to the east, The area is a natural gap between the settlement of Abbott Ann and the edge of Andover town, with the ridge hiding the urban development.

The designation of Little Park as a Land Settlement Area from 1934 gave this area a distinctive character. It preserved the small field structure established by the Enclosures of the 18th century created a varied and small-scale working agricultural landscape and provided dwellings that are appropriate in size and spacing to the small-holdings they were built to serve. Today the remaining small-holdings form one third of the area and currently produce poultry and dairy products, fruit and vegetables.

Little Park is prime agricultural land (Grade 2 and 3A). It features several ancient hedgerows and a small area of woodland. It also supports a wide range of flora and fauna including rare arable weeds and an above average number of farmland birds.