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In 994 it is said that a Viking king was entertained her at a 'Witenagenot' which was a council meeting held by the ruler of that time Ethelred and converted by Alphege, Ethelred promised never to return again to England as a foe. People settled on the River Anton during the stone age and it was not long before Andover became a thriving and growing community. There are many remains of Roman villas here and long barrows and ancient ditches.
There also used to be a priory here but it is long gone and where it stood can be seen a beautiful gateway partly hidden by modern shops and the wall of the churchyard which is all that remains of the Norman church which was demolished during the 1800s
Today's church is quite different with high arches supporting vaulted roofs and the seats of the choir being protected by small stone figures of angels holding musical instruments. St Mary's was built from funds of Dr Goddard, who was headmaster of Winchester College in 1809 and settled in Andover. He died in 1845 at the age of 88 and never lived to see the completion of his church. Work had began in 1840 and the church was opened in 1844 but completed with its tower in 1846. The church has several monuments that were salvaged from the older church and one of the windows depicts St George. Among the memorials is one for a London Merchant called Richard Venables who is portrayed kneeling beside his wife, both being dressed in clothing from the Elizabethan period and his wife has a rather dainty bonnet. Small cherubs surround them and an inscription reads: A hundred pounds
he gave the poor On a board that is from the 17th century there is inscribed all the benefactors of the town and states "that all persons may be satisfied how that matter stands, that the towne and public officers may be freed from the scandal thrown on them by ill men."
A monument to Charles Baron Clarke can be seen. He was the botanist, who was resident in Andover in the 19th century and brought back from India a collection of 25,000 plants which he presented to Kew. He assisted Sir Joseph Hooker (1817-1911) to compile the Flora of British India and was president of the Linnean* Society. Hooker trained as a doctor in Edinburgh but is main passion was botany and between 1839 and 1843 he was an assistant surgeon on board HMS Erebus and visited many exciting places including the Cape are of South Africa and the Antarctic. He also visited India an Nepal (1848 -51) The organ also hides a monument to Richard Kemis who was the last of his wife's husbands, she had three, and he is showed holding her skull with his children.
There is a lovely shaded footpath which was noted for its Iron Bridge which has some stunning views of the hillside which were once fortified and is called Lady's Walk, though this has now been resurfaced to make access easier especially for people in wheelchairs. The town also has a link with the Navy, in that the museum holds a cloak that is said to be the one that covered Lord Nelson while he lay dying on the Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.
It is reported in the town registers that a marriage took place here in 1762, when a Jean Drouett who was a war prisoner married an Elizabeth Adkins. It is said that they had a son who later grew up to be a postmaster in France and and while there it was him that betrayed the king and the royal family when he recognised them as they were fleeing from the Revolution. John Body, who hailed form Somerset was tried at Winchester Assizes during the reign on Elizabeth Ist, and was later hanged drawn and quartered in Andover for denying that the Queen was the head of the Church. Other people have feature in the towns history, people such as Christopher Ashley who was a saddler and lived right through the 16th century. Robert Jacques who though he was suffering from bubonic plague leased a hay loft in a nearby field where he could lay down and die without inflicting this dreaded disease onto his family
MYSTERY PHOTOGRAPHS OF ANDOVER *The Linnean Society of London remains a leading forum for contemporary discussions on genetics, natural history, systematics, biology and the history of plant and animal taxonomy. Founded in 1788, the Society takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), whose botanical and zoological collections and library have been in our keeping since 1829, having been purchased from the executor of the Society's first President, Sir James Edward Smith (1759-1828).They draw members from professionals and amateurs working in fields as diverse as professional biology, genetics and taxonomy, to the history and philosophy of science and warmly welcome all new members.
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