The extensive area of the Test Valley borough is one of the most beautiful areas in Southern England.

The River Test and its associated tributaries - the Mecca of trout fisherman - runs through the entire length of the area from north to south.

The countryside is typical Hampshire downland interspersed with woods and copses and high quality agricultural land. The area contains two principal towns, Andover and Romsey. Andover in the north, the larger of the two, is an expanding town with a modern shopping centre and there are plans for a new cinema and theatre.

There is a leisure centre and substantial industrial developments, together with further fully serviced land available for lease by industrialists. Romsey in the south is an ancient medieval town with its Abbey and Broadlands, the home of the late Earl Mountbatten of Burma. From just south of Newbury to the Northern edge of Southampton Test Valley, like its river, makes up western Hampshire.

The Borough comprises the growing commercial centre of Andover, the country market town of Romsey and the beautiful countryside of the valley of the River Test, centred on Stockbridge. Test Valley must have one of the most diverse characters in Hampshire: its rural character reflects the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, occupying more than 10% of the Borough, some 25 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, 38 Conservation Areas and thousands of listed buildings.

Yet on the other hand Test Valley has a vibrant economy with a number of household name companies with local headquarters, low unemployment and business sites totalling well over a million square feet available for development.