This watercolour, held by Andover library, is the only known period view that survives of the Andover canal.

Dated Dec 5,1833 and initialled S H, a later inscription to the reverse reads: A view of the old canal, looking towards Rooksbury Mill below present sewage tank.

Assuming that the artist painted reasonably accurately, it is not difficult to identify the spot today.

The slope of the land to the left shows the southern end of the present-day Rooksbury Road, while the bridge carried the road over the canal into the mill, which would be to the right.

The view is looking east towards the town.

A petition to parliament to build a canal from Andover to Redbridge was first made in 1771 but there was some opposition both from landowners along the route and from Winchester merchants who feared they would be undercut.

Millers also objected, as they were concerned about the loss of water power to fuel their mills and the project was abandoned.

Renewed enthusiasm in 1789 was successful and over the next six years the canal was constructed.

The Andover Canal Company issued shares to pay for it and the shareholders comprised many Andover worthies who hoped to benefit from a profitable trade.

The main wharf was at Andover, a basin of water just behind Bridge Street to the east of the present Station Hotel.

The surrounding area was used for storage of coal, from which the town’s residents were able to buy cheaper fuel – one direct benefit from the canal.

The route, set out to a plan by Robert Whitworth, was 22 miles long and there were 24 locks to cope with the fall to sea-level of 179 feet along the way.

It cost £48,000, of which £35,000 was raised by shares and the remainder by loan.

Barges of up to 65 feet long brought coal, stone, slate and manure up from Southampton Water, returning with agricultural produce from the wider local area.

Unfortunately, more was brought up then could be taken down, and this meant many barges returned empty.

The canal company was always behind with its loan payments and no dividend was ever declared on its shares; from that point of view the canal was a failure but, judging from the watercolour, at least it was a picturesque one.

Canal traffic dwindled in the nineteenth century and there was little opposition when it was proposed in 1857 to turn the canal company into the Andover Canal Railway Company.

The waterway was finally closed in 1859, to become a railway that followed a near-identical route.

Chalk from the quarries along the Anton and Test valleys was used to fill up the canal and raise the ground level sufficiently to enable a flood-free railway, while Andover Town Station was built on the area of the former wharf.

Now of course time has moved on again and another form of transport has taken over the entire area, while the initial part of the route from Andover is given over to the pedestrian.