Andover, Hampshire
| Andover | |
|---|---|
 High Street |
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 Andover
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| Andover shown within Hampshire | |
| Population | 62,758 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SU3645 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Andover |
| Postcode district | SP10, SP11 |
| Dialling code | 01264 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Andover /ˈændoʊvər/ is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton some 18 miles (29 km) west of the town of Basingstoke, 18 miles (29 km) north-west of the city of Winchester and 25 miles (40 km) north of the city of Southampton. Andover is twinned with the towns of Redon in France,Goch in Germany, and Andover, Massachusetts in the United States.
Its name is recorded in Anglo-Saxon in 955 AD as Andeferas, and is thought to be of Celtic origin: compare Welsh onn dwfr = "ash(tree) water".
Andover's first mention in history is in 950 when King Edred is recorded as having built a royal hunting lodge there. In 962 King Edgar called a meeting of the Saxon 'parliament' (the Witenagemot) at his hunting lodge near Andover.
Of more importance was the baptism, in 994 of a Viking king named Olaf (allied with Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard). The identity of that man was either Olav Trygvason or Olof Skötkonung. The baptism was part of a deal with King Ethelred II of England ("The Unready") whereby he stopped ravaging England and returned home. Olav Tryggvason became king of Norway in 995 and tried to convert his country to Christianity before his death in the Battle of Svolder in 1000. Olof Skötkonung was already king of Sweden and became its first Christian king and began c. 995 to mint Sweden's first coins with the help of English expertise.
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