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3. London Street

Before making your way up the lovely Georgian High Street, take a look at London Street.

London Street, Andover
London Street, Andover

Many towns have a London Street. Andover’s traces the main London to Exeter turnpike road. It became superseded by the Andover by-pass in 1968.

Sundial on London Street, Andover
Sundial on London Street, Andover

At the end on your left look up to see a sundial on a clock face on the old bank building. Made in 1846, it shows time in the form of a timetable used by the coaching fraternity and shows Andover time - six minutes behind London time. When the railways arrived in 1856 Andover time was standardised on London time. The Latin motto says “Look to the end”.

The building which houses the sundial was originally Heath’s Bank (1790). The Heath family also owned a brewery which stood opposite and occupied Savoy Chambers. Opposite stood Heath House, which was demolished to make way for the Savoy Cinema which, in turn, became a nightclub called Club at Life. In the 19th century there were at least 10 pubs in London and Bridge streets.

Old painted advertisement on a building on the corner of Bridge Street, Andover
Old painted advertisement on a building on the corner of London Street and Bridge Street, Andover