Town in England
Basingstoke
(
BAY
-zing-stohk
) is a town in
Hampshire
, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the
River Loddon
on the western edge of the
North Downs
. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without
city status
. It is located 30 miles (48 km) north-east of
Southampton
, 48 miles (77 km) south-west of
London
, 27 miles (43 km) west of
Guildford
, 22 miles (35 km) south of
Reading
and 20 miles (32 km) north-east of the
county town
and former capital
Winchester
. According to the 2016 population estimate, the town had a population of 113,776.
[b]
It is part of the borough of
Basingstoke and Deane
and part of the
parliamentary constituency
of
Basingstoke
.
Basingstoke is an old
market town
expanded in the mid-1960s, as a result of an agreement between
London County Council
and
Hampshire County Council
. It was developed rapidly after the Second World War, along with various other towns in the United Kingdom, in order to accommodate part of the
London 'overspill'
as perceived under the
Greater London Plan
in 1944.
[2]
Basingstoke market was mentioned in the
Domesday Book
of 1086 and it remained a small market town until the early 1960s. At the start of the
Second World War
, the population was little more than 13,000. It still has a regular market, but is now larger than Hampshire County Council's definition of a market town.
[3]
Basingstoke became an important economic centre during the second half of the 20th century and houses the locations of the UK headquarters of
Motorola
,
The Automobile Association
,
De La Rue
,
Sun Life Financial
,
ST Ericsson
,
GAME
,
Barracuda Networks
,
Eli Lilly and Company
, FCB Halesway part of
FCB
, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions (the leasing arm of
BNP Paribas
in the UK) and
Sony
Professional Solutions. It is also the location of the European headquarters of the
TaylorMade
Golf Company. Other industries include
IT
, telecommunications, insurance and electronics.
Etymology
[
edit
]
The name Basingstoke (A.D 990; Embasinga stocæ,
[4]
Domesday
; Basingestoches) is believed to have been derived from the town's position as the outlying, western settlement of Basa's people.
[5]
[c]
Basing, now
Old Basing
, a village 2 miles (3 km) to the east, is thought to have the same etymology, and was the original Anglo-Saxon settlement of the people ?
Basingas
? led by a tribal chief called
Basa
. Basing remained the main settlement until changes in the local church moved the religious base from St Marys Church, Basing, to the church in Basingstoke.
[6]
[7]
History
[
edit
]
Early settlements
[
edit
]
A Neolithic campsite of around 3000 BC beside a spring on the west of the town is the earliest known human settlement here, but the Willis Museum has flint implements and axes from nearby fields that date back to Palæolithic times. The
hillfort
at
Winklebury
(
2 miles (3 km)
west of the town centre), known locally as Winklebury Camp or Winklebury Ring
[8]
dates from the
Iron Age
and there are remains of several other earthworks around Basingstoke, including a
long barrow
near Down Grange. The site of Winklebury camp was home to Fort Hill Community School (this school has shutdown).
[9]
Nearby, to the west, Roman Road marks the course of a
Roman road
that ran from
Winchester
to
Silchester
. Further to the east, another Roman road ran from
Chichester
through the outlying villages of
Upton Grey
and
Mapledurwell
. The
Harrow Way
is an Iron-age
ancient route
that runs to the south of the town. The first recorded historical event in the area was the defeat of King
Æthelred of Wessex
and his brother
Alfred the Great
at Old Basing by the Danes in 871.
Market town
[
edit
]
Basingstoke is recorded as a weekly market site in the
Domesday Book
, in 1086, and has held a regular Wednesday market since 1214.
[10]
During the
Civil War
, and the siege of
Basing House
between 1643 and 1645, the town played host to large numbers of
Parliamentarians
. During this time,
St. Michael's Church
was damaged whilst being used as an explosive store
[11]
and lead was stripped from the roof of the Chapel of the Holy Ghost, Basingstoke
[12]
leading to its eventual ruin. It had been incorporated in 1524, but was effectively out of use after the Civil War. The 17th century saw serious damage to much of the town and its churches, because of the great fires of 1601 and 1656.
Cromwell
is thought to have stayed here towards the end of the siege of Basing House, and wrote a letter to the Speaker of the
House of Commons
addressed from Basingstoke.
[13]
The cloth industry appears to have been important in the development of the town until the 17th century along with
malting
.
[14]
Brewing
became important during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the oldest and most successful brewery was May's Brewery, established by Thomas and William May in 1750 in Brook Street.
[15]
[16]
Victorian history
[
edit
]
The
London and South Western Railway
arrived in 1839 from London, and within a year it was extended to
Winchester
and
Southampton
. In 1848 a rival company, sponsored by the
Great Western Railway
built a branch from
Reading
. In 1854 a line was built to
Salisbury
by the London and South Western.
[17]
In the 19th century Basingstoke began to move into industrial manufacture, Wallis and Haslam (later
Wallis & Steevens
), began producing agricultural equipment including
threshing machines
in the 1850s, moving into the production of stationary
steam engines
in the 1860s and then
traction engines
in the 1870s.
[18]
Two traders who opened their first shops within a year of each other in the town, went on to become household names nationally: Thomas
Burberry
in 1856 and Alfred Milward in 1857.
[19]
Burberry became famous after he invented
Gabardine
and Milward founded the Milwards chain of shoe shops, which could be found on almost every high street until the 1980s.
[20]
John May, a member of the brewery family, was several times mayor of the town. A benefactor to the town, he paid for the building of a drill hall in Sarum Hill for the use of the Hampshire Volunteers (later used as a cinema and then a furniture shop) and a wing for the Cottage Hospital in Hackwood Road. The drill hall was opened in 1885 and also used for concerts and exhibitions. He also bought a piece of open space that was about to be sold for housing and let it at a low rent to the Basingstoke Cricket Club. This cricket ground is still in use and is called "May's Bounty".
[21]
Ordinary citizens were said to be shocked
[22]
by the emotive,
evangelical
tactics of the
Salvation Army
when they arrived in the town in 1880, but the reaction from those employed by the breweries or within the
licensed
trade quickly grew more openly hostile. Violent clashes became a regular occurrence.
[d]
On Sunday 27 March 1881 troops were called upon to break up the conflict after the Mayor had read the
Riot Act
. The riot and its causes led to questions in
Parliament
and a period of notoriety for the town.
[24]
The town was described as 'Barbarous Basingstoke' by one London newspaper in 1882 but by March 1882 the disturbances were dying down.
[25]
[26]
In 1898
John Isaac Thornycroft
began production of
steam-powered lorries
in the town and
Thornycroft
's quickly grew to become the town's largest employer.
[27]
Recent history
[
edit
]
Basingstoke suffered very little bomb damage during the
Second World War
. A stick of German bombs did fall in the Church Square area on 16 August 1940. The same day bombs destroyed part of a row of houses in Burgess Road. Six people were killed in the raid.
[28]
Overall, 13 civilians died from enemy action during the war in the town.
[29]
After the war, the town had a population of 25,000.
[30]
As part of the London Overspill plan, along with places such as
Ashford
and
Swindon
, Basingstoke was rapidly developed in the late 1960s as an 'expanded town', in similar fashion to
Milton Keynes
. As the population increased, the town produced more figures of national importance, such as the art critic
Waldemar Januszczak
and the actress
Elizabeth Hurley
. Many office blocks and large estates were built, as well as a
ring road
.
[30]
The shopping centre was built in phases. The first phase was completed by the 1970s and was later covered in the 1980s, and was known as The Walks. The second phase was completed by the early 1980s, and became
The Malls
. The third phase was abandoned and the site was later used to build
the Anvil
concert hall.
[31]
The central part of the shopping centre was rebuilt in 2002 and reopened as
Festival Place
. This has brought a dramatic improvement to shoppers' opinions of the town centre.
[30]
[32]
Geography
[
edit
]
Situated in a valley through the
Hampshire Downs
at an average elevation of 88 metres (289 ft)
[33]
Basingstoke is a major interchange between
Reading
,
Newbury
,
Andover
,
Winchester
, and
Alton
, and lies on the natural
trade route
between the southwest of
England
and
London
. The area had been something of an interchange even in ancient times. It had been cut by a Roman roadway that ran from northeast to southwest, from Silchester towards Salisbury (Sorbiodunum), and by another Roman road that linked Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) in the north with Winchester (Venta Belgarum) to the south. These cross-cutting highways, along with the good agricultural land hereabouts, account for the many "Roman" villas in the area, mostly put up by Romanized native nobility (
Roman villa
). Even more ancient was the Harrow Way, a Neolithic trackway, possibly associated with the ancient tin trade, that crossed all of southern England from west to east, from Cornwall to Kent, passing right through Andover and Basingstoke.
Physical geography and geology
[
edit
]
Basingstoke has no single boundary that encompasses all the areas contiguous to its development. The unparished area of the town represents its bulk, but several areas popularly considered part of the town are separate parishes, namely
Chineham
,
Rooksdown
, and parts of
Old Basing and Lychpit
.
[34]
The unparished area includes
Worting
which was previously a separate village and parish,
[35]
extending beyond Roman Road and Old Kempshott Lane, which might otherwise be considered the town's 'natural' western extremity.
Basingstoke is situated on a bed of
cretaceous
upper chalk
with small areas of clayey and loamy soil, inset with combined
clay and flint
patches.
Loam
and
alluvium
recent
and
pleistocene
sediments line the bed of the river Loddon. A narrow line of tertiary
Reading beds
run diagonally from the northwest to the southeast along a line from
Sherborne St John
through Popley,
Daneshill
and the north part of
Basing
. To the north of this line, encompassing the areas of Chineham and Pyotts Hill, is
London clay
, which has in the past allowed excavation for high quality brick and tile manufacture.
[36]
Divisions and suburbs
[
edit
]
Basingstoke's expansion has absorbed much surrounding farmland and scattered housing, transforming it into
housing estates
or local districts. Many of these new estates are designed as almost self-contained communities, such as Lychpit, Chineham, Popley,
Winklebury
,
Oakridge
,
Kempshott
,
Brighton Hill
,
Viables
,
South Ham
, Black Dam,
Buckskin and South Ham Extension
and
Hatch Warren
. The
M3
acts as a buffer zone to the south of the town, and the
South West Main Line
constrains the western expansion, with a
green belt
to the north and north-east. The villages of
Cliddesden
,
Dummer
,
Sherborne St John
and
Oakley
, although being very close to the town limits, are distinct parishes. Popley, Hatch Warren and
Beggarwood
saw rapid growth in housing in the mid to late 2000s.
[37]
[38]
Demography
[
edit
]
The population of Basingstoke increased from around 2,500 in 1801 to over 52,000 in 1971; the most significant growth occurring during the latter half of the 20th century.
[39]
The borough of Basingstoke was merged with other local districts in 1974 to form the borough of
Basingstoke and Deane
, and census data from that point covers the whole borough.
Figures published for the
UK census in 2011
for the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane give a population of 167,799 and a population density of 2.7 persons per hectare?only about half the national figure.
[40]
The number of women slightly exceeded that of men, and a slight increase in the percentage of residents over 65 was also noted.
[41]
Among other findings in 2001 were that 74.33 per cent felt they were in good health, 50.98 per cent were economically active full-time employees (over 10 per cent higher than the national average) and 48.73 per cent were buying their property with a mortgage or loan (almost 10 per cent higher than the national average).
[40]
Amongst the working population, 64.2 per cent travelled less than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to work.
[42]
The biggest percentage of employees, 17.67 per cent, worked in real estate, renting and business activities.
[43]
Governance
[
edit
]
Basingstoke is part of a two-tier local government structure and returns county councillors to
Hampshire County Council
. It is the third largest settlement in the
ceremonial county
, but when the cities of Southampton and
Portsmouth
attained
unitary authority
status in 1998, Basingstoke became the largest settlement in the
county
administered by the county council.
[44]
[45]
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
is the lower-tier
local authority
for the town, and has its offices in the town centre.
Elections to the council
take place in 3 out of every 4 years.
Under the
town twinning
scheme, the local council have twinned Basingstoke with
Alencon
in France,
[46]
Braine-l'Alleud
in Belgium, and
Euskirchen
in Germany.
[47]
Facilities
[
edit
]
The Top of Town is the historic heart of Basingstoke, housing the Willis Museum
[48]
in the former
Town Hall
building (rebuilt 1832) as well as several locally run shops and the
market place
.
Basingstoke is home to two theatrical organisations: the Haymarket, which is situated in the former
Corn Exchange
, and
The Anvil
,
[49]
which is near the railway station.
The
Willis Museum
was founded and directed by Alderman George W. Willis, a local clocksmith, who served as Mayor of Basingstoke in 1923?24. Willis established the museum in 1931 with much public support, and built its holdings up into a major collection on local history, with a particularly extensive collection of prehistoric implements and of antique clocks and watches. His association with the expanding museum continued for forty years. The museum's central location today is where, once upon a time,
Jane Austen
and her sister used to go to dances, and a statue of Jane Austen was installed outside the museum in 2017, on the 200th anniversary of her death.
[50]
Although ostensibly set in Hertford, Austen's novel
Pride and Prejudice
, written in 1797, is thought to have been based on her view of Basingstoke society two centuries ago.
The major shopping area is
Festival Place
, which opened in October 2002. Festival Place gave a huge boost to the town centre, transforming and replacing what was the former The Walks Shopping Centre and the New Market Square.
[51]
Aside from a wide range of shops, there is also a range of cafes and restaurants as well as a large multiscreen
Vue
cinema (formerly
Ster Century
from Festival Place's opening until their takeover in 2005; the pre-existing Vue in the Leisure Park was sold to
Odeon
).
[52]
The Malls is a shopping area linked by a gateway entrance to the rail station. It had declined since the opening of Festival Place and the closure of its
Allders
department store. The leasehold was purchased in 2004 by the
St Modwen
development group in partnership with the Kuwait property investment company Salhia Real Estate, with provision for redevelopment
[53]
The redevelopment of The Malls started in late 2010. A clear roof canopy was installed to protect the Malls from bad weather while still allowing natural light and air in. The Malls has been repaved and new street furniture installed. The redevelopment was completed in the last quarter of 2011. The redevelopment work was carried out by
Wates Group
using a variety of subcontractors.
[54]
A large
Waitrose
store is located near the station. It was built in November 2015 as part of the redevelopment of Basing View. A
John Lewis at home
store which was part of the same redevelopment closed down in 2021.
The town's nightlife is split between the new Festival Square, and the traditional hostelries at the Top of Town, with a few local community
pubs
outside the central area. The town has four nightclubs, two in the town itself, one on the east side and one
2 miles (3.2 km)
out to the west.
The Basingstoke Sports Centre is located in Portchester Square. The sports centre has a subterranean swimming pool,
sauna
,
jacuzzi
and steam room. Above ground there is a gym, aerobics studios, squash courts and main hall. There is also an Ofsted-registered creche.
[55]
Sport and leisure
[
edit
]
Outside the town centre there is a leisure park featuring the Aquadrome swimming pool, which opened in May 2002.
[56]
Also located at the leisure park are an ice rink, a bowling alley, an indoor sky-diving centre with ski and surf machines, a
Bingo
club and a ten-screen
Odeon
(formerly Vue prior to the takeover of the Ster Century cinema in Festival Place, and before that, Warner-Village)
cinema
, as well as a restaurant and fast food outlets. The leisure park is home to the
Milestones Museum
, a living history museum which contains a network of streets and buildings based on the history of
Hampshire
.
Basingstoke has a
football
club,
Basingstoke Town F.C.
, the
Basingstoke Rugby Football Club
and the
Basingstoke Bison
ice hockey
team. Basingstoke also has a swimming team,
[57]
known as the Basingstoke Bluefins and an American Flag Football Team known as the Basingstoke Zombie Horde.
[58]
Further sporting organisations in the area include Basingstoke Demons Floorball Club, Basingstoke Volleyball Club, Basingstoke Bulls Korfball Club and
Lasham Gliding Society
. The home ground of Basingstoke & North Hants Cricket Club, Mays Bounty, was until 2000 used once a season by
Hampshire County Cricket Club
.
[59]
[60]
[61]
[62]
As of 2011, Basingstoke has a
roller derby
league and team, the Basingstoke Bullets. Due to difficulty finding a suitable venue, the team practice in nearby
Whitchurch
. Basingstoke is also the home of Rising Phoenix Cheer, a successful competitive Allstar
Cheerleading
programme for athletes from age 5 upwards, training at Aldworth school.
[
citation needed
]
Musical groups
[
edit
]
Basingstoke has a wide diversity for musical groups ranging from
brass bands
to
symphony orchestras
.
[63]
The Basingstoke Concert Band is a traditional wind band which has now been in existence for more than 35 years.
[63]
The band was started in 1977 by Lawrie Shaw when Brighton Hill Community School opened, where he was the first headteacher. Shaw formed the band as an evening class for amateur wind players and it was then known as the Brighton Hill Centre Band.
[64]
Media
[
edit
]
There are two local newspapers ? the
Basingstoke Gazette
, and the
Basingstoke Observer
. The town is also covered by the broadsheet newspaper
Hampshire Chronicle
.
[65]
Local TV coverage is provided by
BBC South
and
ITV Meridian
, with
BBC London
and
ITV London
also received in the town.
Basingstoke is served by two regional radio stations.
Greatest Hits Radio Berkshire & North Hampshire
, serving North Hampshire and parts of
Surrey
and
Sussex
, and
Heart South
, previously broadcast from
Reading
.
BBC Radio Berkshire
is available in the town. The town has coverage from
digital radio
; the
BBC
, Independent National and Now Reading
multiplexes
can be received in the town,
[66]
and the outskirts can receive London and South Hampshire stations as well.
[67]
[68]
The BBC national stations and DAB coverage is enhanced by a small relay just south of the town centre.
[65]
The local radio Station is HHCR - Basingstoke's Community Radio, an internet-based broadcaster opened on 3 June 2019 by Cllr Diane Taylor Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane.
[69]
Education
[
edit
]
The Holy Ghost School (subsequently
Queen Mary's School for Boys
) was a state funded
grammar school
operating in Basingstoke for four centuries, from 1556 until 1970, producing nationally recognised alumni such as Revd.
Gilbert White
(1720?1793), a pioneer naturalist, and the famed cricket commentator,
John Arlott
(1914?1991).
In modern times education in Basingstoke has been co-ordinated by
Hampshire County Council
. Each neighbourhood in the town has at least one primary school, while secondary schools are distributed around the town on larger campuses. Basingstoke has two large
further education
colleges: a
sixth form college
,
Queen Mary's College
(QMC) and
Basingstoke College of Technology
(BCoT). The
University of Winchester
had a campus in Basingstoke (Chute House Campus) which closed in July 2011; it had offered full-time and part-time university courses in subjects including childhood studies, various management pathways, community development and creative industries.
Bournemouth University
's health and social care students can work on placement at the
North Hampshire Hospital
.
[70]
The hospital only caters for midwifery students.
[71]
Transport
[
edit
]
Road
[
edit
]
Basingstoke is situated close to junctions 6, 7 and 8 of the
M3 motorway
, which skirts the town's south-eastern edge, linking the town to London, and to Southampton and the south-west. The central area of the town is encircled by The Ringway, a
ring road
constructed in the 1960s, and is bisected east to west by the A3010 (Churchill Way). The
A33
runs north-east to Reading and the
M4 motorway
, and south-west to Winchester.
[72]
The
A30
runs east to Hook and west to Salisbury. The A303 to
Wiltshire
and the West Country begins a few miles south-west of Basingstoke, sharing the first few miles with the A30. On the M3, there is a flyover, which passes over the slip road to A303, near Junction 8. The A339 runs south-east to Alton and north-west to Newbury.
Railway
[
edit
]
The
South West Main Line
runs east and west through the centre of the town and
Basingstoke railway station
, linking Basingstoke to
London Waterloo
, Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth. The
West of England line
links Basingstoke to
Salisbury
and to Exeter. The
Reading?Basingstoke line
runs north-east to
Reading
and is part of an important through route for longer distance services to Birmingham and the North.
The town was the terminus of the defunct
Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway
.
Current rail services from Basingstoke are operated by
South Western Railway
,
CrossCountry
and
Great Western Railway
. The Reading-Basingstoke Line runs parallel to Chineham Business Park, Vyne Park, the suburb of Chineham and Taylors Farm.
Most bus services in the town operate from Basingstoke bus station. The majority are provided by the
Stagecoach Group
through their
Stagecoach in Hampshire
sub-division.
[73]
Basingstoke Community Transport and Communities First Wessex run some smaller routes.
[74]
[75]
A peak-time service is provided by
Thames Valley Buses
between Chineham Business Park and the railway station.
[76]
National Express
offers direct coach services to London and Southampton from the bus station.
Cycling
[
edit
]
Separating cyclists from other road traffic was not part of the remit of the 1960s town redevelopment and, in 1996, the perception of provision for cyclists was very poor.
[77]
Following the Basingstoke Area Cycling Strategy in 1999
[78]
an extensive cycle network was developed,
[79]
mainly utilising on-road routes or off-road routes that run parallel with and directly alongside roads. Basingstoke was linked to Reading on the
National Cycle Network
route 23 in May 2003; the route was extended south to Alton and Alresford in April 2006.
Basingstoke Canal
[
edit
]
The
Basingstoke Canal
started at a canal basin, roughly where the cinema in Festival Place is located. From there the canal ran alongside the
River Loddon
following the line of Eastrop Way. The old canal route passes under the perimeter ring road and then follows a long loop partly on an embankment to pass over small streams and water meadows towards
Old Basing
, where the route goes around the ruins of
Basing House
and then through and around the eastern edge of Old Basing. It followed another loop to go over small streams near the Hatch public house (a lot of this section was built over when constructing the M3) and headed across fields on an embankment towards
Mapledurwell
. The section of the canal from
Up Nately
to the western entrance of the
Greywell Tunnel
still exists and is a nature reserve; there is water in the canal and the canal towpath can be walked. A permissive footpath at the western entrance to the tunnel allows walkers to access public footpaths to get to the eastern entrance of the tunnel. The limit of navigation is about 500m east of the Greywell Tunnel. The renovated sections of the canal can then be navigated east towards
West Byfleet
where it joins the
Wey Navigation
, which itself can be navigated to the River
Thames
at
Weybridge
.
Aims to reconnect Basingstoke with the surviving sections of the Basingstoke Canal have been beset with difficulties,
[80]
and actual restoration of a canal link is impossible. The Basingstoke Canal Society aspire to re-establish the route of the lost section of the canal as closely as possible with a footpath and cycleway.
[81]
Religious sites
[
edit
]
- The
Anglican
church of
St. Michael's
is located west of
Festival Place
. The chancel dates from 1464,
[82]
and the south chapel may be older.
[83]
The nave and aisles were added fifty years later by
Richard Foxe
,
Bishop of Winchester
. The Memorial Chapel at the north-east corner of the church was completed in 1921.
- The ruined Chapel of the Holy Ghost, north of the railway station, has not been a place of worship for four centuries, an effect of the Reformation. It was built by the first Lord Sandys, beginning in 1524, when King Henry VIII issued a charter of incorporation. The west tower of a 13th-century building also survives.
[83]
It is surrounded by an ancient (as well as a more modern) cemetery;
William, Lord Sandys
himself lies buried in the chapel with his wife.
- In 1902, the
Catholic
Holy Ghost Church
was built by
Alexander Scoles
, named after the old chapel. It is a Grade II listed building.
[84]
- The Church of St Mary, Eastrop is an old church, enlarged in 1912.
[85]
- All Saints' Church was built in 1915, designed by Temple Moore.
[85]
- St Peter's Church was built in 1964-5, designed by Ronald Sims and is in a housing estate built in the 1960s.
[86]
- In 2014, a group named Basingstoke Community Churches covered an area of six churches in the town.
[87]
There are also an Assemblies of God church called Wessex Christian Fellowship, two Roman Catholic churches, St. Bede's and St. Joseph's, and churches of other denominations.
[88]
- In 2019, Gateway Church Basingstoke began a partnership with
Christians Against Poverty
(CAP) to launch a Debt Centre in Basingstoke.
[89]
International relations
[
edit
]
Twin towns ? sister cities
[
edit
]
Cultural associations
[
edit
]
"Basingstoke" is a code word in
Gilbert and Sullivan
's 1887 comic opera
Ruddigore
, used by the "bad baronet" after he reforms, to remind his bride "Mad Margaret" of their plan to live lives of boring respectability.
[90]
In 1895,
Thomas Hardy
referred to Basingstoke as "Stoke Barehills" in
Jude the Obscure
.
Basingstoke's
North Hampshire Hospital
was one of two hospitals used for the filming of
Channel 4
's hit comedy
Green Wing
.
[91]
George Formby
's film,
He Snoops to Conquer
was partly shot in the town in 1944 and in 1974 the
National Film Board of Canada
produced a documentary here called
Basingstoke ? Runcorn: British New Towns
. The former Park Prewett Mental Hospital was the setting for the novel
Poison in the Shade
(1953), by Eric Benfield, a local author and sculptor who worked as an art therapist at that hospital.
Patrick Wilde
's 1993 play,
What's Wrong with Angry?
, is set in Basingstoke. It was later adapted into the 1998 film,
Get Real
, which was filmed at various locations around Basingstoke.
[92]
Notable people
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Population figure is an estimate for 2010, and includes only the unparished area, not the surrounding area.
- ^
In 2012 the town proper had a population of 84,275, but this does not include the large suburban villages of
Chineham
,
Old Basing
or
Lychpit
, which are now considered as outer suburbs of the town.
- ^
The
List of generic forms in British place names
shows a toponymic interpretation of the various
Old English
elements within the names Basing and Basingstoke.
Bas
is taken to be from the personal name 'Basa',
ingas
as 'people of' and
stoc
as 'dependent farmstead' or 'secondary settlement'.
- ^
In summarising to Magistrates at the trial of those members of the public said to have rioted against the Salvationists, defence counsel stated that
Until this body known as the Salvation Army was formed here, the number of summonses which had come before the Magistrates was comparatively unknown. They now had a large number of assault cases to hear.
The army perfectly well knew that their conduct was leading to disturbances in the town
. The case against the defendants was dismissed.
[23]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Hampshire County Council, Small Area Population Forecasts. Parish data: Parish total level forecast: (unparished area) Basingstoke & Deane"
. Hampshire County Council. 2016. Archived from
the original
on 6 January 2016
. Retrieved
24 October
2011
.
- ^
Stokes, Eric (1980).
Basingstoke ? Expanding Town
. The Workers' Educational Association. p. 15.
- ^
"Rural Hampshire FAQs"
. Hampshire County Council. 2006. Archived from
the original
on 1 October 2007
. Retrieved
12 January
2007
.
- ^
"Anglo-Saxon Charters"
. Sean Miller. 2006.
Archived
from the original on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
3 June
2007
.
- ^
"English Place Names"
. The University of Nottingham. 2006.
Archived
from the original on 27 May 2007
. Retrieved
3 June
2007
.
- ^
"Old Basing & Lychpit Parish History"
. Old Basing & Lychpit Parish Council. 2006. Archived from
the original
on 1 October 2011
. Retrieved
3 June
2007
.
- ^
Mills, A.D. (1991).
A Dictionary of English Place-Names
. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 26.
ISBN
0-19-869156-4
.
- ^
"A brief history of Winklebury Ring"
. Fort Hill Community School. 2005. Archived from
the original
on 28 September 2007
. Retrieved
9 May
2007
.
- ^
"Hampshire Treasures Vol 2"
. Hampshire County Council. 2006. Archived from
the original
on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
9 May
2007
.
- ^
"Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs"
. Centre for Metropolitan History. 2004.
Archived
from the original on 9 June 2007
. Retrieved
9 May
2007
.
- ^
"St Michael's Church ? the building"
. Hampshire County Council. 2006. Archived from
the original
on 3 July 2007
. Retrieved
3 June
2007
.
- ^
"Hampshire Treasures Vol 2"
. Hampshire County Council. 2006. Archived from
the original
on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
3 June
2007
.
- ^
Baigent, Francis J.; James Millard (1889).
A History of the Ancient Town and Manor of Basingstoke
. C.J. Jacob. p.
565
.
- ^
"Victorian County History ? Hampshire Vol 4"
. British History Online. 2007.
Archived
from the original on 28 September 2007
. Retrieved
29 May
2007
.
- ^
Worker's Educational association; Willis, George (1972). "10". In Barbara McKenzie (ed.).
Historical Miscellany of Basingstoke
. Basingstoke: The Crosby Press. p. 53.
- ^
Hawker, Anne (1984). "7".
The Story of Basingstoke
. Newbury: Local Heritage Books. p. 68.
ISBN
0863680119
.
- ^
Christopher J. Tolley (2001).
"Basingstoke's Railway History in Maps"
. Archived from
the original
on 15 May 2008
. Retrieved
3 May
2008
.
- ^
"Wallis and Steevens ? A Timeline"
. Hampshire County Council. 2006. Archived from
the original
on 13 June 2007
. Retrieved
6 June
2007
.
- ^
Hawker, Anne (1999).
The Story of Basingstoke
. Hampshire County Museum Service. p. 69.
- ^
"Milward's celebrates 125 years of footwear".
Hants & Berks Gazette
. 1982.
- ^
Attwood, Arthur.
Basingstoke; Arthur Attwood's look into the past
. Basingstoke: Basingstoke Gazette. pp. 33?40.
- ^
Baigent, Francis J.; James Millard (1889).
A History of the Ancient Town and Manor of Basingstoke
. C.J. Jacob. p.
552
.
- ^
The Salvation Army at Basingstoke. Report of the proceedings before the Magistrates on May 3rd and 9th, 1881
. Basingstoke. 1881.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Baigent, Francis J.; James Millard (1889).
A History of the Ancient Town and Manor of Basingstoke
. C.J. Jacob. pp.
551
?553.
- ^
Bob Clarke (2010) The Basingstoke Riots (
ISBN
978-0-9508095-6-4
)
- ^
Attwood, Arthur.
Basingstoke: Arthur Attwood's Lookinto the Past
. Basingstoke: Basingstoke Gazette. p. 67.
- ^
"Thornycroft of Basingstoke"
. Hampshire County Council. 2005. Archived from
the original
on 13 June 2007
. Retrieved
6 June
2007
.
- ^
Attwood, Arthur.
Basingstoke: Arthur Attwood's look into the past
. Basingstoke: Basingstoke Gazette. pp. 57?60.
- ^
"Basingstoke Municipal Borough Civilian War Dead, with list of casualties"
.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
. Retrieved
18 November
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
"A Brief History - Basingstoke census"
.
Basingstoke.gov
. Basingstoke and Deane. Archived from
the original
on 11 July 2014
. Retrieved
15 June
2014
.
- ^
"History of The Anvil"
.
Anvil Arts
.
Archived
from the original on 6 October 2014
. Retrieved
15 June
2014
.
- ^
"Central Basingstoke Vision, Single Issue Panel Meeting No 5"
. Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council. 2007. Archived from
the original
on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
8 May
2007
.
- ^
"Meteoconsult web site"
. Unitedkingdom.meteoconsult.co.uk.
Archived
from the original on 31 August 2011
. Retrieved
6 August
2011
.
- ^
"The Borough of Basingstoke and Deane Parish Boundaries"
(PDF)
.
Basingstoke and Deane council website
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 31 August 2021
. Retrieved
22 February
2021
.
- ^
"Victoria County History, Worting Parish"
. British History Online.
Archived
from the original on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
Stokes, Eric (1980).
Basingstoke ? Expanding Town
. The Worker's Educational Association. p. 45.
- ^
"Report of the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services"
. Hampshire County Council.
Archived
from the original on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"Report of the Director of Environment"
. Hampshire County Council.
Archived
from the original on 1 October 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"A Vision of Britain Through Time"
. Great Britain Historical GIS Project. 2007.
Archived
from the original on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
5 June
2007
.
- ^
a
b
"Neighbourhood Statistics"
. Statistics.gov.uk.
Archived
from the original on 2 November 2007
. Retrieved
17 June
2007
.
- ^
"Neighbourhood Statistics"
. Statistics.gov.uk.
Archived
from the original on 2 November 2007
. Retrieved
17 June
2007
.
- ^
"Neighbourhood Statistics"
. Statistics.gov.uk.
Archived
from the original on 2 November 2007
. Retrieved
17 June
2007
.
- ^
"Neighbourhood Statistics"
. Statistics.gov.uk.
Archived
from the original on 2 November 2007
. Retrieved
17 June
2007
.
- ^
"Hampshire County Council library service, Best Value Inspection 2001"
(PDF)
. Hampshire County Council.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 9 August 2008
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"Combined feasibility and building design project appraisal"
. Hampshire County Council. Archived from
the original
on 1 October 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"British towns twinned with French towns"
.
Archant Community Media Ltd
. Archived from
the original
on 5 July 2013
. Retrieved
11 July
2013
.
- ^
"Twin Towns in Hampshire"
. Hampshire County Council. Archived from
the original
on 30 November 2009
. Retrieved
13 June
2012
.
- ^
"Willis Museum"
. Hampshire County Council. Archived from
the original
on 18 August 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"The Anvil"
. Anvil Arts. Archived from
the original
on 10 August 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"Jane Austen statue unveiled in Basingstoke"
.
BBC News
. 18 July 2017.
Archived
from the original on 11 April 2019
. Retrieved
22 February
2021
.
- ^
"The Place to be proud of!"
. Thisishampshire.net. 2004. Archived from
the original
on 11 October 2007
. Retrieved
9 May
2007
.
- ^
"Completed acquisition by Vue Entertainment Holdings"
. Office of Fair Trading. Archived from
the original
on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"St Modwen buys Basingstoke's Malls with Key Kuwaiti partner"
. Property Week.com. 2004.
Archived
from the original on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
9 May
2007
.
- ^
"The Malls Transformation"
. Basingstoke.gov.uk. Archived from
the original
on 23 January 2011
. Retrieved
6 August
2011
.
- ^
"Sports Centre"
. Basingstoke & District Sports Trust Limited. Archived from
the original
on 27 October 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
- ^
"Aquadrome opens its shores to swimmers"
. This is Hampshire.net. Archived from
the original
on 26 January 2009
. Retrieved
18 December
2007
.
- ^
"Basingstoke Bluefins"
. Swimblue.
Archived
from the original on 16 December 2014
. Retrieved
15 December
2014
.
- ^
"Basingstoke Zombie Horde"
.
Rollhorde
. Archived from
the original
on 15 August 2013
. Retrieved
15 December
2014
.
- ^
"Hampshire v Yorkshire, CGU National League, May's Bounty, Basingstoke 13 June 1999"
. cricket-online.org. Archived from
the original
on 26 September 2007
. Retrieved
27 August
2007
.
- ^
"Hampshire v Yorkshire, County Championship, May's Bounty, Basingstoke 2?4 June 1992"
. cricket-online.org. Archived from
the original
on 26 September 2007
. Retrieved
27 August
2007
.
- ^
"Hampshire v Durham, County Championship, May's Bounty, Basingstoke 14?16 June 2000"
. ESPNcricinfo.
Archived
from the original on 23 December 2002
. Retrieved
27 August
2007
.
- ^
Arlott, John (1990).
Basingstoke Boy
. Willow Books, Harper Collins. p. 26.
- ^
a
b
"Artistic Associates, The Anvil"
.
Anvil Arts
.
Archived
from the original on 9 October 2014
. Retrieved
15 June
2014
.
- ^
"Basingstoke Concert Band"
.
Bcband
. Basingstoke Concert Band.
Archived
from the original on 16 May 2014
. Retrieved
15 June
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Basingstoke Relay Station"
. MB21.
Archived
from the original on 18 October 2013
. Retrieved
14 November
2013
.
- ^
"DAB Digital Radio Coverage Maps"
. MDS975.co.uk.
Archived
from the original on 7 September 2007
. Retrieved
27 August
2007
.
- ^
"Digital Radio Now, Station Finder"
. digitalradionow.com. Archived from
the original
on 27 September 2007
. Retrieved
27 August
2007
.
- ^
"Radio stations in the South Midlands and Thames Valley"
. radio-now.co.uk.
Archived
from the original on 18 August 2007
. Retrieved
27 August
2007
.
- ^
Observer, Basingstoke.
"New Community Radio Station for Basingstoke"
.
Basingstoke Observer
. Retrieved
11 January
2021
.
- ^
"Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital Healthcare Library"
.
Archived
from the original on 10 May 2013
. Retrieved
5 December
2012
.
- ^
"Contacts & Rents for Hospital Accommodation"
.
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2013
. Retrieved
5 December
2012
.
- ^
"Popham Airfield home page"
. Chris Thompson, Popham Airfield. 2007. Archived from
the original
on 29 June 2007
. Retrieved
14 June
2007
.
- ^
"Stagecoach Basingstoke network map"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 16 January 2017
. Retrieved
14 January
2017
.
- ^
"Basingstoke Community Transport"
.
Archived
from the original on 16 January 2017
. Retrieved
14 January
2017
.
- ^
"Dial A Ride Basingstoke"
.
Archived
from the original on 16 January 2017
. Retrieved
14 January
2017
.
- ^
"Corporate Contracts"
. 2017.
Archived
from the original on 16 January 2017
. Retrieved
13 January
2017
.
- ^
"Public attitudes on Transport Issues"
. Hampshire County Council. 1996. Archived from
the original
on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
14 June
2007
.
- ^
"Basingstoke Environmental Strategy for Transport"
. Hampshire County Council. 2000. Archived from
the original
on 30 September 2007
. Retrieved
14 June
2007
.
- ^
"Basingstoke Cycle Network Map"
(PDF)
. Hampshire County Council. 2007. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 5 July 2007
. Retrieved
14 June
2007
.
- ^
"Last 5 Miles"
. The Basingstoke Canal Society.
Archived
from the original on 24 January 2021
. Retrieved
22 February
2021
.
- ^
"The Canal - History, restoration and today"
. The Basingstoke Canal Society.
Archived
from the original on 17 January 2021
. Retrieved
22 February
2021
.
- ^
"St Michael's Church, Basingstoke"
. 14 January 2009. Archived from
the original
on 22 October 2011
. Retrieved
8 June
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Pevsner, Nikolaus (1967).
Buildings of Hampshire
. london: Penguin. p. 90.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Church of the Holy Ghost (1242913)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
27 May
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Pevsner, Nikolaus (1967).
Buildings of Hampshire
. London: Penguin. p. 91.
- ^
Pevsner, Nikolaus (1967).
Buildings of Hampshire
. London: Penguin. p. 93.
- ^
"Our Churches"
.
Basingstoke Community Churches
. BCC.
Archived
from the original on 23 December 2014
. Retrieved
15 December
2014
.
- ^
"Wessex Christian Fellowship"
.
Archived
from the original on 2 September 2021
. Retrieved
30 October
2021
.
- ^
"CARE. | Gateway Church Basingstoke"
.
Archived
from the original on 26 July 2020
. Retrieved
21 June
2019
.
- ^
One writer stated that Gilbert's reference was inspired by an incident, the year before
Ruddigore
premiered, where the governing party spent much of a summer in a manor near a Basingstoke mental hospital to avoid both the stench of a recent sewer blockage in London and the anger of the people with whom they were unpopular.
Bosdet, Mary (November?December 1992).
"Whence Basingstoke!?"
.
GASBAG
.
XXIV
(185): 7.
Archived
from the original on 26 July 2020
. Retrieved
29 August
2014
.
- ^
Raphael, Amy (29 March 2006).
"Green Wing's midwife and surgeon"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London. Archived from
the original
on 3 November 2007
. Retrieved
26 December
2006
.
- ^
Shaw, Pete (2007).
"Get Real, Basingstoke filming locations"
. bensilverstone.net. Archived from
the original
on 8 August 2007
. Retrieved
26 August
2007
.
External links
[
edit
]
Destinations from Basingstoke
|
---|
Newbury
,
Kingsclere
|
Reading
,
Tadley
|
London
,
Slough
,
Wokingham
,
Yateley
|
|
|
|
Andover
,
Salisbury
|
Basingstoke
|
Fleet
,
Farnborough
,
Aldershot
,
Guildford
|
|
|
|
Southampton
,
Winchester
|
Portsmouth
,
New Alresford
,
Fareham
|
Farnham
,
Alton
|
|
|
---|
| Towns
| |
---|
Civil
parishes
| |
---|
Villages
and
hamlets
| |
---|
Districts of
Basingstoke
| |
---|
|
---|
|
Unitary authorities
| |
---|
Boroughs or districts
| |
---|
Major settlements
(cities in italics)
| |
---|
Rivers
| |
---|
Topics
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Geographic
| |
---|