About BasingstokeBasingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is 48 miles (77 km) southwest of London, 30 miles (48 km) north of Southampton and 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Reading. In 2006 it had an estimated population of 80,477. It is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke. Basingstoke is often nicknamed "Doughnut City" due to the amount of roundabouts. Often mistaken for a new town, Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the 1960s as part of a tripartite agreement between London County Council, Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke Borough Council. It was developed rapidly, along with Andover and Tadley, to accommodate part of the London 'overspill' as perceived under the Greater London Plan, 1944. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book and Basingstoke remained a small market town until the 1950s. It still has a regular market, but is now bigger than Hampshire County Council's definition of a market town. [3] Basingstoke is prosperous, with an above-average standard of living and low unemployment. [4] It is an economic centre, and the location of the UK headquarters of Sun Life Financial of Canada, The Automobile Association, Ericsson Mobile Platforms, GAME, Motorola and Sony Professional Solutions (Europe). Other industries include drug manufacture, IT, communications, insurance and electronics.
Geography and administrationBasingstoke is at 51°16′0″N 01°05′15″W / 51.26667, -1.0875, grid reference SU637523. Situated in a valley through the North Downs, it 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. Politics The Basingstoke parliamentary constituency was formed under the 1885 Act and is currently served by Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Mrs Maria Miller, who was elected in the 2005 general election. [5] Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, which has its offices in the town, is a Conservative-led council, having 34 Conservative, 14 Liberal Democrat, 9 Labour and three Independent councillors (at August 2008). [6] Basingstoke is part of a two-tier local government structure and returns county councillors to Hampshire County Council. When the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth attained unitary authority status in 1998, Basingstoke became Hampshire's largest settlement. [7] [8] Physical geography/geologyThe precise size and shape of Basingstoke today are difficult to identify, as it has no single official boundary that encompasses all the areas contiguous to its development. The unparished area of the town represents its bulk, but several areas that might be considered part of the town are separate parishes, namely Chineham, Rooksdown, and Lychpit. The unparished area includes Worting, which was previously a separate village and parish, [9] extending beyond Roman Road and Old Kempshott Lane, which might otherwise be considered the town’s ‘natural’ western extremity. The ward boundaries within the parliamentary constituency are not (as of August 2007[update]) coterminous with the parish boundaries. 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. [10] Divisions and suburbsBasingstoke'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, South Ham, Black Dam and Hatch Warren. The M3 acts as a buffer zone to the south of the town, and the South Western Main Line constrains the western expansion, with a green belt to the north and north-east, making Basingstoke shaped almost like a kite. As a result, the villages of Cliddesden, Dummer, Sherborne St John and Oakley, although being very close to the town limits, are considered distinct entities. Popley, Hatch Warren and Beggarwood are seeing rapid growth in housing. [11] [12] Nearby towns: Hook, Tadley, Whitchurch, Nearby villages: Aldermaston, Baughurst, Bramley, Kingsclere, Oakley, Old Basing, Overton, Ramsdell, Silchester. HistoryEarly Settlements
The remains of the
16th-century Chapel of the Holy Trinity at the
Holy Ghost Chapel
The hillfort at Winklebury (2 miles (3 km) west of the town centre), known locally as Winklebury Camp or Winklebury Ring [13] dates from the Iron age and there are remains of several other earthworks around Basingstoke including a long barrow near Down Grange. [14] Nearby, to the west, Roman Road and Kempshott Lane mark the course of a Roman road that ran from Winchester to Silchester. Further to the east, another Roman road ran from Chichester through the outlaying villages of Upton Grey and Mapledurwell. The Harrow Way is an ancient route that runs to the south of the town. EtymologyThe name Basingstoke (A.D 990; Embasinga stocæ, [15] Domesday; Basingestoches) is believed to have been derived from the town's position as the outlying, western settlement of Basa's people. [16] [a] Basing, now Old Basing, a village a few miles to the east, is thought to have the same etymology, but is considered by some to be the older settlement. [17] Market TownBasingstoke is recorded as being a market site in the Domesday Book, and has held a regular Wednesday market since 1214. [18] 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 [19] and lead was stripped from the roof of the Chapel of the Holy Trinity [20] leading to its eventual ruin. Cromwell is believed to have stayed in the town towards the end of the siege and wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons addressed from Basingstoke. [21] The cloth industry appears to have been important in the development of the town until the 17th century along with malting. [22] Brewing became important during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the oldest and most successful was May's Brewery, established by Thomas and William May in 1750 in Brook Street. Victorian HistoryThe London and South Western Railway arrived in 1839 from London, and within a year it was connected to Winchester and Southampton. in 1848 a rival company built a branch from Reading, and in 1854 a line was built to Salisbury. [23] In the 19th century Basingstoke began to move into industrial manufacture, Wallis and Haslam (later Wallis & Steevens), [24] 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. 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. [25] 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. [26] |
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