51º16N 1º05W, pop (2001e) 80 200. Town in the local government district of Basingstoke and Deane, N Hampshire, S England, UK; 27 km/17 mi NE of Winchester and 80 km/50 mi W of London; birthplace of John Arlott and Thomas Warton; railway; engineering, light industries; Willis Museum; Silchester Roman site is 17 km/10 mi to the N.
Basingstoke is a large town and third largest settlement in the county of Hampshire in the South East England region of the UK (after the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth). Often mistaken as a new town, Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book and it remained a market town until the 1950s when it was very rapidly developed to accommodate what was then called the London 'overspill'. Basingstoke is a prosperous town with an above-average standard of living and low unemployment.
Basingstoke's expansion has absorbed many smaller villages in its wake, becoming housing estates or local districts. 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 almost triangular in shape.
The Basingstoke parliamentary constituency is served by Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Mrs Maria Miller, who was elected in 2005 when the previous MP, Andrew Hunter, stepped down. The western area of the Borough of Basingstoke & Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, which has its offices in the town, is a well-balanced council, having 30 Conservative, 15 Liberal Democrat, 12 Labour and three Independent councillors. Basingstoke is part of a Two-Tier Local Government structure and returns county councillors to Hampshire. When the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth attained unitary authority status in 1998, Basingstoke consequently became Hampshire's largest town.
Facilities
Town Centre
A new shopping centre - Festival Place - opened in autumn 2002, adding a huge boost to the town centre, transforming the former The Walks Shopping Centre and the New Market Square .
Basingstoke has two further shopping areas: The Malls and Top of Town. The Top of Town is the historic heart of Basingstoke, housing the town's Willis Museum and the Haymarket Theatre.
The town's nightlife is split fairly evenly 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 4 nightclubs, 2 in the town itself, one on the east side and one 2 miles out to the west.
In Portchester Square is the Basingstoke Sports Centre which has a subterranean swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi and steam room. Basingstoke town centre is also home to a modern concert hall: The Anvil, which is renowned for it's accoustics.
Leisure Centre
Outside of the town centre there is a leisure park featuring the Aquadrome swimming pool, an ice rink, Bowling Alley, and another Vue cinema.
Sport
Basingstoke has its own football team, Basingstoke Town F.C. The rugby club play in Rugby Football Union's National 3 South League, and the Basingstoke Bison ice hockey team play in the Elite Ice Hockey League. Basingstoke also has a swimming team, known as the Basingstoke Bluefins. The diversity of sporting activity in the area is illustrated by organisations such as Basingstoke Demons Floorball Club and Basingstoke Bulls Korfball Club.
Education
Basingstoke has two large further education colleges: a sixth form college, Queen Mary's College (QMC) and Basingstoke College of Technology (BCOT). Basingstoke is within 48 km (30 miles) of five universties, namely the University of Winchester, the University of Reading, the University of Southampton, Southampton Solent University and Surrey Institute of Art &
Media
Basingstoke recently gained its own radio station: Kestrel FM.
There are two local newspapers: the Basingstoke Gazette and the Basingstoke Observer, and the town is also covered by the Hampshire Chronicle.
Pirate radio appears to have found a foothold in parts of Basingstoke, with 2 recent weekend broadcasts having been quickly halted by Ofcom.
Geographical Location
Basingstoke is situated in the north of Hampshire, in the district of Basingstoke and Deane. Basingstoke has very good bus services, both local town services and more medium-distance stage routes to Andover, Newbury and Winchester.
Position: grid reference SU637523
Nearby towns and cities: Alton, Andover, Hook, Newbury, Overton, Reading, Tadley, Whitchurch, Winchester
Nearby villages: Aldermaston, Baughurst, Bramley, Kingsclere, Oakley, Old Basing, Silchester.
History of the town
Basingstoke has a long history of settlement. The Winklebury hillfort (two miles west of the town centre) dates from the Iron age and there are remains of several other earthworks around Basingstoke including Down Grange.
Basingstoke has held a Charter Market since before 1203, and is recorded as being a market site in the Domesday Book. Population growth has been rapid since its designation as a London overspill town (often confused with new town status) in 1961: in 1951 there were only 16,000 inhabitants.
The name Basingstoke (Domesday; When the Salvation Army arrived in Basingstoke preaching abstinence in 1881, the people were severely worried about the effect this would have on the brewing industry and local jobs. The May family were mayors and prominent benefactors of the town well into the 20th century, with May Place in the town centre being named for them.
In the late-1960s, Basingstoke town centre was completely rebuilt. The brutalism of the town's architecture, and its perceived status as a new town and haven for accountants and those with other occupations considered "boring", have led to Basingstoke becoming a comedic archetype for the soullessness of many modern British towns. Due the large number of high-rise office towers in its central business district, the nickname 'Dallas, Hampshire' has also been applied to Basingstoke.
The Basingstoke Gazette has recently launched the "A Place to be Proud of" campaign to raise the community awareness in the town - though with each new "community estate" being fairly self-sufficient, it is often easier to consider Basingstoke as a city-structure with separate community districts.
Basingstoke railway station is the junction between the South Western Main Line railway, built by the London and South Western Railway, and the Reading to Basingstoke line, built by the Great Western Railway.
References to Basingstoke
In the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Ruddigore, the word Basingstoke is a sort of soothing charm which Sir Despard Murgatroyd intones to Mad Margaret when she seems in danger of getting agitated.
Basingstoke also gets a mention in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "How did we get here?"
Vauxhall promoted their Vectra car by demonstrating how well it handles Basingstoke's fictitious Mitchell's Bush roundabout, which had only 2 exits.
Even Shakespeare pokes mild fun at Basingstoke, with a line in "Henry IV" (part 2). From act 2 scene 1:
Lord Chief-Justice: "I have heard better news."
Falstaffe: "What's the news, my good Lord?"
Ch-Just: "Where lay the King last night?"
Gower: "At Basingstoke, my Lord"
Fal: "I hope, my Lord, all's well: what is the news, my Lord?"
In the hugely popular British sitcom "Only Fools And Horses", the character Rodney Trotter attended art college in Basingstoke before being thrown out after three weeks for smoking marijuana.
Blessed, another British sitcom, also made reference to Basingstoke in an episode which aired during the last quarter of 2005. When the main charater meets a posh couple that have named their two children "India" and "Ireland" to reflect their supposed mystical nature, he ironically replies the he has named his own two children Basingstoke and Milton Keynes.
Although not referenced, Channel 4's hit comedy Green Wing filmed scenes at Basingstoke hospital.
Thomas Hardy refers to Basingstoke as "Stoke Barehills" in Jude the Obscure - Part Fifth, Chapter 5
"There is in Upper Wessex an old town of nine or ten thousand souls;
The movie 'Get Real' is set in Basingstoke.
Twinned towns
Basingstoke is twinned with
Alençon, France Euskirchen, Germany Braine-l'Alleud, BelgiumFamous people
Famous people who were born in, or lived in, the Basingstoke area:
John Arlott, cricket journalist, writer and commentator Jane Austen, author (born in nearby Steventon and lived in nearby Chawton) Carl Barat, lead singer and guitarist with rock band The Libertines and now the Dirty Pretty Things Ruth Ellis, last woman to be hanged in Great Britain Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York and former wife of Prince Andrew, raised in nearby Dummer Elizabeth Hurley, actress and model Sir James Lancaster, 16th century navigator and statesman Tom Rees, Rugby Player for London Wasps, has also represented England at Sevens and various other levels Robert Steadman, composer and conductor Tanita Tikaram, singer-songwriter Ramon Tikaram, Actor Thomas Warton, academic and poet, holder of the title of Poet Laureate from 1785.
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