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Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

A Brief History

  • c. 3000 BC - Neolithic settlements were established at Kempshott, Battledown and Wellocks Hill 
  • c. 1000 BC - Bronze Age people settled at Kempshott
  • c. 600 BC – The Celts settled in the borough
  • c. 400 BC - Iron Age settlements were established in the Winklebury area
  • 43 AD - The Romans conquered North Hampshire.  The influence of their occupation can be found in a number of the borough’s place names; North Waltham (from Wealtham, meaning a clearing in the forest) and Stratfield (meaning the field of the road or way, and deriving from the ancient Roman road from London to Silchester which crosses the parish)
  • c. A.D. 700 - The Saxon tribe of the Basinga's made their settlement in the Loddon Valley.  Evidence of Saxon occupation can be found in many of the borough’s place names: Overton (from Uferatun or ‘upper tun’, indicating a settlement on a slope)
  • 871 - The Danes successfully fought the Saxons at Basengum (now Basing)
  • 909 – Areas of the borough, including North Waltham and Overton, were given to Frithestan, Bishop of Winchester, by King Edward the Elder
  • 1086 – The population was c. 200.  Basingstoke market was recorded in the Domesday Survey.  Since 1241 this has been held on a Wednesday. 
  • 1208-14 – The Liten, or South View Cemetery, was established as a result of the Papal Interdict banning burials on consecrated sites. 
  • c. 1246 - The Overton Sheep Fair was established
  • 1348 – The Black Death wiped out one-third of the area’s population
  • 1642 - 45 - Basing House played a key role in the English Civil War, serving as a significant Royalist stronghold until it was destroyed in 1645. 
  • 1666 - The Plague came to Basingstoke, having spread from London.  Up to 50 deaths were recorded in the town.
  • 1724 – Henry Portal, founder of Portals paper mill in Freefolk, obtained the contract to make bank notes
  • 1762 – The first detailed map of Basingstoke was produced
  • 1775 - The novelist Jane Austen was born in Steventon and spent most of her life in the village
  • 1794 – The Basingstoke Canal officially opened
  • 1801 – The first British census recorded the population of Basingstoke as 2,589
  • 1839 - The railway was opened between Basingstoke and London and Winchester and Southampton.
  • 1868 - Thomas Burberry's clothing factory opened in New Street in central Basingstoke
  • 1901 – The population was recorded as 9,510.  The Basingstoke Light Railway opened.
  • 1903 – The Thornycroft Company began manufacturing cars in Basingstoke, continuing until 1912.
  • 1921 - War Memorial Park was opened to the public
  • 1929 - Construction started on the Basingstoke Bypass
  • 1940 – German bombs fell on the town, killing at least 8 people
  • 1952 - Construction began on Oakridge estate, to house staff of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, which opened the same year
  • 1961 – Basingstoke was designated as a London over-spill town
  • 1967 – Construction of a new town centre began
  • 1970 – The M3 motorway was opened
  • 1971 – Black Dam estate was developed
  • 2001 – The population was recorded as 152,573

And did you know?

*    The well-known species of apple known as Bramley was first produced by a local vicar and  draws its name from the village

*    Besom brooms continue to be made in Tadley and were featured in the Harry Potter films.
*    In 1795 the future George IV spent his honeymoon at Kempshott

Interested in learning more about Basingstoke and Deane?  Why not explore the Willis Museum's Resource Room, visit your local library or contact one of the local history groups in the borough?