| c1000 BC |
Bronze Age people settled at Kempshott |
| c600 BC |
The Celts settled in the borough |
| c400 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) |
| c700 AD |
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 |
| 1208-1214 |
The Liten, or South View Cemetery, was established as a result of the Papal Interdict banning burials on consecrated sites |
| c1246 |
The Overton Sheep Fair was established |
| 1348 |
The Black Death wiped out one-third of the area’s population |
| 1642-1645 |
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 |
| 1711-1717 |
Henry Portal, founder of Portals paper mill set up his first mill at Bere Mill, in Whitchurch. It later transferred to Laverstoke Mill, now home to the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery. |
| 1724 |
Henry Portal obtained the contract to make bank notes at Laverstoke Mill. |
| 1762 |
The first detailed map of Basingstoke was produced |
| 1775 |
The novelist Jane Austen was born in Steventon spending most of her life in the village |
| 1794 |
The Basingstoke Canal officially opened to connect Basingstoke to the River Thames in London via the Wey Navigation |
| 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 |
| 1856 |
Thomas Burberry started his business in 1856 in Winchester Street. His clothing factory opened in New Street in central Basingstoke in 1868 |
| 1864 |
The Haymarket was rebuilt to re-house the town’s Corn Market. In 1951 the building became a theatre |
| 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 |
| 1923 |
The War Memorial on London Road was erected |
| 1926 |
Sandham Memorial Chapel was built for the English artist Stanley Spencer and contains his paintings |
| 1929 |
Construction started on the Basingstoke Bypass |
| 1940 |
German bombs fell on the town in the Second World War, killing at number of local civilians |
| 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 |
| 1974 |
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council was created |
| 1994 |
The Anvil concert hall opened on the 3 May |
| 2000 |
Milestones Museum was officially opened on the 1 December by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh |
| 2001 |
The population was recorded as 152,573 |
| 2002 |
Festival Place opens |
| 2010-2016 |
Downton Abbey television series was filmed at Highclere Castle |