is a large town in the county of and
Sun Life Financial Of Canada (not to be confused with
AXA Sun Life ) in the UK. Other industries include
Drug manufacture,
Insurance and
Electronics .
Basingstoke's expansion has absorbed many smaller
Village s in its wake, becoming
Housing Estate s or local districts. Many of these new estates are designed as almost self contained communities, such as
Chineham ,
Popley ,
Winklebury ,
Kempshott 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
Green Belt to the north and north-east, making Basingstoke almost triangular in shape. As a result, the villages of
Cliddesden ,
Dummer , Sherborne and
Oakley , although being very close to the town limits, are considered distinct entities.
Basingstoke Parlimentary Constituency is served by
Conservative Mrs
Maria Miller MP, who was elected in
2005 when the previous
MP ,
Andrew Hunter stepped down.
Basingstoke And Deane Borough Council, which has its offices in the town, has no majority control, but is instead operated by a
Lib-Lab Pact . Basingstoke is part of a Two-Tier Local Government structure, and returns county councillors to
Hampshire .
, as seen from Churchill Way.]]
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'' . Aside from a wide range of shops, including
Department Store s
Bhs ,
Debenhams and
Marks And Spencer , there is also a range of cafés and restaurants as well as a large multi-screen
Vue cinema (formerly
Ster Century until their takeover in
2005 ).
Basingstoke has two further shopping areas: ''The Malls'' and ''Top of Town''. The Malls houses big names such as , and market square.
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
Pub s 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 Porchester Square is the Basingstoke
Sports Centre which 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 a playden for young children. Basingstoke town centre is also home to a modern concert hall: ''
The Anvil ''.
Outside of the town centre there is a leisure park featuring the ''
Aquadrome '' swimming pool, an ice rink, Bowling Alley, and a
Vue cinema. The leisure park is home to the
Milestones Museum which contains a network of streets and buildings based on the history of
Hampshire .
Basingstoke has its own
Football team,
Basingstoke Town F.C. who currently play in the
Nationwide Conference South . The
Rugby Club play in Rugby Football Union's National 3 South League, and the
Basingstoke Bison Ice Hockey team play in the
British Elite Ice Hockey League . Basingstoke also has a swimming team, known as the Basingstoke Bluefins.
Basingstoke has two large ,
Queen Mary's College (QMC) and
Basingstoke College Of Technology (BCOT). There are many large
Secondary School s in the area that are included in the
List Of Schools In Hampshire .
Basingstoke recently gained its own radio station:
Kestrel FM .
2-Ten FM , broadcast from
Reading also provides local radio coverage. The town also has good coverage from
Digital Radio ; the
BBC , Independent National and Now Reading
Multiplexes can be received in the town, and the outskirts can receive London and South Hampshire stations as well.
There are two local 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.
Basingstoke is situated in the north of can be accessed in roughly 45 minutes by train, and there is easy access to the
M3 and
M4 Motorway s. Basingstoke has very good bus services, both local town services and more long-distant stage routes to Andover, Newbury and Winchester.
Alton ,
Andover ,
Hook ,
Newbury ,
Overton ,
Reading ,
Tadley ,
Whitchurch ,
Winchester
Aldermaston ,
Baughurst ,
Bramley ,
Kingsclere ,
Oakley ,
Old Basing ,
Silchester .
Basingstoke has held a there were only 16,000 inhabitants. Today it is famous for having a large number of
Roundabout s.
The name Basingstoke (
Domesday ; Basingestoches) is believed to have been derived from the town's location, the western settlement of the people of ''Baze''. Basing, a village a few miles to the east, is normally considered to have the same etymology, but is believed to be the older settlement. Basingstoke had a market by 1203 and, for most of its life, it remained a small market town. In the
18th Century , it prospered as a major
Brewing centre, after the brothers Thomas and William May set up the May Brewery around 1755. 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. There were even armed clashes in Church Square. The May family were
Mayors and prominent benefactors of the town well into the
20th Century .
In the late
1960s , Basingstoke town centre was completely rebuilt. At this time many buildings of historic interest were replaced by a large concrete
Shopping Centre . 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. It remains to be seen whether the opening of the new
Festival Place shopping centre will do anything to soften this image and part the town with its "Boringstoke", "Basingjoke" and "Basingrad" nicknames. Although more recently, the younger generation have surprisingly adopted a more positive name of "Amazingstoke" for this once boring town.
The Basingstoke Gazette has recently launched "A Town to be Proud of" 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 .
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. Although she says the word is "teeming with hidden meaning", the joke lies in the town's utter unremarkability. It has been suggested that Gilbert had in mind the mental asylum at Park Prewett, northwest of the town centre, although this was not built until
1912 , some 25 years after the opera was written.
Basingstoke also gets a mention in
Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy :
''"How did we get here?" he (Arthur) asked, shivering slightly. "We hitched a lift," said Ford. "Excuse me?" said Arthur. "Are you trying to tell me that we just stuck out our thumbs and some green bug-eyed monster stuck his head out and said, Hi fellas, hop right in. I can take you as far as the Basingstoke roundabout?"''.
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.
Basingstoke is
Twinned with
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
- Ruth Ellis , the last woman to be Hanged in Great Britain
- Elizabeth Hurley , Actress and Model
- Sir James Lancaster , 16th Century Navigator and Statesman
- Robert Steadman , Composer and Conductor
- Tanita Tikaram , Singer-songwriter
- Thomas Warton , academic and poet, holder of the title of Poet Laureate from 1785 .
- : listing of Basingstoke-themed articles
