A Timeline of Basingstoke

By Tim Lambert

1086 Basingstoke has a population of about 200

1257 Basingstoke is given a charter (a document giving the people certain rights). Basingstoke is now a small town with a population of about 600 or 700.

1340 The little town of Basingstoke relies on the manufacture of wool

1392 Basingstoke is badly damaged by a fire

1449 Basingstoke is allowed an annual fair

1601 Basingstoke suffers another fire

1643-45 During the Civil War Basing House is besieged

1656 Basingstoke Town Hall burns down

1643-45 During the Civil War Basing House is besieged

1801 Basingstoke is still a small town with a population of about 2,500

1832 A new Town Hall is built in Basingstoke

1834 A gas works opens in Basingstoke

1839 The railway reaches Basingstoke

1865 The Haymarket is built as a corn exchange

1887 Fairfields School is built

1901 The Alton Light Railway opens. It closes in 1936.

1910 The first cinema opens in Basingstoke

1921 War Memorial Park opens

1931 A museum opens in Basingstoke. The population of Basingstoke is about 14,000.

1940 Six people are killed when Church Square is bombed

Late 1940s early 1950s A council housing estate is built at Oakridge

1961 It is decided to make Basingstoke an overspill town for London

1967 Russell Howard Park opens

1968 A new shopping precinct opens

1970 The population of Basingstoke has risen to about 47,000

1973 The AA HQ in Basingstoke opens

1974 A new hospital opens in Basingstoke

1976 London Street is pedestrianised

1988 The rest of Basingstoke town centre is pedestrianised

2002 Festival Place Shopping Centre opens