Local Area

Basingstoke is the third largest town in the beautiful county of Hampshire in the South East of England. It is situated 50 miles from London and 30 miles from the coast. Basingstoke is a prosperous town with a good standard of living and low unemployment. It is an economic centre and is the United Kingdom headquarters of several multinational companies. It boasts three shopping areas, good sports and leisure centres and has its own football, rugby, cricket and ice hockey teams. It is home to the famous Haymarket Theatre and the The Anvil, a modern concert hall and it also has several museums.

Basingstoke has excellent road and rail links. It takes about 45 minutes by train from Basingstoke railway station to reach London Waterloo and about 30 minutes to reach Southampton. Basingstoke is right next to the M3 motorway and also provides easy access to the M4 motorway. It also has very good local bus services most of which are provided by Stagecoach.

Basingstoke has a long history. There was a local fort in the Iron Age and it was listed as a royal manor in the Domesday Book. The remains of the Tudor palace of Basing House can still be seen in Old Basing not far from the town centre. As well as being a place where woollen goods were manufactured, Basingstoke prospered as a major brewing centre after the founding of the May Brewery in around 1755. More recently, Basingstoke acquired new town status in 1961. Since then it has undergone rapid growth. A new town centre has been built with pedestrian precincts and multi-storey car parks and its central business district has many high-rise office towers.

Basingstoke is twinned with Alencon in France, Euskirchen in Germany and Braine l’Alleud in Belgium.