Did You Know?

A Neolithic campsite of around 3000 BC beside a spring on the west of the town is the earliest known human settlement here, but the Willis Museum has flint implements and axes from nearby fields that date back to Palæolithic times.

Basingstoke began as a Saxon village. By the time of the Domesday Book (1086), it had a population of about 200. By the standards of the time, it was quite a large village. In Basingstoke, there were 3 watermills, which ground grain to flour.

In the Middle Ages Basingstoke grew into a town, though a small one. In the 13th century, the town probably had a population of around 600 or 700 people. There were really only 4 streets. In the middle was the Market Square.

The prosperity of Basingstoke depended on wool. Sheep were raised locally and wool was woven in the town. After the wool was woven it was cleaned and thickened by pounding it in a mixture of water and clay. Wooden hammers worked by watermills pounded the wool.

Oliver Cromwell is believed to have stayed here at some point during the Civil War.

In 1642 came civil war between king and parliament. The people of Basingstoke were sympathetic to parliament but the Marquis of Winchester, who owned Basing House, supported the king. On 31 July 1643, a force of parliamentary soldiers attempted to take the house but the Marquis and his men were armed with muskets and drove them off.

We are twinned with Alencon in France, Braine-L’alleud in Belgium and Euskirchen in Germany.  I have heard of none of those places.

Everyone remembers the absolute legend of Basingstoke that was known as Mr Clappy. You'd find him at the top of town clapping. Sadly, Mr Clappy (real name Archie Smith) died in 2017 at the age of 79.

You know that Channel 4 tv show Green Wing?  It was filmed in two different hospitals, once of which was the one here.

During the English Civil War (1641-1651), Basing House was besieged for several years until, in 1645, Oliver Cromwell himself turned up to finalize the matter. He stayed in the Falcon Inn in London Street, roughly where The Light Lounge is today.

She of the safety pin dress, Liz Hurley, was born and raised here.

Other media mentions include Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, the 1968 biography of The Beatles by Hunter Davies, Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and in Only Fools and Horses Rodney was expelled from an art college in Basingstoke