Fleet is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Hart District of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England, centred 38.2 miles (61.5 km) WSW of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and 13 miles (21 km) east of

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

. It is the major town of the Hart District, and has large technology business areas, fast rail links to

, and is well connected to the M3. The Fleet built-up area has a total population of 42,835, and includes the contiguous parishes of

Church Crookham Church Crookham is a large suburban village and civil parish, contiguous with the town of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England. It is west-southwest of London. Formerly a separate village, it figures as a southern suburb of Fleet. Histor ...

, Crookham Village,

Dogmersfield Dogmersfield is a small village lying between the towns of Fleet and Hartley Wintney in Hampshire, England. The M3 motorway and railway stations at Fleet and Winchfield provide routes to London. Places of interest include the village church, wh ...

, and Elvetham Heath. The town has a prominent golf club, an annual

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

, an athletics club, and four football clubs. The nearby service station on the motorway is named after the town. Hart, of which Fleet is the main town, was voted the best place to live in the UK by the Halifax Quality of Life study in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and again in 2017, above areas such as Elmbridge in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

and

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

. This is due to the highly affluent majority of the population, better weather and health conditions, high levels of access to leisure space, and the town's surrounding countryside which includes woodlands and the

Basingstoke Canal The Basingstoke Canal is an English canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. From Basingstoke, the canal passes through or near Greywell, North Warnborough, Odiham, ...

. Local landmarks include Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire, and a High Street with many Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Fleet holds a weekly Saturday market in Gurkha Square.

History

The site of Fleet was originally

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

in the northern part of the Crondall Hundred. The name ''Fleet'' was probably derived from the Norman French word ''La Flete'' meaning ''a stream or shallow water'' - a reference to the Fleet Pond from which fish had been taken for the

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

Medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Early Days (to 1904)

This north-east corner of Hampshire had shallow and sandy, slightly acidic soil, much of it boggy or covered in gorse and bracken (see

Bagshot Formation In geology, the Bagshot Beds are a series of sands and clays of shallow-water origin, some being fresh-water, some marine. They belong to the upper Eocene formation of the London and Hampshire basins, in England and derive their name from Bagsh ...

). It held little use for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

compared to the long-grazed

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. C ...

lands and belts of alluvial areas of the rest of the county. The Fleet area has yielded few

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

finds. Isaac Taylor's Map of Hampshire (1759) shows three small habitations in the area that was later to become Fleet. In 1792, the

opened. The canal passed through the town site, but apart from a few inns to serve the passing trade, it had little effect on the locality. Apart from the

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tri ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

road, the site remained largely undeveloped until the construction of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

, which opened in 1840. In that year, a church - ''Christ Church'', which was to become the heart of the new

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Ewshot and Crookham, was built midway between the villages of Crookham and Ewshot. This parish included the area that was to become the town of Fleet. The railway company promoted Fleet Pond for a destination for day excursions, and many people came down from London to skate on the Pond during the

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

. This attracted a number of gentry, particularly retired army officers, who moved to the area bounded by Fleet Road, Elvetham Road and Reading Road North, and laid the foundations of what was to become known locally as "''The Blue Triangle''". By 1860, Charles Lefroy, a local

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as ...

, commissioned All Saints' Church – in the ''Blue Triangle'' area, in memory of his wife who had died in 1857. The architect was

William Burges William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...

. The ecclesiastical parish of Ewshot and Crookam was split into two in 1862, with the northern section based on All Saints' church becoming the new parish of Fleet. On 22 June 2015, the roof of All Saints' church was destroyed by fire following an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

attack. The development of Fleet accelerated when the land to the south east of the ''Blue Triangle'' was sold for development in 1882. Development on this land was laid out in a grid pattern.

As part of the Urban District Council (1904 - 1974)

Under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, many of the duties that had previously been shouldered by the ecclesiastical parishes were transferred to new civil parishes, and Crookham, Fleet and Crondall each gained an elected parish council. In 1904, Fleet became an urban district, just ten years after becoming an independent parish. In 1925, and again in 1932, it expanded by taking parts of Elvetham, as a result of the Local Government Act 1929, which saw smaller urban districts merge with their surrounding rural districts, with the result that new districts emerged covering rural as well as urban parishes. As a consequence, the Fleet Urban District in 1932 expanded south of the canal and took 45% of the Crookham acreage and 61% of the population, with the rump of the parish of Crookham being returned to Crondall parish. In addition, a small area of Minley with Hawley, that consequently became the modern development of Ancells Farm, was also transferred to the expanded Fleet Urban District.

As part of the Hart District Council (1974 onwards)

Fleet expanded over the decades, with new residential areas being built at Ancells Farm, Zebon Copse (Church Crookham, Crookham Village and Dogmersfield are included in the built-up area, as per the Government Statistical Service) and Elvetham Heath. Completed in 2008, Elvetham Heath was one of the UK's largest new housing developments at the time, and added some 3,500 inhabitants to Fleet's population, bringing its total population up to around 35,000. This represented a 20% population increase in less than a decade. Earlier in the 1990s, two developments in Fleet involved a double opening on 10 May 1991; the Hart Shopping Centre, which was opened officially by the Duchess Of York, and the old Hart Leisure Centre on Hitches Lane. The old Hart Leisure Centre was replaced by a new one on the other side of the road in 2019. Fleet had been a dormitory town for commuters to London. It now has several business parks, mainly occupied by

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

companies.

Geography

Areas and suburbs of Fleet town are Pondtail, Ancells Park and Elvetham Heath. The villages of Crookham Village and

are contiguous with the town. Immediately surrounding towns and villages include Winchfield,

, Crondall, Ewshot, and

Hartley Wintney Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It lies about northwest of Fleet and east of Basingstoke. The parish includes the smaller contiguous village of Phoenix Green as well as the ham ...

. The Fleet Pond

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

is a beauty spot on the northern edge of the town. Fleet Pond is the largest freshwater lake in

. Being very shallow, Fleet Pond is actively managed and needs regular dredging to avoid it silting up. In times past, the lake has frozen over, permitting skating. Fleet is served by junction 4A of the M3 motorway.

Fleet services Fleet Services is a motorway service station on the M3 near Fleet. It is owned by Welcome Break. History Opened in 1973, it was originally built in a Scandinavian style and in 1992 won Loo of the Year Award. Before 2001, when Winchester se ...

on the M3 lies at the edge of the town. Fleet's main road, Fleet Road, runs through the town centre from south-west to north-east. Fleet railway station is on the Waterloo to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

main line; the train service is run by South Western Railway. Journey time to Waterloo is about 50 minutes, and express trains do the journey in under 40 minutes. Nearby airports are Blackbushe and

Farnborough Farnborough may refer to: Australia * Farnborough, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Livingstone United Kingdom * Farnborough, Hampshire, a town in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England ** Farnborough (Main) railway station, a railw ...

. The

, built at the end of the eighteenth century, connected Fleet to

and, in the other direction,

via the

Wey Wey may refer to: Places *Wey (state) (衞), or Wei, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou Dynasty *River Wey, river in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex, England *River Wey (Dorset), river of Dorset, south west England *Wey and Arun Canal, canal ...

navigation. By the early twentieth century, the canal had fallen into disrepair, but the section between the Wey Navigation and the

Greywell Tunnel Greywell Tunnel is a disused tunnel on the Basingstoke Canal near Greywell in Hampshire, which is now a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. History Construction of the canal had been authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1778, ...

has since been restored by volunteers and is maintained as a leisure facility.

Climate

Being located in

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...

, Fleet has a

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

which is generally drier and warmer than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately and shows a seasonal and a diurnal variation. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between and . July is the warmest month in the area with average daily maxima around . Rainfall averages at .

Politics and administration

Fleet is administered by Hart District Council and

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

. The

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

is North East Hampshire. In April 2010, some of the responsibilities of Hart District Council were devolved to three new parish councils: Fleet Town Council, Elvetham Heath Parish Council and Church Crookham Parish Council.

Wards

Fleet and Church Crookham (which is a suburban village of the town) is divided into the following wards: *Fleet Central: Small part of the "Blue Triangle" the late Victorian/Edwardian town centre, and a small part south of the canal that was historically part of Crookham prior to 1976. *Fleet East: Pondtail, Ancells Farm and the former Pyestock site (Hartland Village). *Fleet West: Large part of the "Blue Triangle", Elvetham Heath and Edenbrook. *Crookham East: Church Crookham estates, Velmead and the Sandy Lane Triangle. *Crookham West and Ewshot: Gally Hill, Zebon, Tweseldown, Crookham Park (formerly Queen Elizabeth Barracks), Crookham and Ewshot villages.

Demography

Men in the Fleet North ward had the second highest life expectancy at birth, 89.7 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016.

Education

The town has a number of schools including: *Crookham CE Infants *Fleet Infants *Heatherside Infants *Heatherside Juniors *All Saints *Tavistock Infant School *Elvetham Heath Primary School *Church Crookham Juniors *Tweseldown Infants *Velmead Junior School * Calthorpe Park School * Court Moor School * St Nicholas' School (independent, girls-only)

Transport

Rail

Fleet is served by Fleet railway station, on the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south we ...

. The station in the 2010s underwent great improvements, funded mostly by Hampshire County Council, giving the station more car parking and disabled access.

Bus

Local bus services include services operated by Stagecoach, with routes circulating the town and providing access to surrounding towns such as

and

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

, and a Reading Buses service connecting the Fleet to the market town of

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is east ...

Sport and leisure

Fleet is the home of the North Hants Golf Club. For over one hundred years, it has been a top-ranked course in Hampshire and nationally.

Justin Rose Justin Peter Rose, (born 30 July 1980) is an English professional golfer who plays most of his golf on the PGA Tour, while keeping his membership on the European Tour. He won his first major championship at the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf C ...

was a junior member of the club, and there is now a meeting room named after him. Fleet has four

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is s ...

teams: Fleet Town F.C., who play at Calthorpe Park, Fleet Spurs F.C., who play at Kennels Lane, Fleet Albion, who play at Dippenhall St., Crondall, and FC Fleet, who play at Zebon Copse. Fleet has a

, commonly used in preparation for the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

, and an athletics club, Fleet & Crookham AC.

Media

The local press are the ''Fleet News & Mail'', a broadsheet available in local shops, and the ''Surrey-Hants Star Courier'', a free tabloid delivered to the door. The local BBC TV news is BBC South Today. Fleet is covered on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

by BBC Surrey, which covers North-East Hampshire additionally.

Culture

The town has numerous events organised by the local carnival committee, the largest of those being Fleet

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival t ...

in the summer, and the switching on of the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

lights as December approaches (known as Fleet Festivities), usually held the last Wednesday in November and taking place along the local high-street, which is pedestrianised for the evening's events. The committee also arrange food festivals, attracting stands run by local restaurants and talks and demonstrations held in large marquees. Other yearly events in Fleet include a Half Marathon, Fleet 10K, a

beer festival A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales. Asia * Singapore holds an annual Beer Festiva ...

organised by the local Lions Club, a

Fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

night, and the Elvetham Heath Car Show. Gurkha Square, named after the

Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are r ...

who were based in Fleet for many years, houses the Fleet

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

. A market takes place every Saturday in Gurkha Square. Major buildings on Gurkha Square are Fleet Library, and the Harlington Centre.

Fleet services

Fleet Services is a motorway service station on the M3 and is owned by

Welcome Break Welcome Break is a British motorway service station operator that operates 35 motorway service stations in the UK. It is the second-largest motorway service area operator behind Moto. It also operates hotels and motels. It is a subsidiary of ...

. It was the only service station on the M3 until Winchester services was built in 2001.

Notable people

*The actress Juliet Aubrey was born in Fleet in 1969. *The musician Tim Battersby was born in Fleet in 1949. *The New Zealand lawyer and naturalist

Walter Buller Sir Walter Lawry Buller (9 October 1838 – 19 July 1906) was a New Zealand lawyer and naturalist who was a dominant figure in New Zealand ornithology. His book, ''A History of the Birds of New Zealand'', first published in 1873, was publishe ...

died in Fleet in 1906. *The actress

Raquel Cassidy Raquel Cassidy is an English actress. She played the role of Phyllis Baxter in the television series ''Downton Abbey'' (2013–2015), winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She has re ...

was born in Fleet in 1968. *The musician and author Alan Clayson grew up in Fleet. *Murder victim

Marion Crofts Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

lived in Fleet. *The magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster Mark Ellen grew up in Fleet. *The professional tennis player John Feaver was born in Fleet in 1952. *The comedian, musician and actor Rob Hoey is from Fleet *The professional footballer Keith Hooker was born in Fleet in 1950. * Alison Robins (1920-2017), worked at Bletchley Park "Y-Service", born in Fleet *Patrick Hannan drummer in The Sundays was born in Fleet *The golfer

was a member of the North Hants Golf Club in Fleet. *The art critic and man of letters, John Russell, was born in Fleet in 1919. *The platform diver Gemma McArthur, competitor for Team Scotland in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, ...

, is from Fleet. * The racing driver Jac Constable, who won the AM class of the

Ginetta GT4 Supercup The Ginetta GT4 Supercup is a one-make racing, Sports car racing series based in the United Kingdom, using identical Ginetta G50 and G55 sports cars. The championship currently supports the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). The cha ...

in 2018 grew up and lives in Fleet. * The racing driver Dan Welch, who competed in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed a ...

between 2011 and 2018 lives in Fleet. * The racing driver Jack Mitchell, who won the GT4 class of the

British GT Championship The British GT Championship is a sports car racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT ...

in 2018 lives in Fleet.

References

External links

Fleet Town Council
{{authority control Towns in Hampshire Civil parishes in Hampshire Hart District