Rooksdown is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the

Basingstoke and Deane Basingstoke and Deane is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its primary settlement is Basingstoke. Other settlements include Bramley, Tadley, Kingsclere, Overton, Oakley, Whitchurch and the village of Deane, s ...

district of

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

, England. The parish was formed on 1 April 2004. It covers a small estate in the north-west 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 ...

which was previously part of the parish of

Sherborne St. John Sherborne St John is a village and civil parish near Basingstoke in the English county of Hampshire. History The village was named in the Domesday book as ''Sireburne''. It became ''Shireburna'' (12th century), Schyreburne (13th century) and Sh ...

, itself originally part of

the Vyne The Vyne is a Grade I listed 16th-century country house in the parish of Sherborne St John, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire, England. The house was first built ''circa'' 1500-10 in the Tudor style by William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys, Lord Cha ...

estate.

History

Rooksdown is the name of the locality and is shown as Rooks Down in the Ogilby strip maps of 1675. It is also the name of the old Roman road that passes through the Parish, and of the now demolished Rooksdown Hospital, originally Rooksdown House (the Private annexe of Park Prewett Hospital), which once occupied the north west corner of the parish at the junction of Kingsclere Road and Rooksdown Road. The land which Rooksdown parish now occupies was originally part of the grounds of the former Park Prewett Hospital and farm. After the hospital closed in 1997, some small development took place on surrounding land. The main hospital site was acquired by

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successo ...

in 2005 for the purposes of redeveloping the area. The original clock tower, water tower and entertainment hall have been retained as they are listed buildings. The local housing development is still sometimes referred to as Park Village by local estate agents, although this is no longer the name of the locality. The area is currently undergoing a major development centred on the former Park Prewett Hospital. This is being refurbished to provide a number of housing units and community shops and facilities. Part of the development is designated to provide affordable homes. There a four areas of housing development in Rooksdown that have been built at various stages. The first and oldest development is the Beeches, this development lies nearest the single carriageway section of the A339 and contains Saxonwood School. The second development phase was originally known as Rooksdown to differentiate from The Beeches. This development follows on from The Beeches following the line of the old Rooksdown Lane meeting up at the top of the old hospital golf course. The third phase is Park Village, a large estate built on the line of the dual carriageway section of the A339, extending up to the edge of the old Park Prewett Hospital. The current development is known as Limes Park and is a huge area of development encompassing new build and the redevelopment of the Park Prewett Hospital buildings. Collectively this area is known as Rookdown following the creation of the parish.

Governance

Rooksdown is a

and

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

of Basingstoke and Deane borough council. The borough council is a

Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non ...

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 ...

Landmarks

The water tower and main hall of the former mental asylum are being renovated before being made available for local use. The former Park Prewett Farm barn is a grade II listed building. The

North Hampshire Hospital Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital (BNHH) is a 450-bed National Health Service (NHS) hospital in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England run by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It employs around 2,800 staff. Each year it has around 47,00 ...

and Parklands Hospital also falls within the parish of Rooksdown, as does the South Central Ambulance Service ambulance station.

Transport

The parish is served by Hampshire Bus who provide frequent services from the

(service 2 and 5, east of the parish) and Winklebury (service 6, west of the parish) to Basingstoke town centre. An infrequent circular service (4) passes through the parish linking it to other parts of the borough. The main Basingstoke to Newbury service (The Link) was diverted through the parish in 2008.

References

External links

{{authority control Basingstoke and Deane Villages in Hampshire Civil parishes in Basingstoke and Deane