Fleet, Hampshire
| Fleet | |
|---|---|
 Fleet
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| Fleet shown within Hampshire | |
| Population | 31,687 21,858 (2011 Census of parish) |
| OS grid reference | SU8054 |
| • London | 40.3 miles (64.9 km) |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FLEET |
| Postcode district | GU51, GU52 |
| Dialling code | 01252 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England, located 36 miles (58 km) southwest of London and 10 miles (16 km) east of Basingstoke. It is part of and is the major town of Hart District. The 2011 population (ONS census) for Fleet was 38,726.
In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and again in 2015, 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, above areas such as Elmbridge in Surrey and Wokingham in Berkshire. 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 situation surrounded by countryside.
Fleet is locally famous for Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire and quaint High Street with traditional Victorian and Edwardian look and its market.
The town is located in the north-eastern part of Hampshire and is easily accessible from the M3 it is also home to a Welcome Break service station off the same name.
The site of Fleet was originally heathland 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 in Winchester in Medieval times.
The area that was to become Fleet had shallow and sandy soil, much of it boggy or covered in gorse and bracken which held little attraction to agriculture and, compared to the chalk lands in the west of the county, the Fleet area has yielded few archaeological finds. Isaac Taylor's Map of Hampshire (1759) shows only three habitations in the area that was later to become Fleet.
In 1792 the Basingstoke Canal 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 to Reading road, the site remained largely undeveloped until the construction of the London and South Western Railway, which opened in 1840. In that year a church - Christ Church that was to become the heart of the new ecclesiastical parish 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. 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".
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Wikipedia