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 authority ...
in the
Hart District
Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. It was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the urban district of Fleet, and the Hartley ...
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, centred 38.2 miles (61.5 km)
WSW of
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
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
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, 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.
History ...
,
Crookham Village
Crookham Village is located south-west of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England and lies within the Hart District.
History
Crookham (formerly Crokeham) dates back at least as far as the Domesday Book, although Crookham Village and Church Crook ...
,
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, whic ...
, 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 shortcu ...
, 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 and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
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 als ...
in
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 Berk ...
. 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, Dogm ...
.
Local landmarks include
Fleet Pond
Fleet Pond is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Fleet in Hampshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve.
This large and shallow lake, fed by Fleet Brook,Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map is surrounded by reed beds, alder carr and oak ...
, 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
![FleetPond2 fromNW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/FleetPond2_fromNW.JPG)
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 cooler ...
in the northern part of the
Crondall
Crondall () is a village and large civil parish in the north east of Hampshire in England, in the Crondall Hundred (division), Hundred surveyed in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village is on the gentle slopes of the low western end of the North ...
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
Fleet Pond is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Fleet in Hampshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve.
This large and shallow lake, fed by Fleet Brook,Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map is surrounded by reed beds, alder carr and oak ...
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 dedicat ...
in
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 ...
in
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 to ...
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. Chalk ...
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 ]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, Dogm ...
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 trib ...
to Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
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 Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...
of Ewshot
Ewshot is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies in the north east of the county, close to the Surrey border.
The name Ewshot comes from Old English and means ''corner or angle of land where yew trees grow''.
Ewshot consists ...
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 cultures ...
. 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 a " ...
, commissioned All Saints' Church
All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to:
Albania
*All Saints' Church, Himarë
Australia
*All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
* All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Austr ...
– 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, wat ...
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 system (I ...
companies.
Geography
Areas and suburbs of Fleet town are Pondtail, Ancells Park and Elvetham Heath. The villages of Crookham Village
Crookham Village is located south-west of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England and lies within the Hart District.
History
Crookham (formerly Crokeham) dates back at least as far as the Domesday Book, although Crookham Village and Church Crook ...
and 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.
History ...
are contiguous with the town. Immediately surrounding towns and villages include Winchfield, 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, whic ...
, Crondall
Crondall () is a village and large civil parish in the north east of Hampshire in England, in the Crondall Hundred (division), Hundred surveyed in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village is on the gentle slopes of the low western end of the North ...
, Ewshot
Ewshot is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies in the north east of the county, close to the Surrey border.
The name Ewshot comes from Old English and means ''corner or angle of land where yew trees grow''.
Ewshot consists ...
, and Hartley Wintney
Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the Hart (district), Hart district of Hampshire, England. It lies about northwest of Fleet, Hampshire, Fleet and east of Basingstoke. The parish includes the smaller contiguous village of ...
.
The Fleet Pond
Fleet Pond is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Fleet in Hampshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve.
This large and shallow lake, fed by Fleet Brook,Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map is surrounded by reed beds, alder carr and oak ...
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 or ...
is a beauty spot on the northern edge of the town. Fleet Pond is the largest freshwater lake in 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 ...
. 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 servi ...
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
Fleet railway station serves the town of Fleet in Hampshire, England. It is situated on the South West Main Line, which has four tracks through the station. There are two platforms on the outer pair of tracks, which are served by trains betwee ...
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
Blackbushe Airport is an operational general aviation airport in the civil parish of Yateley in the north-east corner of the English county of Hampshire. Built during the Second World War, Blackbushe is north of the A30 road between Camberley ...
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 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, Dogm ...
, built at the end of the eighteenth century, connected Fleet to 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 ...
and, in the other direction, London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
via the Wey 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 ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...
, 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 t ...
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
Hart often refers to:
* Hart (deer)
Hart may also refer to:
Organizations
* Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer
* Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer
* Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores
* Hart's Reptile W ...
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
North East Hampshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Ranil Jayawardena, a Conservative who has served as Environment Secretary since 2022.
History
The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of t ...
. 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
Calthorpe Park School is one of two secondary schools in Fleet, Hampshire, England. for pupils aged 11–16. The school was awarded specialist status as a Maths and Computing College in 2005. In the 2013 Ofsted, OFSTED report the school receive ...
*Court Moor School
Court Moor School is one of two secondary schools in the town of Fleet, in Hampshire ( UK) for pupils aged 11–16.
History
The site for the school was purchased in 1957 for £3,810 by Hampshire County Council. Fleet Secondary Modern School, ...
* St Nicholas' School (independent, girls-only)
Transport
Rail
Fleet is served by Fleet railway station
Fleet railway station serves the town of Fleet in Hampshire, England. It is situated on the South West Main Line, which has four tracks through the station. There are two platforms on the outer pair of tracks, which are served by trains betwee ...
, 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 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 ...
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 Alders ...
, 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, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
.
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 (golf), 2013 U.S. O ...
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 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 specifically used to de ...
teams: Fleet Town F.C.
Fleet Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Fleet, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Calthorpe Park.
History
The club was established in 1890 under the name Fleet Football Club. , 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 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 shortcu ...
, 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 held ...
, 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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
TV news is BBC South Today
''BBC South Today'' is the BBC's regional television news service for the south of England, covering Hampshire, Isle of Wight, West Sussex, much of Dorset and parts of Berkshire, Surrey and Wiltshire.
Since 2000, an opt-out of the main program ...
. 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 th ...
by BBC Surrey
BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey, north-east Hampshire and north West Sussex (including Gatwick Airport). It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the University of Surrey in Gui ...
, 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 typi ...
in the summer, and the switching on of the Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
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 Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, 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 l ...
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 recru ...
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
Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...
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
Juliet Emma Aubrey (born 17 December 1966) is a British actress of theatre, film, and television. She won the 1995 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for playing Dorothea in the BBC serial ''Middlemarch'' (1994). She is also known for her role as ...
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
Alan Clayson (born 3 May 1951, Dover, Kent) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as ' ...
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
* Mar ...
lived in Fleet.
*The magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen (born 16 September 1953) is a British magazine editor, journalist and News presenter, broadcaster who lives in West London.
Early life
Ellen was born in Fleet, Hampshire, England. Whilst at Oxford University in the 1970s, he briefly ...
grew up in Fleet.
*The professional tennis player John Feaver
John Feaver (born 16 February 1952) is a former professional tennis player from the United Kingdom.
Career
After attending Millfield, Feaver enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career he reached 10 doubles fin ...
was born in Fleet in 1952.
*The comedian, musician and actor Rob Hoey
Rob Hoey (born 28 April 1980) is a musician, actor, writer and comedian and is best known for being the vocalist for his current band Limb and the guitarist / founder of the band Multi Purpose Chemical.
Music
In early 2004 MPC's first recordi ...
is from Fleet
*The professional footballer Keith Hooker
Keith William Hooker (born 31 January 1950) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a wing half in the Football League for Brentford.
Career
Brentford
Hooker progressed through the Brentford youth team to make his sen ...
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
The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in the late 1980s, which released three albums throughout the 1990s.
The band's beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending ...
was born in Fleet
*The golfer 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 (golf), 2013 U.S. O ...
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
Sports teams of Scotland is an incomplete list of the national sports teams representing Scotland.
Scottish representative teams
Multi-sport events
*''Scotland'', the team sent by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland to represent the cou ...
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, bet ...
, is from Fleet.
* The racing driver Jac Constable
Jac Constable (born 6 December 1997 in Fleet, Hampshire) is a British racing driver who currently competes in TCR UK and serves as a BTCC development driver, both for Power Maxed Racing. Constable made his British Touring Car Championship debut ...
, 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 cham ...
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
TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ...
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.
See also
*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, Dogm ...
References
External links
Fleet Town Council
{{authority control
Towns in Hampshire
Civil parishes in Hampshire
Hart District