Blackwater is a town in the
Hart District
Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. The district also contains the towns of Blackwater and Yateley, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.
...
of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
, England. It forms part of the
Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area and almost is contiguous with
Camberley
Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...
. Blackwater is from
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
A pre-1900 distance sign near the nightclub on the A30, in Camberley marks "
London - 30 miles", from which the centre of Blackwater is less than a mile.
The town is in the outer half of the London Commuter Belt, the fastest link being Farnborough (Main) Station on the South Western Main Line. The place sits west of where the
A30 trunk road from London to
Land's End
Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
crosses the
River Blackwater. It is served by
Blackwater railway station which is on the non-interchanging line, midway, between
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
and
Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
.
History
The first record of Blackwater, archived and known, is in 1281, when it was known as Bredeford. It grew around the ford (soon after seen as Brydrs Ford) across the
Blackwater.
The White Hart
Parade of shops
A shopping parade, also known as a parade of shops, suburban parade, neighbourhood parade, or just a simply a parade is a group of between five and 40 shops in one or more continuous rows, mostly being retail and serving a local customer base; in ...
and offices, to the west of Blackwater station, is named after the White Hart coaching inn that occupied the site in the late 19th century.
Transport connections
Trains from
Blackwater station operate with a half-hourly service to
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, and to
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...
or the shorter-stop
Redhill both via
Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
. Trains do not operate directly to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, requiring a change to
London Paddington at Reading, or to
London Waterloo at Guildford or Wokingham. At peak times, some additional trains operate; which usually go beyond Guildford to
Shalford. Trains are operated by
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
.
Train passengers seeking to commute to
Farnborough North for the Sixth Form College or for London-bound trains from nearby Farnborough Main are advised that these are on the few full-stopping-services only, as a semi-fast stopping pattern prevailingly operates for convenience of the whole line and regional transport.
Buses to Camberley operate every 15 minutes via Route 3.
Local economy
Blackwater is a gateway town into Hampshire on a main national route (the A30). This 'high street' area is a dual-carriageway which subsides to singled west of the town. It passes over
Blackwater railway station, as well as passing over the
River Blackwater itself.
Aldi
Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...
, and shortly after a new
Lidl
Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...
supermarket was built opposite Aldi (formerly Robert Greig) in 2003, taking up most of the town's retail footprint. Blackwater has two public houses, The Royal Swan and Mr Bumble. There are two parades of shops which include food outlets, a pharmacy, a newsagent and a vinyl record store.
The closest sizeable town of note is Camberley, which provides many jobs for residents of Blackwater due to its wide range of shops, particularly within The Mall, Camberley. Other nearby towns include
Sandhurst, home to the Royal Military Academy, and
Yateley. Blackwater is considered a commuter town to these neighbouring settlements, and also to the larger commercial centres of
Farnborough,
Aldershot
Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
,
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...
,
Wokingham
Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...
and
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...
.
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
were a major employer in the Blackwater Valley and their UK headquarters were in Blackwater at Guillemont Park in neighbouring
Minley, at the
M3 motorway junction on the site of the former
Guillemont Barracks.
Following
Oracle
An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination.
Descript ...
's acquisition of Sun in 2009, employees were relocated to Oracle's UK headquarters in the
Thames Valley Park.
Suburbs
There are two suburban villages to the north,
Frogmore
Frogmore is an estate within the Home Park, Windsor, Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England. It comprises , of primarily private gardens managed by the Crown Estate. It is the location of Frogmore House, a royal retreat, and ...
and
Darby Green
Darby Green is a village in the parish of Yateley, North East Hampshire, England. The Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of Frogmore, Hampshire, Frogmore and Darby Green is separated from the rest of the parish by a small gap around Cl ...
, which are considered by Hart District council to be districts of Blackwater.
Frogmore has its own modern village hall, village green, church and a small shopping parade. Darby Green has a shopping parade (including a Tesco Express) and a small youth centre. There is also a modern medical surgery between the two villages on Frogmore Road.
The village of
Hawley, which has its own village hall, primary school, church, private leisure centre and equestrian centre, lies less than to the south on the road towards
Farnborough.
Popular culture
A major portion of Wilkie Collins's 1859 novel ''
The Woman in White'' is set at the house of the character Sir Percivel Glyde, Blackwater Park, in Blackwater, Hampshire.
Nearby towns and villages
*
Yateley
*
Sandhurst
*
Camberley
Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...
*
Farnborough
*
Crowthorne
Crowthorne is a village, and civil parish, in the Bracknell Forest district of southeastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 7,806 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census.
Crowthorne is the location of Wellington College, Be ...
*
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...
*
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
Blackwater and Hawley Town Council website
{{authority control
Towns in Hampshire
Hart District