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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

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. ...

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, centred south-west of

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 ...

and east of

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 ...

. It is the largest town of the Hart District, and has many 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 45,218, and includes the contiguous parishes of Church Crookham,

Crookham Village Crookham Village is located south-west of Fleet, Hampshire, Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England and lies within the Hart (district), Hart District. History Crookham (formerly Crokeham) dates back at least as far as the Domesday Book, altho ...

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, w ...

, 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. 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.

Geography

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 encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

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. Ch ...

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

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

finds. Isaac Taylor's Map of Hampshire (1759) shows three small habitations in the area that was later to become Fleet. Areas and suburbs of Fleet town are Pondtail, Ancells Park and Elvetham Heath. The villages of

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

Crondall Crondall () is a village and large civil parish in the Hart District, Hart district, 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 slope ...

, 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 ...

. 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, funga, or features of geologic ...

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.

Climate

Being located in

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...

, Fleet has a

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

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 . July is the warmest month in the area with average daily maxima around . Rainfall averages at .

History

The site of Fleet was originally

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is 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

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

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s 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 N ...

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

. 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 Farnham 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 tributary of the ...

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 ...

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, Exete ...

, 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 pries ...

of Crookham-cum-Ewshot was built midway between the villages of Crookham and Ewshot. This parish included the area that was later to become the separate 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 and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar 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. Dif ...

. 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. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. Terminology ''Squire'' ...

, 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 era, Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution, ...

. The ecclesiastical parish of Crookham-cum-Ewshot 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 act 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, watercr ...

attack. The church was returned to a condition where it could hold services by 30 April 2023 when it was reconsecrated. 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 leve ...

, 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 a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

companies.

Politics and administration

Fleet is administered by

Hart District Council Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) * Hart (surname) 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 * ...

and

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hampshire in England. The council was created in 1889. The county council provides county-level services to eleven of the thirteen districts geo ...

. The

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

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 are 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

Railway

The town is served by

Fleet railway station Fleet railway station serves the town of Fleet, Hampshire, 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 ...

, which is a stop 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 wes ...

between and . Services are operated by

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

. The standard journey time to Waterloo is about 50 minutes, with express trains achieving around 40 minutes.

Buses

Routes are operated by

Stagecoach South Stagecoach (South) Limited, trading as Stagecoach South, is a bus operator providing services in South East England as a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach. It operates services in Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex with some routes extendin ...

, providing local routes and facilitating access to surrounding towns such as Farnborough and

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 ...

Road

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 operated by Welcome Break. History Outline permission was given in January 1972. Construction started in February 1972 by Sydney Green & Sons. The site opened on Wedn ...

lies at the edge of the town and is owned by Welcome Break; it was the only service station on the M3 until Winchester services was built in 2001. Fleet's main road, Fleet Road, runs through the town centre from south-west to north-east.

Air

Nearby airports are Blackbushe and Farnborough.

Canal

The Basingstoke Canal, built at the end of the eighteenth century, connected Fleet to

and, in the other direction,

via the Wey navigation. By the early twentieth century, the canal had fallen into disrepair; the section between the Wey Navigation and the Greywell Tunnel has since been restored by volunteers and is maintained as a leisure facility.

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 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 ...

teams: Fleet Town F.C., Fleet Spurs F.C., Fleet Albion and FC Fleet. Fleet has a

, commonly used in preparation for the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

, 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. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and

ITV Meridian ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at midnight on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

. Television signals are received from the Hannington TV transmitter, some areas of the town can also pick up a signal from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter that broadcast

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...

and

ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...

. Fleet is covered by

BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey and north-east Hampshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the University of Surrey in Guildford. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey ...

and Greatest Hits Radio Surrey and North East Hampshire which both radio stations 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 (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. 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 Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

lights as December approaches (known as Fleet Festivities), usually held the last Wednesday in November and taking place along the main street (Fleet Road), 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 China *Qingdao International Beer Fes ...

organised by the local Lions Club, a

Fireworks Fireworks are 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 large numbe ...

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

Notable people

*The actress

Juliet Aubrey Juliet Emma Aubrey (born 17 December 1966) is a British actress; 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 Helen Cutter in the ITV series ...

was born in Fleet in 1969. *The musician Tim Battersby was born in Fleet in 1949. *Air Vice Marshall Cecil Bouchier was born in Fleet in 1895. *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 published ...

died in Fleet in 1906. *The actress Raquel Cassidy was born in Fleet in 1968. *The musician and author Alan Clayson grew up in 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 Cars, Ginetta Ginetta G50, G50 and Ginetta G55, G55 sports cars. The championship supported the British Touring Car Ch ...

in 2018 grew up and lives in Fleet. *Murder victim Marion Crofts lived in Fleet. *The magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster Mark Ellen 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 Feaver attended Millfield School in Somerset, which produced a number of male tennis players from the 1950s to the 1970s, including Mar ...

was born in Fleet in 1952. * Sir Carron Greig died in Fleet on 11 July 2012, aged 87 *Patrick Hannan, drummer in

The Sundays The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in Bristol. The band's lineup consisted of lead vocalist Harriet Wheeler, guitarist David Gavurin, bassist Paul Brindley, and drummer Patrick Hannan. Percussionist Lindsay Jamieson was ...

, was born in Fleet. *The comedian, musician and actor Rob Hoey is from Fleet. *The professional footballer Keith Hooker was born in Fleet in 1950. *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, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, is from 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 G ...

in 2018 lives in Fleet. *The golfer Justin Rose 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 racing driver Dan Welch, who competed in the

British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

between 2011 and 2018 lives in Fleet. * Mabel Wickham, landscape artist, was born in Fleet in 1901. * Helen Bauer, comedian, is from Fleet. * Roy Dommett (d 2015), aeronautical scientist and Morris dancer lived in Fleet for much of his working life and also during his retirement.

Freedom of the Town

The following people or military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Fleet.

Individuals

* Geoffrey "Geoff" Baker: 22 March 2022.

References

External links

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