Page "Basingstoke" Paragraph 1

Often mistaken for a new town, Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the 1960s as part of a tripartite agreement between London County Council, Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke Borough Council.

It was developed rapidly, along with Andover and Tadley, to accommodate part of the London ' overspill ' as perceived under the Greater London Plan, 1944.

Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book and Basingstoke remained a small market town until the 1950s.

It still has a regular market, but is now bigger than Hampshire County Council's definition of a market town.