By Tim Lambert
1086 Basingstoke has a population of about 200
1257 Basingstoke is given a charter (a document giving the people certain rights). Basingstoke is now a small town with a population of about 600 or 700.
1340 The little town of Basingstoke relies on the manufacture of wool
1392 Basingstoke is badly damaged by a fire
1449 Basingstoke is allowed an annual fair
1601 Basingstoke suffers another fire
1643-45 During the Civil War Basing House is besieged
1656 Basingstoke Town Hall burns down
1643-45 During the Civil War Basing House is besieged
1801 Basingstoke is still a small town with a population of about 2,500
1832 A new Town Hall is built in Basingstoke
1834 A gas works opens in Basingstoke
1839 The railway reaches Basingstoke
1865 The Haymarket is built as a corn exchange
1887 Fairfields School is built
1901 The Alton Light Railway opens. It closes in 1936.
1910 The first cinema opens in Basingstoke
1921 War Memorial Park opens
1931 A museum opens in Basingstoke. The population of Basingstoke is about 14,000.
1940 Six people are killed when Church Square is bombed
Late 1940s early 1950s A council housing estate is built at Oakridge
1961 It is decided to make Basingstoke an overspill town for London
1967 Russell Howard Park opens
1968 A new shopping precinct opens
1970 The population of Basingstoke has risen to about 47,000
1973 The AA HQ in Basingstoke opens
1974 A new hospital opens in Basingstoke
1976 London Street is pedestrianised
1988 The rest of Basingstoke town centre is pedestrianised
2002 Festival Place Shopping Centre opens