History
Fleet was originally heathland in the northern part of the Crondall Hundred, its name having probably been 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 monks in Winchester in Medieval times.
Early Days (to 1904)
In 1792 the Basingstoke Canal which passes through what is now the town was opened, but apart from a few inns to serve the passing trade had little effect on the locality. Apart from the Farnham to Reading road, the town remained largely undeveloped until the construction of the London and South Western Railway, which opened in 1840. In the same year, though for unrelated reasons a church - Christ Church that was to become the heart of the new ecclesiastical parish of Ewshot 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. This attracted a number of gentry, particularly retired army officers who moved to the area and laid the foundations of what was to become known locally as "The Blue Triangle".
By 1860 Charles Lefroy, a local squire, built a new church - All Saints - in the Blue Triangle area in memory of his wife who had died in 1857. The ecclesiastical parish of Ewshot and Crookham was split into two in 1862 with the northern section based on the All Saints church, becoming the new parish of Fleet. The development of Fleet accelerated when the land to the south east of the Blue Triangle was sold for development in 1882 which, unlike the Blue Triangle, was laid out in a grid pattern. Thus it is that there are few very old buildings in Fleet, with much of the modern town formed around Victorian buildings.
As part of the Urban District Council (1904 - 1974)
Under the Local Government Act 1894 many of the duties that had previously been shouldered by the ecclesiastical parishes were transferred to new civil parish and Crookham, Fleet and Crondall each had an elected parish council. In 1904 the civil parish of Crookham was split into two - Crookham Village and Church Crookham with Church Crookham and Fleet Rural Parish being merged to form the Fleet and Church Crookham Urban District.
As in many parts of Britain, there was a building boom in the period between the First World War and Second World War. Fleet also contains structures built in the 1960s.
As part of the Hart District Council (1974 onwards)
Fleet has expanded in the past few decades with new residential areas being built at Ancells Farm, Zebon Copse (in neighbouring Church Crookham) and Elvetham Heath. Completed in 2008, Elvetham Heath is one of the UK's largest new housing developments, and will add some 5,000 inhabitants to Fleet's population, bringing its total population up to around 36,000, a 20% increase in less than a decade.
Two earlier developments in Fleet involved the opening of a new shopping centre, the Hart Shopping Centre, which was opened officially by HRH The Duchess Of York in 1991. On the same day, she attended the opening of the Hart Leisure Centre on Hitches Lane (towards Church Crookham). The shopping centre was itself developed further in 2001-2.
Although Fleet has traditionally been a dormitory town housing commuters to London, it now has several business parks, mainly occupied by Information Technology companies.
A plan to add a new multiplex cinema was abandoned; a gym was built on the proposed site instead.
Geography
Areas and suburbs of the town are Pondtail, Ancells Park and Elvetham Heath. The villages of Crookham and Church Crookham have also grown to be contiguous with the town. Immediately surrounding towns and villages include Winchfield, Dogmersfield, Crondall, Ewshot, and Hartley Wintney.
The Fleet Pond nature reserve is a notable beauty spot on the northern edge of the town. The 'pond' itself is in fact the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire. In times past, the lake has frozen over permitting skating. Fleet can be reached from London and Southampton via the M3 motorway, the nearest junction being 4A. Fleet services on the M3 lies at the edge of the town. Its main road, Fleet Road, runs through the town centre from south-west to north-east. Fleet station is on the London Waterloo station to Southampton main line. The train service is run by South West Trains (formerly Network South East). Journey time to Waterloo is about 50 minutes. Express trains do the journey in less than 40 minutes. There are small airports nearby at Blackbush Airport and Farnborough Airfield. The Basingstoke Canal connects Fleet to Basingstoke and, in the other direction, London via the River Wey navigation.
Politics and administration
Fleet is administered by Hart District Council and Hampshire County Council.[6] The parliamentary constituency is Hampshire North-East. In April 2010 some of the responsibilities of Hart District Council will be devolved to the new Fleet Town Council.
Education
The town has a number of schools including:
- Fleet Infants
- Heatherside Infants
- Heatherside Juniors
- All Saints
- Tavistock Infant School
- Velmead
- Calthorpe Park School
- Court Moor School
Culture
The biggest events in the town's calendar are the summer Carnival, the switching on of the Christmas lights as December approaches and the Fleet Half Marathon commonly used in preparation for the London marathon.