Basingstoke
Basingstoke photos (36 available)
Basingstoke maps (2 available)
Map of Hampshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Basingstoke books (27 available)
Andover Town Walk Guide
Paperback
Southampton Photographic Memories
Paperback
Winchester Photographic Memories
Paperback
- 9 photos on Basingstoke appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Basingstoke
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Basingstoke and Hampshire
Basingstoke memories
Read and share memories of Basingstoke and Hampshire inspired by Frith photos
Farfields School
I suspect either caption "Basingstoke Boarding School" or "Fairfields School" is correct, depending on your time period. I attended this school in the 1960s & 70s when it was aan ordinary (non-boarding) Infants & Junior school called Fairfields, and yes I remember Mr. Thomas, the headmaster, as an authority to be feared.
But the building was much older than that, and I remember seeing a keystone with "1898" written on it. Quite likely it was a boarding school in its early days.
Contributed by Colin Moden
Fairfields School
Is this caption right? 42064 seems right - this is the Board School established under Act of Parliament. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Leducation70.htm.
I believe that John Arlott went there, and Ruth Ellis. My children went there, both as Infants (nearest building) and Juniors (up to age 11) between 1973 and 1981. This was the last of the "old schools" in the town, where children were expected to learn, not play. It seems to have served the children well, judging by exam results in later life. This changed when the Headmaster Mr Thomas retired.
Contributed by C w
Hampshire memories
Farfields School
I suspect either caption "Basingstoke Boarding School" or "Fairfields School" is correct, depending on your time period. I attended this school in the 1960s & 70s when it was aan ordinary (non-boarding) Infants & Junior school called Fairfields, and yes I remember Mr. Thomas, the headmaster, as an authority to be feared.
But the building was much older than that, and I remember seeing a keystone with "1898" written on it. Quite likely it was a boarding school in its early days.
A memory of Basingstoke contributed by Colin Moden
Fairfields School
Is this caption right? 42064 seems right - this is the Board School established under Act of Parliament. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Leducation70.htm.
I believe that John Arlott went there, and Ruth Ellis. My children went there, both as Infants (nearest building) and Juniors (up to age 11) between 1973 and 1981. This was the last of the "old schools" in the town, where children were expected to learn, not play. It seems to have served the children well, judging by exam results in later life. This changed when the Headmaster Mr Thomas retired.
A memory of Basingstoke contributed by C w
Extracts From Basingstoke & Hampshire books
As a town, Basingstoke has been growing since the early part of the 20th century, but in the last 40 years or so it has become the fastest growing town in Western Europe, its population increasing from 17,000 in the early 1950s to 67,000 in 1981.
An extract from from"Hampshire Photographic Memories".
Church Street is busy with shoppers and shopkeepers. Peeping above the town’s rooftops is the tower of St Michael the Archangel, perhaps the finest of Hampshire’s Perpendicular parish churches. Note the sign on the right of the street in the shape of a dustpan.
An extract from from"Hampshire Photographic Memories".
As a town, Basingstoke has been growing since the early part of the 20th century, when this picture was taken. However, in the last 40 years or so it has become the fastest-growing town in western Europe, its population growing from 17,000 in the early 1950s to 67,000 in 1981. The shop on the right offers a rather unusual service. The sign reads 'John M Carter - marquee maker.’
An extract from from"Hampshire Revisited Photographic Memories".
Basingstoke’s role as an important market centre dates back to medieval times; it was established as a borough in 1622 when James I granted the town a charter giving it a weekly market and a twice-yearly fair. By the late 17th century it was a prosperous market town.
An extract from from"Hampshire Photographic Memories".
Note the old RAC logo on the front of the Wheatsheaf Hotel. The Wheatsheaf is still trading today, though no longer as a hotel. Next door are the premises of a pastry cook and confectioner.
An extract from from"Hampshire Photographic Memories".