Basingstoke and Deane

Coordinates: 51°15′22″N 1°06′40″W / 51.256°N 1.111°W / 51.256; -1.111

Basingstoke and Deane is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its primary settlement is Basingstoke. Other settlements include Bramley, Tadley, Kingsclere, Overton, Oakley, Whitchurch and the hamlet of Deane, some 7 miles (11 km) from Basingstoke.

It is the northernmost borough of Hampshire, bordered by Berkshire to the north.

The first Basingstoke Mayor, George Baynard, was appointed in 1641. The district was formed as the District of Basingstoke on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Basingstoke, Basingstoke Rural District and Kingsclere and Whitchurch Rural District. On 20 January 1978, following the grant of borough status, the district became the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane. The council claims that the new title included the names of the largest town and smallest village in the borough, although there are eight civil parishes with populations smaller than Deane.

Basingstoke

Coordinates: 51°16′00″N 1°05′15″W / 51.2667°N 1.0876°W / 51.2667; -1.0876

Basingstoke (/ˈbeɪzᵻŋstoʊk/ BAY-zing-stohk) is the largest town (as opposed to city) in Hampshire, situated in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, which flows eastwards from here. It is located 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Southampton, 48 miles (77 km) southwest of London, and 19 miles (31 km) northeast of the county town and former capital Winchester. According to the 2011 census the town (including its outer suburbs) had a population of 107,355. It is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke. Basingstoke is often nicknamed "Doughnut City" or "Roundabout City" because of the number of large roundabouts.

Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the 1960s as a result of a tripartite agreement between London County Council and Hampshire County Council. It was developed rapidly after World War II, along with various other towns in the United Kingdom, in order to accommodate part of the London 'overspill' as perceived under the Greater London Plan in 1944. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and it remained a small market town until the 1950s. At the start of World War II the population was little more than 13,000. It still has a regular market, but is now larger than Hampshire County Council's definition of a market town.

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.

The word borough derives from common Germanic *Burg, meaning fort: compare with bury, burgh and brough (England), burgh (Scotland), Burg (Germany), borg (Scandinavia), burcht (Dutch), boarch (West Frisian), and the Germanic borrowing present in neighbouring Indo-european languages such as borgo (Italian), bourg (French), burgo (Spanish and Portuguese), burg (Romanian), purg (Kajkavian) and durg (दर्ग) (Hindi) and arg (ارگ) (Persian). The incidence of these words as suffixes to place names (for example, Aldeburgh, Bamburgh, Tilbury, Tilburg, Strasbourg (Strossburi in the local dialect), Luxembourg, Edinburgh, Grundisburgh, Hamburg, Gothenburg) usually indicates that they were once fortified settlements.

In the Middle Ages, boroughs were settlements in England that were granted some self-government; burghs were the Scottish equivalent. In medieval England, boroughs were also entitled to elect members of parliament. The use of the word borough probably derives from the burghal system of Alfred the Great. Alfred set up a system of defensive strong points (Burhs); in order to maintain these settlements, he granted them a degree of autonomy. After the Norman Conquest, when certain towns were granted self-governance, the concept of the burh/borough seems to have been reused to mean a self-governing settlement.

Deane

Deane may mean:

People

As surname