Basingstoke is one of the biggest towns in the south. If you have never visited before, then you are missing out.

If you are asking where Basingstoke is in England or which county Basingstoke is in, we have the answers.

Basingstoke is in the county of Hampshire and is based to the noth of the county, close to the Surrey and West Berkshire border. 

Specifically, Basingstoke 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 of England Winchester.

It is a historic town with a rich heritage dating back to the Roman age and beyond.

But it also enjoys all the spoils of a modern town - just 45 minutes from London Waterloo and all the joys the city has to offer.

Basingstoke often is misrepresented as a "new" town but this is actually false. It is an old market town with a long history. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

Read more: Seven Things We Love About Basingstoke 

However, Basingstoke was rapidly expanded in the mid-1960s in a joint partnership between London County Council and Hampshire County Council.

It played a huge role in providing housing for thousands of displaced people after World War II. 

Basingstoke Gazette: An aerial photograph of Basingstoke, the second-largest town in HampshireAn aerial photograph of Basingstoke, the second-largest town in Hampshire

Along with other towns, Basingstoke accommodated part of the London 'overspill' as perceived under the Greater London Plan in 1944.

At the start of World War II the population was little more than 13,000. Today Basingstoke's population is estimated to be around 181,845. 

Read more: Seven Things We Love ABout Basingstoke - Student Edition 

Why live in Basingstoke? 

There are loads of reasons why Basingstoke is a great plce to live. Basingstoke has many attractions for visitors, from pavement cafés and bistros to one of the south's best shopping centres, Festival Place.

The Anvil, with its excellent acoustics, is one of the region's leading music venues while Anvil Arts offers an exciting and varied programme of dance, theatre, opera, and comedy. Basingstoke also plays host to the annual kite and transport festivals aswell as the music festival B LOVE which marks the end of Basingstoke Festival, an annual arts and entertainment festival.

Basingstoke Gazette: Festival Place in Basingstoke is a popular haunt for shoppersFestival Place in Basingstoke is a popular haunt for shoppers

Alongside the Leisure Park, with its ice skating, bowling, swimming complex and cinemas, you'll find the fascinating Milestones Museum. Here you can walk through Victorian and 1930s streets, explore the shops, houses and workplaces of yesteryear and discover what everyday life was like for our ancestors.

Read more: 17 Famous People Who Have Links to Basingstoke 

Fabrics such as wool, silk and Burberry gabardine have played an important role in Basingtoke's development and at nearby Whitchurch Silk Mill, which produces high quality silk for costume dramas and stately homes, you can find out more about this fascinating tradition.

Surrounded by beautiful countryside, with accommodation to suit all budgets and with excellent transport links, Basingstoke also has many nearby attractions. Stratfield Saye House offers an intriguing insight into the life of the Great Duke of Wellington, whose family lived there from 1817, while novelist Jane Austen attended balls at Tudor mansion The Vyne, originally home to Henry VIII's Lord Chamberlain.

Basing House played a key role in the English Civil War while Highclere Castle on the Hampshire/Berkshire border houses an exhibition of ancient Egyptian treasures collected by the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun.

Basingstoke's Roman and Iron Age heritage can be seen at Calleva Atrebatum, Roman Silchester, with its well-preserved defensive walls.

(Source: Visit Basingstoke