Fleet, Hampshire

Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England, located 36 miles (58 km) southwest of London and 10 miles (16 km) east of Basingstoke. It is part of and is the major town of Hart District. The 2011 population (ONS census) for Fleet was 38, 726. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and again in 2015, Hart, of which Fleet is the main town, was voted the best place to live in the UK by the Halifax Quality of Life study, above areas such as Elmbridge in Surrey and Wokingham in Berkshire. This is due to the highly affluent majority of the population, better weather and health conditions, high levels of access to leisure space and the town's situation surrounded by countryside. Fleet is locally famous for Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire and quaint High Street with traditional Victorian and Edwardian look and its market. The town is located in the north-eastern part of Hampshire and is easily accessible from the M3 it is also home to a Welcome Break service station of the same name. HistoryThe site of Fleet was originally heathland in the northern part of the Crondall Hundred. The name Fleet was probably 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.

Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England, located 36 miles (58 km) southwest of London and 10 miles (16 km) east of Basingstoke. It is part of and is the major town of Hart District. The 2011 population (ONS census) for Fleet was 38, 726. In 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and again in 2015, Hart, of which Fleet is the main town, was voted the best place to live in the UK by the Halifax Quality of Life study, above areas such as Elmbridge in Surrey and Wokingham in Berkshire. This is due to the highly affluent majority of the population, better weather and health conditions, high levels of access to leisure space and the town's situation surrounded by countryside. Fleet is locally famous for Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire and quaint High Street with traditional Victorian and Edwardian look and its market. The town is located in the north-eastern part of Hampshire and is easily accessible from the M3 it is also home to a Welcome Break service station of the same name. HistoryThe site of Fleet was originally heathland in the northern part of the Crondall Hundred. The name Fleet was probably 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.