Hart District

Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart District of Hampshire, England, centred 38.2 miles (61.5 km) WSW of London and 13 miles (21 km) east of Basingstoke. It is the major town of the Hart District, and has large technology business areas, fast rail links to London, and is well connected to the M3. The Fleet built-up area has a total population of 42,835, and includes the contiguous parishes of Church Crookham, Crookham Village, Dogmersfield, and Elvetham Heath. The town has a prominent golf club, an annual half marathon, an athletics club, and four football clubs. The nearby service station on the motorway is named after the town. 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 in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and again in 2017, 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 surrounding countryside which includes woodlands and the Basingstoke Canal.Local landmarks include Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire, and a High Street with many Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Fleet holds a weekly Saturday market in Gurkha Square.

Fleet Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Fleet, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the Combined Counties League Premier Division South and play at Calthorpe Park.

All Saints' Church is the Anglican parish church of the town of Fleet in the county of Hampshire, England. It is notable for its architect, William Burges and was constructed between 1861 and 1862. A Grade II* listed building, the church was very badly damaged in an arson attack in 2015. An eight-year restoration saw the church reopen in April 2023.

Court Moor School is one of two secondary schools in the town of Fleet, in Hampshire (UK) for pupils aged 11–16.

Elvetham Heath LNR is a 20-hectare (49-acre) local nature reserve in Elvetham Heath in Hampshire. It is owned by Elvetham Heath Developments (on a 999-year lease to Hart District Council) and managed by Hart Countryside Service.Typical heathland plants such as heather and gorse are regenerating naturally on the heath, and there are other habitats such as reedbeds and wet woodland, which has the rare plant bog myrtle.

Crookham Village is located south-west of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England and lies within the Hart District.

Elvetham Heath is a residential area and civil parish, containing around 2000 homes on a 311-acre (1.26 km2) site, just outside the north western boundary of the town of Fleet in the English county of Hampshire. Construction of Elvetham Heath began in the summer of 1999 and ended in June 2008. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 5,183.

Calthorpe Park School is one of two secondary schools in Fleet, Hampshire, England. for pupils aged 11–16. The school was awarded specialist status as a Maths and Computing College in 2005. In the 2013 OFSTED report the school received an overall effectiveness of 'good'.A major capital scheme by Hampshire County Council to extend the school to accommodate more pupils was completed in 2004. It then underwent another scheme in 2008–9 to extend the school further. The school underwent another expansion project in 2014–2015.

Church Crookham is a large suburban village and civil parish, contiguous with the town of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England. It is 38 miles (61 km) west-southwest of London. Formerly a separate village, it figures as a southern suburb of Fleet.

Fleet Services is a motorway service station on the M3 near Fleet. It is owned by Welcome Break.

Fleet railway station serves the town of Fleet in Hampshire, England. It is situated on the South West Main Line, which has four tracks through the station. There are two platforms on the outer pair of tracks, which are served by trains between London Waterloo and Basingstoke and Southampton. The centre pair of tracks have no platforms and are used by through-services. The station, and all trains calling there, are operated by South Western Railway. It is 36 miles 38 chains (58.7 km) from Waterloo and is situated between Farnborough (Main) and Winchfield stations.

Fleet Pond is a 48.3-hectare (119-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Fleet in Hampshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve.This large and shallow lake, fed by Fleet Brook, is surrounded by reed beds, alder carr and oak and birch woodland. The lake has a rich aquatic flora and fauna, including large populations of reed warblers and other wetland birds.The pond has varied habitats surrounding it, including heathland, marsh, reedbed and woodland. The pond is first documented in 1324, when there were two ponds which were used as a fishery. In medieval times, "pond" always referred to a man-made structure, whereas "lake" referred to a natural feature, and so it is likely that the ponds were created by raising banks at the northern edge. From 1491, the Prior of Winchester leased the ponds to the occupier of Fleet Farm, in exchange for one hundred fresh fish a year, delivered to Winchester. When the lease was renewed in 1833, it was noted that there was now only one pond. The second pond was probably near Ancells Farm. Shortly afterwards, the London and Southampton Railway bought the pond for £50 as it stood in the way of their line, and built an embankment across the northern end. They appreciated its potential as a tourist destination, and opened Fleet Pond Halt so that day trippers could visit it. Much of the surrounding area became a military training ground in 1854, and as part of that training, soldiers built a 470-yard (430 m) trestle bridge across it in 1885. During the Second World War, the pond was drained, to make the area less visible to enemy aircraft, but it was refilled in 1947, and planted with reeds. The pond became one of the first SSSIs in Hampshire in 1951, and under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, duly re-registered, but to omit the portion north of the embankment. Hart District Council bought the pond and surrounding heath in 1972, after the army dubbed it redundant, and since 1976 has worked with the Fleet Pond Society to create a Local nature reserve. They have installed two bridges to create a circular walk around the pond.