Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Basingstoke (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Willis Museum, Eastrop Park, and Milestones Museum. Also, be sure to include Calleva Atrebatum in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Basingstoke (England).
Table of Contents
Willis Museum
Museum. The Willis Museum is a local history museum in the Market Place, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The building, which was the headquarters of Basingstoke Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.[1]
Address: Market Place, RG21 7QD Basingstoke
Eastrop Park
Park in Basingstoke, England. Eastrop Park is a public park located in the east of Basingstoke, Hampshire. The park features a large boating lake, a miniature golf course, a café and walking trails. The River Loddon flows through the park, feeding into a balancing pond. The pond serves as a habitat for various wildlife, including kingfishers.[2]
Milestones Museum
Museum in Basingstoke, England. Milestones Museum of Living History is a museum located on the Leisure Park in Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. Milestones is made up of a network of streets that have been recreated according to those found in Victorian and 1930s Hampshire.
It was opened on 1 December 2000 by Duke of Edinburgh as a joint project between Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In the year running 2007/8 the museum received 88,338 visitors.
In 2014, ownership of the Milestones Museum was transferred to the Hampshire Cultural Trust as part of a larger transfer of museums from Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council.[3]
Address: Churchill Way West, RG22 6PL Basingstoke
Calleva Atrebatum
Calleva Atrebatum was an Iron Age settlement, as capital of the Atrebates tribe. It then became a walled town in the Roman province of Britannia at a major crossroads in the Roman roads of Britain.
Its ruins lie to the west of, and partly beneath, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Silchester, in Hampshire, England. The church occupies a site just within the ancient walls but the village of Silchester is about a mile (1.6 km) to the west.[4]
Address: Wall Ln, RG7 2HP Silchester
St. Michael's Church
Christian church in Basingstoke, England. St. Michael's Church is a notable Anglican parish church in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It is located in the lower part of the town, near its centre, towards the northern end of Church Street.[5]
Address: Church St, RG21 7QW Basingstoke
The Anvil
Building in Basingstoke, England. The Anvil is a concert hall and a performing arts centre in the town of Basingstoke in Hampshire, UK.
Built on a site originally set aside for the third phase of Basingstoke's shopping centre, The Anvil was built to tackle what was then seen as a 'cultural desert' in the Basingstoke area. The aim of the project was to raise the profile of the Borough and to establish it as a major regional centre with a range of first class facilities. Twenty years since its opening, it is still not exactly clear how effectively these aims have been fulfilled, but the Hall seems quite popular within the local area. The building's name reflects its unusual shape, particularly when seen from the western approach as it vaguely resembles the horn end of a traditional blacksmith's anvil. It has also been likened to the bow of a ship.
The hall plays host to a variety of touring productions, stand up comedians, live bands, opera, and most famously classical music. The hall is designed to be multi purpose, and has multiple stage formats that fit shows according to their needs, plus a removable proscenium to cater for more theatrical performances that require more than a standard 'black box' stage, notably opera and pantomime. The auditorium has adjustable seating and considered some of the finest acoustics of any concert hall in Europe. The acoustic design was by Richard Cowell of Arup Acoustics.
There is a small second auditorium, The Forge, which primarily plays host to acoustic and folk acts.[6]
Address: Basingstoke, Churchill Way
Daneshill Park Woods
Nature reserve in Lychpit, England. Daneshill Park Woods is a 4.4-hectare Local Nature Reserve in Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is owned and managed by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
These woods have hazel coppice, an old orchard, scrub and a sunken lane. Ground flora include wood anemone, celandine and bluebells.[7]
Fanum House
Building in Basingstoke, England. Fanum House is the headquarters of the Automobile Association in Basingstoke, in the English county of Hampshire. It is one of several current and former AA buildings named "Fanum House" around the country. The original headquarters in Leicester Square, London, was also called Fanum House, "Fanum" being the call sign of the AA.[8]
Hackwood Park
Park in England. Hackwood Park is a large country estate that primarily consists of an early 18th-century ornamental woodland and formal lawn garden and a large detached house. It is within the boundaries of Winslade, an overwhelmingly rural parish immediately south of Basingstoke in Hampshire. In its 260-acre grounds contain 23 separately listed structures including a teahouse pavilion, an ornamental bridge, statue of George I of Great Britain, three dispersed stone tōrōs, five urns and two fountains, a coach house and stables. Sheep and deer are tended to on grounds behind a variously arc-shaped and straight ha-ha wall.
The park and gardens are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and the main house is Grade II* listed on the National Heritage List for England.[9]
Old Basing
Village in England. Old Basing is a village in Hampshire, England, just east of Basingstoke.[10]
Church of Saint Mildred
Building in Canterbury, England. The Church of Saint Mildred is a partly Anglo-Saxon stone church in Canterbury probably dating from the 11th century. It has been a Grade I listed building since 1949. It is located in the St. Mildred's quarter of the historic city centre. This is the only surviving pre-Norman church within the former city walls.[11]