Original Layout
Before the estate was built, the area was almost entirely farmland. The current Hatchwarren Lane, and Beggarwood Lane runs on the site of the original country lanes, which crossed the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway where Viables Roundabout is today. A section of track lies in the middle of the roundabout, as a permanent reminder of the railway. Cranbourne Lane carried on into Basingstoke Town Centre, passing many agricultural nurseries on the way. At the railway crossing, there was a junction with a road, now known as The Harrow Way but in times gone by, The Basingstoke Bypass. This road stretched from the junction with the road to Alton (now A339) from Hackwood Lane, to the Winchester Road (A30). The A30 route from Basingstoke Town Centre runs to a very similar alignment today, the main difference being a diversion behind Brighton Hill Community College, to allow for building of a retail park. The only real housing in the area was in a street known as Cumberland Avenue, at the time completely surrounded by fields. The road exists today and is a very unusual place in Brighton Hill.
The Willis Museum features many articles relating to the history of Basingstoke and its suburbs; visit the website at: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/museum/willis-museum/local-studies-willis.htm .
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