NEWS of changes at the Eastrop business area, known as Basing View, has become a talking point in the town and has led to several enquiries about the history of the land on which it is situated.

We must go back to the Saxon days (seventh to ninth centuries) when the land was known as Eastrop Manor.

The Domesday Book (a register of lands in England) of 1086 mentions it as having 438 acres. It ceased to be a manor in 1805 and was sold to local landowners, who split the area up into large plots.

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The land acquired for the business area once belonged to Vinces Farm, which had both sides of the Basing Road for cultivation.

The park nearest to the railway was the dry side, while the south side was always known for being “liable to floods”, as quoted in most Ordnance Survey maps. This was due to the River Loddon and, to a certain extent, to the Basingstoke Canal, which existed between 1784 and the early part of the 20th century.

The title of Eastrop means the settlement on the east of the town. It was a separate parish until the urban part was joined to Basingstoke in 1892.

Two years later, the rest was joined to Old Basing village. Up to then, the parish was scattered across the countryside around the town, with sections at Hackwood Park and where the Oakridge estate now is.

The Basing View land stretched from the old gasworks, which was built in 1834, to almost the old workhouse, where paupers were sent to live, which was also built about the same time.

At the town end of the land, the gasworks dominated the skyline, then next to it the corporation yard was built in 1902 by Basingstoke council, which later extended its property with a pumping station and other facilities.

By the 1950s, the gasworks had been taken over by the Southern Gas Board, having been run by the local authorities for many years.

In 1962, the Basingstoke Town Development Scheme was published for townsfolk to read. It came as a shock as so much of the area was to be altered, including the demolition of the main part of the town centre.

One of the features was the formation of a business area for offices, to house firms from the London area.

The establishment of the Location of Offices Bureau in October 1963 was, at first, sneered at by many people. They emphasised that London was a natural magnet for offices and the city firms would not be interested in moving into the country towns.

However, over the next few years, these sceptics were proved wrong as, within two years, nearly 200 firms with some 21,000 people decided to leave London for the outer towns such as Andover and Basingstoke.

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The great bank of office buildings dominating the scene at Basing View told its own success story. The 18-storey headquarters of the Automobile Association, which was opened in 1973, looks down on an array of buildings which, over the years, have included firms such as De La Rue, the security printer, which was one of the first to move into the area in 1970.

It also included Steetley Chemicals, at Berk House (1971); BOCM Silcock Ltd (1971); Scott, Wilson, Kirkpatrick and partners, consulting engineers (1974); and Wiggins Teape (1974), which won a number of awards for its innovative use of the rooftop gardens at its Gateway House offices.

The firm of Sun Life of Canada moved to its 120,000 sqft headquarters on the edge of Basing View in 1986, after relocating from central London, where it had been for 60 years.

Apart from providing thousands of jobs for white-collar workers, Basing View offered a contrast in architectural styles.

Despite a slight decline in their appearance, the whole business area has a certain amount of historic value, for Basingstoke had never seen such a large and varied amount of buildings with one profession in mind – administration.

The regeneration of this area, as planned by the local council, may take a few years to take place, but it is hoped that whatever is built to replace the present structures, the new designs will be worth looking at so that future generations will be proud of their town.