Chineham (/ˈɪnəm/ CHIN-əm) is a civil parish on the outskirts of Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. It is situated about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of central Basingstoke, just north of the A33 road between Basingstoke and Reading.

Chineham
A residential road in Chineham
Chineham is located in Hampshire
Chineham
Chineham
Location within Hampshire
Population9,240 (2011 Census)
• London42.8 miles (69 km) SW
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBASINGSTOKE
Postcode districtRG24
Dialling code01256
PoliceHampshire and Isle of Wight
FireHampshire and Isle of Wight
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire
51°17′26″N 1°03′04″W / 51.290694°N 1.051147°W / 51.290694; -1.051147

Demography

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Population

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The population of Chineham in 2011 was 9,240 in 3,875 households.[1]

Ethnicity

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Ethnicity[1][2] %
White British 86.7
White Other 5.6
Asian 4.3
Mixed/Multiple 1.8
Black 1.2
Other 0.3
Arab 0.1

History

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The current parish was established in 1986,[3] but the manor is much older and was first recorded in the Domesday Book as Chineham in Basingestoch Hundred – Hantescire in 1086.[4]

The suffix “ham” name may suggest a farm or enclosure, and Coates[5] suggests “Chine” is derived from the Old English 'cinu' which means a 'ravine or rift', which may refer to the way that the Basingstoke-Reading railway line passes between low hills in the vicinity, and implying that Chineham means 'rift estate'.

The ecclesiastical parish was formed in 1990, prior to this Chineham formed a detached part of the parish of Monk Sherborne, and its tithing was part of Basingstoke hundred.[6]

Predating the manor but within the current parish, an Iron Age settlement has been excavated recently in Great Binfield Copse. The Agger of the Roman road from Silchester to Chichester uncovered during the laying of an electricity pipeline in 2002 and evidence of a Roman enclosure and metal working site found in Daneshill during the 1980s. Binfields Farm, now the site of Chineham District Centre, was first documented in 945 as Becmnit Felda (open land with bent grass).[7]

By 1848, Chineham had developed into a tiny hamlet with 34 inhabitants,.[8] In the same year, the Berks and Hants Railway was opened, crossing the Basingstoke to Reading road nearby. By the 1960s there were about seventy dwellings, mostly along the road from Basingstoke to Reading, with a small wooden church, a village shop, a petrol station, a small village hall, and a Toll House at the Reading end of the village.[9]

Since the late-1970s, Chineham has developed into a sizeable residential suburb, and a bypass was constructed on the main A33 road so that the growing traffic flow was moved away from the housing areas. The railway has survived and prospered, as an increasingly important link between the port of Southampton and northern England. However, no passenger station has ever been built in Chineham, despite several recent attempts to promote one.

 
Christ Church, Chineham

Chineham District Centre is effectively the town centre with a wide array of high street retail outlets (including a Tesco superstore and branches of Boots, Marks & Spencer Food and Matalan) and a public library. There is also a large, modern business park called Chineham Park, which incorporates the Hampshire International Business Park, harbouring many offices of national and international organisations, including Techdata, Gist Limited, and Lenovo's Technology Centre.

Today Chineham is partly contiguous with the Basingstoke urban area and is generally considered one of the town's outer suburbs, though many residents perceive Chineham as more of a small satellite town. In fact Chineham has its own town sign on the A33 when approaching from Basingstoke.

Chineham today

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Four Lanes Community Junior School

Chineham today is predominantly a residential area with good road links to Basingstoke, Reading and the M3 motorway. The area is well served with local amenities, including:

  • Chineham District Centre, with supermarkets, shops and a public library. Hampshire County Council considered closing the library in 2020 but following public consultation, it was reprieved.[10]
  • Four Lanes Community Infant and Junior Schools
  • Great Binfields Primary School
  • Christ Church (interdenominational), built in 1987 and significantly extended in 2004[11]
  • Chineham Medical Practice (local health centre) and two dental practices
  • Chineham Village hall, and the Chineham Arms (local pub)
  • a regular bus service to Basingstoke town centre[12]
  • A local grassroots football team, Chineham Tigers FC, catering for 400 football players from Mens to U5s.[13]
  • A local running club, Chineham Park Running Club.

Veolia Environmental Services operates an energy recovery facility (ERF) on the eastern boundary of Chineham.[14] The Integra North ERF, situated on Whitmarsh Lane between the A33 and the River Loddon, incinerates unrecyclable household waste to produce steam and generate electricity which is then supplied to the National Grid.[15] The facility has a power output of 8MW.[16]

Government

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Chineham is a village, civil parish[17] and part of the Chineham ward of Basingstoke and Deane borough council.[18] The borough council is a Non-metropolitan district of Hampshire County Council.

Geography

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The parish boundaries are formed in the north by the limit of the Cufaude Village development; the newer development of Sherfield Park to the north is a separate parish. The parish is bounded on the west by the Reading to Basingstoke railway line, which separates it from Chineham Business Park. It is bordered on the east by the A33. Part of parish lies south of the A33; this section encompasses the Chineham Centre with a southern boundary of Great Binfields Road, which separates it from Lychpit. The civil parishes that border it are Sherfield Park to the north, Sherfield-on-Loddon to the northeast and Old Basing and Lychpit to the southeast.

The Basingstoke and Deane ward of Chineham consists of the parishes of Chineham and Sherfield Park parish and Chineham Business Park.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Chineham Ward Profile" (PDF). Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Area: Chineham Ward". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Old Basing – Potted history of the parish council". Old Basing & Lychpit Parish Council. 18 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  4. ^ Norgate, Jean and Martin (2001). "Chineham". Hampshire Gazetteer. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  5. ^ Coates, Richard (1989). Place Names of Hampshire, Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-5625-6
  6. ^ "Victoria County History Vol 4 – Monk Sherborne". British History Online. 1911. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  7. ^ "Archaeology and Historic Buildings Record". Hampshire County Council. 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  8. ^ "A Topographical Dictionary of England". British History Online. 1848. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
  9. ^ "About Chineham". Chineham Parish Council. 2005. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
  10. ^ "Plans agreed to save £1.76 million from Hampshire Libraries transform the service for the future". Hampshire County Council. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Christ Church, Chineham". 2006. Archived from the original on 23 March 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
  12. ^ "Chineham – Town Centre – Brighton Hill – Hatch Warren" (PDF). Stagecoach Bus. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
  13. ^ "Welcome to the official website of Chineham Tigers Football Club | Basingstoke, Hampshire". www.chinehamtigersfc.co.uk.
  14. ^ Martin, Kate (19 February 2007). "Tagging along on the rubbish ride". Basingstoke Gazette. Basingstoke. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Visitors to get a behind the scenes look at Chineham energy facility". Basingstoke Gazette. Basingstoke. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  16. ^ "Chineham". Veolia Environmental Services. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  17. ^ "Chineham". 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  18. ^ "Basingstoke and Deane Wards info". 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
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