Hook, Hart

Until the 18th century, there were only a few scattered farms in the area. The area of Murrell Green had existed as a village previously, but lay abandoned for years.{{Cite web |url=https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/2554fbb754214f02af57209244ce1545/page/Page#data_s=id%3A6cd5650bf5eb4f44b8da09eba699c5d6-18c9c082c0e-layer-16%3A468 |title=Beresford's Lost Villages (map) |access-date=28 May 2025 |url-status=live }} Small hamlets did not begin to appear until inns were built to serve travellers. Hook was on the main London to Exeter stagecoach route. Late in the eighteenth century, a turnpike was built to ease the ascent of the steep Scures Hill, west of the village. In 1883, Hook railway station was built, and the village began to grow with railway workers and commuters settling in Hook.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hook.gov.uk/history.php |title="History of Hook" Hook Parish Council Website |access-date=23 January 2009 |archive-date=7 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207125056/http://www.hook.gov.uk/history.php |url-status=dead }}

Edward Maufe designed the Church of England parish church of St John the Evangelist, which was completed in 1938, replacing a tin tabernacle used by worshippers since 1886. It shows, in small scale, features that Maufe later included in Guildford Cathedral. The Cathedral's fund raising scheme of "buying a brick" was first used at Hook, where the church retains an impressive list of donors and benefactors. Hook also has a Roman Catholic church, and an Evangelical church. The latter, now called [http://www.lifechurchhook.org/ Life Church], was originally paid for by the family who founded Burberry; founder Thomas Burberry being a Baptist who died in Hook. The present Life Church Centre was opened in 2011.{{Cite web |url= http://lifechurchhook.org |title=Home |website=Life Church Hook |access-date=13 May 2016}}

Hook was a hamlet in the village of Odiham until 1955. The separate Church of England parish of Hook was not created before then.The National Gazetteer, 1868 It was only in 1943 that permission was given for burials in Hook.{{clarification needed|reason=By whom: temporal or ecclesiastical authority?|date=January 2025}}

Hook was considered as part of a scheme to settle Londoners in the country after the Second World War, but nearby Basingstoke was selected for development instead. Recently, the village has grown in size considerably, with new housing developments being built.

Although within {{convert|6|mi|0}} of the far larger town of Basingstoke to the west, Hook's development since the 1980s has been rapid. Calls have been made to redevelop the 'village' centre as Hook has few amenities for its size, as it is now generally considered as a town in terms of its population and urban expanse.

Affluence is high due to surrounding rural areas, estates, such as{{NHLE|num=1000176|access-date=12 June 2012}} Tylney Hall Park and Garden Tylney Hall Park and Garden, which is Grade II* listed, and Hook Common, a large mixture of forest and heathland, coupled with excellent transport links.

Hook has one of the few national TaxiBus services.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

There is the main line rail station mentioned above and direct access to the M3 motorway, as well as the A30 connecting local towns such as Basingstoke and Yateley. Southampton Airport is {{convert|56|km|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} to the south and London Heathrow Airport is {{convert|53|km|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} away to the northeast. The far smaller Blackbushe Airport municipal air facility is {{convert|10.5|km|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} to the east, near Yateley. Many residents commute to the larger local towns of Basingstoke, Winchester, Reading, Camberley, Fleet and Farnborough, with some travelling further afield to Southampton, Bracknell and London.

Hook has a number of local schools. They are:

• Hook Infant School{{cite web|url=http://www.hookinfants.co.uk/|title=Hook school|website=www.hookinfants.co.uk}}
• Hook Junior School{{cite web|url=http://www.hook-jun.hants.sch.uk/|title=Hook Junior School|website=www.hook-jun.hants.sch.uk}}
• Robert May's School{{cite web|url=http://www.rmays.hants.sch.uk/|title=Robert Mays -|website=www.rmays.hants.sch.uk}} (in neighbouring Odiham)
• Nearest further/higher education college – Basingstoke College of Technology{{cite web|url=http://www.bcot.ac.uk/|title=Basingstoke College of Technology|last=BCoT|website=www.bcot.ac.uk}} Queen Mary's College{{cite web|url=http://www.qmc.ac.uk/|title=Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke|website=www.qmc.ac.uk}} Farnborough Sixth Form College{{Cite web|url=http://www.farnborough.ac.uk|title=The Sixth Form College Farnborough|website=www.farnborough.ac.uk|access-date=2016-05-13}}
• Nearest university – University of Winchester / Farnborough College of Technology{{cite web|url=http://www.farn-ct.ac.uk/|title=Farnborough College of Technology – Outstanding College|website=www.farn-ct.ac.uk}} which offers courses at a university level through University Centre Farnborough.

The Hook Schools are supported by the [http://www.hs-ca.org.uk/ Hook Schools Community Association] (HSCA) and local donors{{cite web|url=http://www.hs-ca.org.uk/|title=HSPA Hook Schools Parents Association|first=Hook Schools Parents|last=Association|website=www.hs-ca.org.uk}}

Several annual and monthly community events are held in the village:

• The Hook Fun Run & Road Race attracts more than 1,200 runners on the third Sunday in May every year. It is run by a group of volunteers and raises funds for local good causes, having distributed moare than £100,000 since its inception in 1992.{{Cite web|url=http://hookfunrun.com/about|title=About – Hook Fun Run & Road Races}}
• Hook Flower and Produce Show – September each year – free to enter, and free for visitors
• Hook Books at The Elizabeth Hall monthly community pop-up library
• Hook Summer Fair – July each year
• HSCA Fireworks Display Hook Junior School
• HSCA Christmas Fair Hook Junior School
• Hook Cracker on the first Saturday in December, hosted by St John the Evangelist Church
• Hook Beer Festival – May each year
• Off The Hook Fest
• The Hook Village Show – Early July each year, run by the Lions Club of Hook & Odiham.

Hook Focus is Hook's authoritative magazine and, since 1973, it has carried news of future Community Events and reports on all that has been happening in Hook. Focus is managed by Hook volunteers and is independent of all other bodies.{{cite web |url= http://www.hookfocus.co.uk/ |title= Hook Focus Village Magazine}}

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{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Hook, Hart}}

• [http://www.hookfunrun.com/ Hook Fun Run & Road Race]
• [http://www.hook.gov.uk/ Hook Parish Council]
• [http://www.lifechurchhook.org/ Life Church]
• [http://www.sacredhearthook.co.uk/ Sacred Heart Catholic Church]
• [http://www.whitewaterchurches.co.uk/our-churches/st-johns-hook/ St John's Church]

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Category:Civil parishes in Hampshire

Category:Villages in Hampshire