Oakley, Hampshire

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Oakley
Oakley shown within Hampshire
Population	5,322
OS grid reference	575???
- London	??? miles
District	Basingstoke and Deane
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BASINGSTOKE
Postcode district	RG23
Dialling code	01256
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Hampshire
Ambulance	South Central
European Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Basingstoke and Deane
List of places: UK • England • Hampshire

Coordinates: 51°15′03″N 1°10′35″W / 51.25095, -1.17639

Oakley is a large village and parish situated 8 km (5 miles) west of the large town, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. In the 2001 census it had a population of 5,322, verging on 'minor town' status. The village was recorded and mentioned in the Domesday book.

Oakley is divided into two districts, namely East Oakley and Church Oakley. It sits on chalkland.^[1] Its village magazine, Link, is published monthly. Mar 24 2007: According to the government, Oakley has the highest quality of life in the nation, judged on 37 criteria including traffic accidents and household wealth.^{[citation needed]}

1 Education and worship
2 Facilities
3 Sports
- 3.1 Oakley Cricket Club
- 3.2 Oakley Football Club
4 Oakley and Deane Parish Council
5 External links
- 5.1 References

[edit] Education and worship

Oakley has two educational facilities: Oakley Church of England Junior school and Oakley Infant school. Oakley also contains a small Methodist church, an Anglican church (St John's) and the ancient Anglican church, St Leonard's.

[edit] Facilities

In the centre of the village is the large duck pond inhabited by mallard ducks and coots. In addition, Oakley also has all the facilities that would be expected of a village of its size: a surgery (very limited hours since April 2006), a number of convenience stores, a veterinary surgery, three parks, a dentist and two public houses, the 'Barley Mow' and 'The Beach Arms'. Its railway station, originally on the West of England Main Line closed in 1963.^[2] Situated to the west of the village is Oakley Hall, an 18th century Georgian manor that is now used for corporate events.^[3]

[edit] Sports

Oakley's public sporting facilities include a football pitch (Peter Houseman field), two tarmac tennis courts and a set of skateboard ramps, as well as four private tennis courts owned by Oakley Tennis Club. Oakley has many children's football clubs plus adult rugby, table tennis, cricket, tennis and football clubs.

[edit] Oakley Cricket Club

Oakley Cricket Club was founded in 1849; OCC's grounds are at Oakley Park, where, on June 11, 1961, the Hampshire cricketer Roy Marshall captained a team for a benefit match. This team, which won the match with 246 runs, also included Arthur Milton and Cliff Michelmore.

OCC's three youth teams are known as the 'Colts'.

[edit] Oakley Football Club

Oakley Football Club was founded in 1967 by the Chelsea FC footballer, Peter Houseman. The aims stated by Oakley FC are to provide, for the community at large, a continuing provision for the enjoyment of playing football in an organized fashion.^[4]

[edit] Oakley and Deane Parish Council

Oakley Parish Council was formed in 1894. In 1966 the ward of Wootton St Lawrence became part of the parish and in 1976 the Deane Parish Meeting also joined the council, at which point it became known as Oakley and Deane Parish Council. The current chairman of the council is John Strawbridge.^[5]