Alton is a small market town in Hampshire, England, to the southwest of Farnham. It had a population of 16,584 at the 1991 census, and is administered by East Hampshire district council. It also is home to Treloar College, the National Specialist college for Young Disabled People. The town is twinned with Pertuis, France, and Montecchio Maggiore, Italy.

Jane Austen lived in the nearby village of Chawton.

A Roman road ran from Chichester to Silchester and there is evidence of a Roman posting station at Neatham near Alton, probably called Vindomis, and a ford across the River Wey. Centuries later, a Saxon settlement was established in the area and a large seventh century cemetery has been discovered during building excavations. It contained a selection of grave goods which included the Alton Buckle which is on display in the Curtis Museum, and is considered to be the finest piece of Anglo Saxon craftsmanship found in Hampshire. The buckle was found in the grave of a warrior, and has a silver-gilt body, set with garnets and glass.

In 1001 Danish forces invaded England, plundering, ravaging and burning, and spreading terror and devastation. When they reached Alton, the men of Hampshire came together and fought against them. About 81 English were killed, including Ethelwerd the King's high-steward, Leofric of Whitchurch, Leofwin the King's high-steward, Wulfhere a bishop's thane, and Godwin of Worthy, Bishop Elfsy's son. Danish casualties were higher, but the Danes won the battle and fleeing Englishmen took refuge in Winchester.

Alton is listed as having the most valuable recorded market in the Domesday Book under the name Aoltone in the 'Odingeton Hundred - Hantescire'.

The Treaty of Alton was an agreement signed in 1101 between William the Conqueror's eldest son Robert, Duke of Normandy and his brother Henry I of England. Henry had seized the throne while his elder brother was away on the first crusade. Robert returned to claim the throne, landing in Portsmouth. The two brothers met in Alton and agreed terms which formed the Treaty of Alton. Part of the main street through Alton is called Normandy Street, probably reflecting this event.

The first recorded Saturday market in Alton was in 1288. It was much bigger than the current weekly market and established Alton as a significant market town. Blome wrote in 1673 of a 'market on Saturdays, which is very great for provisions, where also are sold good store of living cattle'. The Saturday market is also featured on Kitchin's map of Hampshire (1751) which marks the town as Alton Mt. Sat.

In 1307 King Edward II presented the town with a Charter giving it the right to hold an annual fair, mainly for cattle and toys. Mediaeval fairs were like markets but they were held once a year and attracted buyers and sellers from a wide area. Alton still has an annual fair, but it now takes the form of a fun fair.

According to William Curtis' History of Alton (1896):-

    "Edward II granted the privilege of holding a fair at Alton to Edmund of Woodstock, who then held the manor." This was a direct quote from the History of Hampshire by T W Shore (1892). Unfortunately, Curtis added:-

    "A D 1307. Edward II. Privilege of holding a fair", in the margin. It is this which has caused later confusion with people thinking that the grant of the fair was in 1307. In fact, it seem likely that William Curtis did not know the date of the grant/charter as the Calendars of Charter Rolls were not published until 1903-1927.

1307 was, in fact, the first year of Edward II's reign but Edmund of Woodstock was not lord of the manor then. According to the Victoria County History (written after Curtis' book):-

    "In 1273 Edward I granted the manor [of Alton Westbrook] to his mother, Queen Eleanor, who died in 1291, when it reverted to the Crown and was granted in 1299 as dower to his second wife, Margaret of France. On the death of Queen Margaret in 1317, it again came to the Crown, and Edward II gave it in 1319 to his brother Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent."

As can see be seen, Queen Margaret held the manor until 1317 and so the fair could not have been granted to Edmund of Woodstock in 1307.

The correct date for the grant seems to be 22 November 1320 (according to the Charter Rolls, 14 Edward II, no.15). The grant was for a 9-day fair - the vigil [eve] and feast of Whitsuntide and seven days after.

The two main manors in Alton - Alton Eastbrook and Alton Westbrook - had a fair each. That of Alton Eastbrook has no extant charter, and may never have had one. It was originally held on St Lawrence's Day and so its origin was, presumably, the patronal festival. The religious aspect would have ceased when the country was no longer Roman Catholic. This fair seems to have been held on Crown Close (which is in the manor of Alton Eastbrook) in the early 1800s. When this land was built upon, the fair moved and was held where ever the Westbrook fair was - the Market Place, various meadows and the Butts.

The date of the Eastbrook fair was changed to Michaelmas in the mid-1700s as it came at harvest time and the farmers were not happy about that. Some accounts for this fair in the early 1700s do survive and show that there was a cheese fair as well the usual mix of travelling and local people with stalls and stands - people selling lace, gloves, books, gingerbread, bodices, sugar plums, toys [small items - not for children], soap and knives, to name but a few. By the late 1800s, this fair was said to be mainly for horses, sheep and, occasionally, hops.

There is no extant charter for Alton Market. It was already in existence at the time of Domesday (c. 1086) and hence was probably functioning in Anglo-Saxon times. Despite what is written in various histories, it was probably always held in what is now Alton. (In the past, the true meaning of the Domesday entries for the area was misunderstood.) It was the most valuable market listed in Domesday - but Winchester, Southampton and London (and possibly other larger settlements) are missing.

Previously, Market Day was a Saturday. In September 1813, the monthly cattle market was changed to a Tuesday and the weekly market changed to the same day in early 1840. This caused the Church School to look for other premises, as classes had been held in the Town Hall until then but the noise of the market made things difficult - hence the move of the school to near St Lawrence's.

Eggar's School was founded in 1640 by John Eggar of Moungomeries as the Free Grammar School. It later became known as Eggar's Grammar School. It occupied a site in Anstey Road until it moved to a new site in Holybourne in 1969.

A battle was fought in Alton during the English Civil War. A small Royalist force was quartered in the town when on 13 December 1643 they were surprised by a Parliamentary army of around 5,000 men. The Royalist cavalry fled, leaving Sir Richard Bolle and his infantry to fight. Outnumbered, the Royalists were forced into St Lawrence Church, where Bolle was killed along with many of his men. Over 700 Royalist soldiers were captured and bullet holes from the battle are still visible in the church today.

In 1665, Alton suffered an outbreak of bubonic plague, but soon recovered.

The Victorian era also left its mark on Saturday, August 24, 1867, when an eight-year old girl, Fanny Adams, was murdered. Her assailant Frederick Baker, a local solicitor's clerk, was one of the last criminals to be executed in Winchester, and one of the original public notices advertising his forthcoming execution hangs in the Crown Public House. Fanny Adams' grave can still be seen in Alton cemetery. The brutal murder, so the story goes, coincided with the introduction of tinned meat in the Royal Navy, and the sailors who did not like the new food said the tins contained the remains of "Sweet Fanny Adams" or "Sweet F A", hence the expression which for over a century has meant "sweet nothing".

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