Fleet
county:
coords:
Hampshire
SU810540
otherwise: Flete, 1313; Flete, le; Fletebrige, le; Fletepondes, 1505
FLEET, modern parish carved out of Farnborough, Yateley, Crookham etc.
The town takes its name from the large natural pond called 'Fleet Pond' which contains Old English 'fleot'. This usually means a large stretch of salt water, but is occasionally used of inland features like this. From the Pond, the suburb of 'Pondtails' is also indirectly named. 'Pondtail Farm' (thus 1826) stood near the point of entry of the stream which feeds the Pond. 'Tail' is commonly used in this sense in the minor names of eg Sussex. The character of the ground in the area, a large area of drift surrounded by soils of the Holidays Hills association, can be judged from these names plus 'Blacklake Copse, Aunt's Pool Hill' and 'The Flash' (Middle English 'flasshe'='swamp' in the same parish.
