Hart

Norman castle

Hart, district, administrative and historic county of Hampshire, southern England. It occupies an area in the northeastern part of the county and lies south of the unitary authority of Reading. Fleet, in the eastern part of the district, is the administrative centre.

The district is drained by the Blackwater and Hart rivers, which are southerly tributaries of the Thames. Hart is generally a low-lying area of clays and gravels reaching into the most westerly extension of the North Downs chalk uplands in the south. Woodlands and heath are interspersed with agricultural land throughout the district. Fleet is the largest town and is a bedroom community for London, 38 miles (61 km) northeast. The district is primarily agricultural and produces cereals, dairy products, and lettuce. It has little industry except for motor-vehicle and textile plants in the locality of Fleet.

Odiham is a historic market parish with the 13th–14th-century Church of All Saints and Georgian homes. Northwest of Odiham is the ruins of an octagonal Norman castle. Hook and Hartley Wintney are other towns. Area 83 square miles (215 square km). Pop. (2001) 83,505; (2011) 91,033.