Alton (/ˈɔːltən/ AWL-tən) is a market town and civil parish in East Hampshire, England, near the source of the northern branch of the River Wey.

The Alton Hoard of Iron Age coins and jewellery found in the vicinity of the town in 1996 is now in the British Museum.

It contained grave goods including the Alton Buckle which is on display in the Curtis Museum and considered to be the finest piece of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship found in Hampshire.

[3][8] The Treaty of Alton was signed in 1101 between William the Conqueror's eldest son Robert II of Normandy and his brother Henry I of England.

[9] Blome wrote in 1673 of a 'market on Saturdays, which is very great for provisions, where also are sold good store of living cattle'.

[10] The Saturday market is featured on Kitchin's map of Hampshire (1751) which marks the town as Alton Mt.

Some accounts for this fair in the early 18th century 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, soap and knives, to name but a few.

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 (or Boles) and his infantry to fight.

The Act resulted in the dissolution of this body, and the establishment (on 1 April 1974) of the current Alton Town Council.

Nearby Brockham Hill, situated 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometres) northeast of Alton, rises to 225 metres (738 feet) above sea level.

Coors Brewing Company (among the ten largest brewers in the world) had a brewery in Alton for fifty years, which produced Carling, Grolsch and Worthington.

[17] Alton was significant in the 18th century for the manufacture of paper[5] and of dress materials including ribbed druggets, shallons, silks and serges, bombazine and figured barragons.

[18][19] Alton has businesses in the retail and service sectors in the centre of the town, and over a hundred businesses in the four industrial areas of Mill Lane, Newman Lane, Caker Stream and Omega Park, ranging from light industrial to computer software production.

[20][21] Clarcor, TNT N.V. and Poseidon Diving Systems all have businesses in Alton's Industrial Site, Mill Lane.

However, on 11 November 2008, Inter Group announced its proposal to close its office in Alton in August 2009 due to "changes in the travel insurance market",[22] leading to the loss of 104 full-time staff and around 16 part-time.

[29] Alton Community Choir sings unaccompanied Hampshire folk songs as well as some African, gospel, blues and calypso music.

Alton Maltings was renovated in 2004–2005 and is now the home of Harvest Church and is used by community groups, charities, private users and other organisations throughout the week.

[31] Alton Sports Centre is open to the public and includes a swimming pool, gym, indoor and outdoor courts.

The Town Gardens contains a bandstand (built in 1935 for the silver jubilee of King George V), a children's playground, flower beds, trees and shrubs (4.5 acres (18,000 m2)).

Sixth-form education is provided by Alton College, which has gained outstanding inspection reports from Ofsted.

[34] The origins of the Watercress Line date back to 1861, the year in which Parliament granted consent for what was then known as the 'Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway'.

[39] These buses include, 64 to Winchester (via Four Marks, Ropley, Bishop’s Sutton, New Alresford and Science Centre), 65 to Guildford (via Bentley and Farnham), 13 to Basingstoke or Whitehill (this route is via Alton, it also includes Odiham and Hook if going towards Basingstoke) and 38 to Petersfield (via Chawton, Selborne, Greatham and Liss).