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Date of photo: 1978	Source: Cross Duck, used under licence
The Hop Leaf was situated at 21 Upper Church Street. Previously known as The Black Boy, this timber-framed building was host to an inn by the early 18th Century. Since then, the road name has changed (to simply Church Street) and the building has been a hotel, tavern and bar with a succession of names. The Black Boy name apparently referred to King Charles I, to whom people said "You have blacked your reputation, boy” after his defeat at the battle of Naseby in 1645. In the 1950s the name was deemed racist so The Black Boy Hotel became the Hop Leaf. During the 1970s it was occasionally home to the Basingstoke Folk Club. By the mid 2000s it was McCarthy's Bar. By the early 2010s it was a bar known as Censo, which closed in January 2013.
Source: Peter Elliott
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Picture source: Peter Elliott