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| Basing House - a 3-year siege. | ||
| July 1643 |
Basing House was a large fortified house in
Hampshire owned by John Paulet, 5th Marquis of Winchester, a loyal
supporter of the King.
The house was frequently attacked by Parliamentary troops in the early months of the Civil War. One large assault was made at the end of July by Colonels Norton and Harvey. Help came just in time with the arrival from Oxford of Lt-Col. Peake and 100 musketeers. The Parliamentary troops withdrew but were replaced later by trained bands from London who attacked the house. They were beaten off by only eleven guns and muskets. |
Garrison Gate, Basing House. |
| Nov 1 | William Waller advanced from Farnham with 7,000 men to
attack the Marquis. On their arrival free passage out of the house for
women and children was offered but turned down, and nine days of
fighting began.
Waller tried to storm the house but was forced to retire to Farnham when he heard that Lord Hopton was coming to relieve the siege. |
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 A contemporary sketch of Basing House made during a lull in the fighting. |
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| Mar 29 1644 |
Hopton was defeated by Waller at the nearby battle of
Cheriton and he retreated to Basing House before moving on to Oxford.
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| May 1 1645 |
Following a dispute in the house, 500 Protestants walked out leaving only a small garrison of Catholic families to defend it. | |
| Oct 8 | Cromwell arrived from the capture of Winchester with a brigade of the New Model Army. | |
| Oct 14 | The final assault set out at dawn to attack the small remaining garrison in the house. Men fought to the death and after the fighting subsided there were only 200 prisoners. The rest had died in the fighting. | 3,000 men attacked with a further 4,000 men surrounding the house. |
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| The prisoners and the house were stripped and
looted. Most of the men were hanged. Cromwell collected £250,000 worth
of loot.
The house was then set on fire including, it is said, over seventy of the prisoners still left inside it.
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The Marquis was held
prisoner in the Bell Inn in Basingstoke but was later taken to the Tower
of London. His life was spared and he fled to France.
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After the restoration, he
returned to England and retired to his wife's property, Englefield House
in Berkshire.
His memorial can be seen in the church there with an epitaph by Dryden. Over his actual grave lies a plain blue marble slab. It reads, 'Here lieth interred the body of the most noble and mighty prince, John Powlet, Marquis of Winchester, Earl of Wiltshire, Baron St. John of Basing, Most Marquis of England. A man of exemplar piety towards God and the inviolable fidelity to his Sovereign in whose cause fortified his house of Basing and defended it against the rebels to the last extremity.' |
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