Description
Siege of Basing House Walk with Warwick Louth – Thursday 4th May 2023
The home of the Marquis’s of Winchester, Basing House’s biggest claim to fame is as the single longest household besieged during the First Civil War (1642-5). An isolated Catholic Royalist household within a Protestant Parliamentarian Country, Basing was vital for control of South, controlling access between Portsmouth and Southampton. Besieged at least 3 times, the house proved a thorn in Parliament’s side. With a cast of characters forming a microcosm across Stuart Society and personal experience during the British Civil Wars, the account of the Siege has to be seen to be believed.
With its imposing ruins framing the three years of fighting surrounding the area, visitors will experience not only the tactical nature of siege warfare during the 17th century, but also the daily life of inhabitants of the 17th century. Richly illustrated with a plethora of artefacts discovered on continuing archaeological survey of the site, Basing House has always served as a case study for Post-Medieval Studies. With a cast of characters forming a microcosm across Stuart Society and personal experience during the British Civil Wars, the account of the Siege has to be seen to be believed.
Itinerary
Our guide Warwick Louth will now explain what happened at the Siege of Basing House and how the Parliamentarian Army defeated the Royalist.
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Meet at The Crown Pub, Old Basing. Talk about the importance and strategic situation surrounding Basing House.
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Walk to Grange Field. Talk about Grange House and Time Team archaeology to discover it. Look inside The Bloody Barn, identify musket strikes on walls. Talk about fighting in area during First siege of House
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Entrance to Basing House-Talk about alterations to structure in 19th Century because of Basingstoke Canal. Identify earthworks in gateway and talk about attempt to storm in Second Siege
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Stop and talk in front of cook house, overlooking ditch into Old House. Talk about alterations to the house as a result of the siege. Talk about 2009 excavations and 17th century battlefield medicine.
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Walk along walls and identify siege damage.
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Walk into walled garden, talk about role of site as casualty clearing station during final siege. Talk about graves within vicinity, minutes silence and also talk about apothecary/botanist, Major Thomas Johnson and the officer corps of Sir Marmaduke Rawdon’s Regiment.
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Look around Museum.
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Explore Old House and identify storming sites, where bodies were discovered. Royal Progress to House, Gatehouse and Shakespeare Changes to fabric during siege and life in a garrison. Onset of disease during second siege.
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Walk into Old House, talk about final storm in October 1645 and treatment of the garrison.
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Head to back of House, onto Rampier, talk about 17th century siege engineering.
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Head to hornworks. Talk about most recent excavations and Duke of Bolton’s work.
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Walk onto Basingstoke Common, talk about Battlefield archaeology and Parliamentarian siegeworks.
