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Basing House was a Tudor palace and castle in the village of Old Basing in the English county of Hampshire. [1] It once rivalled Hampton Court Palace in its size and opulence. Today only parts of the basement or lower ground floor, plus the foundations and earthworks, remain. The ruins are a Grade II listed building and a scheduled monument. [2]
Basing House was built from 1531 as a new palace for William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, treasurer to King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I. The nearby 'Great Barn' was completed in 1534, just before a visit from Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
In its final form, Basing House comprised two linked houses. The "Old House" replaced the keep of an older ringwork castle, [3] so was located within a defensive ring of earthworks and walls, whilst the slightly later "New House" was located outside the defences. A bridge and gateway linked the two across and through the defences, a link that was to prove fatal in the final battle for the fortress. The "New House" 'annex' in itself had approximately 360 rooms and was built primarily to accommodate the multitude of people that accompanied royalty when they visited.
Edward VI visited on 7 September 1552 and went on to Donnington Castle after three days. [4] Elizabeth I came in August 1560 and so liked the house and entertainment that she said she would have married Lord Treasurer Paulet if he had been a younger man. She returned in August 1569. [5] In September 1601 she entertained the French ambassador, the Duke de Biron, at the expense of the Marquess of Winchester. She hunted in the park with visiting French noblemen and killed 20 deer, and knighted 11 men. [6] King James visited in August 1603. [7] Anne of Denmark stayed in September 1603. [8] There was dancing, and the elderly Earl of Nottingham was betrothed to the much younger Margaret Stewart. [7] [9]
On taking the title in February 1629, the 5th Marquess downsized, moved the family out and waited until returns from his extensive estates all over England allowed him to start restorations. For the first half of the 1630s, the house was closed and the windows boarded over after the family relocated to its other houses. The 4th Marquess's entertainments almost bankrupted the family, maintenance of the house fell behind, and the design of such a large brick-built (and somewhat experimental) complex after one hundred years had its problems with dry and wet rot, broken windows, leaking roofs, and keeping the various wings heated.[ citation needed ]
At the time of the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the 5th Marquess. John Paulet, was a supporter of King Charles I. As a consequence, parliamentary forces invested Basing House on three occasions, with the Royalists breaking the first two sieges.
The final siege started in August 1645 when Colonel John Dalbier, with 800 troops, took up position around the walls. The garrison held out, despite further reinforcements to the attacking force, until Oliver Cromwell arrived with a heavy siege-train. [10] By 14 October 1645, the New House had been taken and the defences of the Old House breached. The final storming took place across the link from the New House. Many valuable goods were carried off, and a fire destroyed the building, as well as killing several priests who had taken refuge in the cellar. From the first firing of the guns, the assault was over in forty-five minutes, with the fires raging for up to nine hours after the event.
To send a message to other Royalist supporters, Cromwell returned to London and there was a Parliamentary decree issued that anyone could take from the estate, and therefore local villagers were encouraged to remove bricks from Basing House, and these materials were reused in homes in the surrounding area. While the local populace would sometimes be used to dismantle buildings, it was unusual to encourage them to make use of the materials. [11] There is archaeological evidence that the materials of the house were arranged into types for systematic reclaim, rather than a 'free-for-all'.
John Paulet had his estates confiscated and was sent to the Tower of London on a charge of high treason, which was later dropped, and the site of Basing House was returned to him by Charles II. His son Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, became wealthy again as a consequence of his support for William of Orange during the Glorious Revolution. This wealth was used to demolish what was left of Basing House and to build nearby a new house at Hackwood. [12] The prior history of the area on which this house stands is unclear.
Basing House is located in the village of Old Basing, approximately one mile east of the centre of the town of Basingstoke, in the north of the English county of Hampshire. The house is situated close to the upper reaches of the River Loddon. Operated and funded by Hampshire Cultural Trust since 2014, [13] the extensive ruins and gardens are open to the public. [14] Parts of the basement or lower ground floor remain, including the wine cellar, brick doorways and archways, bread ovens, salt alcoves, side rooms with surviving vaulted roofs, a vaulted tunnel, and even some original plaster and mortar. Access is by a riverside walk from a car park several hundred yards away. A UK Heritage Lottery Fund scheme has supported significant upgrades and renovations in recent years. The former Basingstoke Canal (1788-1910) ran around Basing House and through other parts of Old Basing.
Netley Abbey is a ruined late medieval monastery in the village of Netley near Southampton in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1239 as a house for monks of the austere Cistercian order. Despite royal patronage, Netley was never rich, produced no influential scholars nor churchmen, and its nearly 300-year history was quiet. The monks were best known to their neighbours for the generous hospitality they offered to travellers on land and sea.
Marquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England that was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. It is the oldest of six surviving English marquessates; therefore its holder is considered the premier marquess of England. It is also now the only marquessate in the Peerage of England not being subsidiary to a higher title. The current holder is Christopher Paulet, 19th Marquess of Winchester, whose son uses the courtesy title Earl of Wiltshire.
Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, was an English nobleman, the son of John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, and his first wife, Jane Savage.
William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, styled Lord St John between 1539 and 1550 and Earl of Wiltshire between 1550 and 1551, was an English Lord High Treasurer, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and statesman.
Old Basing is a village in Hampshire, England, just east of Basingstoke. It was called Basengum in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Basinges in the Domesday Book.
Paulet, variant spelling Powlett, is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Netley Castle is a former artillery fort constructed in either 1542 or 1544 by Henry VIII in the village of Netley, Hampshire. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and it defended Southampton Water near the Solent. The castle included a central, stone keep with two flanking gun platforms and was garrisoned by ten men. It was decommissioned during the English Civil War and by 1743 it was overgrown and in ruins. In the 19th century the property was gradually converted into a private house, being extended in a Gothic style, complete with octagonal towers. Between 1939 and 1998 it was used as a nursing home, until the high costs of maintenance led to its closure. Following an archaeological survey, it was then converted into nine residential flats. It is protected under UK law as a Grade II* listed building.
Kingsclere is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England.
Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton, styled Earl of Wiltshire from 1685 until 1699, and Marquess of Winchester from 1699 until 1722, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the English House of Commons from 1705 to 1708 and in the British House of Commons between 1708 and 1717, when he was raised to the peerage as Lord Powlett and sat in the House of Lords.
Sir Henry Gage was a Royalist officer in the English Civil War.
Odiham Castle is a ruined castle situated near Odiham in Hampshire, United Kingdom.
John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, styled Lord John Paulet until 1621 and Lord St John from 1621 to 1628, was the third but eldest surviving son of William Paulet and his successor as 5th Marquess of Winchester.
John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester, styled The Honourable John Paulet between 1539 and 1550, Lord St John between 1550 and 1551 and Earl of Wiltshire between 1551 and 1555, was an English peer. He was the eldest son of William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester and Elizabeth Capel.
William Paulet, 4th Marquess of Winchester was an English nobleman, the son of William Paulet, 3rd Marquess of Winchester and Anne or Agnes Howard. He was styled Lord St. John from 1576 to 1598. He was summoned to Parliament on 16 January 1581 in his father's barony as Lord St. John. On 24 November 1598, he succeeded his father as 4th Marquess of Winchester. Paulet experienced great financial difficulties arising from his magnificent style of living and his lavish entertainment of Elizabeth I at Basing House.
The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke in Hampshire, was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege, there were in fact three major engagements. John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester owned the House and as a committed Royalist garrisoned it in support of King Charles I, as it commanded the road from London to the west through Salisbury.
Winslade is a hamlet and civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It lies 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Basingstoke, just off the A339 road. The hamlet covers an area of 712 acres (288 ha) and has an average elevation of 550 feet (170 m). Its nearest railway station is Basingstoke, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) north of the hamlet. The parish of Winslade contains the vast Hackwood Park, an 89-acre (36 ha) Grade I listed Royal deer park. According to the 2011 census, Winslade, along with Tunworth, Weston Corbett and Weston Patrick, had a population of 224.
Henry William Montagu(e) Paulet, 16th Marquess of Winchester was an English peer, landowner, soldier, sportsman, politician and businessman. He was known as Lord Henry Paulet from 1887 until 1899.
Itchen Stoke and Ovington is an English civil parish consisting of two adjoining villages in Hampshire, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Alresford town centre in the valley of the River Itchen, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-east of Winchester, and 2 miles (3.2 km) south-east of Itchen Abbas.
Hackwood Park is a large 260-acre (110 ha) country estate that primarily consists of an 18th-century ornamental woodland and formal lawn garden in addition to a 51,681 sq ft (4,801.3 m2) mansion of symmetrical design. It is located within the boundaries of Winslade, a rural parish immediately south of Basingstoke in Hampshire. The parks and gardens are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and the main house is Grade II* listed on the National Heritage List for England. It was placed on the market in 2016 for around £65 million. As of 2024, it is still for sale at the same price.
George Philpot or Philpott was an English landowner, courtier, and patron of musicians.
51°16′07″N1°03′09″W / 51.26872°N 1.05248°W
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