Basingstoke Church was built in the early
sixteenth century and contains some of the old glass from the Holy
Ghost Chapel.
The most interesting place in the vicinity of Basingstoke is Old
Basing, two miles to the east, and ever memorable as the scene of the
defence of Basing House. This magnificent mansion had been built by
William Paulet, first Marquis of Winchester, on the site of the
original Norman castle of Basing. When the Civil War broke out, the
fifth Marquis, John Paulet, decided to defend the house for the King,
and gathering his friends and retainers about him, amply provisioning
his cellars and "writing 'Aimez Loyalte' on every pane of his windows
with the diamond of his ring," he calmly awaited the Roundheads, who
were soon in possession of Basingstoke. Two hundred and fifty Royalist
soldiers had already joined the garrison when the actual siege began
in July, 1643. The attackers under Waller numbered seven thousand, but
by December, after great losses, they were forced to withdraw. The
following spring another determined effort was made to starve out the
garrison, but the arrival of Colonel Gage with reinforcements from
Oxford put fresh heart into the "nest of hornets," and the news that
their fortress had been renamed "Basting House" by their admiring
friends stiffened their resolve.
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