National Gazetteer (1868) - Basing

"BASING, (or Old Basing), a parish and considerable village in the hundred, division, Union, and County Court district of Basingstoke, in the county of Southampton, 2 miles to the N.E. of Basingstoke, and 44 miles from London by the South Western railway, which, as well as the Berks and Hants railway, passes through the parish. It is situated on the river Loddon and the Basingstoke canal. This place was the scene of the victory gained by the Danes, in 871, over Ethelred I. and Alfred. At the Norman Conquest it was the head of the numerous lordships given by the Conqueror to Hugh de Port, from whom the Paulets are descended. Basing Caste was rebuilt by Sir William Paulet, treasurer of the household to Henry VIII., and first Marquis of Winchester, who had the honour of receiving Queen Elizabeth there in 1560. The queen was again a guest at the castle in 1601.

The siege and defence of Basing House forms one of the most striking and memorable episodes of the civil war in the reign of Charles I. It was held for the king by John, the fifth marquis, and bravely defended against the attacks of the parliamentary forces for above two years, from August, 1643, to October, 1645. It was then stormed by Cromwell and burnt to the ground. The words, Aimez loyaulte, which, by order of the marquis, were cut on every window, have become the family motto. Of the magnificent fortress, which, with its outworks, covered above 14 acres, nothing remains but a gatehouse and a fragment of the wall. The personal property destroyed with the castle was estimated at £200,000, equal to £1,000,000 in these days. The noble marquis lived till the Restoration, but received no recompense for his losses. During the latter part of his life he resided at Englefield, in Berkshire, and was buried in the parish church, where the following epitaph, from the pen of Dryden, is inscribed to his memory:

"He who in impious times undaunted stood, And midst rebellion durst be just and good Whose arms asserted, and whose sufferings more Confirmed the cause for which he fought before Rests here:- rewarded by a heavenly Prince For what his earthly could not recompense. Pray, reader, that such times no more appear; Or, if they happen, learn true honour here. Ark of this age's faith and loyalty, Which, to preserve them, Heaven confined in thee, Few subjects could a king like thine deserve, And fewer such a king so well could serve. Blest king, blest subject, whose exalted state By sufferings rose, and gave the law to fate. Such souls are rare; but mighty patterns given To earth, and meant for ornaments to Heaven."

Nor was it only by the Cavaliers that the marquis was loved and honoured, for while Dryden thus sings in praise of his loyalty and truth, Milton, the first of epic poets, and Latin secretary to the Commonwealth, no less eloquently extols the home virtues and loveliness of his countess, Jane, the accomplished daughter of Lord Savage, in the epitaph which he wrote on occasion of her dying in her confinement:

"Summers three times eight, save one, She had told; alas! too soon, After so short a time of breath, To house with darkness and with death. * * * * * Gentle lady, may thy grave Peace and quietness ever have."

The site of the castle is now crossed by the canal. The living of Basing is a vicarage, united with that of Basingstoke, in the diocese of Winchester. The church, an ancient and spacious edifice, contains several monuments of the Paulets, and is dedicated to St. Mary. The charitable endowments of the parish amount to £51 per annum. Hackwood Hall, about 2 miles from Boeing, is the seat of Lord Westbury, and belongs to Lord Bolton, the present representative of the Paulet family. "WATER-END, a tything in the parish of Basing, county Hants, 3 miles N.E. of Basingstoke."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]