Basing House 1645 English Civil War treasure.

Hello All

In the history of the British nation there was no War that had a greater impact upon the people of the country than the English civil war. Its importance was its eventual outcome and conclusion makes up part of the the fabric of Britain today.

The following treasure story dates back to 1645 during the English civil war.

The fortress of Basing House, seat of the Marquis of Winchester, had been a Royalist stronghold since the beginning of the war. Situated on the main road from London to the west, it had been attacked twice by Parliamentarian armies: the first siege in November 1643, the second siege from June-October 1644.

The Marquis declared that he would hold Basing in the King's name forever, in accordance with his family motto Aymez Loyault? ? "Love Loyalty" ? which he is said to have engraved with a diamond on every window pane in the house.

Basing sheltered many Royalist fugitives and refugees, including the architect Inigo Jones and the engraver Wenceslas Hollar. The Marquis was a Roman Catholic so Basing also became a refuge for Catholics, amongst whom were a number of priests. Puritans regarded Basing as a malevolent "nest of Papists".

There was even religious antagonism between the Anglican and Catholic members of the garrison so that in May 1645, the Marquis petitioned King Charles for the removal of all Protestants from Basing, including the military governor Sir Marmaduke Rawdon who had directed the defence of the first two sieges. The King agreed to his request and Rawdon marched out with 50 horse and, supposedly, 450 foot on May Day 1645.

The third siege of Basing House was initiated in August 1645. The county committees for Hampshire and Sussex commissioned Colonel John Dalbier to reduce Basing and provided him with artillery and a local force of 800 foot and horse. Dalbier was a skilled military engineer and spent several weeks surveying and planning the deployment of his guns to maximise their effectiveness against Basing's walls.

The bombardment began in September. Dalbier methodically weakened the defences, bringing towers and ramparts crashing to the ground. He is also said to have experimented with a form of poison gas: wet straw impregnated with arsenic and brimstone was set alight, the wind carrying the fumes over the House, though apparently to no effect.

The final stage of the siege began with the arrival of Lieutenant-General Cromwell's detachment from the New Model Army on 8 October. Cromwell's artillery train contained some of the most powerful siege guns then known, including a canon-royal, which fired a 60-lb shot and two demi-cannon firing 30-lb shot. Impatient to conclude the siege, Cromwell set up his batteries on the south-eastern side of the House.

A curt summons to surrender was issued on 11 October, which was rejected. The Parliamentarian artillery opened fire on 12 October. After two days bombardment, the heavy guns had breached the walls in at least two places and Cromwell ordered a general assault for daybreak on 14 October.

The storm was brief and bloody, lasting less than two hours. The assault was led by the regiments of Colonels Pickering, Hartop, Dalbier, Montagu and Sir Hardress Waller from different directions. There were too few defenders to withstand the massive strength of the New Model Army and they were quickly driven back from the outer defences to make a last stand at the gatehouse of the Old House.

Civilians as well as soldiers were slaughtered in the assault, including six Catholic priests. Between one and two hundred defenders were killed, the rest taken prisoner.The Marquis of Winchester is said to have been captured saying his rosary in a bread-oven, while Inigo Jones was carried out naked, wrapped in a blanket.

Cromwell allowed his troops to plunder the incredible riches of the mansion: plate, jewels, hangings and furniture to the value of ?200,000 17TH century values. A legend persists of a rich treasure still buried somewhere in the grounds.

The soldiers profited from a public sale which lasted for several days. A wagon load of Popish books, pictures, rosaries and relics was sent to a public bonfire in London. Having been looted bare, Basing House itself caught fire, possibly by accident. It burned for 20 hours until nothing was left but bare walls and chimneys. Even these ruins were demolished by order of Parliament, the stones and bricks carted away for use in other buildings.

And so the Palace of Basing was wiped from history. No accurate plan of the ruins survive. In the mid 19th century 800 coins from the English civil war was found by diggers digging the Basinstoke canal nearby. later in the late 19th and early 20th century they has been a few searchers for the treasure but with no known results.

The site sadly now is off limits as it is grade two heritage listed property. However that does not include areas outside the listed site. There is a real possibility much treasure is buried around the area from those events as much looting went on at the time.

There has been many legends about secret tunnels and hidden cellars in the old part of the house. Are they true?

Perhaps one day the ruins will reveal her secrets.

Hardluck.

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Hello BA

Your 100% right there. There is a lesson to be learned. It was a very costly war. More British soldiers died than First or second world war put together.But it had a massive impact to history of Britain braking way from the concept of rule by divine birthright, and later to the world.

 But most of all it re sparked the ancient ideas of Athens and Greeks. The ideas of democracy. It was those ideals championed by puritans who went to America who later sowed the seeds for democracy in America by your founding fathers.

Hardluck

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