First Siege of Basing House

Basing House was the seat of John Paulet, the Catholic Marquis of Winchester, one of the wealthiest landowners in the kingdom. During the 16th Century, Paulet's ancestor the first Marquis of Winchester had transformed Basing from a medieval manor house into a massive palace and fortress five storeys high with nearly 400 rooms. There were two main buildings: the Old House, built within the ramparts of a medieval castle, and the New House, a large mansion built in the bailey some years later. A bridge and gateway linked the two houses. Beyond these were outbuildings, orchards and gardens, all contained within a boundary wall approximately one mile in circumference.

Basing was attacked by local Parliamentarians under Colonel Richard Norton in July 1643. The Marquis and a few retainers succeeded in holding them off until the timely arrival of 100 musketeers from Oxford commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Peake of Colonel Marmaduke Rawdon's regiment. Shortly afterwards, Rawdon himself arrived with the rest of his regiment and three pieces of artillery to take over as military governor of Basing. During the summer and autumn of 1643, Rawdon supervised the strengthening of Basing's defences with the addition of an extensive system of earthwork banks, ditches and bastions that transformed it into a formidable fortress commanding the main road from London to the west. By the time of Waller's attack, the Basing garrison numbered about 400 men.

Waller set up his artillery on Cowdray's Down to the north of the House. His summons for the Marquis to surrender was courteously declined. At dawn on 7 November 1643, the Parliamentarian siege guns opened fire. While the bombardment continued, Waller's musketeers advanced to seize Basing church and the remains of cottages and outbuildings burned down by the Royalists, from where they harassed the defenders behind the walls. The firefight continued until the late afternoon when the wind suddenly rose and brought in a heavy rainstorm. Waller ordered a general withdrawal to Cowdray Down. When the weather showed no sign of abating, the Parliamentarians withdrew to find shelter in Basingstoke and the surrounding villages.

Waller mounted a second attack on 12 November. After a two-hour bombardment, the Parliamentarians stormed the defences from several directions at once. They were met by fierce resistance which so discouraged some of the newly-raised auxiliary regiments of the Trained Bands that they refused to obey orders to advance. Waller's regular troops carried the fight to the walls of Basing but the Royalist defence could not be broken. When darkness fell, Waller ordered a withdrawal. The following day, the rain turned to sleet and snow. Whole companies of the Trained Bands began to desert and march back to London. When news reached Waller that Lord Hopton's army was on the march he had no choice but to abandon the siege. He returned with his remaining regiments through the driving sleet to Farnham Castle, where he wrote urgently to Parliament requesting reinforcements, supplies and money to pay his troops. The Royalist commander Colonel Rawdon was knighted for his defence of Basing.