History

Unearth the amazing stories of Basing House, the nationally important ruins and grounds of the largest private house in Tudor England, which suffered at the hands of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War.

Basing House today is a collection of banks and ditches, cellars and broken walls with only the occasional surviving structure, such as the majestic Great Barn. The huge circular bank, or ringwork, and defensive ditches are all that remain of the castle built in the 1100s by the de Port family, who arrived with William the Conqueror in the Norman invasion of 1066. It was on top of these castle remains that Sir William Paulet, the first Marquess of Winchester and Lord Treasurer of England, chose to build his new house in 1535.

When first built, it was the largest private house in the country with around 360 rooms. In its heyday, it was frequently visited by the monarch of the time including Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Philip II of Spain and Queen Mary I who honeymooned there in 1554 after their marriage in nearby Winchester.

Under siege

Basing House was attacked by Parliamentary troops on three occasions. The final assault came in August 1645 when 800 men took up position around the walls. The garrison held out, despite further reinforcements to the attacking force, until Oliver Cromwell himself arrived with heavy artillery. By 13 October 1645, the walls of the house had been breached, Cromwell stormed the site and left it a burning ruin. Today, all that remains are the foundations of this once great property.

Despite suffering artillery damage during the Civil War, the barn stands virtually intact, giving visitors a rare glimpse of Tudor England. It is one of the largest examples of its kind in England and is the only Tudor building at Basing House to have survived intact to the present day. This is all the more remarkable since it was the at the centre of a famous attack by the Parliamentary army in 1643, an event which gave the barn its local nickname of “The Bloody Barn”.

Key locations to investigate
The bloody barn
Two further barns
The grounds around the barns
The ruins
Two dove cotes
Walled garden
Small museum
The hanging tree

Paranormal

This location has never been investigated before and during our site visit many of our devices went off. There’s an eerie feeling around the ruins. Venture down to the cellar areas where our sensors kept picking up on spirits. The hanging tree was of interest to us as our REM pod devices alerted us.
The bloody barn is known to be haunted and we need to find out who or what is haunting this space.

Join us on this amazing investigation exclusive to spectral nights. Be the first, grab a friend let’s investigate.