The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke, Basing House resisted the attempts of the Parliamentary armies to capture it until the final assault by Oliver Cromwell on 14th October 1645 when Basing House was stormed and destroyed, with all the members of the garrison put to the sword or captured, other than a few escaping over the walls.
The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke, a Parliamentarian victory in the First English Civil War. The title of the event may suggest a single siege, there were in fact three major engagements. John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester owned the House and as a committed Royalist garrisoned it in support of Charles I, as it commanded the road from London to the west through Salisbury. The first engagement was in Nov 1643, when Sir William Waller at the head of an army of about 7,000 attempted to take the House by direct assault. After three failed attempts it became obvious to him that his troops lacked the necessary resolve, and with winter fast approaching Waller retreated. Early in 1644 the Parliamentarians attempted to arrange the secret surrender of Basing House with the Marquess of Winchester's younger brother, but the plot was discovered. Parliamentary forces continued the siege by garrisons on the static approaches to the House to stop the Royalists foraging and relief convoys getting through. Then on 4 Jun 1644, Colonel Richard Norton using Parliamentary troops from the Hampshire garrisons closely invested Basing House and attempted to starve the garrison into submission. This siege was broken on 12 Sept 1644 when a relief column under the command of Colonel Henry Gage broke through parliamentary lines. Having resupplied the garrison he did not tarry but left the next day and returned to Royalist lines. The Parliamentarians reinvested the place but by the middle of Nov threatened by a Royalist army and his besieging force decimated by disease Waller ended the investment. Five days later on 20 Nov Gage arrived with fresh supplies. The final siege took place in October 1645. Oliver Cromwell joined parliamentary forces besieging the House with his own men and a siege train of heavy guns. They quickly breached the defences and on the morning of 14 October 1645 the House was successfully stormed.
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Keywords: 1645, assault, basing, civil, english, house, storming, war
