BASING, a parish in the hundred of BASINGSTOKE,
Basingstoke division of the county of SOUTHAMPTON,
2 miles (E. N. E.) from Basingstoke, containing 1073 inhabitants.
The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to
the vicarage of Basingstoke, in the archdeaconry and
diocese of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St.
Mary, is a large ancient structure with a central tower:
it contains the family vault of the Paulets, in which all
the dukes of Bolton of that family have been interred,
National schools for children of both sexes have been
established. This place is remarkable for having been
the scene of the defeat of King Ethelred I. by the
Danes, in 871. At the period of the Norman survey,
Hugh de Port held fifty-five lordships in this county,
of which Basing was the head. The castle was rebuilt,
in a sumptuous manner, by Sir William Paulet, Knt., a
lineal descendant from Hugh de Port, created Marquis
of Winchester by Edward VI., and one of the most polite
noblemen of the age: here, in 1560, he entertained
Queen Elizabeth, who again honoured his great grandson
William, the fourth marquis, with a visit, in 1601.
John, the fifth marquis, was the nobleman who distinguished
himself for his gallant defence of his house
at Basing, in the cause of Charles I., through a series
of sieges which lasted for two years, at the end of
which, in October 1645, it was stormed and taken by
Cromwell, who ordered it to be burnt to the ground.
The fortress and its outworks occupied an area of about
fourteen acres and a half, through which the Basingstoke
canal now passes: the remains consist principally of
the north gateway and part of the outer wall. The river
Loddon also runs through the parish.