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Siege of Basing House 1643

Siege of Basing House: Basing House after the siege
Image: Baigent, Francis Joseph & Millard, James Elwin (1889)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Year1643Wikidata P580 (start time)
EraEarly modern (1500–1799)derived from year
LocationEnglandNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentEuropeNatural Earth
War / conflictEnglish Civil WarWikidata P361
ParticipantsCavalier, RoundheadWikidata P710
Coordinates51.2686, -1.0518Wikidata P625

About the battle

The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke in Hampshire, was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas 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 King Charles I, as it commanded the road from London to the west through Salisbury.

The first engagement was in November 1643, when Sir William Waller at the head of an army of about 7,000 attempted to take Basing 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 to a more friendly location.

Early in 1644 the Parliamentarians attempted to arrange the secret surrender of Basing House with Lord Edward Paulet, the Marquess of Winchester's younger brother, but the plot was discovered.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Basing House (revision 1380311521), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

51.2686, -1.0518 · England

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the English Civil War

All 22 battles of the English Civil War →

Browse more: battles in England · Europe · Early modern battles

Further reading