Portal:Hampshire/Selected article/21

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Basing House, Hampshire, was a major English Tudor palace and castle that once rivalled Hampton Court Palace in its size and opulence. Today only its foundations and earthworks remain.

Basing House was built in 1535 as a new palace for William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, treasurer to King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I.

In its final form, Basing House was made up of two linked houses. The Old House was located within a defensive ring of earthworks and walls, whilst the more modern New House was a more domestic building located outside the defences. A bridge and gateway linked the two across and through the defences; a link that was to prove fatal in the final battle for Basing House. Taken together, the house had 380 rooms, was five storeys high and was considered by many to be the greatest private house in the country.

The house was destroyed in the English Civil War in 1645.

Basing House is located in the village of Old Basing, approximately one mile east of the centre of the town of Basingstoke, in the north of the English county of Hampshire. The house is situated close to the upper reaches of the River Loddon.