History
Old Basing was first settled around 700 by an Anglo-Saxon tribe known as the Basingas, who gave the village its name (the meaning being "Basa's people"). It was the site of the Battle of Basing on 22 January 871, when a Danish army defeated Ethelred of Wessex. It is also mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The centre of the village, The Street, contains many old houses, and St Mary's Church. The River Loddon, whose source is in Worting to the west of Basingstoke, flows through the village, which is perhaps best known for the ruins of Basing House which was built between 1532 and 1561 on the site of a Norman castle. It was the home of the Marquesses of Winchester for several generations before being destroyed after a 24-week siege during the English Civil War.
Many names in modern Old Basing allude to the war, such as Cavalier Road and Musket Copse, as well as several sites named after Oliver Cromwell including Oliver's Battery, Cromwell Cottage and Oliver's, an award-winning fish and chip takeaway and restaurant.
The route of the former Basingstoke Canal also ran around Basing House and then through and around parts of Old Basing.
Read more about this topic: Old Basing
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“The principal office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–c. 120)
“I saw the Arab map.
It resembled a mare shuffling on,
dragging its history like saddlebags,
nearing its tomb and the pitch of hell.”
—Adonis [Ali Ahmed Said] (b. 1930)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)