 |
|
Churchyard. St. Mary's Church sits upon a small rise in the centre of the village of Old Basing. It is surrounded by a large churchyard now mostly cleared of gravestones. Supposedly being illegible, they were carted away in the 1960s to be used as paving at Romsey Abbey. The grass is always neatly mown and there are several benches - one made from old gravestones - on which to sit and sun yourself on summer days. The parish war memorial cross sits nearby. It is a very pleasant spot, recently enhanced by the 'Conservation Area' created in the once wildly overgrown southern portion of the churchyard. Here the gravestones of local yeoman farming families such as the Mays, the Paynes and the Huttons survive. Neatly laid out footpaths wind their way between them and the accompanying flora and fauna. To the east of the church is a modern memorial garden of crematory plaques. It is always full of flowers. Church Exterior. Basing was once an important place in North-East Hampshire and this is reflected by the size of its church: a huge great triple-gabled building with a strong central tower. The building was originally built of 'Hampshire Diamond' Flints, but rebuildings have largely replaced this with local Tudor brickwork.
The tower has a clock dated 1839, made by B.L. Vulliamy, Clockmaker to the Queen. Inside are two bells. The tenor, dated 1676, replaced those dispersed during the Civil War, but is now rarely used. The second bell, made in London in 1838, still calls parishioners to church as well as striking the hour.
Intenal
Tour of Old Basing Church |
The windows of Basing Church
are mostly penpendicular in style and are
notable for the coats of arms which adorn
the corbels at the end of their
dripstones. These proudly display the
shields born by the ancestors of the
Marquises of Winchester, the Paulet
family, who lived in nearby Basing House
and patronised the church for many
centuries. The three swords are the arms
of the Paulets. Also notable is the
corded key, the badge of the Poynings
family from whom they inherited their
Basing estates. High up on the south side
of the church, either side of the fourth
buttress from the east, are carved busts
thought to be the first Marquis of
Winchester, William Paulet, and his first
wife, Elizabeth Capel (above). They had
this part of the church built in the
1530s. Alongside them, around most of the
church, are a fascinating collection of
grotesques and gargoyles.
At the west end of
the church, high up on the central gable
is a pre-reformation statue of the Virgin
and Child, denoting the building's patron
saint. It is supported by an angel
holding the arms of the Marquis of
Winchester's parents, Sir John Paulet and
his wife (and cousin), Alice. Together
they rebuilt the gabled nave and north
and south aisles in this area in the
early 1500s. The statue is said to have
been hidden by a covering of ivy for many
years. It was therefore missed by the
disapproving gaze of the Protestant
Roundhead soldiers who stabled their
horses in the church during the Civil
War. Presumably a similar blanket
protected it from the Puritan reformers
in the previous century too. Below the
west window of the south aisle here can
be seen a large breech in the church
wall, whether caused by the horses or an
explosion of some kind is unclear.
Perhaps it was deliberately dismantled to
give the artillery greater coverage of
the main street. At any rate the damage
caused during the Civil War was repaired
in the 1660s using bricks from the great
Hampton Court-esque Basing House, which
was by that time in ruins. Adjoining is
the controversial west door. Local
tradition assigns its design to 
Inigo Jones,
Surveyor-General of Royal Buildings,
during a stay at the Paulet hunting lodge
in Hackwood Park after the Restoration.
During the Civil War, he had been granted
refuge at Basing House, so knew the
village well. Unfortunately, Inigo died
some years prior to the Restoration and
architectural historians usually date the
door's style to around 1615. Still, Inigo
had no doubt visited Basing on many
previous occasions.
