Basing House - Spooky Goings On

WARNING THIS POST HAS INFORMATION FROM BASING HOUSE GHOST TOUR SO IF YOU ARE INTENDING ON GOING TO THIS TOUR STOP READING NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.

It is worth saying that the ghost tours at Basing House have been running for 8 or 9 years now and so they are well done.

The Red Barn is the most recognisable place as it is the only building still standing and is used as a venue for all sorts of events, primarily weddings. Me and my Fiancée had been in the barn for a wedding fair only a few months before this tour.

In 1642 the Parliamentarians located in Lychpit under the instruction of Oliver Cromwell were cannonading the Red Barn (later known as the Bloody Barn) as it was a strategic location, as it stored arms, munitions, food and animals. The location was of real value to the Royals who were holding it as well as the Parliamentarians who were looking to take it. They were aiming for the roof of the barn to break up the floors and kill as many people as possible. Eventually the Parliamentarians managed to take the red barn and the Royals fled to the house and it was thought that the battle would have ended quickly if they were chased, however the exhausted and hungry Parliamentarians decided to enjoy the fruits of their labour eating food and drink inside the barn. Due to the heavy loss of lives they ran the black flag, meaning there was no quarter given and all captured royals were killed. Apparently there were other floors in the barn and no one knew what happened to those defenders up there when the Barn was stormed. 

On an investigation a medium called Jane walked in and said "Oh.....why are all those men hanging from the rafters" so it appears the mystery of what happened had been somewhat resolved.  

The Barn is reputed to house the highest concentration of spiritual energy in the whole estate. One of the key areas of the barn is the far right hand side. This area is where all of the equipment normally used in paranormal investigations appears to go a little bit mad. Is it a portal, no one knows?

Red Barn (Bloody Barn)

The next location was the entrance to Basing House, close to the Crown Pub. It has been reported on many occasions that horses are heard charging up and down the road, however no one has found any evidence of horses upon inspection. On one occasion the police were called out and nothing at all was found. 

The site of Basing House in its heyday was as beautiful and ornate as Hampton Court, however after the battle, Oliver Cromwell ordered that the site be demolished and the materials be used by the locals for whatever they needed it for, in an attempt to destroy the site to ensure it could not be used again. Thankfully the history of the battle was maintained to allow us to know the heritage of this beautiful area. The main entrance now, was once the tradesman's entrance or back entrance to the house. 

The location of the ticket office, up from the entrance stated above, just before it bends round was once the main stables area. Lots of reports of noises, banging, horses, shouts, talking. The main apparition here is of a horseman who comes up the main entrance area. The spooky thing is that sightings of this apparition report only seeing the horse from the stomach up, no one appears to see the legs. In the ticket office area, there is a floating floor and the ticket officers used to sit and drink a cuppa tea in the garden out back and when people would walk in, they would hear the foot steps and go and serve people. However on one occasion lots of steps were heard and it was very stompy and when they entered there was no one there. 

Our tour guide said that on one occasion, when he was walking back to the entrance after finishing a tour, he heard someone running up behind him, it was raining and windy and when he turned he saw nothing and the noise stopped. It was very unsettling for him. 

Now in the main garden area over in the far left corner when coming down the stairs, there is said to be a woman in grey who is seen sobbing. For some unknown reason, this lady is seen only by men, who are in couples. When the men see her they tell their partner who cannot see the spirit. This has happened on three occasions that are known.

Over to the right handside there was a field hospital so there have been sounds of moans and screams and on one occasion sawing. There have also been sights of a large wolf hound. It is believed that the hound was brought out of the house as it started to fall, but the owner went back in and didn't make it out and so the hound is searching for its owner.

The orchard (normally off limits to the general public) is only opened for the ghost tour and was used to grow food for the house back in the 1600's. 

The orchard is such a beautiful place, that at one point it was suggested to have a cafe built there. Some people came in to investigate the state of the land there, only to find that there are 400 bodies buried at the location and some are no deeper than 6 inches from the top soil. There is a lot of activity that takes place in this area and it tends to be very intense.

The house behind the orchard (built much later) has had many spooky goings on, lights turning on and off, as well as doors slamming. Lots of things moving around the house without explanation. The council at one point had the top floor and locked up and left. Eventually the keys for the top floor were located and when the phones were going off, two people went to unplug all the phones only to find all the phones already unplugged.  

I have deliberately left out some stories, as I feel the tour itself is well worth doing and think you should go along. The place is rich with history and is great be it a normal tour during the day or a ghost tour at night. Why not pop along during the day and ask the tour guides and staff about any spooky things happening, who knows you may find yourself getting far more info than you bargained for. I'm sure that they would also allow some of you budding Paranormal Investigators to come along and conduct your own investigation.