A Brief History of Basingstoke

There is evidence of prehistoric settlement in and around Basingstoke, including Bronze Age

monuments and the remnants of two barrow cemeteries at Buckskin and South Ham, and an

Iron Age hill fort at Winklebury. There is also evidence of Iron age settlements in Oakridge,

Cranbourne and Cowdery’s Down.

Basingstoke is situated on the south slopes of the valley of the River Lodden and the ancient

road links to Newbury, Reading, London, Winchester, Alton and Andover converge in the

town, including the main Roman road systems from London and Silchester to the West

Country.

Within the boundaries of modern Basingstoke are the sites of a number of rural medieval

settlements, including Eastrop, Kempshott and Hatch.

There was a market in town from the 13th century and the earliest parts of St Michaels

Church date from the 14th century.

The production of woolen goods was important to the town from medieval times to the 18th

century when malting became the dominant industry.

In 1777-78 the Basingstoke canal was built, linking the town to London via the River Wey.

The coming of the railways in 1840 and 1848 brought a new growth in population and in the

mid and late 19th century new roads were laid around the historic core of the town.

[Information provided by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.]

Key Dates in the History of the Holy Ghost Cemetery

The burial ground on Chapel Hill has been in use since 1208 during the reign of King John when

burials could not take place in consecrated ground due to a dispute with Pope Innocent III.

The cemetery was consecrated in 1214 and The Chapel of the Fraternity of the Holy Ghost, was

completed around 1244.

This 13th Century building was greatly enlarged in 1524 by Lord Sandys of The Vyne, when he added

the Chapel of the Holy Trinity to the south side of the chancel as a private burial place for the Sandys

family. Both Chapels are now Grade II listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments.

In 1858 the Cemetery was greatly extended into the current footprint to accommodate the growing

population and wealth of the town. Two Gothic chapels were built serving the Episcopalian and

Dissenter mourners, both of which have now been demolished, and the Cemetery Lodge on Chapel

Hill which is now a Grade II listed building.

Several important local figures are buried in the Cemetery including Thomas Burberry, the clothing

manufacturer, Alfred Milward of Milwards Shoes, John Mares, Supplier of polar clothing and

raincoats and John Aidan Liddell, Victoria Cross.

The cemetery was closed for new burials in about 1912 when a cemetery in Worting Road was

opened but is still being used for the internment of ashes.

The History of the Holy Ghost Cemetery and the Chapels

THE CHAPEL OF THE HOLY GHOST: WHY IT WAS BUILT?

When the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, died in 1205, King John became involved in a

dispute with Pope Innocent III that would lead to the king's excommunication.

The Norman kings had traditionally exercised a great deal of power over the church within their

territories. From the 1040s onwards, however, successive popes wanted the church to be governed

from Rome.

King John wanted John de Gray, the Bishop of Norwich and one of his own supporters, to be

appointed Archbishop of Canterbury after the death of Archbishop Walter, but the cathedral chapter

for Canterbury Cathedral favoured Reginald, the chapter's sub-prior. The chapter secretly elected

Reginald and he travelled to Rome to be confirmed.

John forced the Canterbury chapter to change their support to John de Gray, and a messenger was

sent to Rome to inform the papacy of the new decision.

Pope Innocent 111 disavowed both Reginald and John de Gray, and instead appointed his own

candidate, Stephen Langton, who was consecrated in June 1207.

John was incensed about what he perceived as an abrogation of his customary right as monarch to

influence the election. He barred Langton from entering England and seized the lands of the

archbishopric and other papal possessions. The Pope set a commission in place to try to convince

John to change his mind, but to no avail.

Pope Innocent III then placed a Papal Interdict on England which took effect by June 1208,

prohibiting clergy from conducting religious services, with the exception of baptisms for the young,

and confessions and absolutions for the dying.

King John treated the interdict as "the equivalent of a papal declaration of war" and started a fierce

campaign or arrests and seizures against the church.

By 1209 the situation showed no signs of resolution, and the pope threatened to excommunicate

John if he did not acquiesce to Langton's appointment. When this threat failed, the pope

excommunicated the king in November 1209.

By 1213, though, John was increasingly worried about the threat of French invasion and he finally

negotiated terms for a reconciliation. The papal terms for submission were accepted in the presence

of the papal legate, Pandulph, in May 1213 at the Templar Church at Dover.

BASINGSTOKE AND THE LITEN

The result of this interdict was that for six years from 1208 to 1214 the people of the town could not

bury their dead in the churchyard.

Instead, a makeshift un-consecrated burial ground known as the ‘Liten’ was used, on a hill to the

north of the town, which is where the Chapel ruins now stand.

BUILDING A CHAPEL

When the ban was lifted in 1214 the Liten ground was consecrated and a chapel built on it dedicated

to the Holy Ghost. It took 30 years to complete the chapel which gives some idea of the quality of

materials used and the craftsmanship for the time.

The Chapel was run by a Fraternity or Guild of the Holy Ghost to which leading men of the town

would have belonged.

THE CHAPEL OF THE HOLY GHOST

The plan shows that the Chapel consisted of a central rectangular nave with a square tower and

chancel on either side.

The thick brick and flint western wall of the tower is the only part of the chapel which has survived.

The red brick diagonal buttresses were added later.

Today, the outline of the position of the walls of the tower, nave and chancel have been marked out

by tomb slabs. These were taken up from the Liten site between the chapel ruins and the railway

which was cleared of monuments in the 1960s.

We don’t know the size of the original Chapel but it was clearly an important building and in 1309 a

large ordination ceremony was held. The numbers then ordained were 45 first tonsure, 30 acolytes,

24 subdeacons, 20 deacons and 22 priests.

THE GUILD OF THE CHAPEL OF THE HOLY GHOST and the ORIGINS OF QUEEN MARY’S SCHOOL and

the VYNE SCHOOL

The Chapel of the Holy Ghost was supported by a voluntary medieval Guild or Fraternity of local

people who were involved in religious and educational and benevolent work.

The licence or charter granted by Henry VIII [1509 – 1547] on the joint petition of Bishop Fox and

Lord Sandys is dated November, 1525, and recites that the townsfolk, 'out of their devotion to the

third person in the Divinity,' had long before begun and continued the maintenance of a Guild or

fraternity in honour of the Holy Ghost which the king desired to establish on a permanent basis.

Photo credit and copyright: D. Wren

The brethren were accordingly vested with powers to receive and hold gifts of land and other

property, being constituted a corporate body with a common seal, and were empowered to elect an

alderman and two wardens annually for their better government.

This Guild of the Holy Ghost escaped the operation of the Act of 1545 for the suppression of such

institutions, on account of the king's death; but it fell victim to the renewed legislation of Edward VI,

[1547 – 1553] when its properties were sold.

In 1554 the townsfolk petitioned Philip and Mary [1553-1558] for a revival of the Guild and a new

charter of incorporation was granted, wherein, in reviving the fraternity, it was stated that a priest

should be appointed for the celebration of divine service in the chapel and for the instruction and

education of young men and boys within the town.

The Holy Ghost school building itself was a half-timbered structure constructing of one large room

built around the foundation of the western tower of the ancient chapel – the part of the tower

which can still be seen today.

In 1831 there were 12 boys at this Grammar School, of whom those belonging to the town paid 15

shillings and those in the neighbourhood, one pound, one shilling, per quarter. The poet laureate

Thomas Warton and his brother received the early part of their education at this school under their

father, Thomas Warton, B.D, previously Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford and master of

the school.

Queen Mary’s School and the Chapel of the Holy Trinity c. 1750

Photo credit and copyright: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Hampshire Museums and Galleries Trust

During the English Civil War, both the Chapel of the Holy Ghost and the Chapel of the Holy Trinity

were badly damaged by Cromwell and his men who, local legend has it, were reported to have taken

the lead from the Chapel roof to make musket balls for the siege of Old Basing House.

Around the same time there was a fire in the town and the school building was used as a ‘pestilence

house’ where the sick were isolated during an outbreak of the plague.

The Guild came to an end and the Chapels became derelict. Not helped by the activities of the boys

in the school, including one Gilbert White, who admitted to helping blow up part of the Holy Ghost

Chapel. Gilbert White later became famous for his account of ‘The Natural History and Antiquities of

Selborne ‘(1789).

The school expanded and on 29th May 1855 the foundation stone for the ‘new’ Queen Free School

was laid in Worting Road. The School came back to South View in 1940 when the Queen Mary’s

Grammar School opened in Vyne Road and is now the Vyne Community School.

Picture copyright and credit: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Within the grounds of the remains of the base of the tower is a much damaged, headless, early 17th

century effigy which may have been moved there at some time.

The effigy appears to show a civilian man dressed in a gown with long sleeves. It is surely no

coincidence that this was the official dress of an Alderman of the Guild of the Holy Ghost.

The oldest monument in the cemetery

To the east, and in the position of the former chancel of the Holy Ghost, is a tomb slab with the

weathered stone figure of a cross-legged knight.

This is the tomb of William de Brayboeuf, Lord of the manor of Eastrop who died in 1284. William

was a descendent of Geoffrey de Brayboeuf who had arrived with William the Conqueror during the

Norman Conquest.

In 1272 William de Brayboeuf had the custody of Porchester Castle, and was Sheriff of Hampshire in

1279 and 1280. Hackwood Park owes its origin to him; for in the first year of his office as Sheriff he

obtained the King's license to impark "his wood of Hagwood with its timber," which at that time

formed part of the forest of Eversley. In the following year he was summoned, with some others, to

"show his title to free chase of the cat, the hare, and the fox, within the hundred of Basingstoke, and

showed to the satisfaction of the jury that his ancestors had enjoyed the right from time

immemorial, that is to say, from the time of Richard I." William de Brayboeuf was also one of the

circuit judges for the South of England.

This tomb would have been in a canopied niche against the wall of the Holy Ghost Chapel.

The figure apparently wears a long surcoat over chain mail on the left side is a shield which now

defaced, and the left hand appears to be grasping the hilt of a sword; what remains of the legs were

crossed, and an angel or falcon supported the head.

HISTORY OF THE CHAPEL OF THE HOLY TRINITY

In 1520, during the reign of Henry VIII, Lord Sandys of the Vyne, built a new Chapel joined to the

south side of the chancel of the Holy Ghost Chapel. This Chapel of the Holy Trinity was intended to

be a private burial place for his family. The walls were built of brick with a stone dressing on the

nside and outside.

The Chapel of the Holy Trinity originally had a rectangular plan of 4 bays, 3-sided apse and a

hexagonal stair turret at the south-west corner. At the time this Chapel was added, the east end of

the earlier Chapel was altered and both Chapels were given 3 sided apses.

The vaulted roof of the Chapel was richly decorated with painted scenes of the Prophets, Apostles

and the Disciples.

The east wall had 9 large elegant windows which in 1592 were glazed in preparation for a visit by

Queen Elizabeth I.

The Flemish stained glass in these windows was reported to have been magnificent and on a par

with St Mary’s Church Fairford and Canterbury Cathedral.

The glass was removed by the Sandys family to protect it from damage during the Civil War [1640s]

and never returned. Some of this Tudor glass was put into St Michael’s Church in the centre of

Basingstoke but most of it was lost during bombing in 1940.

The chapel at the Vyne has painted glass windows which are said to be from the Chapel of the Holy

Trinity. Small pieces were also used possibly at Mottisfont estate which was the other family home

of the Sandys and in Woolbedding Church in West Sussex. Fragments remain in St Michaels and the

Holy Ghost Catholic Church.

Who was William Sandys?

William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys of the Vyne (1470 – 4 December 1540) was an English Tudor

diplomat, Lord Chamberlain and favourite of King Henry VIII.

William was the son of Sir William Sandys of The Vyne, a Tudor mansion in Sherborne St. John, near

Basingstoke, Hampshire, which the son greatly improved. It now belongs to the National Trust.

As a young man, he gained preferment at Court and was soon associated with Prince Henry, assisting

at his knighthood and the reception of Catherine of Aragon in 1501.

William remained a great friend of Henry when he became king and held a number of minor posts

before becoming Treasurer of Calais in 1517. He was made a Knight of the Garter the following year

and was instrumental in organising the Royal meeting at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520.

He was made Baron Sandys of the Vyne soon afterwards.

William became Lord Chamberlain in 1530 and Henry visited him three times at the Vyne, once with

Anne Boleyn whom Sandys was later to escort to her imprisonment in the Tower.

Sandys later retired from court life and died in Calais on 4 December 1540.

He was buried in the Holy Trinity Chapel which had been built as a burial place for the Sandys family.

All that remains are two slabs with arms and crests. Probably from his parents’ tomb and therefore

not where he was buried.

Sandys married Marjorie Bray, niece and heir of powerful Tudor supporter Sir Reginald Bray.

Sir Reginald Bray served as principal minister to Henry VII for eighteen years and was a principal

negotiator in arranging Henry VII‟s marriage to Elizabeth of York.

When Bray died in 1503 he left enough funds to enable the building of St George’s Chapel at

Windsor Castle to be completed and his executors ensured that this occurred. Bray’s badge of a

hemp brake or bray (a tool used by weavers to crush hemp) was added to many areas of St George’s

Chapel as work was completed – in total it features 175 times, on doors, cornices, vault bosses and

windows.

Picture Credit and Copyright owner: Badge of Sir Reginald Bray as displayed on a boss in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle

Bray symbol of a hemp cutter on the stone carvings on the Holy Trinity Chapel.

The Chapel has deteriorated in recent years and this is particularly clear when comparing the current

structure with photos taken during the 1960s when the gravestones in front of the Chapel were

removed.

What survives are the main part of the south and east walls, and the Tower.

Externally the fine ashlar work has large openings, with 4 central arches containing signs of cusping

at the top of 3 light mullioned windows with thin edge mouldings.

Between the openings are the remains of canopied niches, with octagonal bosses, thin panels above

a plain slender octagonal attached shaft. This design is repeated at the corners of the stair turret,

which is otherwise plain, with some small plain windows beneath hood-moulds.

The south door, beneath a smaller window, has disappeared.

Looking up at the very top of the tower, there is a moulded cornice with a shield or device in the

centre of each face with the badges, arms, crests, the motto and initials of the Sandys family who

were buried there, together with the badge of the Bray family.

These have mostly weathered away, but it is possible to make out some of the original features.

Photo credit and copyright: D. Wren

Picture copyright and credit: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Picture copyright and credit: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

These are two surviving slabs from the 17th century tombs originally earmarked for William Sandys

or his parents. These slabs were made of a kind of slate known as Antoing marble and were brought

from Antwerp in 1536. These slabs were placed in their current position around the end of the 19th

Century. Following recent vandalism, one of these slabs has now been repaired.

The eastern slab has emblems on top. A cross raggulé which is a Sandys emblem and an almost

obliterated winged goat.

The best preserved is a Tudor emblem - a Tudor rose halved, with the sun’s rays coming out from

the centre.

Inside the tower was a staircase, now destroyed, that led to the higher of the two blocked up doors

and to the roof. This originally led to a gallery or roof loft across the west of the chapel. In the

spandrels at the top of the door frame are two shields with badly eroded emblems, one is

unrecognisable but the other is a ragged cross.

At present there a few well preserved headstones in the tower, but at one time there may have

been floors inserted in the structure to enable it to be used as a habitation or for meeting rooms for

the Guild. Indeed there are very faint traces of there being fires inside the building.

Victorian Expansion of the Cemetery

In order to accommodate the growing population in Basingstoke, the Cemetery was greatly

expanded to the current size in 1856.

The cemetery was divided into separate parts for Catholics, Anglicans, non-Conformists and

Quakers, with a mixture of consecrated and unconsecrated ground.

The Burial locations were divided up into sections, separated by footpaths, with each section

assigned a letter of the alphabet from A to M. The Burial Registers were then able to allocate a

burial plot in a specific small section of the cemetery.

A larger image of this General Plan of the Cemetery from 1858 can be viewed HERE.

At that time, the land north of the cemetery was a field belonging to Messrs May and Company, and

the Great Western Railway owned the land north to the east.

The firm of Boulton and Woodman of Reading were given the task of designing a Lodge for the

cemetery gatekeeper on Chapel Hill, a Dead House and two chapels. One for Episcopalians and one

for Dissenters.

Both were in the Victorian Gothic style and were demolished in the 1960s.

Picture copyright and credit: Hampshire Record Office: TOP19/2/94(L)

Picture copyright and credit: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR. Photo from 1878.

Exterior view looking east at the southern cemetery chapel. The building is constructed in stone and flint chequers.

What does remain is the cemetery lodge at the entrance on Chapel Hill – which at the time was the

Aldermaston Road, and the dead house.

The lodge is now a Grade II listed building and still has elaborate iron gates.

The dead house has been boarded up and is now used as a store.

The most well known resident of the cemetery lodge was John Arlott, OBE [ 1914 to 1991] who was

a journalist, poet, author and cricket commentator. Arlott was the son of Nellie Arlott and William

John Arlott, the cemetery superintendent, and spent his early years living in the cemetery lodge.

A blue heritage plaque has now been added to the lodge as part of his memorial.

The 20th Century: First World War

During the 1914 to 1918 campaign, many of the local grand houses and hospitals in the south of

England were turned over to accommodate the war wounded from commonwealth and allied troops

and prisoners of war were had been transferred from France for medical treatment.

As a result there are 21 marked Commonwealth war graves from this time in the cemetery in

addition to one from the 1939 to 1945 war. John Aiden Liddell was awarded the Victoria Cross.

To find out more about the war graves, please visit our Guide to the Commonwealth War Graves.

The 20th Century: Redevelopment

Successive clearances of the burial site during the 20th century has created a dramatically different

landscape from this scene from Victorian Basingstoke.

The Holy Trinity Chapel was extensively cleared in the 1960s when the two memorial chapels were

also demolished at the same time.

Picture copyright and credit: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Picture copyright and credit: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Picture copyright and credit: Mr D Wren

The same view in the 1960s – just before the bulldozers moved in to lift the tombstones and slab

graves.

Picture copyright and credit: Mr D Wren

Picture copyright and credit: Mr D Wren

The Holy Ghost Chapel did not escape either. This picture from the 1960s can be compared to the

current scene.

Picture copyright and credit: Mr D Wren

The 21st Century: A new role

The Holy Ghost Cemetery is now designed as part of Basingstoke and Deane’s open green parks and

community spaces. Ashes may be interred but the main role of the cemetery is now as a green space

in the heart of Basingstoke.