Storming of Basing House

Seeing the video of Winchester's drummers made me think of Basing House in Hampshire England, a place I've spent many happy hours reenacting and visiting. This is ironic in a way as it is a place of a tragedy, where the English Civil War took on some of the dark apocalyptic aspects of the Thirty Years War. Here when the House was stormed after a long and varied siege that reads a little like a Hollywood movie, looting and atrocities took place on a level rarely seen in the English Civil Wars. All manner of incidents took place from chemical warfare, plots to betray the garrison and relief columns tricking their way in under the guise of being Roundheads.
Read warden Alan Turton's piece on the siege for the full story.
Nowadays it is a ruin - having been levelled after the assault but it has become the place to visit for Civil War enthusiasts with lots of interesting stuff to see and enjoy from the museum to the tunnels. Apparently new changes are afoot at Basing and it is closed until the summer of 2010 but the project has a blog with all manner of interesting developments including the recent archaeological finds at the site such as a musket rest top and much more. Image from the excellent Basing House website showing the scale of the building that once was the finest house in England.
Watch an episode of Time Team when they visited the Ruins for a dig.