A POTENTIAL Civil War siege campsite was just one of the finds made during a three-week excavation at Basing House.

Around 60 people, including students and staff from the University of Southampton, staff from the University of York, and members of the Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society, attended a three-week digging project at the site, in The Street, Old Basing.

The two universities teamed up to hold the dig which forms part of a degree course at the University of Southampton for archaeology and history students, after getting permission from Hampshire County Council, which owns the historic building.

Basing House was chosen as the venue for this year’s dig as participants from Southampton wanted to find out more about the Tudor phase of the house, which was built in 1535, and what happened to the house during the Civil War.

The house was attacked on three occasions between 1642 and 1645 during the Civil War after the owner of Basing House, the fifth Marquess of Winchester, John Paulet supported King Charles 1.

Participants at the three-week excavation unearthed a haul of interesting finds including window lead and glass tools.

In addition to the excavation at Basing House, a geographical survey was done on nearby Basingstoke Common and the study unearthed evidence to suggest there was a siege campsite used by Parliamentarians during the Civil War.

Nicole Beale, an archaeology student who is currently studying for a Phd, told The Gazette: “It was a very successful season.

“We have had a fantastic experience and it has been very positive for Basing House in terms of extra visitors.

“We feel it has been a very successful season bringing us questions as well as answers, and there are lots of exciting possibilities for next year.

“What we have been doing is looking for evidence of a siege campsite because we know there were four surrounding Basing House, so we have been trying to find out more about where they were and what they look like.”

The group will return to the site next year to see if they can uncover more evidence of the siege campsite.