HISTORY will come alive this Easter when scores of soldiers descend on Basing House.

Basingstoke residents will be able to step back in time to 1645, when Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army stormed the royalist house.

The house was owned by committed royalist John Paulet, the fifth Marquis of Winchester. Cromwell joined the siege, which lasted for three years, in October 1645, before his forces routed the royalist troops.

The re-enactment will be carried out by volunteers from The Sealed Knot group.

A display of living history will take place at the ruins, in The Street, Old Basing, between 11am and 5pm on Easter Sunday and Monday, April 6.

It will include a felt-making workshop, between 11am and 11.30am.

From 2pm, the armies will march from the Bartons Mill pub, off Bartons Lane, to Basing House, followed by a display of arms on the Basing House battlefield.

The main battle display will begin at 3pm each day, finishing with the storming of the house at about 4pm.

Janet Owen, chief executive officer of Hampshire Cultural Trust, the charity that funds and runs the house, said: “It is absolutely fantastic to work collaboratively with The Sealed Knot for another year.

“The popular event at Basing House, a site steeped in rich history, is set to go off with a bang and we urge the public to come and see the drama unfold for themselves.”