The re-enactment
of the 1644 Battle of Nantwich is a high spot in the
towns annual calendar. Costumed 17th century
re-enactors seem to take over the town and the day
features a march through the town and a Battle between
Royalist and Parliamentarian forces.
The remains of
the Basing House, once the country's largest private
house and the palace of the powerful courtier William
Paulet, Marquess of Winchester. The earthwork banks and
ditches of an earlier medieval castle still dominate the
ruins. The wealth and power of the Paulet family, their
loyalty to the crown and nearness to London brought
disaster to Basing in the Civil War. After long sieges
and bombardments the House fell to Oliver Cromwell in
person as illustrated in this re-enactment.
