Echoes of the Tudor period (1485-1603) remain to this day across Basingstoke. Manor houses and ruins in and around the town are evidence of this glorious and golden age in British history, which also saw great religious, political and cultural change with the Reformation.

Three generations of Tudor monarchs visited Basingstoke on several occasions. Henry VII, the first Tudor king, brought his eldest son, Arthur, to Dogmersfield Park, east of Basingstoke, to meet his future wife Katherine of Aragon. In 1539, the land was acquired by Henry VIII; in 1547, it was granted to Thomas Wriothesley, who built a house and dovecot on the site.

Wriothesley was the 1st Earl of Southampton and one of Henry VIII’s commissioners. He was instrumental in implementing religious reform during the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1540. Hyde Abbey in Winchester was demolished under Wriothesley’s lead: today, just a small selection of floor tiles remain from this once great religious house in the collections cared for by Hampshire Cultural Trust. The Dissolution of the Monasteries and Reformation were supported and implemented by many of Henry VIII’s most trusted entourage including Wriothesley and William Paulet, a Tudor nobleman with close links to Basingstoke.

William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester, was a resident of one of one of the most well-known Tudor buildings in Basingstoke - Basing House. Situated in Old Basing and now operated by Hampshire Cultural Trust, Basing House was a Tudor palace built in 1535. Like Thomas Wriothesley, Paulet played an important role in the English Reformation. Paulet aligned with the king after England’s break with Rome and for his loyalty, was rewarded properties formerly belonging to the Catholic Church.

A further Basingstoke mansion rich with Tudor history is The Vyne, situated north of the town near Sherborne St John. Henry VIII visited The Vyne three times, with Anne Boleyn accompanying him on one occasion. Now owned by the National Trust, The Vyne was transformed into a Tudor palace in the early 16th century by William Sandys, who became Henry’s Lord Chamberlain in 1526. Sandys greatly enlarged the property in 1524, when he added the Chapel of the Holy Trinity to the earlier Chapel of the Holy Ghost, creating a private burial place for the Sandys family. Both chapels are now Grade II listed buildings and scheduled monuments.

Important Hampshire families such as the Wriothesleys, Sandys and Paulets became the new men of the Reformation and benefited hugely from the gifts bestowed by Henry VIII in Tudor England.