1  Holy Ghost Chapel

 

2 Plaque

 

 

 

 

This is the west wall and doorway of the 13th century chapel, built after the graveyard came into use and dedicated to the Holy Ghost.  

 

 

 

 

A medieval Guild was established to educate boys, which was dissolved by Edward VI in the reformation and re-founded by Queen Mary in 1551. This stone plaque lists the Names of some of the Masters of the Holy Ghost School; the earliest of 1639.   

 

3 Effigy

 

4 Chapel of the Holy Trinity

 

 

 

 

 

 

This damaged effigy is of the early 17th century and shows a man in a gown with long sleeves, which was the official dress of an Alderman of the Holy Ghost Guild.

 

 

 

 

In 1525 Sir William Sandys (1470-1540) built this chapel as a burial place for his family. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. He lived at The Vyne at Sherborne St John and was Henry VIII’s Lord Chamberlain. 

 

5 The Sandys Tomb slabs

 

6  Robert Cottle

 

       

 

 

These are 2 surviving slabs from the tombs made for William Sandys which were brought from Antwerp The emblems on top include the arms of the Sandys family - the ragged cross is visible.

 

 

             

 

 

 

Robert Cottle (1788-1859) was a stationer, printer, book binder and postmaster in Winchester Street. He was Mayor 5 times, a prominent member of the Mechanics’ Institute and Honorary secretary to the Art Union of London.

7  The Oldest Monument

 

8 The Top of the Tower

 

 

 

This is the tomb of William de Brayboeuf, Lord of the manor of Eastrop who died in 1294.  This would have been in a canopied niche against the wall of the earlier chapel. You can just make out his shield and crossed legs.

 

 

Around the top of the tower are

 some emblems and arms of the Sandys  and Bray families. William Sandys married Marjorie Bray whose family emblem was a hemp-cutter:

 a  bit  like a guillotine for cutting

 paper.

 

9 Sculptured Sign

 

10  WW2 Tank Traps

 

 

 

The Basingstoke Heritage Society commissioned this sign from local sculptor Stephen Towns in 2002 with the help of a grant from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

 

 

These are 12 remaining World War 2 tank traps from the defensive line around the railway – now a part of our history.

 

11 The Quaker Burial Ground

 

12 Burberry Family Vault

 

 

 

  

 

 

The Quaker Burial Ground is notable because the gravestones lie modestly flat and are very plain, with no religious imagery. Buried here are members of the Wallis family and of Charles Steevens. Wallis and Steevens was an engineering company in Station Hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomas Burberry came to Basingstoke in 1856 and opened a draper’s shop. He invented a waterproof fabric called Gabardine which was used for tents and trench-coats. His business expanded and is today a global fashion house

13 Samuel Chandler

 

14 Alfred Milward Family

 

 

       

Samuel Chandler (1812-1885) continued his father’s printing business, then became Managing Clerk to solicitor Joseph Charles Shebbeare in Church Street. When Shebbeare died, Chandler took over his practice and married his widow.

 

 

         

Are you old enough to remember Milwards Shoes? This is the grave of the founder of the company. By the age of 24 he was in Basingstoke making shoes and selling them from a handcart.  His business grew until there were branches all over the south-east of England.

 

15  ‘Anchor’ gravestone

 

16 The Smith and Forder Smith Families

 

 

 

         

 

 

This is a fine example of a Victorian funerary monument. The Anchor was a Christian symbol and does not mean that the person was a sailor! Anne and Thomas Dudney are buried here.

 

 

        

 

 

The Smith family were millers and corn merchants at Basing and Eastrop Mill and two of the brothers founded Smith Bros Ltd, with a granary near Bunnian Place which was became a  venue during the 1960s.

 

17 William Higgs

 

18 Dissenters’ Mortuary Chapel

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

William Higgs came to Basingstoke in the 1880s to be the Secretary and Engineer of the Gas Works.  He and his family lived nearby in Basing Road, but by 1915 they are listed as living in a large house where Hackwood Roundabout is today. He became a JP and a charity trustee

 

 

 

 

 

In the 1850s the Burial Board had 2 chapels built in the cemetery, one for Dissenters and one for Episcopalians. Dissenters were non-Anglicans.  Thomas Hardy thought the ‘new’ chapels were ‘intrusive’! They were both demolished in the 1960s

 

19 The Howat Family

20 The Mussellwhite Family

 

 

          

 

 

 

 

John Howat was a draper from Ayrshire who had a shop in Wote Street in 1871. The family lived in Summerbrook, Essex Road. The monument depicts a grieving classical figure.

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

The Mussellwhite family were well-known local builders in Basingstoke from the 1790s; they built St John’s Church in Newbury and Temple Towers in Richmond Road as well as Lloyds TSB bank in the Market Place, and many private houses.

 

21 Mrs Blunden

 

22 Gilbert White

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

This plaque tells the story of Mrs Blunden, wife

 of a wealthy maltster who was buried alive in

 this graveyard in 1674.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Gilbert White (1720-1793) was the Vicar of Selborne and author of The Natural History of Selborne. He was educated in Basingstoke and played here in the burial ground. He and his friends once tried to blow up part of the ruins!

 

23 Commonwealth War Graves

 

24 John Mares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a total of 22 war graves in this part of the cemetery, all but one from WW1. They are marked on your map as 23,25 and 28. Park Prewett was used as a military hospital during the wars and it is likely that these servicemen died there from their wounds.

 

 

 

 

 

John Mares was a clothing manufacturer with a business in New Street, having begun as an apprentice with Burberry. His company made a mackintosh called the Peltinvain and there is a photo of the Australian cricket team from 1948 wearing his mackintoshes, among them Don Bradman.

 

25 Fladgate Broken Column

 

26 John Aidan Liddell V.C.

 

 

         

 

 

 

 

A broken column signified a life cut short and was a popular style of funerary monument. It could also have a Masonic meaning.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

John Aidan Liddell, a WW1 pilot, was awarded the V.C for saving the life of his observer by flying his plane back to safety, although gravely wounded. He had previously got the Military Cross. He died of his wounds and is remembered in a window in the Holy Ghost Church.

 

27 Kearsey Memorial

 

28 John Burgess Soper

 

 

            

 

 

 

 

This broken column monument is definitely Masonic as it has the square and compass of the order on it. John Kearsey (1822-1881) was a manure merchant with a business in Wote Street and may have been a Master of a Masonic lodge.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

John Burgess Soper was in business as a gun maker, ironmonger and whitesmith in Wote Street. He was a prominent citizen and mayor. He laid out South View and gave his names to both Burgess Road and Soper Grove   

 

29 The May brewing Family

 

30 Episcopalian Chapel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The May family were brewers for several generations. John May (1837-1920)   was mayor 11 times and a huge benefactor to the town. See more about him in the exhibition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the site of the other chapel, for the use of Anglicans.

 

31 Robert Clifford Bassett

 

32 Cemetery Lodge

 

 

          

 

 

 

 

This hard to read gravestone is that of Robert Clifford Bassett, Commodore of the Board of Admiralty steam yacht, HMS Black Eagle, escort to the Royal Yacht. He died age 34 in 1867. Born in Bideford, his address is given as Co. Wexford, Ireland so we wonder why he is buried here?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cemetery lodge dates from 1856 and was designed by Boulton and Woodman of Reading who also provided the 2 mortuary chapels.

33 John Arlott Plaque

 

 

 

          

 

 

 

 

John Arlott, poet, broadcaster and cricket commentator was born here in the lodge in 1914. His father was the cemetery keeper.