The village of Basing lies in the upper Loddon Valley a mile and a half east of Basingstoke on the south bank of the river, which rises some four miles to the east, near Worting, and here runs in a flat and marshy channel. At either end of the village is a mill, the Lower Mill at the west end and Old Basing Mill at the east, near the church. A third mill mentioned in Domesday does not now exist. The ground rises gently southwards, the road running through the village along the base of the slope, and at the east end of the village is higher ground on which the church stands. At the south-west, about 500 yards from the church, are the earthworks marking the site of Basing House, and commanding at the same time the road and the approach to the bridge over the Loddon. In early days, when the river probably ran through a wider belt of marshy ground than at present, the position must have been one of great strategic importance, and in fact it continued to be so down to the time of the destruction of the house in the Civil Wars. Its strength is also witnessed to by the fact that it resisted attack after attack by the soldiers of the Parliament, and was only taken at length when the Royalist power was broken, and Cromwell himself could give all his energies to its reduction.

The excavations of 1907 were begun on 29th April, much earlier than usual, and were continued till the beginning of October, under the direction of Messrs. Ashby, Hudd, and H. L. Jones (assisted by Mr. F. King and Mr. F. G. Newton, as architects). The whole of the work has been carried out upon land belonging to Viscount Tredegar, F.S.A., President of the Caerwent Exploration Fund, to whom the warmest thanks of the Committee are again due.

The history of the foundation and building of the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick is contained (or rather was contained) in certain documents which were formerly amongst the municipal archives, but which (as I have been informed by the town clerk) are supposed to have perished in the great fire of Warwick in 1694. Fortunately full extracts from these documents are given in Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire. Hence we learn that the chapel, which almost immediately adjoins the south side of the chancel of St. Mary's church, was founded and dedicated in honour of Our Lady in pursuance of the will of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who died in 1439. The earl was a man of almost European fame in his day, of great and varied achievement, and of vast wealth. His daughter Anne, who ultimately became the heiress of his only son, was the wife of Richard Neville, who also became Earl of Warwick and is well known in English history as the King-maker.