The Ruins on Chapel Hill & the terrible tale of Mrs Blunden, Basingstoke, Hampshire.
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Just a stone throw from the shopping centre and adjacent to the railway station, the ruins of the Holy Ghost chapels have sat upon their hill overlooking Basingstoke for almost 800 years. What is their history, who built them and why.
Join me in this explore as I take a look at this largely ignored historic site to see what remains beside the obvious and recount the plight of the unfortunate Mrs Blunden.
A wonderful video, thank you! I've lived in Basingstoke my whole life and apart from many times passing through the Holy ghost (drunk) , I've never actually looked at it properly. I will definitely give it a visit. I've a weird obsession with reading graves so all these old ones are perfect!
Thank you. It's a fascinating place at all times of the year.
I have lived in Basingstoke since 1973. It is somewhat tragic that so many historic buildings have been lost to war and dereliction. The biggest tragedy for me is the loss of so many original buildings that made way for that monstrosity now called Festival Place. Who ever allowed that to happen should be pilloried.
Totally agree. Basingstoke was utterly vandalised by the authorities in the 60s to make way for what is rapidly becoming a redundant blot on the landscape. That aside however and the town still has much historical value if you know where to look for it.
Splendid production. Never disappoints.
Thanks David, appreciate your kind comments.
i grew up there .lived in Burgess road in a house my Great grandfather bought ..he worked for the railways and bought lots of houses to rent out along the rail route ..later he gave it to my grandparents and then my parents had it ..and this was our playground ..i remember when the grave stones were still standing before the night they were smashed .but no one heard anything but in the morning they were smashed and broken by a sledge hammer probably .and then turned into the path ..it looks much tidier now than when i was growing up ..we knew about Mrs Blunden ..and i was at school with a girl who's surname was Blunden so might have been related ..we used to look for the tunnel to Basing house ..but never found it :) the tower was full of nesting pigeons when i was a child i the 60's ..there were also some huge concrete blocks on the left of the chapel towards the railway ..used in the war to block roads should the Germans invade ..lovely to see the place again
Hi Simon, thank you for your comments. Apart from being much tidier and the graveyard in front of the chapels being removed, little has changed. Even the huge concrete tank blocks are still there. They may well feature in a future video.
I was born not far away from this wonderful site and spent many times in the grounds over the years. Often used to go through there on the way home from school. We used to think maybe the tunnel was accessed from the railway bridge right at the bottom of the site and, veins kids, risked trying to get in there to see if we could find it.
A location that is hugely thought provoking bought to life by an excellent production.
Thanks. Considering its age it should be looked after a little better by the powers that be.
Great aerial shots!
Thank you
What a hidden gem, i've never heard of Chapel Hill, wow! Great remains of the tower, a fascinating story about Mrs Blunden too so sad to hear that she never got a grave mark and how tragic and scary for her. great to see the crest on the slabs too, interesting details and such a great place for a wander, thank you for sharing :D
Thank you for your kind comments. It is a gem. Even in Basingstoke, everyone knows of it but few visit or know anything about it. For the modern sprawl that Basingstoke has become it's a bastion of history right in the centre.
I sometimes park at the top of the cemetery and walk through to the railway station to go to work. It’s quite spooky at night walking back to the car after my shift, but is such a fascinating place. I never knew about the other chapels, so sad they’ve gone.
Great video, again.
Will you be doing one on the commonwealth war graves?
Thanks. No I have no plans for a war grave film but I do plan to do one on the remains of Basingstoke's World War II remains and evidence of the conflict in the town. I suppose the graves could be incorporated into that.
Poor Mrs. Blunden, what a terrible way to go.
Wasn't it just. Thanks for watching Scott
fantastic bob it's such a peaceful place the holy ghost l think the jewel in basingstoke very sad the 2 chapels went in the 60s they looked amazing looking at the photo's it's alway fascinated me it's rich history l really enjoyed this episode bob thank you for making this.
Thanks Joe. Very Kind comments. It is a peaceful place and one that is well known but pretty much ignored by most.
As always, an outstanding video and thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
Cheers Andy, very Kind
Compared to how the cemetery appeared in the 1970s, the transformation is absolutely astonishing and your film celebrates that achievement splendidly and really does contextualise the site in a way that's almost impossible with any other form of guide. Although using the gravestones as paving may seem somewhat unconscionable to some, their battered remains were a legacy of years of vandalism and neglect and although it won't have done the inscriptions any favours, it was at least a practical solution as to what to do with a large number of already fallen stones. You missed out the war-time defences and a couple of other things, but I think you got the balance perfect, let people discover the rest for themselves!
Thanks for your comments. Very much appreciated. War time defnces missed out on purpose, they are for a future film.
Another fantastic production Bob, very interesting indeed! Some I knew, and much I didn’t! I read Basingstoke Council were fined a very hefty amount for the blundered burial of Mrs Blunden! Thank you again, for a fun and educational video.
Hi Mark, thank you. I learned a lot myself. Yes they were fined but no one was held accountable
There is also a blue plaque mounted on the north east wall of the cemetery to record the events of her burial.
There is also the grave of Mr Soper - Soper Grove etc. Plus the graves of Canadians that died during the war, just behind Mr Liddle.
Hi Chris, yes there are many more graves I could have included, I did consider including the war graves, alas I have to limit content otherwise the film would be endless.