The parish church of St. Mary is a grade one listed building steeped in history. The building was originally built of 'Hampshire diamond' flints, but rebuildings have largely replaced this with local Tudor brickwork. The earliest mention of a church in Old Basing was in 1077. The original wooden church was rebuilt in stone in 1089 but the oldest structural features of the present building date from the early 12th century. Such was the destruction heaped upon St Mary's by the puritan troops of Cromwell that only the statue of the Virgin Mary remained intact.
Tradition says it was hidden by a covering of ivy.
The Friends of St Mary's helps to maintain and refine St. Mary's Church. Oliver's Battery This spot, in the centre of Old Basing between the Village Hall and the Recreation Ground is the site of a Norman castle and is now protected as an ancient monument. River Loddon The Loddon with its floodplains and water meadows provides a tranquil reminder of the parish history. The river was almost certainly a reason for the first settlers deciding this was a place to live, and was used for watercress beds, which still survive in the village. The River Loddon rises at West Ham Farm, Basingstoke and is fed by springs that come from the upper chalk aquifer.