The sun was shining and the sky was blue as we headed to the Bosworth
Battlefield Heritage Centre. We walked
through Ambion Wood where the sun was shining through the trees – it was so lovely.
It wasn’t far at all to the Centre – in fact we almost walked past it
thinking it was a farm! We had a wander
round but didn’t do the exhibition which I now regret though we did have a very
good cup of coffee.
We saw, what looks like, a water trough but it turns out to be a stone
coffin and may be 2000 years old. During
the medieval period, monks and friars used stone coffins, sometimes reused
ones, to bury their important dead. This
coffin was used as a water feature in a large house.
We picked up a leaflet showing us a walk round the battlefield and our
first port of call was the sundial and memorials to both Henry VII and Richard
III.
On the 22nd August 1485 Henry Tudor brought a small rebel army to face
the much larger Royal army of King Richard lll.
The Stanleys, whose loyalty to either side was as yet unknown, were
positioned between the two armies, but to one side. The Earl of Oxford was Henry’s military
commander and he led the main army and attacked King Richard’s right flank,
commanded by the Duke of Norfolk. Eventually, the Earl of Oxford defeated
Norfolk’s army and the Duke himself was killed.
Meanwhile, the Yorkist Earl of Northumberland, standing with a sizeable
army supporting Richard’s left flank, did not move, possibly because of the
marsh in front of him and the Stanleys on his flank. With the battle not going his way, Richard
saw Henry Tudor with only a small force of soldiers on the field. He rallied
his mounted knights and led a mounted charge across the battlefield trying to
kill Henry. At this point Sir William Stanley attacked - on Henry’s side. Richard was surrounded by his enemies, and
lost his horse in the marsh. However, he fought on, vowing to win or die as the
King of England. King Richard was cut
down “in the thickest press of his foes”. Even his enemies describe him as
dying like a valiant prince. His crown
was picked up and given to the Stanleys who unofficially crowned Henry Tudor as
King Henry VII of England at Stoke Golding straight after the battle.
Can you visualise going into battle knowing that one of the armies
could fight either way! Imagine if the Stanleys had decided to support Richard
and not Henry - history would have been very different!
After King Richard III was killed he was taken to Leicester where he
was laid out for public viewing for two days and then quietly buried in the
church of the Franciscan Friary on 25th August 1485. Many people believed that his body was dug up
in 1538 when the Friary was closed down by Henry VIII and that his bones were
thrown into the River Soar. This was
reinforced by sightings of a stone coffin, claiming to be King Richard’s,
outside two different Leicester pubs in the 17th and 18th centuries.
 |
| Memorials to King Richard III and King Henry VII |
Based on the written theories available in 1973 Leicestershire County
Council chose Ambion Hill Farm to be the location for the Country’s first
Battlefield Interpretation Centre to commemorate and tell the story of the bloody
events of 22nd August 1485. Since 1973,
many have expressed doubts about the validity of the site. To mark the 500th
anniversary of the battle, Dr. Colin Richmond published an article in August
1985 claiming that the battle was actually fought elsewhere. Dr. Richmond’s
account was controversial enough to make the front pages of both The Times and
the Guardian newspapers. This was just
when Prince Charles and Princess Diana were due to visit the heritage centre
for the anniversary.
Since the 1780s it was thought that the Battle of Bosworth was fought
on Ambion Hill. In 1985 Colin Richmond
challenged this, using an early 16th century document describing a chapel for
the Bosworth dead at Dadlington to suggest that the Battle was fought on
Dadlington Hill. Further documentary and
landscape reaseach concluded that the Battle was fought on the low-lying ground
to the south and west of Ambion Hill.
From 2005 to 2010 Leicestershire County Council and the Battlefields
Trust undertook a survey to try and find the Battlefield. The results concluded that the most likely
location for the Battle was Dadlington.
Our walk took us to Shenton Station, the end of The Battlefield
Line. We hadn’t timed things very well
and had over an hour to wait for a train and then when it did come it was a
diesel car :-( Apparently they only run
the steam trains at the weekends and on Bank Holidays but it doesn’t say that
on their website. “Locomotive hauled
services may be occasionally substituted for railcar on some days.” When Richard went to speak to the guard
Muffin leapt aboard – he just loves trains.
However, we decided not to go as it is the steam trains we love.
The Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway opened on 1st August 1873. The railway was primarily built to transport
coal from both the North West Leicestershire and South Derbyshire coalfields. The railway also moved livestock to and from
Market Bosworth, bricks and tiles from factories as well as passengers. Timetabled passenger services finished in
1931 apart from special excursions which continued until the early 1960's. The
line closed completely in 1970.
We walked back on the lower path and ended up on the towpath. Our walk took us on the other side of the
canal to Mary H and I managed to get a decentish photo.
We crossed the canal at Sutton Cheney Wharf and stopped and the café
for lunch. I had a fabulous prawn salad.
It was then back to the boat and, as the weather was so nice, we
decided to move on. We stopped at bridge
23 again and I went back to the Spinneybank Farm Shop as the meat I bought
there the other day was amazing. I can
thoroughly recommend a visit to Elaine in her shop.
We finally pulled over just before Hinckley at Bridge 19.
I’ve just worked it out that our visit to the Battle of Bosworth site,
wherever it actually is, was 531 years ago yesterday since the actual Battle!
4.35 miles
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