The Times informed us today that the real location of the Battle of Bosworth has finally been uncovered.  Today it was revealed that the battle took place “round the back of Alf Oliver’s arable farm, just off the old Roman road from Atherstone to Leicester in a field as featureless as any in England”. The newly identified site is approx. 2 miles from the Bosworth visitor centre on Ambion Hill.  To get there you drive south and west from the visitor centre, passing a farm enterprisingly selling “battlefield beef”.

Glenn Foard, the archaeologist who headed the team searching for the true battlefield site, explained:   “My best guess is that Richard’s last charge came down the Roman road there”, pointing to where occasional cars passed one side of the field. “He is then driven back into the mire and killed somewhere near here.”

Mr Foard also showed a gilt solid silver boar, which was found by Carl Dawson, a retired university lecturer with a metal detector.  Only 1½in (38mm), it is a thing of beauty: a snarling beast rippling with muscle definition and with gilded highlights on its tusks, tail and bristles. As we know, the boar was the emblem of Richard III. Only one similar one is known, in the British Museum.  He went on to point out: “If we were looking for any artefact at all and if there’s any location we might want to find that artefact, then it’s the white boar badge of Richard III next to the marsh. This is almost certainly from a knight in Richard’s retinue, who rode with him to his death on that last charge.”

Following the article are several comments on it.  Two are particularly poignant pointing out how different history would have unfolded had Richard III won the day instead of the usurper Henry Tudor.

So now we know where “on this day [22 August 1485] was our good king Richard piteously slain and murdered to the great heaviness of the city [of York]”.

Loyaulte me Lie.

Note:  read the full article from The Times as well as the comments here. You can watch a video of the site on the BBC website, which also includes a picture of the found boar badge and a map showing the new location.  Thank you to our friends from the American branch for bringing this to our attention.

Tags: Bosworth, Henry Tudor, Richard III

The archaeological investigation of the battlefield of Bosworth has concluded, but the report, which identifies the site, would not be made public until February to prevent treasure hunters looking for spoil doing damage to the site.  The actual site of the battle has been a contentious issue for some years, with three localities suggested as the site – the report is sure to be of interest to Ricardians and also historians and archaeologists.

For more information you can read the full article from the Guardian here.

Tags: Bosworth

Here are further news on the research carried out to establish where exactly the Battle of Bosworth was fought (for our previous article please click here).  

Ben Hoyle of the British Times reports that Glenn Foard, a battlefield archaeologist who has led the investigation into the whereabouts of the fighting, is convinced that he has unearthed the proof.  The interesting bit about this proof is that  Mr Foard’s team has discovered more lead artillery shot at Bosworth than has so far been recovered from all the other 15th-century and 16th-century battlefields in Europe put together.  Abandoned cannonballs and bullets are of special interest to battlefield archaeologists because they are made of lead like the ones at Bosworth and decay far less quickly than iron and steel handweapons.  According to Steve Walton, a specialist in medieval artillery at Pennsylvania State University, the use at Bosworth predates by ten years the earliest hard evidence for cannon used as mobile battlefield weapons, as opposed to on board ships, in garrisons or for long-term sieges. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Artillery, Bosworth, Richard III

On 22 August 1485 King Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth, incidentally the last British king to die in battle.   The controversy over the exact site of the battle has been going on for quite some time.

Traditionally the battle was thought to have taken place at Ambion Hill near Market Bosworth in Leicestershire.  This is where the recently upgraded visitors’ centre stands.

However, as the British Daily Telegraph reported recently it now seems certain that this was not the case.  Tests have ruled out that the battle had taken place on Ambion Hill itself, and also that the stone memorial erected to Richard III half a mile away, on the spot he supposedly fell, is situated on the wrong spot.

Latest research points to a site on low-lying ground between the villages of Shenton, Stoke Golding and Dadlington, as the most likely site.  This was first proposed by the historian Peter Foss in 1990. Another theory puts the battle around eight miles away in Atherstone, where documents show Henry’s army might have camped prior to battle.

Leicestershire County Council was awarded a £1 million Lottery Heritage grant to carry out a survey, the most comprehensive ever carried out on a British battlefield.  The official results will be announced early next year.

Read the full article from the Daily Telegraph here.

In this context the London and Home Counties Branch of the Richard III Society is hosting an open [i.e. open to all Society members able to attend], lecture, by Dr Glenn Foard FSA MISA, University of Leeds and the Battlefield Trust, entitled: ‘Finding Bosworth battlefield – archaeology and the future of battlefield studies’, on Saturday, 24th April, 2010, in the Wolfson and Pollard Rooms, at the IHR, Senate House, Malet Street, London, at 2.00 p.m.

Tags: Bosworth, Richard III

Leicestershire Museums report that the Bosworth Battlefield’s annual re-enactment weekend in August was a great success.

In 2008, 2900 visitors made their way to the Bosworth Battlefield site, which had been a record then.  However for the 2009 event, figures rose by around 82% to 5300 visitors, as people from as far afield as Australia and America turned out to witness the death of Richard III and the birth of the Tudor dynasty.  The War of the Roses thrilled audiences with daring displays of jousting, skills at arms and the finale of King Richard III’s last stand.

For the full article, please click here.

Or you might be interested to have a look at the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre.

Tags: Bosworth, Richard III

An article in a recent issue of the BBC History Magazine deals with a new book by David Hipshot called Richard III and the Death of Chivalry, published by History Press.

For those of you who believe that Henry Tudor had something to do with it, or even the lack of a mount for a suddenly horseless Richard, you might like to think again. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bosworth, Richard III

We shall be remembering Richard’s cruel death at the Battle of Bosworth on August 22, 1485 with a social event.  This year we will be attending the 10am service at All Souls’ Church, Leichhardt   on Sunday August 23.  They are always so welcoming to those Ricardians who do attend their services, that we urge you to make the effort to attend to show our appreciation of their kindness.  Parking in some of the streets nearby is apparently at no cost on Sundays – and their morning teas after the service are delightful.

Please join your fellow Ricardians for the service.  This is, after all, the most significant time in our year!

We will of course go on to have lunch at La Galletta Restaurant at 161 Norton Street when Tony will present his usual delicious menu choices to us for a very reasonable price.

For more information or if you would like to attend, please contact social@richardiii-nsw.org.au.

Tags: Bosworth, NSW Branch, Richard III