The skeletons of 4 soldiers who fought in the Battle of Towton during the Wars of the Roses in 1461 have been found. The Battle of Towton is the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil.
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Remains of battle victims found at hall
Rob Waugh
Battle of Towton, 1461
REMAINS of victims of the longest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil have been unearthed beneath the floor of the dining room of Towton Hall in North Yorkshire.
Four skeletons, all of which display evidence of horrendous sword injuries, date from the Battle of Towton in North Yorkshire in 1461, when the Yorkists massacred the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses.
The discovery forms part of a 10-year long investigation into the archaeological evidence of the battle, which cost the lives of about 28,000 men. It was prompted by the unearthing of a mass grave at the hall in 1996, which contained 37 victims.
Towton was the last of a series of battles in the middle of the War of the Roses, when the two sides faced each other in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, March 29. It took place on a plateau between the villages of Towton and Saxton, south of Tadcaster.
The Lancastrians lost the battle with heavy casualties, and as a result Edward IV was crowned King. Richard III later built a small chapel at Towton to commemorate the dead although the whereabouts of the remains of this structure are unknown.
Relatively little was known about the details of the Battle of Towton before 1996, historians and archaeologists relying on what were often confusing contemporary documents.
The Towton Battlefield Archaeological Survey, directed by Tim Sutherland of Bradford University, has re-assessed the evidence by carrying out large-scale investigations across the battlefield.
This has thrown doubt on to some key aspects of what has been recently written about the battle and led to a new interpretation of events that took place over 500 years ago.
The project, the first multi-disciplinary investigation of a medieval battlefield in this country, has also discovered large numbers of arrowheads and further mass graves, leading to an accurate location of the site of the battle.
Further work in the vicinity of Towton Hall has also led to the unearthing of several single graves of combatants. The skeletons found during the most recent excavation, funded by the Royal Armouries in Leeds, could be the remains of high-ranking combatants buried on what was later to become the site of King Richard III's chantry chapel.
The latest evidence and gruesome accounts of the battle and its victims will be presented at a one day conference on Wednesday October 4, beginning at 9.30am, at the Yorkshire Museum in York. Tickets are £19.50.
rob.waugh@ypn.co.uk
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1757088
--------------------------------------------------------
Remains of battle victims found at hall
Rob Waugh
Battle of Towton, 1461
REMAINS of victims of the longest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil have been unearthed beneath the floor of the dining room of Towton Hall in North Yorkshire.
Four skeletons, all of which display evidence of horrendous sword injuries, date from the Battle of Towton in North Yorkshire in 1461, when the Yorkists massacred the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses.
The discovery forms part of a 10-year long investigation into the archaeological evidence of the battle, which cost the lives of about 28,000 men. It was prompted by the unearthing of a mass grave at the hall in 1996, which contained 37 victims.
Towton was the last of a series of battles in the middle of the War of the Roses, when the two sides faced each other in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, March 29. It took place on a plateau between the villages of Towton and Saxton, south of Tadcaster.
The Lancastrians lost the battle with heavy casualties, and as a result Edward IV was crowned King. Richard III later built a small chapel at Towton to commemorate the dead although the whereabouts of the remains of this structure are unknown.
Relatively little was known about the details of the Battle of Towton before 1996, historians and archaeologists relying on what were often confusing contemporary documents.
The Towton Battlefield Archaeological Survey, directed by Tim Sutherland of Bradford University, has re-assessed the evidence by carrying out large-scale investigations across the battlefield.
This has thrown doubt on to some key aspects of what has been recently written about the battle and led to a new interpretation of events that took place over 500 years ago.
The project, the first multi-disciplinary investigation of a medieval battlefield in this country, has also discovered large numbers of arrowheads and further mass graves, leading to an accurate location of the site of the battle.
Further work in the vicinity of Towton Hall has also led to the unearthing of several single graves of combatants. The skeletons found during the most recent excavation, funded by the Royal Armouries in Leeds, could be the remains of high-ranking combatants buried on what was later to become the site of King Richard III's chantry chapel.
The latest evidence and gruesome accounts of the battle and its victims will be presented at a one day conference on Wednesday October 4, beginning at 9.30am, at the Yorkshire Museum in York. Tickets are £19.50.
rob.waugh@ypn.co.uk
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1757088