Patron: Robert Hardy Esq.CBE FSA
Issue 15: 2012
OUR OBJECTS
To promote the permanent preservation of the battlefield and other sites associated with the Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471, as sites of historic interest, to the benefit of the public generally. To promote the educational possibilities of the battlefield and associated sites, particularly in relation to medieval history. To promote, for public benefit, research into matters associated with the sites, and to publish the useful results of such research. OUR AIMS
Working with the owners of the many sites associated with the battle of Tewkesbury, the Society will raise public awareness of the events of the battle and promote the sites as an integrated educational resource. We will encourage tourism and leisure activities by advertising, interpretation and presentation in connection with the sites. We will collate research into the battle and encourage further research, making the results publicly available through a variety of media. In pursuing our objects we will work alongside a variety of organisations in Tewkesbury and throughout the world. We will initiate projects and assist with fundraising and managing them as required. We aim to be the Authority on the battle and battle sites.
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CONTENTS
The Arrivall 2 Sir Robert Baynton 3 Blanche Heriot and the Curfew Bell 10 John Leland 11 Trip to the North 13 Holm Castle 14 In Honour and Blood 25 The Arrivall: A Poem 27 Finds 29
i. 1 THE ARRIVALL
2012 has been a year of intense activity on the commemorative statue front. Lots of hard work which is quickly coming to fruition.
It was in the week after the 2011 Medieval Festival that we were finally free to fund-raise, having been given what we hope is the final approval to proceed with the project. From that moment, the project became very real. No longer were we sitting around making plans; now we had to execute them. The timing has been a bit of a problem. Not only were we facing the economic downturn with all the problems that has brought but we also had to compete with the Olympics.
We expected that we’d be able to raise a substantial proportion of the funds through applying for grants. That was a foolish hope. We’ve applied to many funds, some taking hours of work to fill in forms and assemble the requested information. In the event, only the Summerfield Trust and the Gloucestershire Market Towns Forum provided funds. Tewkesbury and Walton Cardiff Parish Councils also contributed.
Our 1471 fraternity has been the single most important source of funds, with many individuals, societies and local businesses contributing what they can afford. The list is very long, and we’re very grateful for all this help. We’ve always thought of the project as being a communal one, and when the pieces are in place, in the not too distant future, we hope that lots of people will see it as their own, rather than something planned for and delivered by a remote and unknown body.
We set up a fund raising group which is working very hard on all sorts of projects. Quiz evenings, ‘poems and pints’, bric-a-brac sales and fetes have been a mainstay. The money comes in in fits and starts, but it adds up to several thousands of pounds.
The ‘in kind’ contributions have also been important and very gratifying as well. Three local companies; Edgewicks Transport, Kenard Engineering and Bredon Scaffolding have contributed a very great deal ‘in kind’, and individually Kenard is our biggest contributor. We wanted to involve local companies, but hadn’t anticipated the level of generosity.
Last, but by no means least, is our video team. Colin Bell is extremely busy recording the project, in all its facets, for posterity, and is meanwhile providing us with a monthly update by way of a ‘You Tube’ video. To see the progress, look for ‘Arrivall1471’ on You Tube. This provides a very real indication that things are progressing, and that they’re very large structures.
i. 2 SIR ROBERT BAYNTON
A trip to Malmsbury revealed a link with a combatant at Tewkesbury, and a well-documented family. This review of four generations illustrates the changes of fortune as the crown changes hands.
The Baynton family, who became Bayntun in the seventeenth century seem to have arrived with the Conqueror, and despite having villages in the North of England and Strathclyde named after them, they had settled in Wiltshire by the fourteenth century.
John Baynton
Sir John Baynton was born in about 1424 at Fallerstone (now Faulston) in Wiltshire. He came into his inheritance at the death of his father in 1447. He married twice, first to Joan Echingham, the eldest daughter of Sir William Echingham and Joan FitzAlan De-Arundel of Etchingham, Sussex. Some years later, Sir John remarried Katherine Payne, the daughter of Thomas Payne of Payneshay, Devonshire and the widow of John Stourton of Preston Plunkett, Somerset. There is confusion and uncertainty about this first marriage to Joan Echingham. Joan's mother died on the 1st September 1404. Even assuming that she died during childbirth, Joan would be at the very least 20 years older than John. Whilst not unknown, it is a cause of comment. Robert Baynton was born in 1439 (when his father was 15 and mother 35). He was the eldest of six children. John Bayntun was appointed Knight of the Shire and M.P. for Wiltshire in 1449 and was also the owner of a property, very likely an Inn, called Le Abbay in Culver Street, Salisbury about this time. A document dated the 20th September 1450, lists John Bayntun, knight; Robert Hungerford, knight, Lord of Hungerford; Robert Hungerford, knight, Lord of Molyns; William Beauchamp, knight, Lord Saint Amand; and others, as Commissioners – appointing them to call together all the King's lieges of whatsoever estate, rank and condition to go with them against the traitors and rebels in Wiltshire and counties adjacent and to arrest and judge the same. He was on many commissions for Wiltshire until his death. He was frequently Commissioner for the peace, and in 1457 and 1458 Commissioner of Array. On the 8th February 1449, he was on a Commission to enquire touching all wards, marriages, etc. in Wiltshire, concealed from the King. Also on the 1st August, he was a Distributor of an Allowance on a Tax in Wiltshire. On the 5th December 1455, Sir John Baynton was appointed a Commissioner to assist the Duke of York put down the Devon Riots. The roll of parliament, of the year 1455, speaks of several riots and murders committed in the west by the Earl i. 3 of Devon and Lord Bonville, who were near neighbours, the former being a Lancastrian, and the latter a Yorkist. Some writers mention a duel which took place that year between these noblemen on Clist Heath: it was rather a combat, for they fought attended by numerous retainers, who engaged in the conflict; and several persons were killed on either side. Sir John Bayntun died on the 20th June 1465 and his wife Katherine married for the third time, in 1468, to William Caren MP 1of Taunton, Steward of Shaftesbury Abbey and Agent for the Duke of Somerset. Three years later, after the Battle of Tewkesbury, William Caren and Sir Robert Baynton, John's son, were charged with high treason, their possessions confiscated by Edward IV. Both attainees were witnessed by local men named John Watts and Robert Browne. This has not been verified, and William Caren MP does not appear in any easily accessed sources. This is potentially someone hitherto unrecognised who fought at Tewkesbury. Research is needed.
Robert Baynton
John Baynton was succeeded by his son Robert , who was born in about 1439, at Fallerstone. At the inquest of this father in 1465 his age was recorded as 26. He married Elizabeth Haute some time around 1459. Elizabeth was the daughter of William Haute, of Waddenhall, Kent, Knight of the Shire for Kent, and his wife Joan Wydeville, who was the daughter of Richard Wydeville of Grafton, Northamptonshire. Elizabeth was a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth Wydeville, the wife of King Edward IV of England, but before that a Lancastrian widow. The Wydeville change of allegiance had no effect on her cousin’s family, though. They remained staunchly Lancastrian. Robert was captured at Tewkesbury, but spared. The Plea Roll outlines Robert Baynton’s capture and conviction ( Michaelmas 19 Edward IV (1479)): Robert Baynton late of Faulston in the County of Wiltshire, knight, Thomas Tresham, late of Sywell in the county of Northampton, knight and John Delves, late of Uttokeshater, in the county of Stafford, with a great number of rebels and traitors, had assembled on the 4th day of May, the eleventh year of the reign of Our Sovereign Lord Edward IV (1471), at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and had there feloniously and traitorously levied war against King Edward IV, their natural liege lord, and royal person, he being there in person with his banner displayed, intending traitorously then and there the final destruction of the said most royal person, it had been declared, ordained, and adjudged by the said kings highness, with the advise of the lords spiritual and temporal and commons in this present parliament assembled and by the
1 William Caren is not among the known combatants at Tewkesbury, nor is it a name easily found. This is an area for some research. i. 4 authority of the same, that the said Robert Baynton, Thomas Tresham and John Delves for their great and heinous treasons and offences as specified by them, committed and done, were convicted and attained of high treason, and by the same authority that the said Robert Baynton, Thomas Tresham and John Delves should forfeit to the said liege lord, the king and his heirs, all castles, manors, demesnes, vills, honours, lands, tenements, rents, services, fee farms, knights’ fees, advowsons, reversions and hereditaments, which the said Robert Baynton, Thomas Tresham and John Delves, or any of them had of estate of inheritance, or any other to their use, on the said 4th May or at any other time afterwards up to the date of the said Act in England, Ireland, Wales, or Calais, or the Marches. Sir Robert appears to have died on 6 th October 1475, though there are no details of this. Sir Robert lost Fauston House and his other estates to the crown, but his wife was allowed the profits of the Manor of Baldon, Witshire, until Robert died, when they were granted to Sir John Cheyne, with most of the rest of the Baynton inheritance. Elizabeth made a formal complaint about this, but the outcome isn’t recorded. Sir John Cheyne himself was attained when he rebelled against Richard III and lost the lands to George Neville. After Bosworth, he recovered them, and on his death in 1485 passed them on in his will.
John Baynton
Robert’s heir, John, was born in 1460, In 1504, which is a long time after the Yorkist overthrow, by an Act of Parliament, he obtained a reversal of his father’s attainder, with a restoration in blood and inheritance and thus recovered the many family manors. How the Cheyne’s were compensated isn’t known. The Act reverses a number of attainders Our Sovereign Lord the King, in consideration of the fact that many different people, some of whom, and some of whose ancestors, were and are attainted of high treason for various offences committed and done by them contrary to their natural duty of allegiance, sue and have sued urgently and diligently in great humility to His Highness, that he might of his mercy and pity have the said attainders reversed, and each of the same persons so attainted restored: that is to say, Humphrey Stafford, son of Humphrey Stafford, esquire, John Baynton, son of Robert Baynton, late of Fallesdon in the county of Wiltshire, Robert Ratclyff, son of John Ratclyff, knight, late Lord Fitzwalter, Thomas Mountford, son and heir of Simon Mountford, knight, Thomas Wyndham, son of John Wyndham, knight, Thomas Tyrell, son of James Tyrell, knight, John Charleton, son of Richard Charleton, knight, Charles Clifford, son and heir of Jane, sister and heir of Thomas Courteney, late i. 5 earl of Devon, John Malory of Litchborough in the county of Northampton, gentleman. The King's Highness, of his especial grace, mercy and pity, being sorry for any such injury and fall of any of his subjects in such a case, is therefore inclined in reason to hear and expedite the said petitioners, were there convenient time and space in this present Parliament, as there is not on account of the great and weighty matters concerning the common weal of this land which have been dealt with in the same, and that the said Parliament is nearly at an end, and afterwards, for the ease of his subjects, his same Highness does not intend to call and summon a new Parliament for a long time, unless for great need and pressing reasons, during which long period of time the said suitors and petitioners would and should be without comfort, and despair of the expedition of their suits, petitions and causes, unless an appropriate remedy were provided for them in this matter. Wherefore and in consideration of the foregoing, the King's Highness has agreed and is content that it be enacted by the assent of the lords spiritual and temporal and of the commons assembled in this present Parliament, and by authority of the same, that the King's Highness shall henceforth, during his lifetime, have full and complete authority and power, by his letters patent under his great seal, to reverse, annul, repeal and make void all the attainders of the said persons and each of them, and of the heirs of each of them, and of all other persons, and of the heirs of such persons and each of them, as have been attainted of high treason by Act of Parliament or by the common law, at any time between the 22nd August, in the first year of his most noble reign [1485], and the first day of this present Parliament, and also of all other persons attainted in and by the present Parliament, and also of all other persons attainted of treason at any time during the reign of King Richard III, both by process and order of the common law, and by authority of Parliament or otherwise. And furthermore the King's Grace, by his letters patent under his said great seal, shall have full authority and power to restore the same persons attainted in this way, and their heirs, and each of them, and to enable them in name, blood and inheritance as if the said attainders, or any of them, had never been had or made; and the said letters patent setting out the said reversal, repeal, annulment and voiding of these said acts of attainder or any of them, and the restitutions and enablements of the said persons or any of them, and the inheritance contained in any of the king's said letters patent to be made at any time hereafter, according to the effect of this Act, shall be as good, effectual and valid in law to each of the same persons to whom they shall be made, after the effect, tenor, purports, grants and words contained in them, according to the effect of this act, as if the same matters, words, tenors and purports contained in any of the said letters patent so made had been fully enacted, decreed and authorised by authority of Parliament. i. 6 John Bayntun inherited a fortune in land and property from his first cousin, thrice removed, Sir Richard Beauchamp; Lord Saint Amand who died without legitimate issue in 1508. This branch of the de la Mare (Delamare), Roche, and Beauchamp families, became merged in the Wiltshire family of Bayntun. Their ancestor, Nicholas Bayntun (1382-1422) of Faulston, had married Joan, the younger daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Roche, and their son Sir John Bayntun (1407-c1447), afterwards married Jane, daughter of Sir Richard Dudley – the granddaughter and eventual heiress of Elizabeth, the elder daughter and co- heiress of Sir John Roche. Therefore the Bayntuns thus became the representatives of both families and the arms of the heiresses of Dudley, Beauchamp, Lord Saint Amand, Roche, de la Mare and Wanton were blazoned as quarterings on the Bayntun shield. John’s fortunes were now closely linked to the Tudors. In 1480, he had married Joan Digges, of Chilham, Kent. They had seven children. The eldest was Edward. His riches in land were considerable, mostly manors in Wiltshire. He died in 1515 and is buried in the church of St Nicholas, Bromham, in a chantry chapel which was originally built for Sir Roger Tocotes, who fought at Tewkesbury. John’s tomb bears the (translated) inscription ‘ Pray for the soul of John Bayntun , Arminger, son and Heir of Robert Bayntun, knight. Kinsman and heir of Richard Beauchamp, Lord St. Amand, who died the last day of October. Anno domini. On whose soul may God have mercy. Amen’.
Edward Baynton
John’s heir was Edward, his eldest son, born in 1480. He took the family to greater heights. In 1502, he married Elizabeth Sulyard, daughter of Sir John Sulyard, Lord Chief Justice of England. His second wife was Isabel Leigh, half- sister of Catherine Howard and a descendant of Edward I. He has six children from his first marriage and three from his second. He was a courtier and a soldier, and like his ancestors, a prominent figure in his native county. His career was that of a royal favourite and he was active at court, on campaign and in local administration, knowing the way the wind was blowing and emerging early and profitably as a champion of religious reform. The History of Parliament website lists his offices: Sheriff, Wiltshire. 1522-3; JP 1523-death. ; commissioner. subsidy 1523, 1524, musters 1539; other commissions 1530-40; Esquire of the body by 1522; Steward, lands of earldom of Warwick, Wiltshire. 1522; Keeper, warren of coneys, Clarendon forest, Wiltshire. 1524-38, Warden after. Jan. 1538; Doorward, Devizes castle, Keeper, Devizes park, Steward, lordships of Marlborough, Rowde and Devizes, Pewsham and Blackmoor forest, Wiltshire. 1526; Steward, Malmesbury Abbey by 1531-5 or later; Keeper, borough of Old Sarum 1531; Warden, Chippenham and Melksham 1534-death. ; Vice Chamberlain to Queens Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr by 1534-death. ; steward, Langley i. 7 Marish and Wyrardisbury, Keeper, Langley Marish park, Buckinghamshire. before. 1538; steward, Bristol 12 Dec. 1542-death At Hampton Court, Sir Edward stood high in favour with King Henry VIII, and had considerable influence. He was Vice-Chamberlain to five of his Queens (Ann Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr). He seems to have been a Queen's Household man for his entire career and was even close to Catherine of Aragon, who was said to be a frequent visitor to his house. King Henry VIII tried to use Sir Edward’s private friendship with Cardinal Pole to bring over the prelate to his Majesty's views, but to no avail. Sir Edward was also a friend of the illustrious Hugh Latimer. The two corresponded frequently on religious subjects. These were turbulent times and the King was confiscating property on a large scale from the monks and friars before selling it off to courtiers, landed gentry and public servants. Sir Edward was in the forefront. He was on the receiving end of some of the King's handouts and accumulated an enormous amount of property while at the Court, becoming one of Wiltshire's greatest landowners. Sir Edward profited enormously from the dissolution of the monasteries. In January 1537 he secured the site of the abbey of Stanley, with 12 manors in Wiltshire, three in Berkshire and one in Somerset, to the annual value of £111. Bromham, which he had previously held of Battle abbey, was granted to him by the King in 1538; he had already built the mansion there, which Leland says was constructed from the ruins of the Queen’s manor house at Corsham, pulled down in Anne Boleyn’s time. In October 1539 the abbot of Malmesbury protested to Cromwell at letters urging him to lease the few remaining demesne lands to Baynton, who was nevertheless given custody of the site and buildings when the abbey was at last surrendered two months later. In the following July its former Manor of Bremhill near Chippenham was also granted to him and his wife, and the same month saw the passing of a private Act (32 Hen. VIII, no. 71) to assure to the Bayntons the enjoyment of their inherited manors of Falston and Market Lavington, Wiltshire, and Chilton Candover, Hampshire. Finally, in January 1541 they were granted three manors in Wiltshire as well as a lease of the manor of Paddington, Middlesex. John Hussee was probably not exaggerating when he told Lady Lisle in 1538 that if she could give 500 marks towards the marriage of her daughter Catherine Basset, she might secure in the Baynton heir a bridegroom who could spend 1,000 marks a year. Baynton was among the gentry of Wiltshire who mustered for the French expedition in 1544. On 8 July he made his will, leaving 2 s. to every man in his retinue if he should die overseas, and on 21 July he was sent to command the other captains at the siege of Boulogne. In October he was reported to be in charge of transporting the sick back to England but he himself may never have returned, for he died on 27 Nov. In his will, he concerned himself chiefly with the division of chattels between his widow and the three sons of his earlier marriage, i. 8 Andrew, Edward and Henry; his estates had already been demised and a number of recent conveyances had included entails for the benefit of his sons by his second wife, Henry the younger and Francis. Other beneficiaries included Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, Robert Keilway, Sir Richard Rich and Archbishop Cranmer. The last three were appointed overseers, while Andrew Baynton and George Harper were named executors. The will was proved on 21 May 1545, but inquisitions were not taken until the following November. Baynton’s widow married Sir James Stumpe. Sir Edward’s eldest son, Andrew, was not as good a steward as his father. He entered into a strange and complicated land exchange with Lord Seymour of Sudley, and lost lands to the King when Seymour was executed. The story is now moving well beyond the fifteenth century, though.
Sources: There is a Baynton Family web site, http://www.bayntun-history.com, which contains a huge amount of information. The History of Parliament (http://www.histparl.ac.uk/) biography of Sir Edward fills some gaps, as does the History of Malmsbury Abbey (Ron Bartholomew; 2010, Malmsbury)
FATAL COLOURS: A TALK
George Goodwin, author of ‘Fatal Colours: Towton 1461’ will be appearing locally soon. He’s giving a talk at Hanley Castle High School (this is next to the excellent Three Kings public house, so a chance for a quick pint of Butcombe’s)
The talk is on Saturday November 10 th at 2.00pm. Tickets are £4.00 from the Worcestershire branch of the Richard III Society. Contact Pat Parminter; 43 Roden Avenue, Kidderminster DY10 2RE (01562 67264)
i. 9 Blanche Heriot and the Curfew Bell
Chertsey shows very little of its medieval past. The Abbey, first burial place of Henry is long gone. There are some little reminders of the past, though. By the bridge, there’s a small bronze, of a maiden and a bell. She is a Chertsey girl, Blanche Heriot. The story it commemorates is from the Wars of the Roses: After the Battle of Barnet, where Edward’s army prevailed, many men fled the field towards London. One of these was Neville Audley, Blanche’s lover, a Lancastrian, who fled home to Chertsey and sought sanctuary in the Abbey. He had spared the life of a prominent Yorkist in the battle and had been give a ring as a token. He was, however, captured by Yorkist soldiers (how they broke sanctuary isn’t recorded) and sentenced to death at the ringing of the curfew. A friend, Herrick Evenden, was dispatched with the ring to King Edward in London to seek a pardon, but he was delayed on his return crossing the Thames at Laleham Ferry. Realising that Neville's life depends on her delaying the curfew, Blanche ran to the bell tower and climbed the old stairs. She crouched down beneath the bell and held onto the clapper. Despite being dashed against the bell and frame, she held on until the sexton (accompanied by soldiers) climbed the tower to investigate. (Anpther version says that the Sexton was deaf, and didn’t realise that the bell wasn’t ringing) Just then, Herrick Evenden arrived with a pardon for Neville. Despite the names and detail, there’s no historical evidence for this event. Other versions put it into different periods of history. There are at least two poems published describing the event and both put it in the Civil Wars, with Cromwell passing through the town, as well as a play set in the Wars of the Roses.
The Curfew Bell has survived, and is now the fifth bell in the ring of eight at the parish church, St. Peter's, Chertsey. It was cast circa 1310 and re-cast circa 1380 following damage when the tower and crossing of Chertsey Abbey collapsed. The casting was carried out by Wokingham founders who were linked to the Abbey. On the Dissolution of Chertsey Abbey in July 1537, it was moved to the parish church. It bears the motto "Ora mente pia pro nobis, Virgo Maria" . (pray for us with a virtuous mind, Virgin Mary)
The curfew is still rung from Michaelmas (29th September) to Lady Day (25th March) at 8pm Monday-Friday. The history of the Curfew in Chertsey may date back to 1235 when a fire in the town spread to and damaged part of the Abbey. The Normans had brought the idea to England as a means of discouraging dissent and reducing the risk of fire at night, and Abbot John de Rutherwyk had a bell made in 1310. Until a few years ago Chertsey's ringers were paid £3 a year by Runnymede Borough Council to ring the curfew. i. 10 John Leland
Though he was not born until 32 years after the battle, John Leland is responsible for some of the most important source information about the event. It is he who copied the writings of the monks, including Princeps Henrici 6. filius venit cum exercitu ad Theokesbyri, et intravit campum nomine Gastum . (Prince Edward, the son of Henry VI entered into a field named 'Gastum' at Tewkesbury) and 'Nomina occisorum in bello Gastiensi prope Theokesbyri ((....in the battle of 'Gastum' near Tewkesbury). These words link the battle to Gaston, or nowadays the Gastons. John Leland himself was an interesting man. A man with a mission which has made him the father of modern local history studies. Born in London in about 1503, he was orphaned but fortunate in his guardian, Thomas Myles, a man who understood the importance of learning. He was tutored by William Lillye, and moved with him to St Paul’s school in 1509, on its foundation (Lillye was the first headmaster). He went on to Christ’s College, Cambridge, followed by two years at All Souls, Oxford, where he continued his studies of Greek and Latin, but also learned Welsh and Anglo-Saxon. After spending a little time as tutor to the son of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, he moved to Paris, apparently on a royal scholarship. As well as furthering his studies he became a noted poet, in Latin. One of his patrons was Thomas Wolsey, who made him rector of Laverstock, the first of his many benefices. In 1529, John returned from France, abandoning his plan to study in Italy. He took holy orders and became chaplain to King Henry, during very dangerous times. Wolsey was forgotten, and he courted Cromwell. He became the King’s librarian and in 1533, the year of the Ann Boleyn’s coronation, he described himself as the ‘King’s Antiquary’ when he gained a commission to ‘ search after England’s antiquities and peruse the libraries of all cathedrals, abbeys, priories, colleges, etc. as also all places wherein records, writings and secrets of antiquity were reposited ’. His mission was essentially to seek out evidence that in days of yore the English Crown owed no duty to the Pope in matters of faith. The legal imperative was in the Act of Restraint of Appeals to Rome. The need for justification was to be sought in ancient manuscripts which demonstrated that ‘England had always been an Empire exempt from the authority of other foreign prelates’. The authority of King Arthur himself was cited, and Glastonbury Abbey was an obvious potential source of proof. Leland set about his task with a gusto, driven not by a protestant zeal but rather a love of books. He visited a great many libraries, encountering a very mixed reception. He sometimes ‘borrowed’ books, and recorded very many which have now been entirely lost. Leland eventually wrote ‘De Viris Illustribus’ a comprehensive biographical history of British writers and books from the notes he had taken.
i. 11 In 1536 the First Suppression Act commanded the dissolution of the lesser monasteries. Leland was concerned about the wholesale destruction of libraries. He complained to Thomas Cromwell that: ‘The Germans perceive our desidousness, and do send daily young scholars hither that spoileth [books], and cutteth them out of libraries, returning home and putting them abroad as monuments of their own country.’ The fiercely protestant churchman John Bale later observed on the fate of the learning of England: ‘A great number of them which purchased those superstitious mansions, reserved of those library books some to serve their jakes, some to scour their candlesticks, and some to rub their boots. Some they sold to the grocers and soap sellers, and some they sent overseas to the bookbinders, not in small number, but at times whole ships full to the wondering of foreign nations.’ In 1537 Leland abruptly changed his mission. He stopped his recording of the libraries and instead started his ‘Itineraries’. The reason may have been that he was avoiding controversy and keeping out of harm’s way. This seems to have been his character. His records of the places he visited and the things he saw are a totally unique record of the Kingdom in the middle of the sixteenth century which has become the rock upon which local history studies have been founded. His visit to Tewkesbury resulted in a long and detailed description of local features as well as, unusually, a complete transcription of the book ‘ Ex libello de antiquitate Theokesbiriensis Monasterii ’ which he acquired whilst in the town. He has thrown light on the battle as well as Holm Castle and many other natural and man-made features around T. Leland set out his progress, with his plans to develop his project, in a letter to King Henry. In 1549, John Bale published this, with his own additions, as ‘ The laboryouse journey & serche of Johan Leylande for Englandes antiquitees’. In 1543 another career change saw him as a prebendary at Christ Church Oxford. Here he embarked on his ‘De Viris Illustribus’. His health suffered, though, and in 1547, the year of Henry’s death, he ‘fell into insanity. Five years later, in 1552, he died. He was buried at St Michael le Querne, a church which burned down in the great fire of 1666. King Edward VI arranged for Leland's library to be placed in the custody of Sir John Cheke, scholar and statesman. John Bale consulted some of them at this time. Having been Lady Jane Grey’s Secretary of State, Cheke was thrown into the Tower by Queen Mary, subsequently moving to Strasbourg. His library was broken up and acquired by collectors. Leland's own notebooks were inherited by Cheke's son, Henry, and in 1576 they were borrowed and transcribed by John Stow. Many of the notebooks have found their way to the Bodleian Library. i. 12 TRIPS TO THE NORTH
Palm Sunday is a movable feast. The nerds among us know that it’s always on the Sunday before the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This was thrashed out at the Synod of Whitby. The anniversary commemorations for the Battle of Towton therefore swing between late March and late April according to the vagaries of the moon. 2011 was a big year, 550 years since what is said to be the biggest battle on British soil. Tewkesbury were invited to the party, and a small group made their way north, stopping to view the prospect from Sandel Castle on the way. The weekend was about as late as Palm Sunday could get, and the weather as different as it possibly could be from 1461. We spent the day in the barn behind Towton Hall, renewing acquaintanceships with many old friends and meeting many new ones. Our Patron, shared with Towton, recited the words at memorial ceremony. The visitors came in droves, and we were amazed at how many knew about Tewkesbury and its festival. This year Palm Sunday was on All Fools Day. Somewhat earlier, and we made our way North prepared for blizzards. Again, though, the north was bathed in sunshine. We arrived at the barn in the evening, and even sunny days in early spring have cool evenings. The barn was not the warmest place to socialize, ut the Rockingham Arms had re-opened, and busy. We stayed in Sherburn in Elmet, a town older than it looks. It used to have a castle, the northern base of King Athelstan, a point of interest because our last outing was to Malmesbury, his southern base. The Red Bear is also highly recommended as a proper pub. Sunday started early with setting out our stall. We were in good company again, sharing space with many who we’ll see later in the marquee at Tewkesbury. Despite the warm sunshine, the temperature in the barn took a long time to rise above shivering, but we had a steady stream of interested people. Interest was the operative word, and whilst our displays of the battle attracted interest and lots of people talked to us about the battle, the town and the Medieval Festival, our hopes of raising lots of money for the ‘Arrivall’ sculpture were probably a bit optimistic. Every little helps, though, and sales of merchandise meant that we added something to the bank balance. The Towton battlefield is a world away from Tewkesbury. Being almost undeveloped (except for by huge tractors) it’s far easier to appreciate the scale of the event. Towton Battlefield Society has been very active in awareness raising. They’ve developed a walk through part of the site, with some excellent interpretation panels. It was a very pleasant walk, and huge numbers of people were enjoying it. Awareness of history is certainly being raised by this annual event, which is on a different scale altogether than when we first visited, more than ten years ago. i. 13 HOLM CASTLE
Holme Castle only became significant to the study of the battle when Lt. Col. J D Blythe suggested that it may have been the site of the Lancastrian lines in a paper published in the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Transactions in 1961. This account is taken from a handbook and guide to Tewkesbury, published by North (Tewkesbury) in the first decade of the twentieth century. The conclusions drawn are remarkably similar to those of today, which have the benefit of much site investigation on Holm Hill.
Mention of the Castle by Early Writers.
The noble families who in early Norman days held the lordship and estates of Tewkesbury had a residence here which is known in local history as ‘Holme Castle’ and as time with its changes has effectually wiped out all traces of the building, much enquiry and research have been bestowed with a view to the elucidation of its actual site and form. No remains and few written records relating to the place being available, much difficulty has been experienced at arriving at a satisfactory conclusion by those who have interested themselves in the research. But enough is found in the old monkish chronicles, and in Leland the antiquary’s particulars of what he saw and learned of the place on his visit to Tewkesbury, with other references by later writers, to assure us that till the 14th century a home of considerable importance was maintained here by those who had the earldom of Gloucester, which included the honor of Tewkesbury. Thus, much interest has been evinced to know more of this old baronial residence.
The Palace of Oddo and Doddo
By accepting as authentic this traditional story 2 which tells of the lordship being in hands of two Mercian dukes Oddo and Doddo, there are grounds for believing these nobles to have had an establishment of magnitude near here in the 8 th century, which may have formed the nucleus upon which, four centuries later, the present magnificent Abbey Church, and the great Monastery to which it pertained, were upraised. The record is ignored, even the very existence of the persons named is criticised as a travesty of actual history, but as a matter of fact nearly every atom of information we possess relating to local affairs in Saxon days is subject to like severe disputation. If these Monastic chronicles be set aside as travesties we at once find ourselves adrift on a sea of speculation with scarcely a single landmark to guide us, so effectively has Time and Nature worked together in the unceasing lines of change and decay.
What Leland saw of the Site and Remains.
2 This story of the Saxon lordship of Oddo and Doddo is no longer accepted as authentic, so the argument presented here isn’t one which would be made today. i. 14
From what the Monastery records say we turn to the pages of Leland’s Itinerary. The writer, John Leland, being a person devoted to antiquarian study, and of great learning and ability, was in 1553 (which was only 6 years before the surrender and dissolution of the Tewkesbury Monastery) appointed to the posts of chaplain and librarian to Henry VIII. He received the title of King’s Antiquary, and therewith a commission to examine all the libraries in the kingdom. For six years he travelled through England and Wales, compiling notices of the towns, castles, and religious houses, catalogues of libraries and extracts from the books they contained, with miscellaneous topographical and historical memoranda. Six more years he spent in the task of arranging the mass of material he had accumulated. Leland visited Tewkesbury, and the following particulars relating to Holme Castle—of which evidently even then but few vestiges remained—are taken from an edition of the Itinerary published in the year 1745 :- Tewkesbury standith in laeva ripa Avonae a good flite Shot above the Confluence of Avon and Severne. There is a greate Bridge of Stone at the Northe Ende of the Towne, and there a little above the bridge Avon brekith into 2 Arms. Yet the Bridge is so large that both cum under it. The Right Arm commeth into Severne within a flite Shot of the bridge, and at the Pointe of this Arm is the Town Key for Shippes called Picardes. The other Arm commeth down by the Side of the Towne and the Abbey, leaving it on the Este, and so passing hard there by Holme Castelle goith into Severne. There is a little Broke called Suliet coming down from Cleve, and enterith into Avon at Holme Castelle by the lifte Ripe of it. There was at the South West End of the Abbey a Castel called Holme. The time of the Building of it is uncertain. It is certain that the Clares, Erles of Gloucester, and especially the red Erle, lay much at Holme. There hath been in time of mind sum Parts of the Castel standing. Now sum Ruins of the Bottoms of Walls appear. Now it is called Holme Hill. There is a Parke betwixt the old Plot of Holme Castelle and it, but it belonged to Holme the Earls of Gloucesters House, and not to Derehurste. There is a fair Manor Place of timber and stone in this Theokesbyri Parke, where the Lord Edward Spensar lay, and late my Lady Mary. The Manor Place in Theokesbyri Parke with the Parke was let by Henry the 7, to the abbot of Theokesbyri yn Fee Ferme with the Holme where the Castel was.
These mentions of the Castle by Leland are very clear in the information given. He was at Tewkesbury just before the Monastery ( which was surrendered on the 9th of January, 1539 ) came to an end, and therefore had the opportunity of securing a much more definite knowledge of the place than was possible for anyone who followed him to obtain after the Abbot and Monks who were his guides had been dispersed, and the chronicles of local doings and changes which for centuries had been kept by the brotherhood of the Abbey had been lost or destroyed in the pillage and demolition which ensued on the King’s agents getting possession of the belongings of the Monastery. i. 15 Local Homes of the Lords of the De Clare and Despenser Families
In the absence of any evidence to refute the records in Leland’s Itinerary , they may be received as furnishing reliable grounds on which to form satisfactory conclusions with respect both as to the site of ‘Holme Castle’ and of the ‘fair Maner Place’ which was raised after it had been destroyed or gone to decay, and formed the local residence of some members of the Despenser family to whom the Castle passed, with the lordship, after the death of the last male De Clare, at the battle of Bannockburn. This was in 1314, and there appears to be good reason for believing that the Castle continued without its size and importance being in any way impaired when, in 1321, it passed into the hands of the unfortunate Hugh le Despenser the younger by his marriage with Eleanor De Clare. After holding the exalted position of lord chamberlain and chief favourite of Edward II., for awhile, this lord, together with his aged father, the Earl of Winchester, was accused of seducing the King and oppressing the State, and, without trial, he was drawn on a hurdle through the streets of Hereford, and hanged on a gallows fifty feet high, the remains being afterwards beheaded, quartered and distributed to various towns to be publicly exposed, in accordance with the degrading custom of that day. About 1337, his eldest son, Hugh le Despenser (the third), on the death of his mother, succeeded her in the inheritance of the Tewkesbury and Hanley Castle estates, and some other portions of his father’s former possessions, but at this time the dignity and value of the Tewkesbury lordship was much curtailed through being separated from the honor of Gloucester.
What may have led to the Demolition of the Castle
The history of the period about which Holme Castle is thought to have been dismantled and the eventual razing of it been determined on, suggests its destruction as a possible outcome of a bitterness of feeling on the part of Edward II’s. queen towards the Despensers and others who had in any way crossed her own wishes or those of Roger Mortimer. So that after getting Hugh Despenser put beyond the power of further interference with their intrigue against the King, she had most of the property which represented the position of power he had done away with, and Holme Castle fell with the rest, as no mention of it as a residence of those who held the lordship of Tewkesbury occurs after 1326.
The Castle may have proved too Costly a Possession
In considering the exigencies that may have led to the ultimate vacation and decay of the Castle the possibility suggests itself that on the separation of the Earldom of Gloucester from the Lordship of Tewkesbury, the maintenance of so large an establishment here was neither necessary nor convenient; the old house was deserted and taken down, and portions of the material of which it was composed used in the erection of a new place of residence suited to the more i. 16 modest requirements of those members of the Despenser family who continued a home at Tewkesbury. This may have been the ‘fair Maner Place’ mentioned by Leland, as seen by him in Tewkesbury Park, and which possibly stood on the site of the present beautiful mansion of Mr. J. S. Sargeaunt. That nearly the whole of the fabric which stood above-ground was removed seems clear by the fact that although the building stood on the area on which in 1471, the decisive struggle took place between the armies of Queen Margaret and Edward IV., no mention of the place is made by either of the early writers who are accepted as authorities on the Battle of Tewkesbury. Had any important part of the old Castle then remained it could not fail to have been taken advantage of for a defensive stand by some of the fugitive Lancastrians who were so mercilessly hewn down. Therefore the assumption seems fully justified that but very little remained of Holme Castle at the expiration of a century-and- a-half after Hugh Despenser met his tragic end.
The “Magnificent House” of Earl Robert
Certain records speak of an earlier Tewkesbury home of the Lords of Tewkesbury than Holme Castle, which one chronicler ( whose reference to it is given below ) describes as ‘the magnificent house of Robert, earl of Gloucester.’ This may have been a place erected by Fitz-Hamon, and formed the local residence of himself and family, as the noble Abbey he founded here testifies to their deep attachment to the town. By the marriage of Robert, earl of Gloucester (natural son of Henry I.) with Mabel, eldest daughter and heiress of Fitz-Hamon, the possessions came into his hands, and the family house in Tewkesbury became his home. He is credited amongst other generous acts of kindness with having entertained the Abbot and twelve monks of the Tewkesbury Monastery at dinner with him every Sunday.
The “Magnificent House” Burnt—Lively doings in Olden Days
The death of Henry I. took place on Dec 1st, 1153, and on the 26th of the same month—in defiance of what appeared to many to be the superior claims of Matilda ( or Maud, as she is often called ), eldest surviving child of Henry I.—the crown was conferred on Stephen. Thereupon ensued a prolonged fierce struggle for supremacy between the adherents of the respective sides. Earl Robert led the cause of his half-sister, Matilda, and from this we may imagine Tewkesbury was much concerned in the issue from the first. That the town shared in the devastation which continued with unabated fury for the next half-dozen years is seen in the following ‘narrative of a monk who was an eye witness’ of the proceedings it details : The Earl of Worcester and his forces being away at the time, Worcester was attacked by the citizens of Gloucester, pillaged, and partly burnt. The Earl of Worcester, upon his return, seeing how the city and its inhabitants had been served, gave himself up to reprisals. The first object of his vengeance was John Fitz-Harold, of Sudeley who had deserted the King and gone over to Earl Robert. i. 17 Having appropriated everything of value amongst Fitz-Harold’s belongings, and destroyed Sudeley, he shortly afterwards came to Tewkesbury. What happened here is thus stated in the monk’s story: ‘The earl, mindful of the injuries his citizens had received, with a great multitude of armed men set upon Tewkesbury, and burnt the magnificent house of Robert, earl of Gloucester, and all things round about, with the houses of others and their goods within a mile of that city; he spared only the goods of the church of Tewkesbury, being overcome with the importunity of the abbot and friars. The spoils taken were great, as well of men as of goods and beasts; but after awhile such as were led captive were unbound, and had liberty to go home. The earl, next day, when he returned to Worcester, proclaimed to all men that he, neither in Normandy nor England, had burnt more palaces and houses at one time.’
Condition of England at the time Earl Robert’s House was Destroyed
The visit to Tewkesbury of Worcester’s vengeful Earl occurred shortly after Christmas, 1139, and the absence of Earl Robert and his chieftains from the defence of their own strongholds, may be accounted for by the fact that just previously the Empress Matilda had landed in England with Earl Robert and a small retinue of knights; open war had broken out between the two parties, and a terrible state of anarchy prevailed for awhile all over the kingdom. On all sides the castles of the nobility had become receptacles of licensed robbers, who, sallying forth day and night, committed spoil on the open country, on the villages, and even on the cities; put the captives to torture in order to make them reveal their treasures; sold their persons into slavery; and set fire to the houses after they had pillaged them of everything valuable. The land was left untilled; the implements of husbandry were destroyed or abandoned; and a grievous famine, the natural result of those disorders affected equally both parties, and reduced the spoilers as well as the defenceless people, to the most extreme want and indigence. This terrible state of affairs had lasted about two years, when Stephen was captured by Earl Robert and thrown into prison at Gloucester. Matilda’s claim to the throne was recognized, but her unfitness for a ruler in such turbulent times soon became apparent. In the same year, Earl Robert fell into the hands of the enemy, and then came an exchange of prisoners, by which both he and Stephen regained their liberty. The civil war was again kindled with greater fury than ever, and continued several years. On October 31st, 1147, Earl Robert died, his wife surviving him only four years.
Probable time of erection of Holme Castle
The circumstances here detailed make it the reverse of probable that Earl Robert attempted the reconstruction of his Tewkesbury home, nor do we find any mention whatever to lead to the conclusion that the next lord, William Fitz- Count, either lived here or in any way intimately connected himself with the town. But Prince John, who followed, appears to have been frequently here after he became king, and by erecting a substantial bridge across the two arms of the i. 18 river Avon ( which he is accredited with by Leland and others as having done ) conferred what must at the time have been a favour of inestimable value on the town and neighbourhood. This suggests that John became familiar with Tewkesbury and its urgent needs during the ten years he held the lordship, and although there is no evidence to certify the point, to Prince John may be accredited the erection of Holme Castle. This idea is strongly supported by the record that in the course of the year in which he ascended the throne he resided some time at the castle at Tewkesbury, which, soon after he became king he turned over with his wife Isabella or Hawissa whom he had divorced, and the honor and estates of the lordship, to Geoffrey Mandeville, earl of Essex, whom - on condition of his relieving him of all responsibility in regard thereto - King John created fourth earl of Gloucester.
The Castle at its best
Holme Castle, in its accommodation and arrangements, had probably assumed quite palatial proportions again at this time. Indeed so much local tradition associates itself with the days and doings of King John as to lead to the belief that the building was re-erected in a manner suited to the requirements of a princely home in his day there. From the Chronicles of Jocelind de Brakelond, Monk of Si. Edmundsbury, it would appear that King John must have kept his court at Tewkesbury for a considerable time in the year 1200, for certain knights of Bury Saint Edmunds were there summoned to attend and be sworn before the king at Tewkesbury, in a suit between Sampson, abbot of Edmundsbury, and Thomas de Burgh, the brother of the king’s chamberlain, who had obtained ( by payment of five hundred marks to the archbishop of Canterbury ), the wardship of the only daughter of Adam de Cokefield, a wealthy knight, the possession of whose estates was the subject of dispute between the guardian of his heiress and the abbot.
The Castle in the hands of the De Clares
With the succession of the De Clares (in 1221) the Tewkesbury Castle again became a favourite residence of its lords during life, and the Abbey—which enjoyed their munificent patronage for within about ten years of a century—the final resting-place of themselves and their families after death. The frequent mention of this family in local history of the period between 1221, when the first De Clares succeeded, and 1314, when the career of the last male De Clare connected with the lordship was cut short at the battle of Bannockburn, proves them to have been very intimately mixed up with local affairs.
Christmas-time Entertainment at the Castle
Richard de Clare—the second lord of the De Clare line—succeeded when he was only eight years old. In accordance with requirements that prevailed at the time, the estates passed into the king’s hands during the minority of the new earl, who i. 19 thus became a ward of the sovereign, and Holme Castle a centre of interest to the Royal family. The maintenance of the Castle on a scale of great splendour would thus have been encouraged and it is noted in the Abbey Register that during Christmas of the year 1230, the brotherhood from its Monastery were sumptuously entertained at the Castle, and with the guests present on the occasion were sixty knights.
King Henry III. And Queen Eleanor visit the De Clares
In May, 1233, the Castle received no less distinguished a visitor than King Henry III. In 1236, his consort, Queen Eleanor, also came hither, and from the chronicle it seems that the call was chiefly purposed to allow him an opportunity of assisting in an endeavour to secure the wealthy young earl as husband for Maud de Lacy, daughter of the Earl of Lincoln, who had agreed to contribute 7000 marks—equal to about 70,000 pounds of today—to the king’s coffers if the match was satisfactorily concluded. The desired result was soon arrived at after the queen’s visit to Holme Castle, and the union of Richard de Clare with the Earl of Lincoln’s daughter was consummated early in the year 1237. Shortly after his marriage the Earl left Tewkesbury for the Crusades; and was absent several years, but when he returned Holme Castle again became his home, and there, in 1250, he made knights of William de Wilton and Peter Boteler.
Last of the de-Clares
Gilbert de Clare, who was a man of note and is known in history as the Red Earl, was associated with Simon de Montfort. He appears to have been one of those medieval nobles, as Mr. Blunt writes ‘could not get on without much fighting, and who made occasions for their favourite pastime when they were not ready to hand.’ With so turbulent a disposition he may not have spent much of his time at Tewkesbury but the Castle was continued as the family home, and here the eldest son, Gilbert, was born in 1290. The Red Earl died at Monmouth Castle on December 7 th , 1295, when his son and heir was but five years old. The career of this last earl was only short, as he fell at Bannockburn, when only 23 years of age, but during its brief course he acquired great distinction, having, in 1311, been made Keeper of England, and two years afterwards, appointed Regent during the absence of Edward II. in France. He had married Maud, daughter of the Earl of Ulster, and to them a son was born, who died young. There being no male heir the honor and estates were divided among his three sisters, and to Eleanor (the eldest) passed the portion which included the Tewkesbury inheritance. This was in 1315, and at the time Holme Castle was probably in the greatest state of splendour it ever attained. Six years afterwards (in 1321) Eleanor De Clare became the wife of Hugh le Despenser, whose untimely end , at Hereford (in 1325), has previously been mentioned, and most likely the demolition of his family’s home at Tewkesbury followed at the instigation of the vengeful Queen Eleanor. i. 20
Where the Castle stood
It is easy to understand that as all traces of Holme Castle have disappeared, much curiosity should exist among those interested in local archeology as to the site of a place so intimately associated with Tewkesbury’s early history. Leland’s records of what he saw of the ‘bottoms of some walls’ of the building on the Holme Hill, clearly point to the place having occupied the rising ground running from where the Union House stands to the upland meadows that still bear the name of the ‘First and Second Vineyards’. The area is opposite the ‘South-West Ende of the Abbay’ and so exactly agrees not only with Leland’s but with other early references to the Castle, that it may be accepted as accurately determining the question of the situation of the building. Until quite recent times but little interest was shown in regard to the place—at least there is no existing evidence of its having done—and it was not till a time contemporary with the beginning and progress of the earliest stages of the restoration on the Abbey Church that local archeology, and the former existence of a Norman Castle here, engaged any particular attention. The restoration movement dates from 1864, and in the course of the interval between that year and September, 1879, when the re- beautified church was formally re-opened and re-dedicated, the Society of Antiquaries and other principal organizations devoted to the study of architectural and old-time associations, paid Tewkesbury and the district a visit; these visits encouraged local concern in the town’s past history and were the means of effecting much that was of interest.
A Different Opinion on the Site
Prominent amongst many whose latent interest in local antecedents was about the time mentioned stirred-up was a Mr. Henry Spurrier who, as a native of the town had for a long period evinced much concern in its affairs. With good literary capabilities he discussed in a paper the question of the situation of Holme Castle, advancing and ably supporting his contention that it stood on a meadow about a quarter of a mile eastward of Holme Hill, and known as ‘The Moats’, or ‘The Wynyard Moats’ He appears to have been induced to this conclusion by the existence in the field of an apparently ridged off portion enclosing an area sufficient to have formed the site of a large erection, and this a well taught mind and vivid imagination cleverly and interestingly pictured as the remains of a moat that surrounded the Castle, and was connected with the Swilgate Brook. But this piece of the meadow land, judging by the state of it now at flood times and after periods of prolonged rain, must formerly have been for several months in each year covered with water, the subsoil being a damp clay very retentive of moisture. This fact in itself is enough to negative any supposition of its having formed the position selected for a lordly home. Drainage pipes were also laid over the spot in 1889 without a trace in any direction of the soil having been before disturbed. i. 21 What were “The Wynyard Moats?”
It does not appear as though the oft inundated piece of meadow land, “ The Wynyard Moats ,“ had engaged any particular public attention—except having notoriety amongst the young folk of the town as an early skating field in winter time—till Mr. Spurrrier’s endeavour to give it historic fame. This, however, raised curiosity to have the mounded off portions accounted for. It was till the dissolution a part of the Monastery within near touch of the monk’s larders, and being easily kept fully supplied with river water, enquiry soon found support for the suggestion of its having once been the fish ponds which formed the storage places for the fish kept on hand to make up any deficiency in what was supplied from the rivers. For in those days as now there were times when the yield of fish from the Severn and Avon was very small of the finer kinds required.
The Fish Ponds of the Monastery
The late Mr. Allard, surgeon, of Tewkesbury (who died in 1891), during a residence of half-a-century in the town, gave much attention to local associations of the past, and it is to be regretted that he left so little written record behind of the result of many enquiries in which he became deeply interested. If, however, happily chanced that he did give us the benefit of his opinion on the question of Holme Castle, in letter addressed The Tewkesbury Register , in 1888. He wrote in reply to an article that had appeared in a county paper : “The Charter of 17th of Elizabeth, in defining the boundaries of the Borough says ‘ And further by the King’s highway to a place called the Hermitage at the end of a bridge called Holme Bridge’. Are not Holme Hill and Holme Bridge very near to where Swilgate enters into Avon ? How much greater were the opportunities of Leland, who saw the ruined walls—of Dyde, who may have seen the vestiges thereof, and of Bennett, who was writing his History of Tewkesbury when the excavations were made in 1820, of arriving at the truth as to the site than we can possibly have now… …There may be authority for the elaborate details of the Castle and its surroundings which are given in the new site. The meadow which has been selected as such was called the of the ‘ formerly Monastic lands of the Benedictine Abbey .‘ In trying to arrive at a conclusion of what these ‘moats’ may have been, extensive reservoirs for storing fish which the Abbey had independently of the supply of our luxurious streams, as proved by the items in the Kitchener’s account in the 14th century, which appear under the costs of the Wear ( the dam or head of the Fishponds, and consist of iron-work, carpenter’s work, labour in mending the walls, wages and gratuities to servants of the Wear, purchase of fish for stocking, ‘ Coat given to Walter there ‘ &c. &c.”
i. 22 References by the Local Historians Dyde and Bennett
The evidence of Leland, referred to by Mr. Allard, has already been given: that of Mr. Dyde, and Mr. Bennett—both local historians—to which he refers, is as follows: Dyde writing in 1798 says: “There are no remains of Holme Castle now extant. The period of its destruction labours under the same unfortunate predicament with the building. But we may be assured it was an early structure. The name imports it to have been of Saxon origin. It is not improbable that it was devastated with other castles and buildings by the exasperated and rebellious barons before or after the attainder of Hugh le Despenser the younger, who was possessed of the lordship of Tewkesbury”. Bennett, writing between 1826 and 1829, says “Holme Castle stood near the top of a field now called ‘The Vineyard’ where recently a considerable excavation re-mained, which had evidently been made for the purpose of procuring the stone which had been used in the foundations of the building—probably for repairing the adjoining turnpike road. Upon levelling some of the hillocks, in 1826, a quantity of rubbish and mortar, many painted bricks and stones were discovered; the appearance of the latter clearly demonstrating that the edifice of which they had formed a part of had been destroyed by fire. ‘ The Vineyard’ has by some been considered the spot where Queen Margaret entrenched her army in 1471; it was perhaps the scene of some bloodshed towards he close of the battle; but independently of the fact that the Queen’s encampment was at Gupshill, the form and extent of the mounds on the two lower sides of the field, which had principally been the means of giving rise to the idea, would rather have led to the conclusion that they were the sites of the boundary walls of the castle. In corroboration of this notion, when one of those shelving banks was cut through in 1821, for the purpose of making a drain, hewn stones of a great size and thickness, strongly cemented with lime, sand, and gravel, were found at the depth of five or six feet from the surface. Before the field was levelled, one might, indeed, in imagination, have traced out in ‘ The Vineyard ‘ not only the ground plan of Holme Castle, but also the extent of the whole area included within its bounds, as well of the situation of many subordinate members of that once celebrated baronial residence”
An Old Man’s Memory of the Vestiges removed in 1826
Nearly sixty years had elapsed since the work recorded by Mr. Bennett was carried out, when the writer visited the ‘ Vineyard ‘ in company with an aged native of the town who was then one of the occupants of the Gander Lane Almshouses. Being an intelligent man with a clear memory of most of the local doings that had engaged public interest since his boyhood he was able to call to mind the rough state of most parts of the field before the labour of levelling and planting the trees now seen there was undertaken, Whilst he knew nothing of “ Holme Castle “ by its proper name, he had in his early years been told that a grand building had once stood in the field, and he also well remembered “ a lot i. 23 of stone rubble being dug up and removed,“ and which he had been told at the time were portions of the great place that once stood on the spot. Asked to point out the part of the field where this ‘stone and rubble’ (as he called it)was dug up, he indicated a place on the brow of the rising ground, some 60 yards or so to the right of the field pathway, and about midway between the boudary hedge of the cemetery at the top, and that of the brookside meadow at the bottom. The interview with the old Tewkesburian occurred in 1884, and shortly afterwards the field and also the one next it, known as the “Second Vineyards, “ were opened in various directions for laying draining pipes and in the higher part of each field it was found that on the slopes towards what is now a Cemetery most of the ground had at some former time been disturbed. The old man’s recital, and also the experience of those engaged upon the drainage work, alike go to verify the conclusion that an extensive home of those who held the lordship of Tewkesbury during the period from the days of King John to those of the last of the Despensers covered most portions of the beautiful pasture field. now known as the “ First Vineyards.”
More Levelling Work on the site of the Castle
By these “ levellings “ the historic field is now seen with all the traces removed of the deep indentation its economic owners of days gone by disfigured it with in delving for the foundation stones of the old Castle wherewith to repair the roadways. It was part of the lands once belonging to Tewkesbury Abbey which were sold by auction in 1883 as the “ Abbey House Estate.” The whole of the property offered at this sale was purchased on behalf of the Abbey Restoration Committee, with a view to the Ancient Gateway, the Abbey House, and the land immediately adjoining thereto again becoming property under the control of the Church. The portions not required to effect this object were resold, and Mr. Thomas collins (whose memory is so honourably associated with all movements for the preservation of local antiquities), purchased the “ First Vineyards,“ and soon afterwards proceeded with the filling up of great depressions that existed in the lower part of the field. the work was well completed and with it may be said to have disappeared the last trace of the boundary walls of Holme Castle. There is no early record to suggest that any of the nobles who held the lordship of Tewkesbury had a home here before Norman days. The Cotton MSS., make mention of two apocryphal personages, the dukes Odo and Dodo having had a palace at Deerhurst, which, of their piety, they converted into a church. Mr. Spurrier assumes the existence of a castle of its lords at Tewkesbury in Saxon times, but the only grounds on which his conclusion was founded appeared to be the existence of the shallow banks in the ‘Wynyard Moats’. Though their purpose of old cannot now be determined, these banks have apparently been maintained, possibly with a view of keeping off the lesser floods from the Swilgate brook, which being the natural drainage channel of a great area of land in the direction of the hilly country towards the Cotswolds, is very subject to overflow the lower lying land adjacent to it after heavy rain. i. 24 Yorkists and Lancastrians – In Honour and Blood
The Richard III Foundation Conference
Having made our debut appearance at last year’s Richard III Foundation Conference at Market Bosworth last year, we knew we were in for an entertaining and thought-provoking day’s presentations and this year’s line-up of speakers promised to be particularly insightful. Topics included the military career and armies in the Wars of the Roses, by Professor Anne Curry (sadly pressed for time with a plane to catch but an excellent scene setter for the day), Professor Matthew Strickland on Warfare in mid 15 th Century France and Burgundy, Peter Algar on the Clifford family, Michael Miller on the first Lancastrian King and John Sadler closing the day with a swift review of the Anglo-Scottish War of 1482. I could not begin to summarise what each had to say; indeed, such was the intensity of the day that my little non-academic brain was registering ‘full’ long before the close – this was truly sipping from a fire hose of knowledge.
Nonetheless, three presentations stood out for me in their blend of practical application and sheer fascination for those of us still feeling our way through the forest of medieval history. Dr Tim Sutherland’s presentation on the recovery and interpretation of cannons, arrowheads and mass graves from Towton provided a spellbinding insight into the process of exhuming and analysing the bodies of those buried within a day or so of the bloodiest battle ever fought on British soil – and working against a fantastically tight timescale and with pre-digital technology. The images of the Towton soldiers are familiar, but the level of detail and Dr Tim’s ability to explain the complex in a way accessible to the novice was quite breathtaking. Likewise, Mark Stretton had set out to explore and prove the power and effectiveness of the Warbow in battle by the simple expedient of trying it against the nearest thing to the human body – a recently slaughtered pig. His series of experiments took us a long way to answering those questions that the 21 st century bowman cannot help asking: which arrowheads are most effective against flesh and armour? Could a bowman really maintain the rate of shot often quoted and still achieve any element of accuracy? And how does all this work when your opponent is coming towards you at 20 mph and probably not in a straight line? Strapping an armoured porcine carcass to an adapted ride-on lawnmower with remote control steering may conjure up a slightly bizarre image, but what other way to emulate a French cavalry charge of i. 25 the 15 th century? The practical was backed up by sound science and some fascinating possibilities – could Hotspur’s arrow injury at Shrewsbury in fact have been caused by the remains of the shaft entering his helmet as the arrow destroyed itself against his armour? Practice at the local butts will take on a new dimension for me now.
Our shared patron, Robert Hardy, added a note of drama and poignancy to the proceedings with his rendition of ‘A Towton Tale’ by the late John Davey, marking the 550 th anniversary of the Battle earlier this year. We are truly fortunate that an actor and historian of his standing is prepared to give so freely of his time and talent in support of battlefield heritage groups. In all, this was an excellent day out in the pleasant surroundings of the old grammar school in an ancient market town. Plenty to exercise the mind and the chance to renew acquaintances with our colleagues not only from the Foundation but also from our sister Battlefield Society in Towton. Strongly recommended for next year, particularly as our own Chairman will be speaking!
Note that the 2012 conference entitled ‘ Richard III Man and Monarch’ will be held on 13 th October 2012, at the Dixie Grammar School, Market Bosworth. Topics are:
• Chivalry and the Wars of the Roses: Dr Craig Taylor • ‘From Aswhellthorpe to Bosworth; A Yorkist soldier: Dr John Alban • Tewkesbury; Interpreting the Evidence?: Steve Goodchild • The Charter of Richard III: David Baldwin • The Road to Bosworth: Mike Ingram • Military Effigies in the Yorkist age: Mark Downing • The Princes; Contemporary assumptions: Dr David Hipshon
Further information from [email protected]
The Medieval parish and the Parish Church
The Simon de Montfort Society has a study day at the Cotswold Conference Centre on Saturday 6 th October.
Costs are £45 for non-members; £40 for Battlefields Trust members.
Information from Paul Jenkins; [email protected] or 01386 561426 i. 26 THE ARRIVALL: A POEM
This poem was written by Penelope Tubbs, to evoke the commemorative sculpture which is currently taking shape. She read it at a ‘Poems and Pints’ evening.
Angry rising roar as the chainsaw vibrates into life Cleaving the still Spring morning of the forest. Teeth rip and wrench away the sapwood Revealing the English heartwood beneath.
Angry rising roar as opposing armies face each other. Commands and shouts as the Battles face across dike and ditch. Cleaving the Spring May morning; white rose and red. English hearts beat beneath padded jacks and mail
Thin blue chainsaw smoke sullies the air As blades reveal the artist's vision of the mounts. Two horses cleft from green English oak Stand as monument to those who died.
Thin blue smoke of sparse cooking fires Die down; smoulder, as Lancaster and York Face each other in grim battle array. Cut and thrust for supremacy on fields of fear.
Chainsaw blades whirl, glint and carve; splinters fly The form of horse limbs starts to be uncovered Monument to those forgotten names that fought here. Sturdy English oak to stand proud to those who died.
Blades whirl and glint and carve; clash of steel Crash of forged iron on shield and plate. Horses ride down from high vantage point Disrupt the attack, lay waste the troops.
Oaks that have grown for centuries, now felled Become this cenotaph to the bloody dead Once the hum of insects and birds filled the air of forests Where these proud trees grew and flourished, each in their time.
i. 27 The hum and murmur of the arrows; thick insect flight Darken the sky as volley after volley fly. Goose feathers fly now in deadly flight, Arrows pierce steel plate and horses' flanks.
The scream of the chainsaw sounds shrill and strident Making out of dead wood something that will live on Two horses; one of victory, one defeat to mark that war. And all the wars from then to now, countless dead.
Ora pro nobis goes up the cry, Pray for us. Some who come to fight will not return to hearth and kin. Those who fight, nameless, unrecorded, die in Bloody Meadow There are bloody meadows too on Afghan soil and in Iraq
The oak limbs gleam pale in the sun, newly carved Shoulder, flank, sinew, bone carved in heartwood. The scream of the chainsaw stills into silence. Those new-minted limbs will stand and mellow in the turning seasons.
The screams of the battle still into silence. Screams of men and horses Who gave lives on the fields of Tewkesbury, the Somme, Afghanistan. Those more than five hundred seasons have seen oaks grow and flourish Renewal, life, love, conflict echo down the ages. Ora pro Nobis.
Vision of the artist pares away the deadwood Reveals the hopes and fears of those who fought here. Reveals the splendour, colour-- and the full folly of war. Those horses stand as monument. Ora pro nobis.
FOOD
In the Civil War, soldiers were supposed to be provided with two pounds of bread, one pound of meat and two pints of beer every day. If we assume that a cow would provide maybe 500lb of meat, then to provide for a Wars of the Roses army of 6,000 would need twelve cows a day. Or forty pigs or deer. Or sixty sheep. Forgetting the bread or beer, which would be very difficult to procure on the march, even if there were provisioning arrangements, the food would not be available to requisition except in places like Bristol or Gloucester. Meat, and at this time of the year it would be young animals taken from the fields, to the great disadvantage of their owners, who would not be able to replace them, even if they were paid, and would likely go hungry in the winter.
i. 28 FINDS
Compared with Towton, and now Bosworth, Tewkesbury is very poor in finds related to the battle. Its urban location and the amount of disturbance means that discoveries like those at Bosworth are now not going to happen.
In the last ‘Slap’ we reported the horse pendant with the Duke of Bar’s arms, which is a strong candidate for the very short list of battle-related finds. Now we have another. The link is very circumstantial, but tantalising.
The item is the hilt of a fifteenth century hand-and-a-half sword. It is broken off near the quillion, in a way which looks very likely to have been caused in use. It was found somewhere on the banks of the Severn near Deerhurst. This isn’t near any military stronghold or even on a route to anywhere, except the old road along the bank between Gloucester and Tewkesbury and a minor ferry crossing across the river.
Whilst there are lots of other possible explanations, but just why would a high quality sword end up broken in the river? That it was broken during a desperate hand-to-hand struggle between a Lancastrian fleeing the battle and a pursuing Yorkist who caught him before he could cross the river to comparative safety is a perfectly plausible explanation. The truth can never be known.
i. 29
The Battlefield Society committee is:
Steve Goodchild Chairman Ruth Howgate Brian Howgate Treasurer Andrew Lawrence Banner sub-Committee Clive Montellier Secretary Peter Williams Bernie Willoughby Amanda Thomas Angie Pope Geoff Pope
The Committee meets as required to discuss the ongoing business of the Society. Regular open meetings and events are held, and these are advertised either in the newsletter or by mailshot to Society members.
Membership is open to all with an interest in preserving and enhancing our medieval heritage. Full membership is £5.00 per annum, family membership £7.50 and overseas membership £10. Details can be obtained from the Membership Secretary; 44 Gould Drive, Northway, Tewkesbury, GL20 8RL
The Society has a presence on the Internet at http://www.tewkesbury.org/
The Society newsletter is published irregularly. A news sheet is produced more regularly.
The Society is indebted to ex Councillor Connors for the name of its newsletter
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