OUR AIMS

U/orking u/ith the owners of the manij sites associated u/ith the Battle of Teu/kesburif. the Socretq aim to raise public A BIT OF A au/areness of the events of the battle and promote the sites as an integrated educational resource.

U/e aim to encourage tourism and leisure activitq bq SLAP advertising, interpretation and presentation in connection u/ith the sites. U/e aim also to collate research into the battle, and to encourage further research, making the results available to the public through a varietu, of media.

(n pursuing our objects, u/e hope to be working alongside a varietq of organisations, in Teu/kesburq and throughout the u/orld. U/e u/ill be proposing schemes and advocating projects, including fundraising for them and project managing if appropriate.

U/e aim to become the Authority on the battle and battlesfte

OUR OBJECTS To promote the permanent preservation of the battlefield and other sites associated u/ith the Battle of Teu/kesburq, 1471, as sites of historic interest, to the benefit of the public generaHq. To promote the educational and tourism possibilities of the ntw&Cttter vftfit battlefield and associated sites, particularity in relation to medieval historq. To promote, for public benefit, research into matters associated u/ith the sites, and to publish the useful results of such research. ISSUC 10: 2005 Free to members, otheru/ise £2.00 The First Word

I have to confess that I was beginning to think that this edition of the 'Slap' First Word 2 would never appear in print. I hope that it was worth waiting for, and that there is at least a little in it of interest. Some of the stories are now a little Plaque l/nveiling 3 elderly, but this is a history society, so does it matter? Holm Hill, development threat 4 Inevitably, in putting together this publication, there has to be a certain For Sale 6 amount of thinking and navel gazing. Foremost among the thoughts are those about readership, if anyone bothers; relevance, if anything is interesting; Nicholas Harpsfield 7 and the point of it all. Our reader's letters page is never full, and there isn't a lot of sparkling debate about the matters of the day (May 41471). The The Statues 8 Committee meet regularly to debate the issues which seem important, agree to the Society's presence at local events, to 'fly the flag', and approve a ForSaIeCpart2) 9 small programme of Society outings. Inevitably, the manning of the Society Mummers do Giostra 1O stall falls to the same small group again and again, and the outings attract the same little group, who invariably enjoy the experience. Public talks were Mysteries of Medieval London 11 a feature of the calendar, but these didn't attract more than a handful of people, and the range of topics is limited, if they are not to stray into the The Battle of Fulford 12 territories which the Tewkesbury Historical Society and the Civic Society have staked out as their own. The Curse of Lord Wenlock 14 We have a small but loyal membership, half of whom live so far from The Curse of Saint Edmund 14 Tewkesbury that the events programme is an irrelevance. The subscription The fallen mighty 15 isn't large, and despite the spasmodic nature of communications ft isn't bad value for money. People don't judge their association with organisations such The Final eclipse of the Lancastrians 17 as this in the same way as they would look at a ticket to a concert or the price of a pint, though, and I guess that if we surveyed the membership (God Mitred Abbots 19 forbid) we would probably find that the principle motive for membership was akin to insurance; the Battlefield has once been threatened, and a support Poetry Comer 2O network is needed in case it happens again. With luck, there is also a feeling of wanting to be associated with the Tewkesbury Battlefield, and indirectly 1971: The fall of the Red Rose of Tewkesbury 21 with the events which are also associated, the battle re-enactment being the Calendar of Patent Rolls 24 chief among them. The Bosworth survey 26 This isn't a rant, or a moan about life. All organisations have the same profile. Most members are there to show their support, and happy to leave Sir John Fastolf 28 the active bits to a few. Most members are probably the active components of other organisations, and have no time to do more. And that seems to be A Couple of Castles 3O all there is to say about the subject. Subscriptions buy a Battlefield Walk programme 2OO6 32 monitoring service, irregular newsletters and journals such as this containing what we hope is information worth having and articles worth reacting, the Book reviews 33 opportunity to join in Society activities both supporting the Society's objectives and simply for enjoyment, access to the knowledge of other members, and (for the seriously canny) a £5 discount on membership of the Battlefields Trust, which effectively makes the membership free! A Bit of a Slop No. 10 A Bit of a Slop No. 10 2 We'd appreciate more help, but it isn't a condition of membership. However, Here we go again— if this editorial strikes a chord with any members who would like to play a more active part in Society activities, we would love to hear from you. One Once more, there is a threat of development hanging over the part of the always fears that the Committee will be viewed as an exclusive cabal who so battlefield. enjoy each other's company that they dont want anyone else to join in with and a very detailed report events. Enjoy each other's company we certainly do, but there is always In 1975, the Borough Council built published ( and new offices at Holm Hill. This hill room for new faces, so please don't be shy. Nor is a deep grounding in Archaeological had long been believed to be the medieval history a qualification for participation; a successful Society needs Society Transactions, Vol CV, site of the manor house of the de a wide range of backgrounds and skills - and historians are notoriously in 1997). The archaeologist, Alan need of organising by those with a more practical bent! Clare Earls of , Hannan, said: abandoned following the death of Gilbert de Clare at Bannockburn, The eventual outcome, a and the transfer of the manor to precipitate salvage investigation in 1971 PLftQUE UNUEIUNC the Despencers, who built a new early 1975, reflected the approach house on what is now Tewkesbury prevalent nationally and locally to Park. archaeological management at the time. ..A decision by the council to John Leyland described the ruins proceed with construction was of 'Holm Castle': followed within several weeks by A little above the bridge Avon the implementation of the building breaketh into two arms... the right contract. Construction was arm cometh into Severn within a preceded by the landscaping of flight shot of the bridge ....The the hill with bulldozer and box other arm cometh down by the scraper. At the beginning of the side of the town and abbey construction period investigation leaving it to the east, and so and recording were carried out passing there hard by Holm Castle with the aid of a JOB and ditching goeth into Severn'. He also says bucket, in the last stage features that the location is dose to where exposed during the repeated the Swilgate enters the Avon, and sweeps of a box scraper were There has been in time of mind recorded Within the area of the hill some parts of the castle standing. partly excavated in 1974, as well Now some ruins of the bottoms of as immediately around it, all the walls appear. Now it is called archaeological remains were We came across this picture recently, which dates from the five hundredth Holm Hill'. destroyed by April 1975 anniversary celebrations, and shows a new 'plaque' being fixed to the Lincoln Green Lane fence of the Bloody Meadow. Who the people are has not There can be no real dispute This state of affairs led the been researched, so any clues would be welcome. about the location of the 'castle', Borough Council to claim that as though John Bennett described it they had destroyed the site of the The plaque looks new, but it must be replacing an earlier one, as I am sure as being on the Vineyards, which battle (They were then proposing that there are photographs predating this showing a similar plaque. led to the erection of the very the 'Byrne' version, based around misleading plaque at that location. Holm Hill) there was really little point in protecting the Gastons, This particular one has disappeared. It went sometime in the eighties, Before the Council offices were presumably removed by the Borough Council. Does anyone know? which may or may not have been built, there was an archaeological pivotal in the battle. investigation of the site. It was far from satisfactory, although a large Tewkesbury Borough Council now number of artefacts were found, have new plans, and look as if A Bit of a Slap No. 10 A Bit of a Slop No. 10 they intend to inflict collateral In appraising the Holm Hill site, the destruction of the manor, and damage on what remains of Holm consultants say: almost certainly predated the Hill in pursuing them. The Society has a whole range of This site lies outside the battle. If this is so, it is 'goodies' available for sale, which There seem to be two strands. conservation area but within the inconceivable that the would all make very good The first is that they want to area of the registered battlefield - Lancastrians would not have used mementoes or presents. 'downsize' their offices, and so are the main site constraint The such a structure, safely behind keen on finding an alternative use building and design would have to their lines and with a panoramic BADGES for the site. The second is the be designed so as to ensure view of the battlefield. Margaret published plans for redeveloping minimum impact on the openness herself may have watched from We have a range of badges, key the town centre, which requires of the battlefield and on setting of here. rings and fridge magnets with the Society's logo, the sculpture the removal of the town's the conservation area with The Council's plans will be swimming pool from its present particular consideration also being graphic or a whole range of watched carefully. We cannot badges or coats of arms of battle site. Ironically, the pool was given to the impact on views of the accept that any development at all opened by the Queen in 1971, in Abbey Tower. participants. These are available will enhance the battlefield. This is at £1.00, except keyrings which the 500th anniversary year. The Development requires English a wholly spurious argument. The are £1.50 resultant, and obviously attractive Heritage approval. land contours would be further plan, is to link these two things Archaeological deposits may also destroyed, as would any remaining CDs together. Unfortunately, this be present and require a ore- vestiges of archaeology. The We have a few of our CDs of 21 involves development on the battle application evaluation. A building views of and from the hill would be years of the medieval fair available field. would have to be designed so as compromised and the hill would be at £3.00. These contain hundreds to not impact on the further urbanised. None of this There is an ominous statement in of images, including a complete townscape/views. There may also would enhance the battlefield, and the consultant report: set of posters and a wide range of be some service constraints, as elsewhere, such as around the Dick Clark's excellent studies of During the study period, a further certain oil and water pipelines, edges of the Battle Estate, there is re-enactors and the re- suggestion - to demolish the electrical cables and sewer mains plenty of evidence of landscape enactments. existing Council offices building may need to 'built around' or degradation following urban (within the next 18-24 months) and require relocation. intrusion. POSTCARDS build the new leisure centre as There is potential to link in leisure part of a larger development- was facility on this site with At its meeting on 6 December, the We have five different views at proffered. This is not an option Tewkesbury's battlefield trail and Council decided to support the 25p each to members, with good contained in the brief and has, to enhance/promote the battlefield option of building on this site, but discounts available for buying in therefore, not been explored. as a tourist attraction and heritage only following a consultation, with bulk. feature. It is surrounded by open all the people in the Borough. This However, it is believed that such a For further information, or to place space and is an idyllic setting fora is a sleight of hand which is being scheme does have potential an order, contact 01242 680382 or leisure facility. Development on pointed out publicly. The base benefits: [email protected] a TBC already owns the land. this site would provide good visual issue is about a swimming pool in D Demolition will allow for impact particularly when coupled Tewkesbury Town, in which the complete master planning of the with new landscaping designs. vast majority of the people in the site ensuring Borough have little interest. A In 1747, Edward Popham pulled that partner agencies also have cynic might think that by diluting down an old wooden windmill and full input into the facility mix. democracy the Council might think replaced it with a brick one. This it is more likely to get its own way. a There is more planning scope accounted for the alternative name within the site to ensure that the for the hill; Windmill Hill. The age We'll be following this one with requirements of English Heritage of the wooden mill is hard to interest, and may be mustering 1 -1 ^ can be satisfied. troops to support a campaign if the ascertain, but the value of milling //« \ Bit of a Slop No. 10 D Opportunity for TBC to increase facilities being as they were it is project passes first base. its revenue stream. likely that the mill predated the

A Bit of a Slop No. 10 The Statues Nicholas Harpsfieid A long tale, but we're not disheartened Not much to report about the reputed author of the 'Artivall'. The idea of a commemorative about vandalism. Assessments were Nicholas Harpsfieid, a clerk to the development it found extensive statue arose during the protest done, lots of questions were Signet of King Edward, is evidence of prehistoric and later against the planning application. It answered, but progress was not popularly supposed to be the occupation, including a very fine has to be said that it wasn't well made. Reasons were there in author of the 'Arrivall'. Quite why Palaeolithic handaxe. A separate thought through at the time, and plenty. Every time we thought we this should be isn't at all dear, but part of the residential development was seen as another piece of might be reaching a conclusion his name has became associated provided good evidence of publicity for the cause. another delay hit. Staff sickness, early in the twentieth century, medieval occupation, much of it elections and the wholesale re- though the sources which made Tewkesbury Town Council agreed organisation of the structure of the found during excavation of to cover the cost of running a council were among them. In the the link are never quoted. He must Harpsfieid Hall Farm; pits and competition for a commemorative meantime, the case for have occupied a fairly lowly place pestholes dating to c 1170-1350 sculpture. The site selected was a roundabout art became hard to in the King's household, as the may represent the earliest phase roundabout, newly built to join a deny, as we found examples ail text of his account, and particularly of construction of the hall. Several new by pass (and access to land over Britain and Europe, and his experiences on the march to phases relating to the post- for thousands of new houses) to the passed details on to the authorities. Tewkesbury, suggest that he medieval hall and its outbuildings existing main road. The roundabout travelled with the baggage train. were also recorded and show how happened to be more or less on In March this year, the seven-year it was modified and expanded the road which Edward took to the study finished, and the County There doesn't seem to be a great between the 16th and 20th battle, and more or less at the point Council Highways Department deal of accessible information centuries. Two cellared rooms where the Yorkists, cresting the agreed that the sculpture would about him. We can speculate that were particularly well built, with ridge, would have their first view of not be a hazard, and could be he came from Harpsfieid Hall, or brick- and flint-faced walls and the opposing army arrayed for erected, subject to a few its vicinity, in Hertfordshire. This, internal niches. battle. Quite an appropriate conditions. The next step went Eke unfortunately, is now destroyed location. lightning. We put in our planning and was buried under the runway This isn't a great deal of application, and consent was of Hatfield Aerodrome, the home information about the hall. About We ran the competition without received in April. Close to a world of the de Havilland aircraft factory, the man there is nothing at all. asking the other public bodies record! which closed in 1992. There involved if they had a view on the followed a major planning exercise There is a lot about another proposal. It wasn't until we'd The next step was one which we to redevelop this 800 acre site, Nicholas Harpsfieid, though. decided on a short list that we had fondly thought would be a with a 'master plan' being Author of the 'Life and death of Sir asked the Borough Council for their formality. We'd been talking about prepared and adopted by Welwyn Thomas Moore' and a 'sore support. To our surprise, they took getting a licence to erect the work, Council in 1999. Much, but not all, persecutor' who appears a great the idea to the Planning agreeing on ownership, insurance has been redeveloped. Almost half deal in Fox's 'Book of Martyrs'. Committee, who approved the and ongoing maintenance since has been designated as green There is nothing except their concept. We also met the County 1998. The Borough Council were planning department, who were even pursuing an art strategy, so al belt. 'Saving Private Ryan' was names to link these two. also in favour. should have been set fair. No such filmed there. Plans include 1000 If anyone has information about luck! We seem to be answering all new homes, as well as a school, the fifteenth century Nicholas When the winner was announced, the questions over again, and university accommodation and Harpsfieid, or about the medieval we hit a snag! The Highways going through the same stow sports fields, offices, warehousing Harpsfieid Hall, then we'd like to Department were not at all sure. A rounds of reports going to officers and large-scale infrastructure. hear it. He seems a particularly big sticking point was a lack of a and committees, and delays in The London Museum undertook elusive character. clear policy about sculpture on information passing from the County Council to the Borough the archaeological investigation roundabouts. This would be the first in the county. It kept getting put on Council. The Art Strategy appears associated with the project. Within the bottom of the pile. They were to have been abandoned, there the area of the planned residential concerned about road safety and are budget problems at the A Bit of a Slap No. 10 A Bit of a Slap No. 10 8 The Tewkesbury Mummers do Giostra Council, and a general lack of feedback on what is going on and Clive Montellier recounts the experiences of most ofthe committee, on what is causing the delays. Franz an unlikely foui-ney to the cornet- of Italy which gave birth to Ovk{ Kafka could turn it into a best seller. The Society is promoting the sale In the meantime, we've had the of goods on a 'profit share' basis, where it will receive a donation for Amazing this internet thingy - our stay. Sadly, our initial models of the sculptures on display someone in a small Italian in the town centre for so long that each one sold. performance in the mountain people no longer notice them, and town starts searching for ski resort of Rocarasso left us TEWKESBURY: THE ECLIPSE potential participants in their there's a general belief that OF THE HOUSE OF wondering whether we were nothing is happening {which is not LANCASTER: 1471 annual medieval festival and badly misplaced, as our far from the truth, unfortunately). joust, happens upon the intimate form of medieval street Raising money isn't easy, because This book sells at £10.99. We are Tewkesbury Medieval Fair site theatre did not translate well to without the certainty that we need offering it to members at £10.00, that we can complete the project, and suddenly the Tewkesbury a large concrete arena, plus 50p post and package, of Mummers (incorporating the especially when our major funders won't consider us, which £2.50 will go into Society and even with members of the funds majority of the Society appearance coincided with the public we have to return any Committee) are on their way to disappearance of most of the donations if the project doesn't go STONEWARE TANKARDS, Italy, accompanied by the audience to dinner in all the ahead. Stalemate! MUGS AND GOBLETS Bubonic Wind Band from local hotels. Fortunately, We have decided to retrench until A range of mugs and goblets are and under the though, we quickly found that we have the consent that we available, each with the motif of watchful eye of Tewkesbun/s the narrow streets of Sulmona need; take the models out of the the sculpture fund. These make Town Mayor and her consort. lent themselves ideally to a window and clean them up, very attractive gifts, and each sale closer bond with the audience prepare new descriptive panels will contribute to the sculpture In return for the few (particularly dose for those and get everything ready for a fund. Prices are: performances actually plucked from the crowd to join proper launch when the time comes. In the meantime, we'll 1pt Tankard £12.99 scheduled for us, the people of Peggy's impromptu belly- continue to raise funds from events, % pt Tankard £9.99 Sulmona (about 100 miles NE dancing dass). which are not specifically linked to Mug £9.99 of Rome) hosted us royally. the sculpture. Goblet £13.99 Accommodation was, to say In a festival dominated by the least, interesting: barrack Italian marching drum bands We've got the '1471 Fraternity', These can be obtained from rooms in the Police prison and synchronised flag-wavers, which we're still promoting. The 01684 297844 payment of £14.71 earns some small warders' school adjacent to a where the remainder of the privileges; a certificate of former ROW camp (cue international contingent tended membership, a newsletter {when running gags about tunnels, to be limited to dressing in there is news) and an invite to the home-runs and goon-baiting costume and 'processing', our opening. Membership would make Goblet from those who spend too band of comedy peasants, ably a nice present for those difficult to much time watching old war fronted by the authentic buy for relatives. An application form can be found at the back of films) and the transport sounds of the Bubonics, this journal. schedule was designed to seemed to strike a chord with avoid predictability, but one the crowds lining the street for In addition, we have tee shirrs and could not fault the warmth of the parade, and the flexibility of badges for sate bearing the Tankard our welcome, especially the Mummers Play format sculpture 'logo'. Details can be amongst the Japasseri allowed us to operate outside found in the 'for sale' section. fraternity of the town who had the constraints of the festival There will be future instalments! adopted us for the duration of programme. The tone of the A Bit of a Slop No. 10 A Bit of a Slop No. 10 10 weekend can best be richness and variety, enterprise and pointy-toed shoes are not a myth. A The Baffle ofFtMford illustrated by how initial ideas. wonderful collection of these feelings of 'why have we come' Savage weapons found in the 'poulaines' have been restored by The Forgotten Battte of 1066 changed through 'if we come Thames are a reminder of the Viking the latest technology to some of their back' to a final sense of 'when invasions and that, on two original ridiculous splendour. Next to The Battle of Fulfbrd is a missing them is a battered old shoe stretched piece of English heritage. On we come back' - now we just occasions, London only survived by the skin of its teeth. It may come as out of shape by a large, and what Thursday 26 May the City of need to be invited again. must have been a very painful, Council will decide if the batUesite Certainly this was an event that a surprise to learn that King Alfred, who re-founded the city in 886 is the Medieval bunion. from the momentous year, 1066, proved conclusively that an man we should all thank for the fact will be converted to a road and interest in things medieval is that London is here at all. Recent discoveries and new 700+ new houses. The site which research have changed thinking on has changed little since the battle not necessarily a recipe for Spectacular archaeological finds of unrelenting lofty academic important events. Pieces of a priory on 20th September 1066, enjoys recent years will include a section of window smashed up on the orders of extensive public access but will debate - and if you don't original riverfront timbers, a Saxon believe us, ask the Mayor... Henry VIII at the Reformation have lost forever if this outline planning brooch from Covent Garden and a been given pride of place at the end consent is granted. 14th century trumpet found in of the gallery, mounted dramatically There is very little doubt that the Billingsgate. Objects excavated from against a sheet of etched glass. For proposed access road runs along MYSTERIES OF MEDIEVAL the remains of 13* century Jewish the people of England, Henry's break a stream which is at the heart of houses in Milk Street will be with the Catholic Church was the LONDON UNRAVELLED this forgotten battle of 1066. The displayed for the first time. Some medieval equivalent of the events of battle took place at Futford only 5 small keys from the lockers of 9/11. Spiritually, intellectually and A new gallery at the Museum of days before the patients in St Mary Spital hospital; a even physically, it changed people's London from November 2005 Bridge and a couple of weeks child's vest and a set of loaded dice world for ever and propelled them before the dash at Hastings. The So what was it really like to live in are just some of the objects that into a new age. London 600,1000 or even 1500 bring a sense of ordinary people so battle of Fulford was the same size years ago? Did '1066 and all that' vividly to life that visitors may find and just as ferocious as Hastings if By the middle of the 16th century, the chroniclers of the era are to be matter much to Londoners? Where their heads full of ghosts as they London had all the beginnings of the believed. on earth did London go for 200 make their way home down Wood city we know today. It may have Street, Cheapside and the other years? And what has all this got to only taken half an hour to walk The battle of Fulford was a terrible medieval streets and alleys of do with the city we live in today? The across London, a city with only one defeat for the northern army, led answers to these and other today's City. It is worth exploring, for bridge, over a hundred churches and by earl and supported by this is the area of London where it all questions that have been exercising one alehouse for every 50 people, his brother, earl Edwin of Mercia, happened. the minds of scholars for decades, but it was already a capital city and although both escaped back to can be found in the Museum of A new audio-visual display on the commercial and financial centre, a York which was surrendered three London's new Medieval London Black Death will envelop visitors in thriving port, a shopping mecca and days later. King Harold of England, gallery opening at the end of the words of the people who centre of fashion. It was a unaware of the Norse invasion, November. With over 1500 objects experienced the horrors of the cosmopolitan city of around 120,000 had just sent the southern army on display, the gallery will tell the disease when it struck. The people and there were problems with home having spent the summer story of London from the end of catastrophe wiped out half the city's traffic, overcrowding, sanitation and guarding the south coast against Roman rule in AD410 to the population and had a greater effect crime. the expected invasion by William accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. on Londoners than the Great Fire of from Normandy. From a humble wicker fish trap and a 1666 (which only killed a handful of Sounds familiar? child's toy, to luxury goods made of people) or the two World Wars. Investigating ancient battlefields is ivory and coral, amber and glass, the (The Museum of London is dose to St a subtle business. Even ten objects combine to spark the Paul's, worth a visit, and FREE!) thousand fighting men left few Popular assumptions about castles imagination and re-create a city of markers in the landscape that and chivalry, disease and dirt are put would have survived 1000 years. under the spotlight, but, happily, Employing methods such as soil A Bit of a Slop No. 10 11 A Bit of a Slop No. 10 12 core samples, the land surface carried out. Their appeal has been TV« Curse of mow and gibber my way around the mentioned in literature of the time ignored. field. Nobody will recognise me. I has been well mapped. Metal WenVoctv hope. detecting has recovered nearly The site is accepted by all informed opinion even by the POST-SCRIPT 5000 items. developers in their early studies. Becnie Willoughby ruminates on a life I stomped out onto the field quite Analysis of the iron finds has Somehow the responsibility of spent re-enacting, and the change in prepared to 'die' early and produced extensive evidence of protecting, funding and the roles one is asked to play. This was painlessly. The old friend playing the metal-working of that era. Further researching the site has fallen to written a little before the 2OO5 re- , who was resources and time might prove the local community. enactment, anci we can report that supposed to kill me, delivered an that the 30+ billets of iron so far Chas Jones, director of Fulford Bernie survived the or<}eal, just almighty whack with a sharp poll-axe identified came from weapon Battlefield Society commented: which left me needing four stitches. fragments that were recycled, I ain't doing Lord Wenlock again. If s onsite, after the battle. This "I am passionate and determined The present writer has been asked far too dangerous. recycling would help explain why to prevent the site of the Battle of to portray Lord Wenlock in the no weapons have been found at Fulford being destroyed. Our annual Battle of Tewkesbury re- either Stamford Bridge or group has received generous enactment. This should be regarded Hastings. If the weapons were support from the National Lottery, as a punishment! Afficionados of immediately recycled, it poses the Local Heritage Initiative and the 1471 will recall that Wenlock was the question, "what hard evidence can academic community which has veteran seventy year old Lancastrian one expect to find on an medieval guided and interpreted our work, commander who had changed sides ^^ vnt battlefield'? but it is alarming that there is no too many times and was, according national support for such important The Fulford Battlefield society was to one account, blamed by an work." set up to investigate this historic incandescent Duke of Somerset for In an attempt to prevent the site four years ago. The work has For further information visit not following up his initial, and as it happened, disastrous attack on that desecration of Bury St Edmunds in been hampered by the developers http//:www.battieoffutford.org.uk Suffolk, one of England's most fateful morning. Somerset then who have denied access to over historic towns, the Knights of St proceeded to bash out Wenlock1 s half the site and have not Edmund decided to unleash a undertaken any relevant brains with his war hammer. Not the 1,000 year old curse against investigations themselves. The best way to inspire the troops. Centres Mler Ltd., MiHer group and country's leading expert on True of not, this bizarre incident has Debenhams. These companies, in battlefields, Glen Foard, stated caught the popular imagination and the face of overwhelming local that the applicant did not provide is always included as a cameo in the opposition, want to construct a adequate archaeological battle re-enactment. We who have huge £80 million shopping information". been in on this event since its development in the town which wl inception in 1984 (whew!) have fundamentally alter the character Unfortunately there is no and lay-out of the town. The curse requirement for archaeological always joked, ha ha, that anyone who stays the course will end up as of St Edmund and St Edmund's contractors to be regulated by reputation for extremely Wenlock having started out as the professional bodies. Anybody can supernatural violence against those Prince of Wales (18 years old) be employed to undertake who threaten his liberty, abbey, archaeological work. A petition And now it's happened. Aarrh! town or shrine, was familiar to signed by 67 of the countries Actually, I'm not really seventy, quite. everyone in medieval England. battlefield archaeologists was I shall use liberal make up, false Just after eight o clock on a cold handed to the city council in nose, beard, and Father Christmas Sunday night the first-ever public February asking that no planning eyebrows, wear a giant hearing aid "cursing" of a redevelopment scheme was carried out. A hooded permission be granted until a and lean heavily upon a stick as I proper investigation had been priest performed the ceremony at

A Bit of a Slop No. 10 13 A Bit of a Slap No. 10 14 the CatHe Market car park, flourished. Later a stray dog joined merely record his three occasions in was driving his children to school currently earmarked the scheme. the group. the public eye without further because they had missed the bus. After cries of "anathema" the As the procession returned to the comment. He said: It was a tense day. My "priest" declared the three statue of St Edmund's the group wife was feeling ill and the children organisations "to be accursed by passed the offices of the borough From the BBC: had missed the bus. Among 100 their own actions, error and love of council where 30 pieces of sOver A councillor has been suspended decisions I made that day, I made sin". The priest intoned: "We declare were delivered, a reminder that from Tewkesbury Borough Council this snap decision." that nothing they build on this land many in the town believe the for a year after being found guilty He told the court he did not possess will ever prosper or bear fruit, and council had "sold out" to the of "abusive and threatening" a licence but had once held an that this holy sanction shall lie upon developers. behaviour. international licence white in this land until this temple of Afterwards, Alan Murdie. a The Adjudication Panel for England military service in France. Connors Mammon is torn down and a new spokesman for the self-styled found Brockworth councillor Sean told District Judge Dudley Thomas shrine to St Edmund is raised in his Knights of Saint Edmund, said there Connors guilty of four breaches of he earned £25,000 a year as a town." would be further protests at stores the local authority's code of county and district councilor. The "priest" added: "We declare owned by Debenhams in other conduct. The judge imposed a £240 fine, those who despoil St Edmund's parts the UK. Among the breaches was an e-mail gave him eight penalty points and town will themselves be despoiled." He also revealed that opponents of to the council's Conservative group ordered him to pay £43 costs. The ceremony of "commination" the Cattle Market redevelopment in which he abused a councillor. began at St Edmund's statue were taking legal advice on He retains seats on Brockworth From the Gloucester Citizen: before the great west door of the whether the government had failed Parish and Gloucestershire County Councillor Sean Connors has Abbey of St Edmund and next to to implement a European Union Councils. appeared before magistrates on 25 the cathedral of St James. It took directive on the protection of The code of conduct breaches allegations of forgery and place on the feast day of St historic sites which could yet hinder occurred during 2004. deception. Connors, who Edmund, after whom the town is the scheme. The case tribunal on 24 August represents Brockworth on the named. found Mr Connors had failed to county, parish and Tewkesbury A small number of local people, a www.kniahtsofsaintedmund.com comply with Section 5 of the code borough councils, is facing 13 gaggle of reporters and a couple which reminds computer users not charges of obtaining property by of film crews gathered at the to bring the council into disrepute deception and 12 of forgery. statute at 19:15 under the watchful Tine tatt ot tine when using the internet or e-mails. No pleas were entered when eye of two policemen. Mr Connors was also found to have Connors appeared in Cheltenham Fifteen minutes later a small used "Hide and intemperate Magistrates" Court yesterday and procession arrived. There were language" and behaved in an the case was immediately armoured knights, cowled monks Some of our long-standing readers "abusive and threatening manner" adjourned to give his solicitor more and a hooded priest. They were towards others time to prepare. Speaking after the carrying a replica of St Edmund's will know that 'A Bit of a Slap1 as a name came from Councfflor Sean brief hearing he said: "As far as I'm crown. From the Gloucester Citizen: concerned, IVe done nothing The proceedings began at the Connors, who was present at the planning meeting which first Councillor Sean Connors has been wrong. But I will go through the statue. Then the group, resembling fined £240 for driving without a charges in detail with my solicitors, a tableau from a medieval discussed building houses on the licence or insurance. The 45-year- then we will see what1 s next." painting, processed through the battlefield. His behaviour at the meeting was notable, and his old got behind the wheel of his In court, Nichola Berryman, town to the redevelopment site wife's car to drive his children to defending, described the where the formal "cursing" took contribution for the case for Bryant Homes' application was to say that school - even though he doesn't allegations as "serious" and place. By this time some of the have a licence. After a warrant was "spanning a long period of time in a party were carrying flaming all that occurred in medieval battles was that a couple of blokes issued for his arrest, he arrived at position of trust." She asked for four torches. Cheltenham Magistrates' Court. He weeks so he could "come into the As the procession moved through went into a field and had a bit of a slap. was brought in from the cells and office and discuss matters property the town people in pubs and admitted driving a vehicle with us. And also we would need to restaurants looked on, some Councillor Connors has had a bad year, and if we were 'Private Eye" otherwise than in accordance with listen to his tapes of interview." amazed, some laughing. Mobile a licence and driving without The bench agreed and the case phones, doubling as cameras, were we'd attribute it to the Curse of Lord Gnome. We're not, so we'l insurance on May 27. was adjourned. Connors was Connors, defending himself, said he granted unconditional baB. A Bit of a Slap No. 10 15 A Bit of a Step No. 10 16 dealing with the problems of the Arrival of King Edward IV {The The Final EcGpse of the Lancastrians disposing of the bodies of the •Arrival!' is head and shoulders dead. So many are buried beneath above all other accounts. the floor of the Abbey church that This text was written as the introduction to my book, but wasn't used by it must have looked like a building The baffle was not, as someone the publishers. It seems a shame to waste it. site while the interments were once said in a letter to the local taking place. paper, fought between Lancashire Speculation about how the course it sometimes gave hospitality to folks and folks. It was not a of history would have been "rf things HTiportant travellers, but Etfte After three days, the excitement 'bit of a slap between a couple of had gone differently at a particular happened to break the weekly was over, and Tewkesbury returned blokes in a field', as a local point of time in the past is an round of markets and the annual to its life of markets and fairs. The councillor once claimed. It was a interesting if futile pastime. The rounds of fairs which brought it its stories of the battle were passed on baffle of interest and importance to Battle of Tewtcesbury is a case in prosperity until that fateful Friday in through the generations like the future of both England and point. If bathes are the punctuation May 1471 when the armies came to Chinese whispers until the facts had Europe, with some of the most marks of history it should have been town. been totally forgotten, being memorable figures of the late a full stop. The Yorkist dynasty replaced by folk tales and legends, Middle Ages being prominent in the destroyed the Lancastrians May was a time to relax a litHe and until it was such a distant thing that story. The battlefield can still be completely. Their heir was killed in celebrate the return of the no-one could be sure if the battle walked and the landscape the field, and shortly afterwards the greensward after the hard spring took place at all. interpreted from information given Lancastrian king himself was dead, work of ploughing and sowing. in contemporary writing. The drama effectively ending fifty years of There would have been drinking In Tewkesbury today, there is of the capture of the Lancastrian weak and uncertain rule of the and dancing and maypoles. nothing of the battle or the battle leadership in the Abbey, and their kingdom. The Yorkist King Edward IV People knew about the problems of landscape remaining for the casual execution 'in the midst of the town' was young, strong and charismatic; the realm, of course, because the observer. For two hundred and fifty can still be imagined. he had all the qualities a medieval problems had lasted a long time years the town has been eating king needed to be effective. He and their Lords were heavily into the battlefield, and this process had a son to succeed him. involved. The raising of armies and has accelerated with the drive to Tewkesbury was the battle which the fighting had been far away, build new houses. Thanks to the should have started an era of though, and was of much less quincentennial celebrations in settled rule, peace and prosperity concern than the weather and the 1971, regular re-enactments over in the land. It was, though, price of com. The sudden arrival of the last twenty years and a completely overshadowed by the an army on their doorstep must rebuffed attempt to develop the events precipitated a dozen years have been a huge and last remaining open parts of the later by Edward's unexpected unwelcome shock. Particularly so heart of the battlefield there is a death leading to the final demise of because it was led by a rebel high awareness in Tewkesbury of the Plantagenets and the opening queen, intent on regaining the the fact of the battle, and the date of the Tudor dynasty. If it were not throne from the king who they of the baffle. There are streets, for this, 1471 might be regarded as knew was leading another army, shops and houses named for events a seminal date in English history, and it was inevitable that these two and persons associated with the second only to 1066 in its would meet in combat on the battie. Much of the battlefield is m significance. This, of course, is the spring grass of Tewkesbury. accessible, and there are plans to sort of speculation best indulged in make it more accessible. The l\g Louis XI, 'the Universal Spider'. over a pint of bitter in the public Abbot Strensham must have been memory of the baffle now seems to bar, or on Radio Four. totally dismayed. His diplomatic be secure. dilemma before the battle, trying to In the fifteenth century, Tewkesbury maintain an appropriate level of Tewkesbury has the inestimable was a quiet country town, neutrality and hospitality, must have advantage among medieval Said to be the ugliest man in remarkable only for its immensely been nothing compared with his baffles of having a contemporary, Christendom rich Benedictine Monastery. On the problems in appeasing King eye witness, account available to road from Gloucester to Worcester, Edward after the battle and us. It isn't comprehensive, of course, and it is partisan, but 'The History of A Bit of a Slap No. 10 17 A Bit of a Slap No. 10 18 almost every monastic house of Poetry Corner importance in Europe was presided over by a mitred abbot. Abbot Walter was appointed the Roy Smith, the Tewkesbury poet, has written a number of poems about first mitred Abbot of Gloucester the Battle of Tewkesbury and its re-enactment. Here is one, the first of Steeped in tradition, and with the in 1381. The Abbot of an occasional series. reasons lost in long forgotten and was both mitred and had a seat in redundant custom, the Church has Parliament. many arcane and hard to follow " A Glimpse Of History " rules and practices. You would A history of Peterborough Abbey think that the record would be says that William Genge, the clear about the status of an abbot fortieth abbot of Peterborough, Surrounded by the rolling hills succeeded in 1396 and became in respect of being mitred or not, Is a little town as would the extra privileges their first mitred abbot. In conferred with the mitre. I November, 1402, he obtained Where two rivers meet thought that understanding the licence from Pope Boniface IX for And an Abbey casts its shadow difference between a rector and himself and his successors to wear vicar was difficult, but this is just anywhere the mitre, ring, On timbered houses as confusing! pastoral staff, and other In the narrow street pontifical insignia; to give in the Close by an ancient battleground First the abbot. An abbot is the monastery and subject priories, superior of a community of twelve and in their parish and other Where the armies met or more monks. There are three churches, solemn benediction To end in defeat grades of Abbot; the lowest being after mass, vespers, and matins, those with jurisdiction only over and at their table, provided that For Margaret of Lancaster their Abbey, the highest having no bishop nor legate were By Edward of York authority over a diocese, with present; to consecrate churches, Here in the very heart of England. power equivalent to a bishop. such as the churches, oratories, The use of the pontifical insignia - and chapels of their monasteries mitre, crosier, pectoral cross, and priories, together with the The view then from the rolling hills altars, vestments, and chalices ring, gloves, and sandals - which Of the little town abbots commonly have is one of therein; and to reconcile the their most ancient privileges. It same and the cemeteries of such Where the rivers meet cannot be definitely ascertained churches. Was the shadow of the Abbey when the privilege was first The representative role of abbots On dying soldiers granted, but as early as 643 the as the Lords Spiritual, alongside Abbey of Bobbio in Italy is said to bishops, summoned to Parliament In the narrow street have obtained a constitution from by the king, seems to bear no And the bloody meadows nearby Pope Theodore confirming a grant relationship to their mitred Where the armies met made to the abbot by Honorius I. status, suggesting that the In England the pontifical insignia importance of monasteries to To spell the defeat were assigned first to the Abbot Pope and King was not necessarily Of Queen Margaret's hopes and dreams of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, in the same. 1063 and nearly a hundred years By the Yorkist King later to the Abbot of St. Alban's. Despite its wealth, I have found In the war for the throne of England. no record of the Abbot of The privilege was gradually Roy Smith extended to other abbeys until, at Tewkesbury ever being among the the close of the middle ages, mitred fraternity. A Bit of a Slop No. 10 19 in 21 County Cricket Match: Yorkshire v. 25 Tewkesbury Hospital Fete. Lancashire. 25 Final performance of Son et 1971: The Fall of the Red Rose at Tewkesbury 21 Cotswold Savoyards: Gilbert and Lumiere. Sullivan. 26 Rugby Seven-a-side. To mark the 5OOth anniversary of the battle, Tewkesbury put on a 22 Dr. Strangebrew's Summer 30 Play: Semi-Detached (to 2nd summer long celebration. The programme reproduced below shows the Roadshow on Breakingstone Meadow. October). 22 Riverboat Discotheque. range and variety of the programme, which had everything except a re- 23 British Intimate Opera Company. October enactment. 25 Donkey Derby. 1 Nonsuch Mediaeval Dancers in the What's on in Tewkesbury during June 31 Church Crusade (to 22nd August). Abbey. the Festival 4 The Barrow Poets. August 6 A Dramatic Anthology, The For full details of times, and for any 5 Ceremony: Freedom of the Borough 2 A Galaxy of Films (to 7 *). Elizabethans (and 7^. to C. V. D. Ashchurch. other information, application should 5 Musica Deo Sacra (to 11 *). 6 Rugby: Tewkesbury Invitation XV be made to The Festival Director, 6 Soccer Six-a-side. 11 Theatre Roundabout: Vanity Fair. v. An Army XV. Municipal Offices, Tewkesbury. 7 A Start of the Round-Britain Milk 12 Riverboat Discotheque. 8 Tewkesbury Mop Fair (and 9th). May Race. 14 Professional Wrestling Tournament 12 Anthony Hopkins' Opera (to 16th). 9 School Drama: Obey's Noah (to 11 2 B.B.C. "Ifs a Knock-out". 18 Recital :F-velynRotl- 19 City of Birmingham Symphony 4 Requiem in the Abbey (500 * *)- i\velland\'alda.\veling Orchestra 10 Riverboat Discotheque. Anniversary of the Battle of 20 One-man Theatre: T/ir Pickwicldans 19 A Musical: Am/so to Bed (to 23rd). 12 Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra. Tewkesbury). at Manor Farm. 23 850* Anniversary of the 16 Early Music Consort. 4 Festival Dinner, at Gupshill Manor. 20 Dance: Acker Bilk and his Jazzmen, Consecration of the Abbey. 17 "Revue 71" (to 19*). 5 Cotswold Savoyards: "Pirates of at Ashchurch. 18 Youth Jamboree (to 20 *). Penzance". 21 Round Table R-iverboat hi addition, the following exhibitions 19 Musica Vera. 6 Festival Fashion Show. Discotheque. and lectures are taking place during 24 Riverboat Discotheque. 7 Festival Ball. 22 The Disaster Squad, on the Severn the Festival. 30 Choral Scholars of King's College, 7 Mediaeval Banquets every Friday and Ham. Cambridge. Saturday at the Abbey Mill. 22 Jalopy Club Races. EXHIBITIONS 8 Pageant Procession and Fireworks 25 Three Choirs Festival Concert. Tewkesbury and Gloucestershire July Display. 26 Riverboat Discotheque. History in Records:an exhibition of 1 Son etLumiere (to 25* September). 8 Popular Festival Dance. 29 Open Angling Contest original documents, maps and prints 2 Festival of Flowers (to 4*). 14 Floral Society Spring Show (to 16th). from the earliest times to the present 3 Modern Army Display. September 15 Choral and Orchestral Concert with day, including the fine Ghent manuscript 3 County Folk Dance Festival new work 4 Dowry Ashchurch Exhibition and depicting the Battle of Tewkesbury. 4 Band of the Royal Gloucestershire 17 Harry Corbett in The Sooty OpenDay. Arranged by the County Records Office. Hussars. Birthday Show (to 22nd). 7 New Play: The Battle of Tewkesbury 1st to 15* May. 4 Canoeing on the Severn. 17John Williams Guitar Recital. (toll*). The Great War. An exhibition of 6 Bristol Old Vic Theatre School: 22 Birmingham Diocesan Choral 9 Riverboat Discotheque. 'water-colours arranged by the Love's Labour's Lost (to 10*). Festival. 15 London Opera Players: The Barber Tewkesbury branch of the British 6 Waiters and Waitresses Race. of Seville. Legion. 26 * April to 22nd May 23 Folk Concert (every Sunday). 7 Play: Women of Tewkesbury (to 9*). 26 English Consort of Viols. 17 Chrysanthemum Society Show (and Exhibition of Paintings by members of 8 Swimming Gala. 27 Play: Maria Marten (to 29*). 18*). the Tewkesbury Society of Arts. 20 * 8 Riverboat Discotheque. 29 Organ Recital by Flor Peeters. 18 Table Tennis Tournament May to 5 * June. 13 Play by Bristol University Drama 29 Schools. Athletics Meeting. 19 Band of the Grenadier Guards. Photo 71. An exhibition of prints, Department (to 17 *); provisional. 29 Round Table Riverboat Discotheque. 22 BBC. Training Orchestra. organised by Tewkesbury Camera Club, 15 Steam Fair and Organ Festival (to 31 Fete. 23 Champagne Fashion Show. in the Town Hall. 22nd May to 5 * June. 18*). 23 Riverboat Discotheque. Military History of the Borough, by 16 Caravan Club Rally (to 18 *). 25 Gloucester Diocesan Choral the Tewkesbury Branch of the British 19 Welfare State Street Theatre (to Festival. Legion. 10 * to 26 * June. Admission 5p. 21st).

n <;Un KU in A Di+ /vf n ClUn KU 111 No man is an Island. An exhibition in Art, University of Victoria. British Tewkesbury Abbey, 15 * August to 2nd Columbia. September. The exhibition is in three June 24 * "The Roof Bosses of parts: Tewkesbury Abbey". Dr. Michael Q. The Patent Roils record a lot of activity in the period around the battle, (1) Modern Life and the Monk, (2) The Smith. M.A., PLD., Lecturer in Art, and tell the tale of troop raising in the West Country before the battle, Growth of an idea, (3) The Living Bristol University. with preparations to meet Fauconberg after the battle. Community. July 15 *. "Was Tewkesbury Abbey Paintings by John McLellan, 2nd to 15 Frescoed? Some 12 * -century parallels". 1471. * August. Roger Kynaston, Roger Eyton, Dr. David Talbot Rice. D.Litt, Professor April 23. Richard Corbet and the sheriff, in the Flower Paintings, 20 * August to 4 * of History of Art Edinburgh University. county of Salop. September. An Open Exhibition of Aug. 5 *. "Henry of Blois, Bishop of The like to the following in the Flower Paintings arranged by the Winchester; a 12th-century patron" (d counties named:— George, duke of Clarence, John, earl Tewkesbury Society of Arts. 5th Aug. 1171). Mr. John Beckwith, Humphrey Stafford and Thomas of Wiltshire, William Hastynges of Tewkesbury: Pictures and Portraits, M.A., F.S.A., Victoria and Albert Stafford, in the county of Worcester. Hastynges, knight, Thomas Ferrers, arranged by the Tewkesbury Civic Museum. knight, Thomas Berkeley, knight, Society, 11 * to 25 * September. Aug. 19* "The Mediaeval Monastic April 26. Richard Hastynges, Ralph Admission 5p. Life at Tewkesbury". The Rev. Professor George, duke of Clarence, Richard, Hastynges and the sheriff, in. the Stamps of the World. The Tewkesbury M. D. Knowles. D.Litt, F.B.A., duke of Gloucester, Thomas Arundel county of Leicester. Philatelic Society Exhibition in the formerly Regius Professor of Modem of Matravers, knight, Richard George, duke of Clarence, William Town Hall. 4 * to 11 * September. History, Cambridge University. Beauchamp, Maurice Berkeley, Burghchier of FitzWaren, knight, Home Arts and Crafts, in the Sept 9th. "The Gage Gates and 18* - Humphrey Stafford and the sheriff, in William Courteney, knight, Philip CongregationalHaU, 11 * to 16 * century Ironwork". Mr. A. V. Knight the county of Gloucester. Courteney, knight, John Crokker, October, organised by the Tewkesbury Sept 23rd. "Tewkesbury Abbey in lie George, duke of Clarence, William Philip Beaumont and the sheriff, in (Evening) Townswomen's 18 * and 19 * Centuries". The Rev. Basil Burghchier of FitzWaren, knight, the county of Devon, Guild-Admission 5p. F. L. Clarke, M.A.. Vicar of Knowl Hill, William Courteney, knight, Alvred George, duke of Clarence, Schools Art Exhibition in the Town Reading. Comeburgh and. the sheriff, in the Humphrey (sic), duke of Hall, 15* to 23ri October. Oct. 7 * "The Tewkesbury Abbey county of Cornwall. Buckingham, John, earl of Wiltshire, Battle of Tewkesbury Model in the Organs in the context of British Historic Henry Stafford of Buckingham, Museum,fipm 4 * May to 23rd October. Organs". Mr. Cecil Clutton, C.B.E.. George, duke of Clarence, Humphrey (sic}, duke of knight, Henry Beaumont, John Acton (The exhibitions are held in the F.S.A. and the sheriff, in the county of FitzHamonArt Centre unless otherwise In the Watson Hall, in connection with Buckingham, John, earl of Wiltshire, Henry Stafford of Buckingham, Stafford. stated) the visit on Saturday, 8 * May, of the George, duke of Clarence, John Grand Priory in the British Realm of the knight, Henry Grey of Codnor, knight, William Hastynges of Audeley of Audeley, knight, John LECTURES Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Stourton of Stourton, knight In the Abbey House on Thurdsay St John of Jerusalem, an open lecture at Hastynges, knight, Walter Blount of Mountjoy, knight, Nicholas Nicholas Latymer, knight, John evenings at 7.45 pjn. Tickets 25p or £2 12 noon by Professor Butler on "John Fitzherbert and the sheriff, in the Mone, John Brownyng and. the for the series. Langstrother, Prior of England, who was sheriff, in the county of April 29 * "Abbot Gerald, the first beheaded after the Battle of county of Derby. Abbot of Tewkesbury". Mr. Christopher Tewkesbury". No tickets required George, duke of Clarence, Henry George, duke of Clarence, Hohler. M.A. F.S.A., University Reader Grey of Codnor; knight, William Humphrey (sic), duke of in Art, Courtauld Institute. Hastynges of Hastynges, knight, Buckingham, John, earl of Wiltshire, May 20 *. "Norman Architecture at Walter Blount of Mountjoy, knight, Henry Stafford, of Buckingham, Henry Perpoynt and the sheriff; in knight, William Hastynges of Tewkesbury Abbey". Dr. Peter Kidson, the county of Nottingham. PbJD., F.S.A Courtauld Institute. Hastynges, knight, and the sheriff, in June 3rd "Tewkesbury Abbey, the George, duke of Clarence; Richard, the county of Warwick. duke of Gloucester, John Sutton of Mausoleum of the Despencers". Mr. Dudley, knight, Walter Devereux: of George, duke of Clarence, John Richard K. Morris, M.A., Lecturer in Ferrers, knight, Humphrey Blount, Audeley of Audeley, knight, William Stourton of Stourton, knight Roger A Bit of a Slop No. 10 24 nf n Kin \(\ Calendar of Patent Rolls Tocotys, knight, George Darell, Waweton and the sheriff, in the knight, and the sheriff, in the county county of Bedford. THE BOSWORTH SURVEY of Witts. George, duke of Clarence, Edmund, The largest scientific study of an English battlefield is to be undertaken George, duke of Clarence, William earl of Kent, John, earl of Wiltshire, Stourton of Stourton, knight, Anthony Grey of Ruthyn, knight, by the Battlefields Trustzt Bosworth. The Trust's team forthis £1.3M Nicholas Latymer, knight, Henry Hull, William Hastynges of Hastynges, project, led by project officer Glenn Foard, has assembled some ofthe Richard Artour, Robert Stower and knight, Ralph Hastynges, knight, world's leading historical and scientific experts who will report their the sheriff, in the county of Richard Hastynges, knight, and the findings in summer, 20O8. Somerset. sheriff, in the county of Northampton, George, duke of Clarence, Eichard, As above in the county of Derby The traditional' version of events location, the recording of medieval duke of Gloucester, Walter Devereux As above in the county of at Bosworth was thrown into some open field systems, the positions of Ferrers, knight, John Audeley of Nottingham doubt when Michael Jones' book of roads and other features of the Audeley, knight, James Baskervile, As above in the county of Leicester 'Bosworth, the psychology of a pre-industrial landscape will all be battle' was published in 2003. This knight, Richard Crofte the elder, As above in the county of Stafford key to this mapping. proposed a dramatically different Thomas Monyngton and the sheriff, As above in the county of Warwick Work on hedge-rows will build on in the county of Hereford. battle site and interpretation of John le Scrape. Of Bolton, knight, events. Leicestershire County current work by the University of April 27. Thomas Grey, knight, John Cheyny, Council, owners and interpreters at Edgehill Records of the later turnpike roads will be Commission to the constables of knight, William Alyngton, Thomas of the Ambion Hill site, were forced to concede that there were strong investigated for insight into the 15* Toltyngtrowe to arrest John Lokton and the sheriff, in the county reasons to question accepted century routes which determined Byssetler Westminster, of of Cambridge. views, but were not prepared to the likely approaches to Bosworth. John, earl of Wiltshire, Anthony Gravesende, co. Kent,' peuterere,' accept that the battle took place in Discovering the route of the lost who with others has wounded and Grey of Ruthyn, knight, John Foster, Warwickshire. Behind the scenes, Roman road, which crossed the threatened, divers of the king's lieges esquire, William Alyngton, Henry a great deal has been going on, marsh at Sandyford is a priority in and especially Robert Okey and Torkyngton and the sheriff, in the developing a project and obtaining understanding the later stages of Maurice Smyth, and bring him before county of Huntingdon. funds. Work is now starting in the battle and the death of Richard III. the king and council to find security Anthony Grey of Ruthyn, knight, earnest utilising traditional for good behaviour John Sturgeon, Thomas Broket, methods guided by the application When the landscape has been John Pulter, Henry Barley, Thomas of 'cutting edge' technology. The computer modelled in 3-D, the May 3. site to be assessed is an Edward and the; sheriff, in the possible trajectories of arrows and extremely large one, nearly 30 Commission to the King's kinsman county of Hertford, gunshot will be superimposed Anthony, earl Ryvers, Edward. square kilometres, and very upon the results. Westminster. Nevylle of Bergevenny, Humphrey (sic), duke of different from the 1485 landscape. Military artefacts found at Naseby knight, Galiard de Duras, knight, Buckingham, Anthony Grey of The first tasks will be to identify areas which were probably in the and Towton by fieldwalking and John Scot, knight, William Haut, Ruthyn, knight, Edmund Rede, centre of the action, which will metal detection have led to knight, John Culpepyr, knight, and knight, John Langston, John Gyfford, Robert Rufford, Thomas Hampden of then be examined using traditional dramatic reinterpretation of the the sheriff of Kent to array the king's exact location and character of the Kymlett, Thomas Fowler and the techniques. lieges of that county and to arrest events of the battle. At Bosworth, and imprison certain persons stirring sheriff, in the county of Buckingham. Though there will be some the finds will be mapped onto the up insurrection. preliminary field walking and metal model and used to test possible May 11. detection, to attempt to develop a interpretations. pattern for artefact deposits, most Edmund, earl of Kent, Anthony Grey of the early work will be to map the Where possible focal points of the of Ruthyn, knight, John Hervy, medieval landscape, to try to battle are found, these will be knight, John Broughton, William accurately locate some of the subjected to intensive survey. Hertishom, Robert Bothe, John features referred to in Experience suggests that this will Cokeyn, Richard Godfray, Thomas contemporary accounts. A detailed yield artefacts. understanding the of marsh area around the traditional Ambion Hill

A Bit of a Slop No. 10 25 A Bit of a Slap No. 10 26 With three possible locations for As the battle archaeology Sir John Fastolf John Fastolf, a professional soldier the centre of the action, the 2005 investigation aspect of the study is who had died of old age long before and 2006 work schedules will pushing the boundaries of Tewkesbury, but the settlement of determine the focus of study for knowledge, the survey anticipates whose estate was the subject of the the remaining two years, leading that significant modifications will Moodre, Irecomande me to yaw, letyng sort of anarchy that could only to publication of results in 2008. have to be made to the your wette that, bfyssed be Sod, my happen in the reign of a weak king, programme as it develops Ambion Hill remains the preferred brother John is a tyffe and farethe and who is forever linked, quite battlefield, but alternative locations Current knowledge on Bosworth me//, and in no perell off dethe. Never unjustly, to that fat braggart of will be subjected to detailed was summarised on an the lesse he is hurte wyth an arow on Shakespeare's Henry IV. sampling, taking into consideration Assessment Report dating from hys ryght arme be-nethe the elbow, 2004, which points to the core of His grandfather, Alexander, was a recent work organised by and I have sent hym a sorgion whyche Leicestershire County Council. the battle lying more than a mile to shipowner of Yarmouth, who made the south west of Ambion Hill. hat he dressid hym, and he teltythe me enough money at trade for his son, The decay and subsequent loss of There are major uncertainties, that he trustythe that he schall be all John, to buy a manor at Caister, iron arrowheads and other ferrous though, regarding historic hall wyth-in ryght schort tyme. It is so Norfolk. Our John was bom there in items will be subjected to landscape, initial deployment and that John Mylsent is ded, 6od have 1380. particular scrutiny by Dr. Rob phases of action which need to be Janaway of Bradford University. mercy on hys sowle, and Wylliam His early military career was with resolved before the battle can be Mylsent is on h/ffe and hys othere Professor Anne Curry of the sited with any certainty. Henry IV's second son Thomas, a lot servantys all be askapyd by all fyklihod. of it spent in Ireland. In 1415 they University of Southampton's These are the questions which the Department of Medieval History Item, as for me, I ante in good case, joined Henry V's army of invasion, project intends to answer, allowing bfyssyd be God, and in no jeparteau: will be supervising the historical an effective interpretation of the and travelled to France. He was research, and re-examining source battlefield for the public, and a off myfyffifme fyst my-selffe, fore I knighted for his part in the material in the light of updated better knowledge of the real roles am at my fyberteau; iffnede bee. campaign, which included the Battle knowledge of fifteenth century of the earl of Oxford, as the Tudor Item, my lorde Arche-bysshop is in the of Agincourt. His future career was military theory and practice, General, and Sir William Stanley. Towre. Never the lesse I trust to Sod spent entirely in France. yielding evidence for the deployment of the armies. Peter that he schall do wellenoghe. He hathe In 1409 he had married Millicent, This short account of what is a Foss has published the most a saffe-garde for hym and me bathe. the widow of Sir Stephen Scrope. detailed existing research on really important and fascinating Neverthelesse we have ben trobfyd This brought him lands and wealth Bosworth, and he will provide project, with lots of relevance to syns. but nowe I undrestande that he far beyond his own small manor in advice on sources for the battle. Tewkesbury, is based upon an article hathe a pardon, and so we hope well. Norfolk. She was much older than Specialist identification of military which appeared in 'Battlefield', the him, and beyond the age for artefacts will be backed by the journal of the Battlefields Trust This is part of the text of a letter children, so John didn't have an Royal Armouries at Leeds. Tim (which the Society is a group from John Paston to his mother, heir, which was later to be the root Sutherland, instigator and member of). No doubt there will be a explaining the fate of his elder cause of much trouble. manager of the Towton battlefield bt said in the 'media* over the brother at the battle of Bamet. The When Thomas, his Lord, was killed survey, will lead the geophysical coming years, and we'll try to provide surgeon was right. He was all whole survey and subsequent in action in 1421, John was within a short time and lived to take excavation. progress reports. The Bosworth appointed master of the household over his father's legal struggle battlefield visitor centre will be of John, Duke of Bedford. In the Mass graves will be located by displaying up to date information, against the Duke of Norfolk for the 'small scale' geophysical and following year, King Henry V died and is worth a visit if you have a few estate of Sir John Fastolf, which and Bedford became Regent in excavation sampling, led by John Paston senior had inherited in artefact scatter evidence, local hours to spare. France. Sir John Fastolf rose to a what were even for those days, position of eminence, and made his tradition and antiquarian reports. extremely dubious circumstances. Grave pits require specialist fortune. excavation, and unless there are compelling reasons, human This is by way of introduction to a In 1423 he became Governor of remains will not be moved. short piece about the life of Sir Maine and Anjou. In 1424, at the

A Bit of a Slap No. 10 27 A Bit of a Slap No. 10 28 Battle of Vemeuil, he was made reversals. He profited both from Knight Banneret, an award for arable farming on his estates and A couple more castles and Cof course) valour in combat. In 1428 he was from sheep rearing. His flock of the odd church! created a Knight of the Garter, a 8,000 sheep fed the wool markets of very high honour for someone from England and Flanders, and he even outside the peerage. retained his grandfather's interest Our tour leader's account of the Society Spring Outing 2OO5 in shipping, owning a number of In 1429, he had a notable victory vessel trading out of Yarmouth. So here we are again. The third Tottering masonry discreetly when a supply convoy he was of out annual Spring excursions to stabilized, eroded walls capped escorting was attacked by the In 1454, he moved into Caister the wild old Welsh marches. Two with turf. None of the usual French. He used the barrels of Castle, one of the richest and finest cars this time, Steve and Amanda scouring and clipping. Rare plants provisions as a defence in what has buildings of its type in England. He driving and we'd moved up- still sprout from the mortar of become known as the Battle of the kept his treasure at the Abbey of St country a bit to Housman's "Land joints, some of them lifted then Herrings. Later in the same year, he Benet of Hulme. Whilst there were a of lost content", Ludlow and put back after re-pointing! was involved in a humiliating defeat few men of noble title who could district, first stop Wigmore. at the Battle of Patay, against Joan afford a much grander lifestyle, few The castle seems to have been of Arc. When John, Lord Talbot's without title could match his I'd always been intrigued by this abandoned soon after Edward's forces were overrun and he was wealth. snaggly old remnant of a castle time. In Tudor England it had captured, Fastolf withdrew from the viewed across the valley, poking become an anachronism both field, leading to accusations of On 5 November 1459 he passed through the trees on its wooded military and socially. Its pale cowardice, particularly from Talbot. away. He left no heir. He had a hillside, but never visited. ghost lingers on. Opinions were sharply divided, but stepson, Stephen Scrope, but he The parish church at the bottom it is this incident which stained his was not close. FastolPs will was to It doesn't disappoint. In its of the hill is large, imposing and reputation, and linked him to Sir prove a milch cow to the legal heyday it must have been near John Falstaff. profession for many years. Because impregnable and it still makes you rather bare. of the political situation in England, breathless as you scramble An early Norman nave with much In 1440, Fastolf came home. At the Fastolf was involved in many upwards through the trees, rubble herring-bone masonry was greatly age of sixty, he retired from active disputes of land ownership. He had and tumbled gateways still half extended with a new choir and service and developed his estates, written a will some six months filled with their own makings, to aisles in the 14th century. I think which had grown greatly as he the final refuge of the inner before his death, an extremely it was monastic. Those hoping for invested his wealth in land. He built ward. A kind of high security complicated one, with the main frosty alabaster effigies of a moated townhouse in Southwark, feature being a requirement upon pent-house suite with the usual castilans long dead, (i.e. me!) and embarked on the construction the executors to construct and priceless views, and indeed it was were disappointed. of a magnificent new home in endow a college at Caister. John home to the local tycoons, The Norfolk, Caister Castle. He also Paston helped draft it. young Edward IV when he was still Lunch at the local pub was very owned the Boar's Head in familiarly known as Edward pleasant as I recall, no cheese Southwark, another point in However, after his death, Paston Mortimer, the infamous marcher and even Brian, who had not common with Falstaff. He was very announced that there was a new name of his grandmother's made the climb, seemed happy. astute at business, and totally will, dictated before his death but people, held court here. ruthless. In the Paston Papers there not signed, making John Paston his On to Ludlow. We had intended is this description from a servant; heir. What happened after that is The site is now in the to take in the castle the young guardianship of English Heritage 'cruel and vengible he hath been complicated in the extreme. To Edward's other main home, but and its conservation something of ever, and for the most part without learn more, try 'Blood and Roses', time was pressing and the gate a philosophical departure. The pity and mercy'. Helen Castor's excellent book about fee seemed a bit steep. the Paston family's struggles with long years of benign neglect have (Wigmore is free). So we cut our Fastolf continued to prosper even the East Anglian nobility. created a place of romantic losses and after a quick browse after the loss of his estates in beauty and rich ecology and this around the centre of this France, following the English has been respected. handsome old town (amazingly it

A Bit of a Slop No. 10 29 A Bit of a Slop No. 10 30 was new to Amanda, who fell in time. It was abandoned as a love with the place) carried on to dwelling sometime in the 18th WALKS 2006 our last venue, Stokesay. century, but kept up as farm buildings. Its rough hewn honesty This is the fortified manor house and lack of pretentious The Battlefield Society's programme of walks for the coming year has per excellence and one of the restoration bear witness to this, been agreed- We are always looking for new recruits as guides, if you are earliest and best preserved. interested- Training will be given! Quite a few superlatives; it has a Finally, the church, just outside perfect mid 13th century great the moat on the north side. A hall with original gabled windows rather non-descript little Sunday 2.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 and the largest domestic cruck structure, largely rebuilt in the Januarys'11 Crescent truss roof in existence. We got 17* century, it can't compete Sunday 2.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 there just in time for last intake. with the drama of the house but Februarys"1 Crescent Everything is absurdly dramatic still holds some surprises. Sunday 2.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 and picturesque. You enter March 5th Crescent through a pretty timber framed We shuffled around it in the fading light and began to Sunday 2.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 gate-house, very Shropshire but appreciate an old, rustic, April 2nd Crescent not the original which was of Sunday 11.00. Queen 2 hour walk to Tredington and back, looking at stone and much more martial. protestant interior largely ignored Also there was a curtain wall, now by the gothic revivalists. April 30*" Margaret's the route of the Yorkist march. £1.50 Camp mostly gone, to complete the Tall box pews and a dark old castle effect. In fact it was western gallery where the village Sunday 2.30. The The battle memorial walk, including a series of always a bit of a pose, built by a band played the psalms on viol May 7th Crescent talks and demonstrations related to the merchant, Lawrence of Ludlow and serpent, fill the nave. The politics, tactics and armament. Advance rather than some swords-drawn squire's pew, up front, is a sort of booking required. £4.00 marcher lord. wooden cage! Country versions of Thursday 7.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 Once inside the little bailey the Old Testament patriarchs regard Junel* Crescent us from the walls along with black classic medieval domestic range Thursday 7.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 letter texts, "The Lord is my stretches out before us; a long, July 6th Crescent shepherd-." in their clumsy tromp high roofed stone hall with big Sunday 11.00. The A walk around part of the battlefield as part d'oil frames. Who says painted lancet windows. At the lower end July 9th Fair of the Medieval Festival. About 2 hours walking churches ended with the the first floor jetties out and talking. Donations to the Festival. reformation? The old place has precariously into a timber framed Thursday 7.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 its charms. solar chamber, all hipped roofs July 13th Crescent and diamond paned casements. In the slanting light of a chill Thursday 7.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 At the upper end a martial March afternoon, under the eyes August 3rd Crescent looking tower was added in the of Abraham and Isaac we said our Thursday 7.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. This is 1280s. It might not have stood a farewells and headed back to a September T**1 Crescent the last summer walk, and finishes in twilight. siege but unwanted visitors would casually irreverent 21st century. have got the message! €1.50 Sunday 2.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 In the hall Tudor re-enactors were October 1* Crescent doing a bit of mumming. Some of Sunday 2.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 us mouthed the familiar lines, "In Novembers*11 Crescent comes I St George...!" Sunday 2.30. The 2 hour guided tour of the battlefield. £1.50 i This old hall must have seen December 3rd Crescent plenty of this sort of thing in its

A Bit of a Slap No. 10 31 A Bit of a Slap No. 10 32 TEWKESBURY Eclipse of the -1471 THE GREAT WARBOW By Steven Goodchild From Hastings to the Mary Rose Published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd By Matthew Strickland & Robert Hardy Price £10.99 ISBN 1844151905 Sutton Publishing Ltd Price £25.00 ISBN 0750931671 Fearing accusations of reverse nepotism in reviewing a book written by our own Chairman, with editorial contributions from most of the For the novice confronted by this weighty tome (538 pp including Committee, I thought back to how this book would have struck me had indexes), Strickland and Hardy's oeuvre is a daunting prospect - how it been available when I first moved to Tewkesbury and became can there be so much to write about a bent stick and a piece of string? interested in that empty field alongside the A38. Steve's book takes a However, it is quickly apparent that this is very much more than a logical and chronological look at the background to the Battle of treatise on a single weapon, rather a journey through half a century of Tewkesbury, with enough information to establish the historical warfare, from before the to the Tudor twilight of context, but wisely stopping short of an attempt to recount the Wars of archery, with the Warbow as the linking theme. the Roses in their entirety. The immediate build-up, beginning with Margaret's return to England, the Battle itself and its aftermath, are The structure is logically, but not doggedly, chronological and I recounted in a flowing style that lends justifiable drama to the story particularly liked the occasional departure to drill more deeply into without resorting to journalistic hyperbole. specific topics, such as an analysis of armour as a defence, arrow penetration and wounds, together with a chapter devoted to the tactical It is in the analysis of the Battlefield, though, and the subsequent deployment of archers. Such insights go a long way to explaining the Appendices exploring various aspects of its interpretation that Steve's nature of warfare in the age of the longbow as counterpoint to the intimacy with the site comes to the fore. This is clearly a work written narrative of particular battles and detail of technological (if one can use with frequent return visits to check routes and vantage points, with the that phrase) development of the weapons themselves. This stark result that a newcomer to the Town could easily take in all the salient reminder of conflict as the act of delivering extreme violence by one points using this guide alone. The illustrations, well-chosen, relevant man upon another both brings the book to life and avoids too scholarly and including a number of photographs and diagrams commissioned a remove from the reality of war and I was reminded of John Keegan's specifically for this book, add much to the narrative. To his credit, 'The Face of Battle' - no mean compliment. Steve also takes pains to challenge his own interpretation, offering up alternative evidence and analyses of the site together with a The text itself is eminently readable, with ample, but unobtrusive and dispassionate rationale as to why he supports what has become the relevant, use of contemporary quotations. As one would expect with a accepted account. publication of this qualify, the illustrations are plentiful, excellently rendered, and a useful mix of medieval artwork, clear graphics and In short, this is a concise, authoritative and, above all, readable book bespoke photographs. For the true toxophilist anorak, there is even an that brings together much of the research completed since the appendix reflecting the results of a number of trials conducted to formation of the Society. As part of Pen & Sword's Battleground assess the effectiveness of the longbow as a weapon. Series, now running to over 100 titles, it will hopefully remain in print longer than its modest format (160pp, softbound), might otherwise The Battle of Tewkesbury receives understandably brief coverage in a permit. As a definitive account, it deserves to. chapter devoted to the English civil wars of the Fifteenth Century. -Clive Montellier Sadly, both the text and a rather confusing diagram appear to be based on the version of the Battle that sees the Lancastrian forces drawn up close to the town, with their right flank anchored on the ruins

A Bit of a Slap No. 10 33 A Bit of a Slop No. 10 34 of Holme Castle. Given the degree of debate over the true site of the Battle, one cannot criticise such a choice and it does not detract from 1471 Fraternity Application the thrust of the text, even if it does depart from 'our1 version of events!

In short, this is an impressive publication that would bear reading from Please enrol the following person/family/organisation into the cover to cover as much as its value as a reference work. I know I 1471 Fraternity: shouldn't be surprised that a popular actor should also be a credible expert on medieval weaponry, but it did take the dustjacket flyleaf to convince me that it really was that Robert Hardy. Name to be entered on the certificate, the website and the book -dive MonteUier of subscribers:

Address to deliver the certificate to:

/ *£*i£*:Syi" fcVcivjiTEas Ktf I I / ' ~~ •* * A

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Email address for events information:

Information on future events will be sent by email. If you don't wish to receive such information, don't provide an address. Invitations to Holm Hill, showing the location of 'Holm Castle' and the conjectured the unveiling will be delivered by post. location of the Castle from Lt Col Blythe's interpretation Please forward this form with payment of £14.71 to Brian Howgate, Old Tolsey Cottage, 4 Tolsey Lane, Tewkesbury GL20 5AE. Cheques to be payable to Tewkesbury Battlefield Society Sculpture account

A Bit of a Slop No. 10 Bit of a Slap No. 10 The Battlefield Society Committee is:

Steve Goodchild Chairman Ruth Howgate Brian Howgate Treasurer Clive Montellier Secretary Peter Williams Bernie Willoughby Amanda Thomas Eifion Thomas Angie Pope

The Committee meets as required to discuss the ongoing business o/ 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, /amily membership £7.50 and overseas membership £10. Details can be obtained/rom the Chairman. 01684 294939

The Society has a presence on the Internet at http://www.tewfeesbury.org/battlefield Here you can find news and links to other related sites.

The Society newsletter is published annually. A news sheet is produced irregularly.

The Society is indebted to Councillor Connors /or the name of it's newsletter