Bosworth 1485: A Battlefield Rediscovered

On 23rd August 1485 Richard III was killed in battle and Henry VII was crowned as the first of a new Tudor dynasty.  In recent centuries the true site of this iconic English battle was lost. Long thought to have been fought on Ambion Hill, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire, in 1985 one historian challenged the accepted story.  This set off a quarter century of dispute with alternative sites scattered across more than six kilometres of western Leicestershire. Between 2005-2010, a team led by Dr Glenn Foard applied the techniques of battlefield archaeology to resolve the problem. The work was for the Battlefields Trust, commissioned by Leicestershire County Council with Heritage Lottery funding.The original documents for the battle and the armies were reviewed; map reconstructions of the historic landscape of five townships were prepared from archaeological and documentary evidence; and archaeological reconnaissance survey with metal detectors tested an area of six square kilometres. On the 1st March 2009 the site was finally found, when artillery round shot began to be recovered on the very western edge of the survey area – in a location never before suggested as the site of the battle.

 
A new book by Huddersfield academic Glenn Foard  Bosworth 1485: A Battlefield Rediscovereddetails the true location of the battle  where Richard III lost his life. It was   launched as part of the anniversary events that took place on 17th and 18th August, a weekend of battle re-enactments, authentic costumes and interesting talks. Watch the videos and read more about this momentous event  by following this link