The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century.
The Battle of Bosworth was fought on 22nd August 1485, the battle was won by Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and his alliance of Lancastrians and disaffected Yorkists.
Henry Tudor became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty by his victory and subsequent marriage to a Yorkist princess.
His opponent Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed during the battle, the last English monarch to die in combat bring to an end the Plantagenet dynasty, making it one of the defining moments of English history.
Join us on this walking tour as we follow the story of King Richard III around the key sites connected with the Battle of Bosworth as we delve into the history of his dramatic end on Bosworth field.
Meeting location Main Street Sutton Cheney, opposite St James’ Church. There is free on street parking around the village.
Meeting time 0900-0915
The itinerary for the day will be as follows:
Stand 1 – Sutton Cheney Church – The road to the battle of Bosworth and the relevance to the village.
Stand 2 – After visiting St James’ Church, we make our way to Ambion Hill to discuss the location of the battle. This location includes a toilet stop.
Stand 3 – After Ambion Hill, we head for Shenton Village where we continue to look at the story of the Battle of Bosworth, plus we also look at the villages links to the Battle of Trafalgar, the First World War and Second World War.
Before leaving Shenton, we visit Shenton tea rooms for a Coffee and toilet break.
Stand 4 – after the refreshment break, we head for Fenn Lane an old Roman Road to look at the clash of the Vanguards between Norfolk and Oxford.
Stand 5 – After discussing the Vanguards, we mover off to take a look at the marsh and King Richard v Henry Tudor.
Stand 6 – our next stop is Crown Hill in Stoke Golding, where Henry was supposedly crowned King of England.
Stand 7 – From Stoke Golding we head for the Battlefield Chapel of St James Church at Dadlington where there is a mass grave for casulaties from the battle.
Stand 8 – Our last stop of the day is the Bosworth Heritage Centre. Extra charges – optional at own cost to end the day. (£8.95/adult, £8.00/concession)
After the Heritage Centre, we head back to the cars at Sutton Cheney.
The walk is around 9 miles and will last all day, if you attend the visitors centre I would estimate a 5pm return to vehicles.