Towton Battlefield Society

EXTRA MEETING DATE – MONDAY 27th MAY 2013

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:19:52 +0000

We are delighted to announce an additional talk date for 27th May 2013.

Chris Skidmore MP and acclaimed historian will be in the area over the Bank Holiday weekend and has kindly asked to speak to the TBS.The subject will be his latest research and book,

Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors

Saxton Village Hall

Monday 27th May 19.30-21.00

All welcome, non members £3.00

This a wonderful opportunity for the TBS and one which we are all looking
forward to attending

GLOBE THEATRE AT TOWTON – 14TH JULY 2013

admin — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:16:46 +0000

Shakespeares Globe Theatre will be coming to Towton on Sunday 14th July . They will be performing the Three Henry IV plays at Towton Hall.

Full details can be found on their website at Globe Theatre

Ticket price will be £45 per person.

LOYALTY BINDS ME

admin — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:43:07 +0000

You will no doubt have seen the exciting news that the body of King Richard III has been identified following the discovery of a skeleton in a Leicester car park. Though Richard did not fight at Towton [he was only 9 at the time] his elder brother, Edward IV, led the Yorkist forces that day.

To see more of the work done by the University of Leicester, including the news conference where the results were annouced please see The Unviversity of Leicester

ROCKINGHAM ARMS – LATEST NEWS

admin — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:37:07 +0000

Last week we became aware that the Rockingham Arms had closed and hadn’t
traded for a few days and alarm bells began to sound as we thought of
all the hard work put into the rooms. All was quickly solved. There
has been a last minute and fast paced change of ownership of the
lease.

We know the new management well and have worked with them successfully
in the past and they are fully committed to Towton and our members.
The building will remain closed for a few weeks to allow for some
structural repairs, a kitchen refurbishment and to allow for the new
team to get ready for their new venture. It will be open in time for
our Palm Sunday event. Our rooms are intact and, in fact there will
be some structural improvements and we can continue to enjoy a great
relationship with the pub .

We will still have access at various times during the works but we will
try and give the new team some space to get on with their works. It
was a very short period of uncertainty but a great solution was
quickly found but, unfortunately, this sort of occurrence is becoming
the norm in this industry. We wish Jonathan and Callum every success
at the Rockingham and look forward to its re-opening and a renewed
relationship.

TBS LIBRARY

admin — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 12:54:24 +0000

Work on the display centre at the Rockingham Arms is proceeding and we now have a small library of books for TBS members to borrow. Please see the Display Centre page under the Battlefield Tab for more information.

The Frei Compagnie in 2013

admin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:23:07 +0000

Here is a list of events at which the Frei Compagnie hope to appear this year.

March 22 – 24: Palm Sunday Commemoration at Towton

Sun April 14, noon – 4pm: Lead ChurchOpen Day, Crooked Billet, Saxton

Sun April 21: Morley St George’s Day multi-period event

Sat May 18: Sherburn Gala

Sat June 8: Wistow Scarecrow Festival/church 800th anniversary

Sun June 23: Monk Fryston Village Fayre

Sat 6 July: Kirkby Wharfe Village Gala

July 13 – 14: Fort Paull – also Globe Theatre at Towton, Tewkesbury & Kelmarsh!

Thurs August 1: Medieval Yorkshire Evening, Crooked Billet

Sat August 25 – Sun 26: Cawood Craft Festival

Sat 7th September: Ledsham Fayre

Another TBS member in print!

admin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:01:39 +0000

Martin Tarpey, one of our longest serving members, active for many
years and our former Chair has published a superb Childrens book. Take a look, have a read. Well Done Martin!

Jack Pepper and the Whitby Treasure is an exciting contemporary adventure story set in Whitby on the wild Yorkshire coast. Jack and his three friends are ordinary average Year 7 children who attend a Leeds comprehensive school and they have an amazing adventure which makes them world famous millionaires.

Now available for Kindle Readers from Amazon

and on all other ebook formats (including Apple
iBooks) at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/258203

Development Threat to the Battlefield

admin — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:17:55 +0000

English Heritage (The Historic Buildings and Monuments
Commission for England) is a non-departmental public body. Today it is an
executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It has a
broad remit of managing the historic environment of England and advises the
relevant Secretary of State on policy and in individual cases such as
registering listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments. In order to manage
the historic environment of England it often employs consultants. To do this it
spends public money. The information the consultant compiles is therefore paid
for by the public. In 2010 a consultant contracted by English Heritage proposed
that the boundary for the Registered Battlefield at Towton should be expanded to
included areas of archaeological interest in and around the village of Towton.
This information was acquired by the consultant via a number of different
sources and is based upon currently available academic research. So far EH have
failed to react to the information provided by the consultant. This failure to
react is having a detrimental effect upon the actual historic battlefield
because it cannot be defined as part of the Registered Battlefield. EH have the
information at their disposal. So far it has failed to formerly pass this
information on to the general public. The Towton Battlefield Archaeology Project
was shown a copy of this document as part of a draft consultation document
because it provided information which went towards its compilation. This was in 2010.

To date, this amendment has not been made and now a

part of the un-registered historic battlefield is under
direct threat from a developer.

TOWTON TAPESTRY

admin — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:56:16 +0000

The Towton Tapestry is a project to record, in various forms of needlecraft, both the history of the Battle of Towton and the work to preserve and promote the battle that is carried out by the TBS, to find out more about the project please see their page on Facebook at Towton Tapestry Group

NEW WEBSITE ON THE WARS OF THE ROSES

admin — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 17:24:03 +0000

Reflections of the Yorkist Realm is a new website created by historian David Santiuste and photographer Rae Tan (both of whom are active members of the Towton Battlefield
Society). It features images of places associated with the Yorkist period of
English history, together with complementary text.

The Yorkist era is best known for the Wars of the Roses, so naturally there is some emphasis on the conflicts of the period, including the Battle of Towton. However, Rae and David have also chosen locations that can be linked to more peaceful aspects of this time, such as religious life and trade. Other places have been singled out because they
have strong connections with particular individuals, including King Richard III.

With the combination of Rae’s photographs and David’s words, this is a unique
interpretation of the medieval heritage. To visit the website please go to http://www.yorkistrealm.com/.