00 Prelims:Towton 13/12/2010 13:36 Page 1 TOWTON
PRESS PROOF
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Introduction The boast of heraldry; the pomp of power, And all that beauty; all that wealth e’er gave, Awaits alike the inevitable hour: The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard – Thomas Gray
he town of Ferrybridge in North Yorkshire, lying on the south bank of the River Aire, is the kind of place only a Yorkshireman could love. A nondescript remnant of post-industrial, post-war utilitarian despondency, it requires a powerful imagination to transpose the landscape and events of spring 1461 onto such an unpromising canvas. Yet it was here the Towton campaign began in earnest – both sides disputing the span of the medieval bridge. Discovering the field of Towton involves a fair amount of detective work – no bad thing in itself, perhaps – but surprising, considering this was Britain’s bloodiest day in a long history of sanguinary conflict, including both world wars. It seems likely that more Englishmen died on that day than any other, including 1 July 1916 – the disastrous opening day of the Somme offensive. Admittedly, the modern road system – planned with no regard for history – obfuscates progress. Not until one drives north on the A162 is the route of the Yorkist army clear. Sherburn-in-Elmet is now neatly bypassed by a loop in the road. The first tangible and tantalising evidence is found just beyond the village of Barkston Ash. There, by the side of the road, at the junction of the lane leading west to Saxton, is a stump of medieval cross – the ‘Leper Pot’. It is here, tradition asserts, that Lord Clifford fell. According to Edward Hall, Clifford’s throat was pierced by an arrow, after he unwisely removed his bevor.1 On a muggy morning in late spring, passing through pastoral vistas of fields and peaceful hamlets, it seems impossible that such a savage and momentous struggle occurred in this place. Traces are few. Only a ragged cross marks the field, easily missed by the motorist. A rutted pedestrian track strikes west over fields to the edge of Bloody Meadow, identified by some rather forlorn interpretation boards. And that is it. I cannot think of
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