Category: Nottinghamshire

The Road to Stoke Field

7/6/2019

4th June 1487

Following Lambert Simnel’s coronation in Dublin in May of 1487 the Yorkist rebel army landed at Piel Island, Furness in Lancashire on this day. As they made their was south east, they gathered English soldiers and Irish and German mercenaries before coming face to face with the forces of Henry Tudor on Stoke battlefield on the 16th of June

7th June 1487

Making their way to the final battle of the Wars of the Roses the Yorkist rebels, under the command of Francis Lovell and John de la Pole, make camp at Jervaulx Abbey in Yorkshire on this day in 1487.

8th June 1487

The forces of Francis Lovell and John de la Pole reach the Yorkshire village of Masham. From here a request is sent to enter the city of York, but it is denied. The rebels are told that the city would

"withstand them with their bodies."

My photos were taken at Masham last year, we stayed in the village pub, you can see one of the views that the Yorkist's forces would have seen when they camped in the village.

10th June 1487

Henry VII reaches Leicester and is joined by Jasper Tudor, John de Vere, George Talbot and Edward Courtenay.

Meanwhile.....

At midday, Henry Clifford, departs from York with 400 men and heads towards Tadcaster to take on the forces of Francis Lovell. He returns, not only defeated but poorer, having lost all their money to the victorious Yorkists.

12th June 1487

Henry Clifford leaves the City of York (again) this time in the company of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, however they are soon informed that Thomas, Lord Scrope of Masham, with John, Lord Scrope of Bolton were besieging York at Bootham Bar.

Meanwhile...

The forces of Henry VII cross the Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire boarder and armies of John de la Pole and Francis Lovell join forces.

13th June 1487

After staying at Masham on the 8th, the Yorkist rebels advance to Nottinghamshire is not well documented but it was via Branham Moor in Yorkshire. It has been stated that they passed the village of Southwell and Averham via Pontefract, Doncaster and Worksop as they made their way towards the River Trent at East Stoke.

16th June 1487

The Battle of Stoke, which took place on the morning of the 16th June 1487, saw off the last of the Plantagenets and gave the Tudors a foundation on which to build their new dynasty, was an attempt by Yorkist loyalists to take the crown from the head of Henry VII and place it on the head of Yorkist figurehead Lambert Simnel, a claimant to the English throne, posing as Edward, Earl of Warwick.

You can read my blog on the last battle of the Wars of the Roses here

meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/wars-of-the-roses-blog/battle-of-stoke-the-battlefield-site

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The Road to Bosworth: 13th - 17th August 1485

8/8/2017

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In the August of 1485 Richard III spent three days at the royal hunting lodge in Bescwood in Nottinghamshire.

A grant by Henry I to the Priory of Lenton, gave permission for the gathering of wood from the royal forest. Henry's grandson increased the collection to two cartloads a day and added to his grant the right of the Priory to gather as much as they needed for themselves. The collection of wood from the forest for the kings use continued into the reign of Edward III, when in 1363, he ordered the felling of a number of trees from Bescwood to build a lodge in which he could stay when hunting in the forest.

A hunting lodge can be found within Bescwood throughout the reigns of subsequent kings. Edward IV, whilst staying at Nottingham Castle in the October of 1469, hunted in the forest and may have stayed a number of days in the lodge itself. Richard III was defiantly in the lodge in the August of 1483, he was here from the 13th to the 16th when he left for Leicester, where he stayed for five days before that fateful day at Bosworth Field on the 22nd of August 1485.

As the 16th century was drawing to a close we can find a warrant, granted to Thomas Markham from Elizabeth I's treasurer, to fell eighty-six trees from Bestwood Park:

‘for ye repair of Bestwood Lodge’ which was built of "wood and plaster, covered with slate and tiles and contained 38 rooms with several cottages, farmhouses and barns."

The lodge was still in use by royalty in the late 17th century were it was frequented by Charles Beauclerk, Duke of St Albans, the illegitimate son of Charles II.

At some point in time Bescwood became Bestwood, The reasons for the name change I am unsure, I can only hope it occurred naturally over time, the result of errors in transcribing and not by Best Western, the owners of the chain of hotels who presently run the establishment, using it to their advantage, however, today the area where this royal hunting lodge once stood, is another Bestwood Lodge.

The present impressive red brick building has been the home to the founder Raleigh Bicycle Company, a Ministry of Defense headquarters, and now a hotel. It was built in 1863, following the demolition of the original house three years earlier.

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The Road to Stoke Field

The Road to Bosworth: 13th - 17th August 1485

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