To better understand the story and significance of Richard III being found under the Leicester car park, I watched the documentary, “Richard III The King in the Carpark”, (it’s on YouTube), I then watch the new movie, “The Lost King”, and then visited Bosworth Field Heritage Centre, Leicestershire, where the banners of Richard III and Henry Tudor still fly over the battlefield, as they did in 1485.
When making town planning decisions that might affect a registered battlefield it’s helpful to think about troop movements, encampments, topography, landmarks, and key events.
From parts of the battlefield you can see Saint Margaret’s Church, (which dates back to the early thirteenth century and was refashioned and extended in the fourteenth century, during the reign of Edward III). The church stands upon a higher ridge of land at Stoke Golding, from where the villagers watched the battle.
St Margaret’s is probably where Henry Tudor (the first Tudor king) gave thanks to God for his victory over Richard III (the last Plantagenet king) and was first crowned, by Lord Stanley, a few metres away on the crest of the hill, now called Crown Hill.
Henry Tudor’s victory marked the end of the War of the Roses, a civil war fought for 30 years by rival cousins, all descendants of Edward III. It was a pivotal moment in England’s history and the Tudor’s tumultuous transformation of the nation followed.
