More news needed at Bosworth

Things seem to have gone a little quiet on the news front regarding the 'new battlesite' at Bosworth. We need to know if there are any more digs taking place and if any more evidence is emerging to back up the claims that the battle really took place on the Fenn Lane as suggested by the results of the Heritage campaign. Will there ever be enough 'finds' to confirm beyond doubt that the new spot is the real deal?

I personally feel we should be sceptical about putting too much faith in the grouping of cannon shot turfed up so far; cannon and gun shot deployment in 1485 was an inaccurate affair at best and they could not have landed all in one spot. There has to be more to come, or I am afraid the mysteries will continue. Perhaps that's the way it should be. Meanwhile, the field where we were told that these discoveries came to light seems remarkably quiet and untroubled . . . if not actually undisturbed by experts. Let's hope we are not being led down the garden path as well as down the Fenn Lane.
(Pic: Standard of Richard III on Ambion Hill (c) P. Taylor)

Digging up the past

There are interesting developments regarding the Battle of Bosworth. New finds from the archaeological dig have, I think, persuaded all but the most hard-bitten of traditionalists that the battle was fought a mile or two further to the south-west of the existing site. Having visited the new battleground with camera and notepad, I found it to a be a field like any other. That will soon be rectified, no doubt, pending permission from the landowner. However, all the cannon shot and belt buckles in the world will not tell us exactly why Richard III was defeated by a rag tag and bobtail set of mercenaries on August 22, 1485. No doubt someone was paid off handsomely for playing the deadly political game of duplicity.

I do hope that if any memorials are erected on this new site, it will only be for the brave warrior king and not the Tudor usurper. One wonders just exactly where on this field Henry was skulking when the final gratuitous blows were struck against the last of the Plantagenets. (Pic: Richard's standard on Ambion Hill)