The reburial of Richard Duke of York 1475 - Newark to Grantham

Presumably following the established daily pattern, the cortège now moved south-east from Newark into the gently rolling landscape of Kesteven in Lincolnshire.

Here just before arriving at their destination the participants encountered probably the most formidable obstacle on their route in what is today known as Gonerby Hill, but would then have probably been Gunwardby, before evolving into Gunnerby. The correct pronunciation is still “Gun” not “Gone”.

The hill rises up before descending again to Grantham. In the coaching era on the Great North Road it was considered the steepest climb on the journey and attempts were made to improve the gradient in the 1820s and later. However it remains a considerable haul to the top, and was not by-passed until the 1960s by what is now the A1. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was a haunt of highwaymen and the White Hart at Newark reputedly had a notice advising travellers that if they could not get over “Gunnerbi” by nightfall they had better spend the night in Newark.

Assuming that the procession did not wind its way through the villages to the west all those involved must have taken a deep breath and braced themselves for the climb to the village of Great Gunwardby/Gonerby. Maybe they paused by the church with its rare dedication to St Sebastian, and whose clergy and parishioners may have joined in, and then made the descent to the market town of Grantham, clustered to the west of the towering spire of the parish church of St Wulfram. This very handsome church is again an indicator of the wealth of the parish, particularly in the fourteenth century with its great array of windows notable for their tracery. It is perhaps unusual in not having a clerestory, which in consequence gives it a rather tunnel-like interior.

Grantham Church

Image: Tripadvisor

The west front of Grantham Church 

Image: Wikipedia 

However this was not the destination for the bodies in the carriage(s) at the heart of the procession. That was the Franciscan friary at the west end of the Market Place. Today nothing remains above ground of the Grantham Greyfriars and excavations on the site have yielded little so far. The church had at least four altars and the friary was able to accommodate a meeting of the Premonstratensian Provincial Chapter in1492. It was well provided for with a water supply carried in lead pipes from Gonerby which had been created in the early fourteenth century.

Some of those involved in the procession may have stayed at the Greyfriars but otherwise the various inns of Grantham would have provided accommodation. As a town it was doubtless used to travellers and traders coming or going to the great port of Boston to the east or spreading out to the midland towns and noble estates. Just over two centuries later, when the overall population had increased considerably, a War Office report in 1686 records 285 guest beds as being available and stabling for 351 horses in Grantham.

One of those inns still survives as a hotel, its Perpendicular stone facade facing the market place being a notable feature of the High Street. The Angel and Royal apparently originated as a Templar hostel established in 1203, but which subsequently became an inn as the Angel. It there that King Richard III was staying in 1483 when he was apprised of the Duke of Buckingham’s rebellion. It only gained the appellation “and Royal” in 1866 following a visit by the future King Edward VII.

 

The Angel and Royal in Grantham

Image: angelandroyal.co.uk

Interior of one of the oriel windows 

in the ‘chamber de’ roi’ or King’s Room in the Angel and Royal and which extends the length of the frontage

Image: thegreatnorthroad.co.uk/Rex Gibson

 

 Grantham was a town with Yorkist affiliations and may have suffered in consequence when the Lancastrian army passed through in 1461. King Edward IV gave it a charter of incorporation in 1463 and further honoured it staging the beheading of two Lancastrian prisoners in the town after the Lincolnshire Rising of 1470. One of the victims, Sir Thomas de la Launde, was a local Lincolnshire landowner and well-known jouster, and was buried in the Greyfriars.

For those accompanying the cortège the next day’s journey to Stamford was to be the penultimate day of travelling, followed by a rest day in Stamford before the final journey to Fotheringhay.