In previous posts I have written about the battle of Towton, fought in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, March 29th 1461, south-west of York and probably the biggest and bloodiest battle fought on English soil. Two years ago I posted Palm Sunday Field 1461 and Towton links, and last year I wrote The Battle of Towton - 550th anniversary.
This year I thought I would post in particular about the graves of some of the dead.
There is an introduction to the battlefield archaeology of the site here, and the excavation of a mass grave discovered at the site of the chantry chapel built by King Richard III in the village of Towton itself is recorded in Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, published by Oxbow here in Oxford.
Apart from this and the large grave in the churchyard at Saxton vide infra there are two monuments in the area of peers who fell in the battle. The first is on the edge of the battelefield in the churchyard at Saxton.
All Saints Church and Lord Dacre's Tomb, Saxton
Ranulph or Ralph Dacre, Lord Dacre, was the second son of Thomas, Lord Dacre, wh had died only three years earlier. His mother was Philippa, a daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland and an elder half-sister of Cecily, Duchess of York, the mother of the victorious King Edward IV.Lord dacre's wife was a FitzHugh of Ravensworth, so he was very much part of northern noble society.
Ranulph was a loyal Lancastrian and at the Battle of Towton, he commanded the Lancastrian left wing. After fighting through the day, he removed his helmet to drink just as the Duke of Norfolk’s men arrived on the field. Moments later, he was killed by an arrow, fired by a youth hiden in some bushes nearby. This is commemorated in the rhyming phrase "The Lord Dacres was slain in the North Acres. He was buried in the churcyard at All Saints Church at Saxton under a table tomb. Legend has it that he was buried upright with his horse. This was apparently confirmed when in the eighteenth century a horse's skull was discovered near the tomb.
A cross on the battlefield has been given his name. It is the scene of a small service each year on Palm Sunday, in memory of those who fell in the battle.
Ranulph or Ralph Dacre, Lord Dacre, was the second son of Thomas, Lord Dacre, wh had died only three years earlier. His mother was Philippa, a daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland and an elder half-sister of Cecily, Duchess of York, the mother of the victorious King Edward IV.Lord dacre's wife was a FitzHugh of Ravensworth, so he was very much part of northern noble society.
Ranulph was a loyal Lancastrian and at the Battle of Towton, he commanded the Lancastrian left wing. After fighting through the day, he removed his helmet to drink just as the Duke of Norfolk’s men arrived on the field. Moments later, he was killed by an arrow, fired by a youth hiden in some bushes nearby. This is commemorated in the rhyming phrase "The Lord Dacres was slain in the North Acres. He was buried in the churcyard at All Saints Church at Saxton under a table tomb. Legend has it that he was buried upright with his horse. This was apparently confirmed when in the eighteenth century a horse's skull was discovered near the tomb.
A cross on the battlefield has been given his name. It is the scene of a small service each year on Palm Sunday, in memory of those who fell in the battle.
Source: The Richard III Society website: www.richardiii.net
Behind the tomb is the long communal grave which was made by William Hungate of Saxton in the early sixteenth century to contain bodies moved from the battlefield. Even today it is of recognisable elevation.
A few miles away in the church at Methley is the tomb of Lionel Lord Welles KG. Like Lord Dacre he was a man in middle age at the time of his death. Legend, again, has it that after his death in the battle his body was concealed in a snow drift, and then brought in a sack by night to Methley.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography lives of him and his sons by Michael Hicks can be read here and there is another online account of his life with links here.
In the Waterton chantry in Methley church - incidentally the church is a treasure house of good things to see - is his tomb and that of his first wife. She was born Joan Waterton, and was the neice of Bishop Richard Fleming; the very fine tomb of her parents lies opposite theirs in the same chapel, which appears to be of later date than the tombs. The Welles tomb appears to have been moved from an originally free-standing position to its present place against the south wall.
Lord Welles' effigy is clearly later than 1457 as he is shown wearing the Garter, an honour he only received that yearas shown as KG, but it is unlikely, in the circumstances that the tomb was erected after his death. He clearly planned to be buried there. The effigy is virtually identical to that of Lord Hungerford and Moleyns, who died in 1459, in Salisbury cathedral. Both the effigies of Lord and Lady Welles are of high quality, with the details of the fabric of her dress and mantle and his tabard rendered in fine detail. Both are weasring the Lancastrian collar of SS. Lionel's effigy has undergone repair - his nose is a replacement - and the whole tomb underwent a full restoration in 1988.
The tomb of Lord and Lady Welles in Methley church
Image:leodis.net
After Joan's death he remarried, Margaret, the widowed Duchess of Somerset, who was the mother of Lady Margaret Beaufort. She clearly intended to be buried at Wimborne with her previous husband Duke John. Their tomb can be viewed in my post The tomb of the Duke and Duchess of Somerset at Wimborne Minster.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography lives of him and his sons by Michael Hicks can be read here and there is another online account of his life with links here.
In the Waterton chantry in Methley church - incidentally the church is a treasure house of good things to see - is his tomb and that of his first wife. She was born Joan Waterton, and was the neice of Bishop Richard Fleming; the very fine tomb of her parents lies opposite theirs in the same chapel, which appears to be of later date than the tombs. The Welles tomb appears to have been moved from an originally free-standing position to its present place against the south wall.
Lord Welles' effigy is clearly later than 1457 as he is shown wearing the Garter, an honour he only received that yearas shown as KG, but it is unlikely, in the circumstances that the tomb was erected after his death. He clearly planned to be buried there. The effigy is virtually identical to that of Lord Hungerford and Moleyns, who died in 1459, in Salisbury cathedral. Both the effigies of Lord and Lady Welles are of high quality, with the details of the fabric of her dress and mantle and his tabard rendered in fine detail. Both are weasring the Lancastrian collar of SS. Lionel's effigy has undergone repair - his nose is a replacement - and the whole tomb underwent a full restoration in 1988.
The tomb of Lord and Lady Welles in Methley church
Image:leodis.net
After Joan's death he remarried, Margaret, the widowed Duchess of Somerset, who was the mother of Lady Margaret Beaufort. She clearly intended to be buried at Wimborne with her previous husband Duke John. Their tomb can be viewed in my post The tomb of the Duke and Duchess of Somerset at Wimborne Minster.
Of your charity pray for the repose of the souls all who fought and of all who died at Palm Sunday Field
It is not clear when the Duke's effigy was commissioned. A time interval of more than thirty years after his death is a long time, even by fifteenth century standards. Looked at on its own, the male figure could be contemporary with the time of the Duke's death. But both hands couldn't be changed, and it was always intended to hold the image of someone who died later; in this case almost 40 years later. Duffy suggests that it is possible that the male effigy was carved 'in retrospect' using an old suit of armour, old effigy designs. To this the photographer responds that being carved in retrospect was very rare during the fifteenth century, and cannot cite any dated example.
The clasped hands of the Duke and Duchess.
The join between the two effigy slabs can be seen.
Photo: Roelipilami on Flickr
At Framlingham in Suffolk the second and third wives of the fourth Duke of Norfolk lie with a gap between them - he, being beheaded in 1572, never got to join them, and the tomb is a rare example of one that has never been completed. Similarly, in a later age, when the effigy of Prince Albert was carved and installed in the Mausoleum at Frogmore after 1861 one was prepared for Queen Victoria, but not installed until after her death in 1901. When that occurred the effigy had been mislaid at Windsor and was found after a search walled up in the castle. So delay in installation ( or even loss of an effigy) is not inconceivable.
Carving an effigy in the dress of a generation earlier would, I think, be very unusual, although in the fourteenth century sculptors were, apparently, often a generation behind in what they carved - thus actual armour was more advanced than that depicted on effigies. This emerged at a conference I attended in 1993 on Yorkshire figures.
The tomb would have required several stages to assemble. The base is Purbeck marble, so local to the area, but the effigies are of alabaster which would presumablymean they originated in either the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire area, or have been produced in London and transported to Wimborne.
The choice of the motif of the clasped right hands, chosen, it is clear when the Duke died, or at least his effigy commissioned, may only be a convention, but is, as is pointed out above, one associated with an earlier period - such as the Arundel tomb in Chichester Cathedral from the 1370s. Perhaps we should give the Duke and Duchess the benefit of the doubt and assume there was genuine affection which they wished to embody in stone.