Selected Places to Visit and Related Organisations as listed in Fatal Colours

Selected Places to Visit and Related Organisations to Towton and  the 1st War of the Roses

Information at time of going to press of Fatal Colours

Updates may be available on www.georgegoodwin.com

IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST ANY ADDITIONAL PLACES AND ORGANISATIONS, I would be delighted to consider them - but no promises made!   e-mail me on george@georgegoodwin.com


 

Immediate to Towton

The Towton Battlefield Society is the official organisation for promoting understanding of the Battle of Towton and for research of the battlefield under protected conditions.    Run by an extremely lively and friendly group of volunteers, and dedicated to encouraging educational and popular interest in an extraordinary event in English history, the TBS is one of the most go-ahead battlefield societies in the country.  You don’t have to be a local to get full value from membership of this Society, which is affiliated to the Battlefields Trust. For full details of the TBS itself, of its visitor centre and of the Frei Compagnie (its group of re-enactors), www.towton.org.uk

Towton Battlefield Archaeological Survey Project.   Tim Sutherland is the leading archaeological authority on the battlefield.  He was a key member of the team from Bradford University that investigated the mass grave from 1996 and has run a number of subsequent projects that have made major discoveries.   For more information, and if you are interested in funding further professionally-led excavations, www.towtonbattle.com  or contact tim@sutherland6579.freeserve.co.uk

The Royal Armouries Museum – Leeds. The Royal Armouries is home to the United Kingdom’s national collection of arms and armour, and is the country’s oldest museum. In addition to personal armour and small arms, the Leeds museum houses the reserve, study and archive collections.  Among their curators are some of the country’s leading experts on fifteenth-century warfare, who have taken a particular interest in the Battle of Towton. As a starting point for general information, www.royalarmouries.org

University of Bradford - The Biological Anthropology Research Centre (BARC). Details on the work of the specialist department responsible for the Towton Mass Grave Project, www.brad.ac.uk/archenvi/research/Towton

York’s Micklegate Bar  - www.micklegatebar.com

York Minster  - www.yorkminster.org

Pontefract Castle - www.wakefieldmuseums.org/our_sites_pontefract_cas.htm

National Organisations

The Battlefields Trust is the UK charity dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Britain's battlefields. Information on joining together with extensive material on Blore Heath, Northampton, Mortimer's Cross and Towton, as well as the later battles of the Wars of the Roses, is available on the Trust's website:  www.battlefieldstrust.com

The Wars of the Roses Federation is an umbrella group of approximately thirty-five medieval member groups.  For further information: www.et-tu.com/wotrf1/cgi-bin/index.cgi.   For a good example of an individual group, see www.beaufort-companye.org.uk

England and Wales

In and around London

The Tower of London.  Nowadays the UK’s most-visited historic attraction, the Tower was repeatedly the scene of important events during the Wars of the Roses, including the murder of Henry VI (the only English king to be killed there).  See www.hrp.org.uk/TowerofLondon/stories.aspx .  The Tower also houses the London collection of the Royal Armouries www.royalarmouries.org/visit-us/tower-of-london

Westminster Abbey -  www.westminster-abbey.org

Westminster Hall -  www.parliament.uk/visiting/online-tours/virtualtours/westminster-hall-tours/westminster-hall/

Houses of Parliament  -  www.parliament.uk/educationSearch ‘Houses of History’ for timeline

Windsor Castle -  www.royal.gov.uk/TheRoyalResidences/WindsorCastle/WindsorCastle.aspx

Eton College -  www.etoncollege.com/visitstoeton.aspx

King’s College, Cambridge - www.kings.cam.ac.uk/visit

Canterbury Cathedral - www.canterbury-cathedral.org/

St Albans (1^st and 2^nd Battles of St Albans)  -  www.stalbans.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/tourism-and-travel/guided-walks/ and www.stalbanscathedral.org

Winchester Cathedral - www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk

The North

Raby Castle - www.rabycastle.com

Sandal Castle - www.wakefieldmuseums.org/our_sites_sandal.htm  (and for Battle of Wakefield)

Castles at Middleham, Richmond, Barnard Castle and Warkworth - www.english-heritage.org.uk/

Castles at Bamburgh  - www.bamburghcastle.com ; Alnwick www.alnwickcastle.com;

Dunstanburgh www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-dunstanburghcastle

Mount Grace Priory (Carthusian)

– www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/mount-grace-priory

The Midlands

Beauchamp Memorial Chapel - St Mary, Warwick  www.saintmaryschurch.co.uk

Identification of the mourning figures on the facing side of the tomb of the 13^th Earl – see first section of illustrations: Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury; Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset; Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham; John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury; Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.  Their respective fates are described in the main text and final ‘Dramatis Personae’.   See also ‘Family Trees’.

Warwick Castle - www.warwick-castle.co.uk/plan-your-day/history.aspx?css=1

Kenilworth - www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/kenilworth-castle/history

Tattershall Castle - www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-tattershallcastle

Crowland Abbey  -  http://crowlandabbey.org.uk/index.html

Wales and the West

Ludlow  -  www.ludlowcastle.com

Cardiff  - www.castlewales.com/cardiff.html

Croft Castle -  www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-croftcastle

Pembroke - www.pembroke-castle.co.uk

Castles at Harlech, Monmouth and Raglan  -  www.cadw.wales.gov.uk

Exeter Cathedral - www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk

Some continental connections

France - the great cathedrals of Paris - www.notredamedeparis.fr ;  Reims - www.cathedrale-reims.com/notre-dame-saint-jacques-reims;   Rouen - www.cathedrale-rouen.net

Italy – Milan, Sforza Castle - www.milanocastello.it/ita/home.html  ; Pienza (birthplace of Pius II that was re-named after him) -  www.pienza.com

Welcome to my new blog!

Welcome to my new blog, where you can find out all about upcoming 'Fatal Colours' events, places and articles of interest.

For full details, extracts and to buy your copy of 'Fatal Colours', visit my website: www.georgegoodwin.com.