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Richard III

Society

Magazine of the Worcestershire Branch

Issue 90 December 2013

Dickon Independent Issue 90

From the EditorSadly this issue says goodbye to our founder Janet Long, without

whom there would be no Worcestershire Branch. Her long and happyassociation with the branch is remembered on pages 3 - 7.

Happy Christmas everyone! What a fantastic year it has been with thediscovery of the remains of King Richard III. Next year will be just asexciting when he is finally laid to rest in a tomb befitting his status as aKing of England.

There’s a definite Yorkshire flavour to this magazine with reports fromJudy Jacobs, Ashley Mantle and Lindsay Gibson on the Ricardian delightsof that county.

ContentsJanet Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 - 7Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 - 10Middleham Castle & The King’s Grave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 - 13My Ricardian Holiday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 - 17Richard III Museum In York .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 - 19Branch Meetings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 - 27

Visit To Knowle Parish Church And Temple Balsall - September 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 - 21Sir Thomas More - October 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 - 24Tedstone Wafre And The Mortimer Connection - November 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 - 27

Latest News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Cover Illustration

A montage of images from Bosworth composed by Judy Jacobs.

Illustrations

Janet Long And Other Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Middleham Castle (Judy Jacobs). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Richard III In The Dock (Ashley mantle).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Barnard Castle Boar (Ashley Mantle). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 & 17

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Janet Long

I remember getting a letter asking if I would like to join a Herefordand Worcester Group of the Richard III Society, and nervously goingalong to the first meeting at Janet’s house. I needn’t have worried

as I liked her immediately and she made us all feel very welcome.

Let Janet now take up the story:“In 1986 five of us decided to try to get a local Ricardian group off the

ground. We were given permission for a ‘one-off’ letter to all memberswithin the Hereford and Worcester area, calling an inaugural meeting for12 April 1986. As the day drew nearer panic set in - what if no-one came;what if there were too many people to fit into the room; whose barmy ideawas this anyway!! All my fears were unnecessary as we had a very goodmeeting with an excellent turnout. I found myself elected as secretary.

The first year we decided to go as a group to Bosworth. We had onlymet four times but nevertheless off we went, fourteen of us on a fifty-twoseater coach - plenty of room for luggage! Our first Christmas dinner washeld at the Bear and Ragged Staff, Bransford, a name we thought mostappropriate as a venue until we discovered that the restaurant was called‘Cobblers’.

In 1987 we had our first weekend in York, travelling to Middleham viaJervaulx on the Sunday. As I had never visited any of these placesbefore I found everything new and exciting, but one memory must remainand that is of Vi Roberts (of the Gloucester Branch - two of whosemembers came with us) dodging the cow pats at Jervaulx in her slippers,as she had walked too far round York the day before then gone to thebanquet and ended up with dreadful blisters.

Also in 1987 Ros and I went to talk to the Worcester Probus club. Itdidn't bode well when their chairman introduced us by saying that wewere going to talk about: “Richard III, the humpy back king who did awaywith the princes in the Tower”. Full of righteous indignation we set forthto put the record straight.”

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On October 30 1987 the Malvern Gazette and Ledbury Reporterth

contained an article about the group. At the 1989 AGM Janet becamechairman. We were still meeting in people’s houses in those days andJanet frequently welcomed us all to her home. The rest of the time wevisited as many places associated with Richard III as we could.

Jane Tinklin worked with Janet for Commercial Union in the Kay’sbuilding and Janet persuaded her to join the group in 1988.

Janet takes up the story again:“By 1990 our small band had grown considerably and it was agreed to

apply to the society for branch status as we now felt that we met thecriteria. It was decided to ‘divorce’ the two counties thereby leaving anyfuture Hereford members free to start their own group should they wishto do so. Thanks must go to Lesley for all her hard work at this time, sothat our being accepted as a branch went through without a hitch.

Janet and Lesley were featured in an article in the Worcester EveningNews on January 11 1990, with Janet saying: “I had always thought thatth

Richard had been hard done by. I believe that he was very brave; thatHenry was the coward.”

Four of us attended Kevin Down’s weekend course in Ludlow in 1991entitled ‘Richard III - Good or Bad’. We had a wonderful weekend and didour best to fight our corner, not believing him for one moment when hetold us he had joined the society!”

The first issue of Dickon Independent coincided with King Richard’sbirthday in October 1991. Amongst other outings we attended the re-enactment of the battle of Tewkesbury, and visited Bosworth and Yorkagain. Janet arranged for us to see Sheriff Hutton castle this time, andAlan her husband also joined the party, as he did many other outings.

In 1993 Janet organised another article in the Worcester EveningNews which appeared on August 21 , together with a black and whitest

picture of a group of us in Janet’s garden with a portrait of Richard and abunch of white roses. Next day, the anniversary, we were visitingBosworth again.

At the 1994 AGM Janet stood down and Ralph Richardson took over

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as chairman. On the 17 November the Worcester Evening News hadth

another article about Richard III, to publicise Michael S. Bennett’s bookRichard III - On Trial for Murder. Michael is the founder of the Richard IIIMuseum in York. This time the paper used the same photo from 1993 butin colour:

Janet then produced her tour de force in honour of her other historicalfavourite, Llewellyn the Last, the last native Prince of Wales. On 16 Julyth

1995 a convoy of cars set out for Wales. Janet did a brilliant joborganising it all on what was a very long but fascinating day out. Llewellyn married Eleanor de Montfort in Worcester Cathedral beforetaking her home to Wales. We went to Llanidloes Church, to see thearches from Cwmhir Abbey, moved there after Henry VIII dissolved the

Margaret Gregory, Janet Long, Jean Edwards, Jan Reynolds, Pat Parminter, MaryFriend, Jane Tinklin, Pam Benstead in Janet’s garden August 1993

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abbey in 1536. Then to the abbey to see a modern memorial stone toLlewellyn as it is believed he was buried there following his murder byEnglish forces in December 1282. Then on to Cilmeri to see themonument to Llewellyn close to where he was slain.

In 1997 we started to hire halls for meetings as there were too manymembers squashing into people’s homes, such was the success of thegroup started by Janet back in 1986. I had various articles over the yearsfrom her for Dickon Independent.

Janet also spent much time researching her family tree and washorrified to discover that her great, great, great grandfather came fromLancashire and moved to Wales! In 2001 she had an operation and spenta long time convalescing at home, but was back with us to visit GreatMalvern Priory in April 2002, and wrote a very funny verse about it for themagazine. Fortunately being ill never affected her wicked sense ofhumour, and the week before she died she was exchanging naughtyemails with Lesley.

Until about 2006 I was regularly picking up Janet and Lesley to take tomeetings. Lesley was the best at map reading. When Janet and I wentto Belbroughton without Lesley in 2008, we got hopelessly lost trying toget home and had to ask in a garden centre for directions!

Justin her son confirmed how frustrated she was at having to missmeetings: “There were so many times when Mum asked me if I wouldgive her a lift to the meeting, then when it came to the day in question, herhealth let her down.” I am just glad that she lived long enough to knowKing Richard’s remains had been found, that he wasn’t a hunchback, andto see his reconstructed head.

I have a lovely white rose brooch given to me by Janet, and also a mugwith a white boar on it which she’d donated as a raffle prize.

The last meeting attended by Janet was a talk by Steve Goodchild onthe battle of Tewkesbury at Upton Snodsbury, on 12 June 2010. Unfortunately she wasn’t well enough to attend our 25 anniversaryth

banquet but she had been at the 10 and 20 celebrations.th th

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From Lesley Scott:One of my fondest memories of some years ago was coming back

from a Ricardian meeting with Janet, Pam and Jean discussing whowould play which character if Sharon Penman's book Sunne in Splendourwas turned in to a film. Sean Bean or String Bean as he was fondly calledthen, was unanimously voted to play Richard.

More recently she liked the irony of the lovely Welsh actor AneurinBarnard playing Richard in Philippa Gregory's The White Queen. Ithought he was spot on. With our Welsh connections we were bothpro Llewellyn. (The Prince of Wales).

I respected her not only for founding The H&W Group and being thefirst secretary, but also for promoting it to Worcestershire Branch statusduring her Chairmanship. Also for standing up to those who consider usa bunch of yokels. Her 'Country Bumpkin' will not be forgotten.

We shared many funny/saucy emails, the most recent was so naughtyit had me snorting with laughter. We were growing old disgracefully.

I hope she now has some answers to the many Ricardian mysteries.

Janet was born in 1945 on 23 October and died on 13 Novemberrd th

2013. Her funeral was on November 28 at Worcester Crematorium atth

3.30pm. The chapel was full to overflowing with several people having tostand, such was her popularity. Her son Justin made a lovely speech inhonour of his wonderful Mum. Afterwards everyone went to the New Innfor refreshments and the chance to view a photo slide-show of her life. Donations for Shelter and The Brooke were requested rather than flowers. Janet was a keen supporter of The Brooke, which provides help toworking animals in other countries such as shade for donkeys that spendtheir lives carrying bricks. They also fund training for vets in Asia.

In alphabetical order, Pam and Bill Benstead, Jean Edwards, LesleyScott, June Tilt and Jane Tinklin all attended. Mary Friend, Pat Parminter,Jan Reynolds, Ralph Richardson, Joan Ryder, Val Sibley and KathleenWhitehouse were unable to go due to prior commitments or illness and allsent messages of sympathy.

Pam Benstead

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Book Reviews

Richard III: A Small Guide To The Great Debate By Annette Carson

Copies on sale at our December meeting!

Annette Carson’s slim volume was published just in time for it tofeature on the Worcestershire Branch’s stall at the TewkesburyMedieval Festival. It proved a best seller and all copies were

snapped up by lunchtime. The author has produced a winner. The bookdoes exactly what it claims to do: it begins with the exciting discovery ofRichard III’s bones, sets out the “Black Legend” and then explains wherethe evidence fails to support the accusations, as well as where it doesreveal a far better king. There are simplified family trees which show howclaims to the throne were inherited and a brief section on thehistoriography of Richard’s detractors and of his apologists.

The chapter on “The Real Richard III” shows that there was praise forhim when still Duke of Gloucester and explains his well-documentedimprovements to the administration of justice when king. Annette Carsonalso gives some examples of Richard’s religious benefactions and hisgrants to ordinary people. These details of his good kingship arecontrasted with what the author shows to be unsubstantiated storiesabout his seizing of the throne and the supposed murder of the Princesin the Tower. She demonstrates clearly that the fate of the princes was,and remains, unknown because there is simply no reliable evidence ofwhat happened to them. She does allow herself to speculate about whatcould have happened, but she makes it absolutely clear that she is onlydiscussing what would not have been impossible, such as the boys’removal via the Tower’s Watergate to the Thames and thence to safetyabroad. She also shows how the sudden rumour, and it was only arumour not a report of any substance, that the princes were both dead inSeptember 1483 only benefited the Tudor-Beaufort party, asBuckingham’s planned rebellion, supported by the Woodvilles, was torestore Edward V; if he was dead the revolt had to have a new contenderfor the throne and thus Henry Tudor was able to step forward.

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This is an excellent book. Annette Carson sets out the main points ofboth sides of the “Great Debate” succinctly and encourages the reader toinvestigate further; she modestly suggests her own Richard III: theMaligned King as a starting point – readers could do much worse. Thisnew Small Guide is the perfect gift for the friend who asks howShakespeare could possibly be wrong about Richard III.

Carol Southworth

Richard III: The Maligned King By Annette Carson

Annette still has copies of the hardback commemorative edition ofMaligned King for sale. Discounted price for Ricardians £18 plus postage£3, and if wanted in time for Christmas she can send first class directly tothe gift recipient. Order by email to: [email protected].

The second edition of this book incorporates the discovery ofRichard’s remains, with all the new information that provides. Annette joined the Looking For Richard Project at the request of

Philippa Langley, as she was inspired by the first edition.Like the Small Guide this book is extremely readable but covers more

of Richard’s reign in greater detail. Annette goes straight to the heart ofwhat Ricardians are up against in her preface, when she writes: “Amongthem was the determination of most historians to place negativeinterpretations on Richard’s actions, while applauding the career of deceitand underhandedness that characterized his nemesis, Henry VII.”

Judith Sealey reviewed the book when it first came out in 2008 and hercomments are still true, so I am reproducing her report:

This is an excellent book, just published, by a hitherto unknown to meauthor. Annette Carson isn’t your usual academic, in fact she has abackground in music and has written about such diverse subjects asaerobatics and the guitarist Jeff Beck, but don’t be put off by this - herbook on Richard is the result of a lifetime’s interest in the subject anddemonstrates a wealth of scholarly research.

Annette Carson examines in depth the various writers on Richard, both

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relatively contemporary ones such as Mancini and Polydore Vergil as wellas modern biographers like Michael Hicks and Michael Jones and showstheir relative viewpoints and prejudices. Added to this she includes asmany contemporary reports on life in the fifteenth century, experts inanatomy (“the bones”), architecture (the Bloody Tower), and research intowills in her quest for the truth.

She draws heavily on work done by John Ashdown-Hill, Anne Suttonand Livia Visser-Fuchs, and frequently quotes articles which haveappeared in The Ricardian in her desire to paint an all round picture of hersubject. She goes into considerable detail on the subject of the famousbones found in the Tower, Edward’s bigamous marriage, Henry Tudor’sspurious claim to the throne, and the death of Hastings. Her conclusionsregarding Margaret Beaufort are totally in line with Geoffrey Richardson’s.

I found her style clear and concise, very readable in fact, and am surethis book will do a great deal towards opening up a reassessment of someof the widely known (and wrongly assumed) truths about Richard. Iheartily recommend it to everyone.

Judith Sealey

The Adventure Of The Bloody Tower By Donald MacLachlan

Now to a work of fiction about Richard III, written in the style of theSherlock Holmes stories. Only this time it is Dr John Watsondoing the investigation in 1883, and meeting such luminaries as

Clements Markham and James Gairdner.I received a review copy from the author which I will put in our branch

library. I am enjoying it immensely though I haven’t finished it yet.Dr Watson knows nothing about Richard and his times so the people

he interviews provide all the facts he needs. It makes for an extremelyreadable and interesting refresher course in Ricardian history.

I particularly like Donald’s description of Sir Thomas More, courtesy of Henry Baker, who is a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London in thebook and who refers to Sir Thomas as Master More-Fiction-than-Fact.

Pam Benstead

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Middleham Castle & The King’s Grave

At the beginning of this month I spent a few days staying withfriends in the Durham Village where I once lived.

On the first day we set off up Wensleydale to visit MiddlehamCastle. In my mind Middleham had always been associated withracehorse training and I had never seen the castle, having moved awayfrom the area before I caught the Richard III bug from Sharon Penmantwenty years ago.

This bug came out of incubation when I turned on the radio onemorning in 2012 and heard that a skeleton had been found which couldwell be the remains of Richard. I was very excited and eagerlyanticipated the results of the DNA testing. On the day that the match wasconfirmed I joined the Richard III Society and my life has changed.

Back to Wensleydale.... Approaching Middleham up the dale as wedid, there was little to be seen, just a few glimpses of the English Heritageflag. It was a very grey day and climbing up towards the town, the castlewas hidden behind the other buildings. Once there, however, it was veryspectacular, covering a huge area. We were surprised that the top storeyof the keep had large rectangular windows. It seems that the keep wasaltered, the walls being extended upwards and a new storey being added

towards the end of thefifteenth century, withlarger windows to givemore light to theinterior.

Looking down fromthe battlements intothe interior, in additionto the great hall andthe great chamber, al a r g e r a n g e o fdomestic areas couldbe seen; kitchens,

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storage rooms, etc. There was also a mill, still clearly visible andassumed to have been worked by horses. In the bailey stands agrotesque sculpture of Richard III, crafted by Linda Thompson in 1996and commissioned by English Heritage and the Middleham KeyPartnership. He is represented, allegorically, under the influence of abasilisk and a medieval devil. Details of this can be found in the galleryon the Richard III Society website.

The site of the original castle, a motte-and-bailey structure, can beseen on a ridge of high ground to the south west of the present castle.Little is known of the history or construction of this defensive position.

Unfortunately, we did not visit the church due to information that therewas nothing to see there. What a shame! The visit was concluded witha visit to the Richard III public house for lunch.

A few days before I travelled north, I discovered to my joy that PhilippaLangley and Michael Jones would be at Bosworth with their new book,The King’s Grave, on the very day that I would be travelling home downthe M42. I quickly got online and bought myself a ticket for the occasion.

I arrived at Bosworth in good time and had a welcome pot of tea andsomething to eat.

The book-signing was held in the Heritage Room. Philippa andMichael were introduced to us by Eddie, the Head Trail Guide at thecentre.

Philippa spoke first about how she had initially been inspired by PaulMurray Kendall’s book Richard the Third (1955) and instantly felt bondedto Richard although puzzled about the way his character seemed tochange on taking the throne. However, on reading Michael K. Jones’book Bosworth 1485 (2002) everything had clicked into place and herdetermination to find Richard’s grave was born.

At this point Michael took over and explained that he became involvedwith writing the book about Bosworth with little knowledge of Richard III,except the Shakespeare version, thus having a more open mind. He alsohad the advantage of more research material than had previously beenavailable. His theory is quite different and very plausible.

Philippa then took up her story with the research she had done overthe years. She talked about the work that she and John Ashdown-Hill had

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undertaken with the medieval maps, trying to pinpoint the likely site of theburial, followed by her efforts to interest those who were in a position tocarry out the necessary work and her search for funding.

Michael went on to talk about the battle and about what he believed tobe Richard’s state of mind. He finished by praising Richard’s courage tothe end.

I have now read both the books, duly signed, and enjoyed them verymuch. They are both well written and difficult to put down.

It was good to visit Bosworth again, this time on a very grey daythreatening rain, with lots of schoolchildren in evidence. I had a dreadfuldrive south on the M42 in driving rain afterwards, but it was well worth it.

Judy Jacobs

My Ricardian Holiday

For my holiday this year I went to the north of England, and stayedat Hartlepool. While there I took the opportunity to visit somesites of Ricardian interest. Although not Ricardian or medieval,

Hartlepool itself is worth a visit for those of you who are interested innaval history, as it is home to the Trincomalee, a 19 century frigate, andth

the oldest warship still afloat in Europe. It is situated in Hartlepool’shistoric dockyard, which has been designed to look as an authentic seaport from the days the ‘Trinc’ was in service.

My first Ricardian related trip was to the city of York. It was my firstvisit to York, and it did not disappoint! For those of us interested inhistory, York is a gold mine. It was great walking the old city walls, andvisiting the old gatehouses. Of particular interest was Micklegate Bar, thespot where the severed heads of Richard of York and his son Edmundwere put on display after the disastrous battle of Wakefield. Although thearea under the gate has been modernised as a roadway into the city(making it slightly harder to appreciate the building when cars are comingat you!), it is easy to imagine how this historic scene would have looked

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and the impact it would have while entering the city. It was amazing toimagine all the monarchs who would have entered through this gate,including Richard himself.

I also paid a visit to the Richard IIImuseum, located in Monk Bar. MonkBar itself is of particular interest as ithouses the only original workingportcullis in the gatehouses, although ithas not been operated since the1970s. Also the top floor, which is partof the museum, was added by Richard. The museum itself was interesting, andset out as a debate on the subject of

who killed the Princes in the Tower. The information is provided in avariety of ways, such as mock-up newspapers of how the events leadingup to, and after the princes’ disappearance, would have been reportedtoday. This was a nice touch and it presented the events in a clear andeasy to understand way. At the centre of the museum is a mock trial,where a model of Richard stands at the dock. An audio tape plays overspeakers where Richard is cross examined, and then the audience isinvited to vote who they think was guilty; either Richard, Henry VII,Buckingham or natural causes/they survived. You will be pleased to knowI voted “they survived”.

The top floor had a bit about the discovery of Richard’s bones,including a display of the skeleton, detailing the battle injuries and otherpoints of interest, such as his scoliosis.

Of interest is the original portcullis mechanism, which you are still ableto turn, although it does not operate the portcullis itself. There was alsoa small prison cell, known as the “Little Ease,” which had been used tohold captive Catholics in the 16 century.th

I noted some flyers asking for people to sign the petition to haveRichard’s remains “returned home” to York.

I found the museum fun, although I feel it is more aimed at those withlittle or limited knowledge of Richard, as all the information it provided wasalready known to me. The setting of the gatehouse itself was worth the

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admission alone. The gift shop had many great items for sale and someunique items such as “The Trial of Richard III” audio CD.

Next I visited Richard’s adopted home of Middleham Castle.Middleham itself is a quaint little village of Georgian and Victorianproperties clustered around the castle, which towers above. There waseven a property, called Castle Lodge, situated literally next to the castle,on sale! Outside the castle are the remains of “the cross,” which is saidto commemorate the grant of a twice yearly fair and market by Richardwhen Duke of Gloucester.

The castle itself, although now in ruins, is still impressive. It is easy toimagine how grand this “palace of the north” would have been in Warwickand Richard’s time. In the shop area there was a small display detailinginformation about the castle’s previous owners, such as Warwick theKingmaker and Richard himself. Included was a replica of the Middlehamjewel, the original of which was found close to the castle grounds by ametal detectorist, and can be seen at York Museum.

Dotted around the castle are information points about the various areasof the building, with illustrations which help you to picture how the castlewould have looked in its heyday. At the centre of the castle is themagnificent keep, originally built in the 12 century. In here is the greatth

hall. Although the floors are missing one can appreciate how grand theroom must have looked. Still visible on the first floor is a chapel in thecorner. Next door to the hall is the great chamber of the lord of the castle.The ground floor is divided into two by a wall, and one area functioned asa kitchen containing two wells. Stumps of the pillars that would havesupported the great hall can still be seen running the length of the room.

An interesting feature was the wooden bridge (long since gone), whichconnected the upper floor of buildings of the south range to the castlekeep, so the more important inhabitants and guests would not have towalk through the mud and filth at the bottom. They were literally abovethe poorer people who lived below. The upper rooms would have beenfinely furnished with fireplaces and lavish hangings.

Another place of note are the ruins of the prince’s tower, said to be thebirthplace of Prince Edward of Middleham, although this is open todebate. Not much exists of this part of the castle.

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The remnants of a sixteenth century horse mill are situated in thesouth range, which is quite apt as Middleham’s other claim to fame is thatof breeding race horses.

Stood in the outer bailey is the somewhat controversial statue forRicardians of Richard by Linda Thompson, complete with a basiliskwrapped around his back. It is a great sculpture, but it was a shame theartist had to go with the Tudor view of Richard.

My final Ricardian themed visit was to Barnard Castle. Although notas majestic, or indeed complete, as Middleham Castle, Barnard is stillvery much worth a visit. Richard visited the castle for the last time in May1484 and had a long association with it. Richard, as Duke of Gloucester,had been embroiled in a battle over ownership of the castle with LaurenceBooth, the Bishop of Durham. Barnard should have been included in theBeauchamp inheritance, but Edward IV had given it to Booth in exchangefor his loyalty. The land and title had originally belonged to Booth’spredecessors, but had become crown property. In the end Richard wonthe case, but Booth was promoted to chancery in exchange and wouldeven help Richard with his land dispute case with the Countess of Oxford.

The castle is divided into four different wards: the town ward, the innerand middle wards, and the now non-existent outer ward.

Of interest is the dovecote tower, located in the town ward, which stillcontains nest boxes, holes in the walls where pigeons would have beenstored and their eggs farmed for food. Nearby are the remains of theBrackenbury tower, named after Sir Robert Brackenbury, close ally toRichard and the Constable of the Tower of London during the princes’disappearance.

Of most interest to Ricardians arethe remains of the great hall and thegreat chamber. Again, little exists ofthis once grand building except itsouter wall. A wooden staircase hasbeen added so visitors are able to walkup to the large oriel window on the firstfloor of the great chamber, said to havebeen added during the fifteenth century

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at the behest of Richard ofGloucester. Above the window are theweathered remains of Richard’s boaremblem. It was amazing to see,although it was not as clear as it oncemust have been, but you are still ableto discern the shape of the animal.

The most complete part of thecastle and most unusual is the roundtower which is cylindrical in shape

and found to the right of the great chamber. In the basement or undercroft of the tower, used as a storeroom, was a well, fireplace and latrine. Also in here are the remains of a stone coffin, although there were nodetails of where it came from or who it belonged to.

The first floor would have been used as the lord’s chamber. Unfortunately the second and third floors are now missing, though stairsleading to the third floor windows still exist, offering views of the areaaround and of the castle itself.

Out of both castles, Middleham was definitely my favourite. Not onlyfor its history and connection to Richard, but for the beauty of the buildingitself. While Barnard has much less to see and do, it is worth theadmission just to see the boar emblem, a tantalising link to Richard whomay have sat and marvelled at it all those years ago as I did.

As part of my holiday I also visited Whitby and the ruins of WhitbyAbbey which again are definitely worth a visit. They are spectacular ruins,but due to its location on a cliff by the sea, it can get quite windy, so bewarned! Next door to the abbey is the Church of Saint Mary’s, of Draculafame, for anyone who has read the book.

Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to visit Richmond and RabyCastles but it gives me a reason to go back. I had a great time, and willdefinitely go north again soon, perhaps to visit Richard’s tomb if he is re-interred there.

Ashley Mantle

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Richard III Museum in York

York is an exceptional place to catch up on history plus boastingother charms in terms of good food and shopping. Stephen andI enjoyed a weekend there recently and wondered whether since

our last visit there had been any impact on the city and its tourism fromthe Richard revelations of the past year. We started off with a generalhistory walk which included several tourists from abroad. The guide wasinformative and humorous and emphasized the long standing loyalty ofthe local denizens to Richard, surprising visitors from other shores -obviously not members of our society.

We then sought out the Richard III Museum which for those of you whohaven’t visited is within the Monk Bar gatehouse which boasts probablythe last working portcullis in Britain. So, all nicely mediaeval we thoughtas we mounted the steps to the first tiny room.

Maybe this is a good way to get kids interested in history but it seemedthat the organizers were taking the soft option and the overall appearancewas of clutter. We had been advised on purchasing tickets, that there areno artifacts or anything valuable from the period because of limitedfunding and poor security (despite being a gatehouse). We understoodthat but were unprepared for the array of cheap laminated prints ofpictures generously littered about the first floor exhibition. The maintheme was a mock trial of Richard with voice over and written sheets ofevidence for prosecution and defence for visitors to read. Although thearguments seemed evenly balanced everyone had voted guilty; old habitsdie hard. It was reminiscent of the Worcester Commandery trial ofCharles I but less well presented. The main defence of Richard appearedto be that he was English unlike Henry VII (Welsh), Richard Coeur de Lion(French) etc. The line of monarchs guilty of the crime of being foreigncontinued up to Queen Victoria. So far, so disappointing.

The second floor was better. There was a DVD prepared by studentsof the University of York presented by a young man who could be a futureMichael Wood – articulate and enthusiastic. The commentaryconcentrated on evidence rather than conjecture. Areas of debate were

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presented as just that and we suspected that a Masters or PhD might bein view. This room was better laid out and also contains the portcullismechanism which will certainly interest children. The DVD is on a loopand is a real contrast to the cluttered room on the first floor.

There is a guardian who sells tickets and books who had popped outto the loo when we first arrived, so no café or toilets, but no one to answerquestions. There are various books on sale, mainly novels about royalmistresses closely verging on the sensational. They do however stockAnnette Carson’s ‘A Small Guide to the Great Debate’.

I shan’t say more because I don’t want to damn anything that opens upinterest in Richard. It was pleasurable to see an amateur but competentaccount of the facts and fictions regarding Richard and ending with theYork pronouncement on him being ‘murdered and cruelly slain’. However,this is far from being a well curated and attractive museum despite its ageand curiosity as a building. For anyone interested in learning aboutRichard it does little other than to raise a few questions. Whether itencourages people to seek answers remains to be seen.

Lindsay Gibson

Branch Meetings

Visit To Knowle Parish Church And Temple Balsall - September 14

The morning of September 14 was damp and grey and that mayth

have accounted for the fact that only a handful of people were atKnowle Parish Church for our guided tour. One of the number,

however, was a member of the Bristol Branch, who travelled up from Baththat morning. We were enthusiastically met at the church door bymembers of Knowle Local History Group to give us a tour.

Knowle Church was originally built as a ‘chapel of ease’ as the parishchurch was at Hampton-in–Arden. The journey of about three miles could

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be very hazardous in winter or wet weather as it was necessary to crossthe River Blythe. In 1396 Walter Cook obtained permission from the Popeto build a chapel on land belonging to his father and the church wasconsecrated in 1403.

As with nearly all churches, additions and changes have been madethrough the years, but the fine timber roof dates back to medieval times.The original painted decoration can still be seen in some places.

Walter Cook founded the Guild of St Anne in 1413, which became verypopular, and in 1416 Cook founded a religious college to ensure that theincreased number of chaplains followed a common rule. To meet theadditional needs of the guild and college, the church was extended byadding a south aisle, raising the roof to allow an extra row of windows andlater adding a chancel.

At the east end of the nave is a 15 century carved wooden roodth

screen, although it is no longer in its original position. It was removedduring a restoration in 1860 and was left outside in the churchyard forthree months, while it was debated whether it should be kept or not.Fortunately, it was kept, but was re-erected one arch further away fromthe chancel.

There is a lot more that could be said about the church – the stainedglass, the Elizabethan communion table, the anomalies that haveoccurred through restoration etc, but the one area I would particularly liketo mention is the Soldiers’ Chapel. This was originally a chantry chapel,later becoming a private family pew, but in 1921 was made into amemorial chapel to the men and women of Knowle who died in the FirstWorld War. Additional memorials have been made for the fallen in theSecond World War and subsequent conflicts.

After lunch, we reconvened at Temple Balsall and as the sun cameout, we were given a talk and guided tour by the vicar, the ReverendKathy Lloyd Roberts, resplendent with her magenta coloured hair.

There have been people living in the Balsall area for thousands ofyears, but it was through the gift of the land by Roger de Mowbray to theKnights Templar that the area became known as Temple Balsall. TheTemplars built the oldest surviving building known now as Old Hall, whichis where they lived and worshipped.

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After the suppression of the Knights Templar at the beginning of the14 century, the land was held by the king for a while and was thenth

passed to the Knights of St. John (the Hospitallers) and it is most likelythey who built the Church of St Mary the Virgin as their private chapel.The Hospitallers stayed at Temple Balsall until the middle of the 15th

century, but by the 1460s it was leased to private individuals.In 1540 the Order of St John was dissolved by Act of Parliament and

in January 1541 Henry VIII’s commissioners came to Temple Balsall toassess the value of the property, and ordered that the lead of the churchroof be removed. The church remained derelict for over a hundred years.

Henry VIII gave the manor to his last wife Catherine Parr and iteventually was given to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. It wassubsequently inherited by his two grand-daughters Lady Anne Holbourneand Lady Katherine Leveson.

Lady Anne Holbourne began the restoration of the church and on herdeath in 1663 left various bequests to endow a preaching ministry andmoney for repairs to the church. Lady Katherine Leveson established atrust and had almshouses erected for twenty poor widows or spinsters.Lady Katherine died in 1674 and in her will left money for a school fortwenty of the poorest boys in Balsall.

The original almshouses were subsequently rebuilt when they fell intodisrepair, but the basis of the court remains to this day.

We were able to go into the court and visit one of the flats, and also togo into the original school room. The accommodation is no longerrestricted to ladies, and there are different levels of care available, as wellas a residential home.

By now the sun was shining and we were able to take advantage of thetea and cakes that were being served on the lawn of Temple House, aswell as browsing the various stalls and games that were there.

Brenda Cox

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Sir Thomas More - October 12

Sir Thomas might not have seemed an obvious guest for membersof the Richard III Society. However, in the person of pastChairman Ralph Richardson, “Sir Thomas” managed to elicit

some sympathy from the assembled company at the October meeting atBeoley. He was, he said, somewhat bemused to discover that there wasa Richard III Society. When a small boy he had seen the king just onceand had later heard about Tyrell’s confession, which he had found mostinteresting.

Sir Thomas, the only son of Sir John More, was born in London in1478. He was sent, at the age of about twelve, to live in the householdof Archbishop Morton, who had previously plotted with the Duke ofBuckingham and fled to France to join Henry Tudor, returning with him tobecome his Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. More laterattended Canterbury College, Oxford, where he met the greatest scholarsof his day, Colet, Linacre and Grocyn. He returned to London to train asa lawyer at New Inn and Lincoln’s Inn, though he lived at theCharterhouse, the London monastery of the Carthusian monks. Hebecame an M.P. in 1504 and spoke out against Henry VII’s taxation,which led to his father’s imprisonment.

His marriage to Jane Colt produced three daughters and a son. Thefamily lived at “The Barge”, Bucklersbury, where Erasmus, More’s friend,wrote “In Praise of Folly”. By 1510 More was Under Sheriff for Londonand earning £400 a year. The following year his wife died and he soonmarried again. His bride was a widow, Dame Alice Middleton.

More’s “Richard III” was written in 1513-14 and at our meeting “SirThomas” told us Morton had told him that Richard III was “very wicked”and would therefore be punished by God. More wrote his “History” as theGreeks and Romans did, to show characters of great virtue or great sin,and he invented appropriate speeches for the people in his story. Thebook was written in Latin and translated into English, probably the firstbiography in English. The trial of Tyrell was hushed up by Henry VII, butMore read the transcript of it which provided him with the scene of thesmothering of the Princes. The book was never finished and not

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published until 1543 – for which our speaker gave no explanation. Thefar superior book, “Utopia”, was written shortly afterwards in 1515 -16.

In 1517 More joined Henry VIII’s Council and became Master of theCourt of Requests. In 1521 he assisted Henry in writing his book “InDefence of the Seven Sacraments” for which the Pope gave the king thetitle “Defender of the Faith”. More was knighted that year and travelledabroad on the king’s business. He was re-elected to Parliament in 1523and became Speaker, asking for freedom of speech and forcing Wolseyto reduce the level of taxation he demanded, thus preventing the kingfrom engaging actively in the war against France. The More family withits large household, including a jester, moved to Chelsea which waswhere Holbein painted his famous picture of the whole family.

It was in 1527 that More realized things were beginning to go wrong.Lutheran influence was growing in the country which distressed him as aloyal supporter of the Pope; the Turks were at the gates of Vienna; thearmy of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sacked the city of Rome andtook the Pope prisoner; worst of all, Henry VIII still had no legitimate maleheir and so wanted his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Moretold him firmly that he could not ask the Pope to cancel the dispensationhis predecessor had granted to allow Henry to marry his brother’s widow. Despite this, Henry made More Chancellor when Wolsey was sackedfrom the post, having failed to secure the required annulment. “SirThomas” told us he could not continue to serve the king in thecircumstances. He added that, seeing the end of his career, he hadreflected that he had enjoyed being a judge and maintained that he hadalways been fair and had refused to take bribes.

The crisis came with the passing of the Act of Succession in 1534,which said that the heirs of the Boleyn marriage should inherit the throne. All men of standing had to take an oath to support this statute, but Morewould not take it since he maintained that Henry had assumed powersthat rightfully belonged to the Pope; only the Pope could annul the king’smarriage and change the succession. More was imprisoned in the Toweron 15 April 1534; the Treasons Act of the same year, which made itth

treason to deny any of the king’s titles, sealed his fate. He was tried inWestminster Hall, but refused to speak. Richard Rich, on oath, said that

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More had declared that the king could never be Supreme Head of theChurch. Inevitably More was condemned to a traitor’s death, but Henrycommuted the sentence to beheading, which was carried out on 6 Julyth

1535. More proclaimed as he faced the headsman, “I die the king’s goodservant, but God’s first”.

“Sir Thomas” claimed that Heaven was very pleasant and that he hadmet Josephine Tey there, but of Morton and Henry VIII there was no sign! Members ended the afternoon feeling rather more sympathetic towardsthe real Sir Thomas than before, persuaded by the eloquence of his“reincarnated” self and Ralph was given a richly deserved round ofapplause.

Carol Southworth

I’d just like to add a bit about William Grocyn, one of More’s tutors atOxford. On Friday 25th July 1483 Richard III was at Magdalen CollegeOxford and heard a disputation in divinity by Grocyn and John Taylor. Grocyn was a friend and patron of Erasmus.

Pam Benstead

Tedstone Wafre And The Mortimer Connection - November 9

The meeting on Saturday 9 November featured a talk by Drth

Martin Toms, entitled “Tedstone Wafre and the MortimerConnection.” The meeting was held at Malvern Vale Community

Centre, and was attended by members of the Worcestershire Branch ofthe Richard III society, and members of the Mortimer Society.

Dr Martin Toms is a resident of Tedstone Wafre, a little known villagewhich was of some importance in the past, and which had connectionswith the Mortimer family. Martin’s exploration and eventual rediscoveryof Tedstone’s lost Mortimer manor and deer park began with the purchaseof a sixteenth century house in the village, known as Green Farm. Martinhad wanted to discover the house’s exact age, its history and the reasonwhy it was called “Green Farm.” He began by looking at old maps, in

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particular tithe maps, and made an interesting discovery: what appearedto be the outline of a large deer park in the area. Aerial photographs ofthe area backed up his theory; the shape of the deer park was clearlyvisible. It was of such a vast size that it led him to the conclusion that alarge manor house or castle must have been located nearby. If the areawas used for hunting it may also have had a hunting lodge.

When walking on the boundaries of the deer park, he said there isevidence of a ditch which would have been used to keep the deer in, andthere is clear evidence of its shape.

Unfortunately his research did not tell him anything about his ownhouse but the discovery of the deer park propelled him to delve furtherinto Tedstone’s history. Who had owned the deer park, and where wasthe manor it was associated with?

Tedstone Wafre is a small village located in Herefordshire. The villageis almost unknown today, with only one sign denoting its location, andsome confusion on many modern maps which suggest the village is in acompletely different place. The village is of Roman origin and features inthe Domesday Book. In the past it consisted of three different farms: Court, Cutnell and Green Farm, where Martin’s house is located, andwhich are all now residential areas. There are ruins of an old medievalchurch, St Mary’s, which date from the 11 century. The church fell intoth

ruin after a new church, itself now defunct, was built nearby in Victoriantimes.

Martin showed us a picture of the remains of the medieval church,sadly now just stones. Some of its material was reused and may possiblyform part of Martin’s house. To illustrate this he showed us a photographof what appeared to be a piece of vaulting from a church under a benchoutside his house. Part of the wall the bench was resting up against mayalso have been erected from recycled material.

The aerial photographs of the area revealed other interesting historicalpoints about the area. This includes the remains of a Roman fort, thoughtby some to be a homestead, but Martin stated it would have definitelybeen a fort due to its location on a hill, not in a sheltered valley that wouldhave been used for farming, and also Roman roads.

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Martin discovered that the manor at Tedstone had been owned by theMortimers during the 13 to 15 centuries. The Mortimers had arrived inth th

the country during the Norman invasion and were powerful marcher lordsin charge of the Welsh Marches.

Originally the manor had been owned by the Wafre family but hadfallen into Mortimer hands when Roger Mortimer de Chirk married Lucyle Wafre in 1286.

Roger de Chirk served Edward ‘Long Shanks’ I, and fought in theBattle of Falkirk in 1298 where William Wallace was defeated. He is alsosaid to have been responsible for the death of Llewellyn ap Gruffyd in1282, the last Welsh Prince of Wales, and carried the prince’s severedhead from Builth Wells to Edward I at Rhuddlan Castle. The grateful kingallowed Roger to build Chirk Castle in Wales.

In 1321 Roger and his nephew, also named Roger Mortimer, the 1st

Earl of March, were involved in the Despenser wars. This was a rebellionagainst Edward II and Hugh Despenser the younger, who enjoyed royalfavour, and was lord of vast lands along the Welsh Marches. After theMortimers were victorious in battle, the Despensers were exiled. EdwardII, not happy that his favourite had been banished, eventually had theupper hand, and Chirk and March were forced to surrender and sent tothe Tower of London. His land, including the Wafre property, wasconfiscated and Lucy le Wafre was imprisoned and died in 1324. It ispossible that she is buried in a nearby church.

Chirk himself died in the Tower, although it is not known if he wasmurdered at the king’s orders after March managed to escape. Chirk’sfuneral was held at Wigmore Abbey, after much deliberation from KingEdward, who finally gave it his blessing. It is possible that Edward hadmade an error in allowing Roger to be buried in Wigmore, as such anoccasion may have been used to organise the rebellion against him, forten days later March invaded England with Edward’s Queen, Isabella.Edward was deposed and held in Berkeley Castle, where he died insuspicious circumstances. After a three year reign Roger was overthrownby the future Edward III, and was hanged at Tyburn.

Martin discovered a map from the 1700s which shows the location ofa large house, although it was not labelled, which could possibly be the

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Wafre’s lost manor. If this is correct the lost manor may be locatedunderneath the present Victorian church, which is now a privateresidence. It is hoped that one day archaeological work may be carriedout on it to discover if it is truly the site of Tedstone Wafre’s lost manor.

Thank you to Pat Parminter and Carol Southworth for kindly providingme with notes to aid my write up.

Ashley Mantle

Latest News

7 October - Remains of chapel found at Towton - Richard beganconstruction of a chapel in 1483 to commemorate the dead of this crucialbattle. It was never finished as he was killed two years later.

14 October - Leicester’s 40,000 petition to keep the king in the cityhanded in to 10 Downing Street by Leicestershire MPs.

11 November - £2.5 million Leicester Cathedral Gardens projectstarted. Richard’s statue will be moved here, to bring it close to theRichard III Visitor Centre.

26 November - Judicial Review - adjourned to the new year due to anapplication by Leicester City Council to be involved. Why they weren’t init from the beginning is beyond me! Very frustrating for all concerned.

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The

Worcestershire BranchChairman Pat Parminter Treasurers Brenda and David Cox

53 Roden Avenue 42 Whitemoor DriveKidderminster SolihullWorcestershire West MidlandsDY10 2RE B90 4UL

[email protected] [email protected]

Reports Carol Southworth Programme Mickie O’NeillSecretary 1 Beaminster Road Planner “Hillcroft”and Solihull and Livesey RoadPress West Midlands Librarian Ludlow Officer B91 1NA Shropshire

SY8 [email protected] [email protected]

Officer Pat Hibbs Membership Pam Benstead95 St Andrew’s Road Secretary 15 St Mary’s CloseMalvern and Editor KempseyWorcestershire (Non- WorcesterWR14 3PU Committee) WR5 3JX

[email protected] [email protected]

Visit the Worcestershire Branch’s web site at

www.richardiiiworcs.co.uk

DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in ‘Dickon Independent’ are not necessarily those of theEditor.No article or illustration may be reproduced by any means without permission.

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