Inside Out: The search for King Richard III's place of death

Hi all,

there's this programme tomorrow on BBC One East Midlands.

Regards,

Patty


http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/03_march/05/bosw
orth.shtml

After three years of gathering documentary and scientific evidence
historians can say for certain that the Battle of Bosworth did not happen at
the spot marked on maps. The findings are revealed during this week's Inside
Out on BBC One East Midlands.



Bosworth was the last battle where a King of England died fighting. The
death of Richard III brought to an end 300 years of Plantagenet rule and
ushered in the Tudor dynasty.



Since the early 1970s the accepted view has been that the battle was fought
on Ambion Hill near the village of Sutton Cheney. Leicestershire County
Council even opened a visitors' centre and a tourist trail at the site.



In 1985 The Prince and Princess of Wales took part in ceremonies marking the
battle's 500th anniversary. But it is certain they were in the wrong place.



Inside Out has spent time with the Battlefields Trust which has been trying
to discover the real site of Bosworth.



The trust's work involved taking soil samples, metal detecting and carrying
out a detailed trawl through historic documents.



The trust also ruled out a recent theory that the battle happened near the
town of Atherstone, over the Warwickshire border.



This is because bodies from the battle were buried in the churchyard at the
village of Dadlington, and dead were not moved far to places of burial in
the 15th century.



But it is an interpretation first put forward by a local historian, Peter
Foss, over 20 years ago which seems to be the closest to the true Bosworth
battlefield.



The key to finding the exact site relied on finding the edge of a marsh
which is known to have been a key element to the way the battle was fought.
Find the marsh and the battle can be pinpointed.



Inside Out was with the diggers and the landowner when they discovered the
edge of the marsh. It is in a field where there were once plans to build a
race track.



Archaeologists are yet to unearth any artefacts from the battle. The team
has been searching for small clothing and armour fittings such as buckles
and strap ends. They have found some but not in great quantities.



This is still a mystery for a battle in which 17,000 fought and 1,000 died.



Meanwhile almost £1million has been invested on rebrading the visitor centre
to the Heritage Centre. Its operators are embracing the new research and say
it is actually good that the re-enactments they organise are not held on the
real battlefield as they would destroy the archaeology.



Inside Out, BBC One East Midlands, 7.30pm, Friday 7 March 2008

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