THE
FIELD OF THE BATTLE
OF
TEWKESBURY. {131a}
“Then came wandering by
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair
Dabbled in blood; and he shriek’d out aloud,
‘Clarence is come; false fleeting perjured Clarence,
That stabb’d me in the field by Tewkesbury.’”
SHAKESPEARE’S _King Richard III._ act i. scene 4.
OF the numerous battles which have been fought in England in the middle
ages, few have been more decisive, or have excited more interest, than
that of Tewkesbury. {131b} In order that the positions of the hostile
armies, and the reason why the battle happened to be fought close to the
town of Tewkesbury, may be correctly understood, it is necessary, in
giving a description of the field of battle, to notice concisely, some of
the events which immediately preceded it. {131c}
On the 18th or 14th of April, 1471, {132a} Margaret, {132b} the Queen of
Henry VI., and their son, Edward Prince of Wales, {132c} accompanied by
John Longstrother, Prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, {132d}
and several persons of consideration, arrived from France, and landed at
the port of Weymouth, in Dorsetshire, with a small body of French and
other troops; and she proceeded from thence to the Abbey of Cerne, {132e}
not far from that port. The Countess of Warwick had accompanied her from
France, but in a different ship, which outsailed that of the Queen.
{133a}
Margaret was at first almost broken-hearted and overwhelmed, by the
dismal tidings of the loss of the battle of Barnet, the defeat and
destruction of her friends, and the captivity of her husband; but in
consequence of being encouraged by Edmund Duke of Somerset; {133b} Lord
John Beaufort; {133c} Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire; {133d} Lord
Wenlock, {133e} and other persons of rank, and gentlemen, who promised
her their support, she determined once more to try the chances of a
battle.
The noblemen and gentlemen of her party, immediately adopted measures for
mustering their retainers and followers, and with that view repaired to
Exeter, sent for Sir John Arundel, and Sir Hugh Courtenay, and raised
forces in Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, and afterwards in
Cornwall and Devonshire; and proceeded from Exeter by Taunton,
Glastonbury, and Wells, to Bath, and from thence to Bristol: their forces
being continually increased on their march. Their intention was to have
marched through Gloucestershire into Wales, where Jasper Earl of
Pembroke, {133f} a powerful and staunch Lancastrian, was in arms, and
raising forces for that party; and they also expected to receive
assistance from their partisans in Cheshire and Lancashire.
Edward, in the mean time, after receiving intelligence of the landing of
Queen Margaret, being uncertain towards what quarter the Lancastrians
would bend their course, departed on the 19th of April, with some of his
forces, furnished with artillery and other things requisite, from London
for Windsor, where he remained a short time, for the double purpose of
celebrating the feast of St. George, and of awaiting the arrival of other
troops, whom he had appointed to assemble there. He commenced his march
from Windsor, against the enemy, on the morrow after St. George’s day,
the 24th of April. He reached Abingdon on Saturday the 27th, remained
there all Sunday, and on Monday the 29th, proceeded to Cirencester,
{134a} where he received information, that on the next day (Tuesday), his
enemies intended to be at Bath, and that on the Wednesday they would come
forward, and give him battle; and Edward, desirous to see his men in
order of battle, led them out of the town, and encamped in the field
three miles from it.
On the next day, Edward, still seeking to encounter his enemies, marched
to Malmesbury, when he learned that they had turned aside and gone to
Bristol. On Thursday {134b} Edward arrived at Sodbury, and shortly
before the arrival of the main body of his army there, a skirmish took
place; a few of his men, riding into the town to secure quarters and
accommodations, encountered and were attacked by some of the enemy, who
had been sent forward from the Lancastrian army, and five or six of the
Yorkists were made prisoners. Edward having some reason to think that
the Lancastrians were near at hand, sent out scouts to endeavour to
obtain intelligence of their movements; but not hearing any certain
tidings of them, he lodged his vanguard in a valley, beyond the hill,
towards the town of Sodbury, and lay himself with the residue of his
forces at Sodbury Hill. About three o’clock after midnight, he received
information, that the Lancastrians had taken their way by Berkeley
towards Gloucester; and he in consequence, after taking the advice of his
council, sent with all speed to Sir Richard Beauchamp, the son of William
Lord Beauchamp of Powick, {135} to whom he had committed the government
of the city and castle of Gloucester, with orders not to admit Margaret’s
forces into them, but to defend them to the utmost.
At Bristol the Lancastrians received assistance, both in men, victuals,
money, and artillery, and on Thursday proceeded to Berkeley, and marched
from thence towards Gloucester, travelling all night, and arrived before
Gloucester at ten o’clock on Friday, and hoped to be admitted into that
city, and to pass the Severn there, in order to effect a junction with
the Earl of Pembroke.
But as King Edward IV. had previously sent orders to the Governor of
Gloucester, to refuse admittance to Margaret and her adherents, and had
promised that, if the city were assailed, he would advance immediately to
its relief, his orders were obeyed, and Margaret was unable to obtain
admittance. To the circumstance of her being baffled in the design of
passing the Severn at Gloucester, may be ascribed, the utter ruin, which
so soon after befell her and her army; in fact the issue of the campaign
might very probably have been completely different, if she had succeeded
in getting possession of Gloucester, and of securing a safe passage for
her forces over the Severn, and, consequently, of effecting a junction
with the troops raised by the Earl of Pembroke.
She proceeded from Gloucester towards Tewkesbury, having then no
alternative, with reference to her design of passing the river, but to
march to the latter town; and on the way thither, some of her artillery
were captured from her rearguard. {136a} She arrived at Tewkesbury on
Friday the 3rd of May, about four in the afternoon, having travelled on
that day and the preceding night, thirty-six long miles, through bad
roads, between woods, and without proper refreshment, so that both men
and horses were greatly fatigued. It became absolutely necessary, to
give some rest to her exhausted troops, most part of which consisted of
infantry; and it was determined by the leaders of her forces, to await at
Tewkesbury the coming up of Edward’s army, and to take the chances of a
battle.
The Lancastrians, as we learn from one of our old historians, encamped
“in a close even hard at the Townes end having the Towne and Abbeie at
their backes, and directlie before them, and upon each side of them they
were defended with cumbersome lanes, deepe ditches, and manie hedges,
beside hils and dales, so as the place seemed as noisome as might be to
approach unto.” {136b} Whether the position was or was not as strong and
difficult to be assailed, as is here represented, it is at all events
certain, that the Lancastrians fortified it, at least to some extent, and
prepared to act on the defensive; with the hope of holding out against
Edward, until the arrival of the Earl of Pembroke, who was supposed to be
rapidly approaching. There can scarcely be a reasonable doubt, that
during the evening and night previous to the battle, the Lancastrians
exerted themselves assiduously to intrench and fortify their position.
It is worthy of notice, that we do not hear of any attempt by the
Lancastrians, to pass the Severn at Tewkesbury; and as they prepared to
act on the defensive, and not to be the attacking party at the
approaching battle, it may at first sight perhaps appear remarkable, that
they do not seem to have endeavoured to have had the river Severn
interposed between themselves and their enemies, especially as it flows
close to Tewkesbury. But the reason for their not attempting it, may
easily be found, in the exhausted state of their troops, and the near
approach of Edward’s army, which rendered it a very dangerous attempt to
cross the river with the enemy so close upon them. {137a} Besides which,
there was not a bridge over the Severn at Tewkesbury, before the present
iron bridge was completed in 1826, at the place where there was an old
ferry called the Upper Lode; and Leland expressly states, that even as
late as when he wrote (in the reign of Henry VIII.), there was not any
bridge there:—“There is noe Bridge on Severne beneath Gloucester—neither
is there any bridge on Severne above Gloucester, till the Townlett of
Upton a 11 or 12 miles from Gloucester.” {137b}
If Margaret and her army had attempted to cross the Severn at Tewkesbury,
in hopes of joining the Earl of Pembroke, the want of a bridge would
naturally have compelled them, to have crossed it by fords and ferries,
as they best could: a perilous attempt, and one which would almost
certainly have exposed the rear of the army to destruction. That would
of course be an additional and powerful reason, for their being compelled
to take the chances of a battle. {137c}
King Edward, having received tidings that the Queen’s forces were
proceeding towards Tewkesbury, commenced his march from Sodbury, with his
army in good order of battle in three bodies, very early in the morning
of Friday, the 3rd of May, and passed over Cotswold. The day was very
hot, and the King marched with his forces more than thirty miles; during
which, they could neither find food for man or horse, and his troops were
much distressed for want of water, having met with only one small brook,
which soon became so disturbed and foul, by so large a number of men,
carriages, and horses passing through it, as to be unfit for use. During
a considerable part of that day, the King’s army and that of his enemies
were within five or six miles of each other: his in a plain country, and
theirs amongst woods. He had constantly useful scouts, to inform him of
the movements of his enemies. At length he came with his army to
Cheltenham, “unto a village called Chiltenham,” {138a} where he had
certain intelligence, that the Queen’s forces were already come to
Tewkesbury, and were encamped, and intended to remain and give him battle
there.
Edward did not remain long at Cheltenham; but after his troops, which
consisted of 3000 infantry and a large body of cavalry, had had some
refreshment, they marched forward towards Tewkesbury, and passed the
night of the 3rd of May encamped in the field, near {138b} the
Lancastrian position.
On the next morning, Saturday the 4th of May, {138c} Edward advanced to
attack his enemies in three bodies: his brother Richard Duke of
Gloucester {139a} commanded the van; Edward in person, with his brother
the Duke of Clarence, {139b} commanded the centre; and the rear was
commanded by the Marquis of Dorset {139c} and Lord Hastings. {139d}
Edward, prior to the commencement of the battle, had observed that there
was a park {140a} and much wood growing in it, on the right hand of his
enemies’ camp; and in order to guard against an ambuscade from that
quarter, he ordered two hundred spearmen to proceed to it, about a
quarter of a mile from the field; and if there were no ambuscade, then to
act and assist the army, in such a manner, as circumstances might seem to
render advisable.
The Lancastrian army was arranged also in three bodies, behind the
natural defences of the position, and such intrenchments, as had been
assiduously formed in so short a time; the Duke of Somerset and his
brother Lord John Beaufort commanded the first line; Prince Edward, Lord
Wenlock, and the Prior of St. John, commanded the second; and the Earl of
Devonshire the third.
We learn from one of the old historians, that the Queen’s position was,
“right hard to be assailed, by reason of the deep ditches, hedges, trees,
bushes, and cumbersome lanes wherewith the same was fenced both a front
and on the sides.” {140b}
Some openings were left by the Lancastrians in their intrenchments, in
order to enable them, if it should be considered expedient, to sally
forth upon the Yorkists: a circumstance which seems not to have been
known at first to the leaders of the latter.
Before the battle commenced, the Queen and Prince Edward rode about the
field, encouraging the men, and promising them rewards and booty, if they
acquitted themselves well.
Both of the armies used cannons. The King’s army was well furnished with
great artillery, which was well placed to annoy his enemies, and the Duke
of Gloucester galled them severely with discharges of arrows; and the
Lancastrians repaid them in the same manner with shot of artillery, and
arrows, although they had not as many guns as the King had.
The Duke of Gloucester with his forces made a fierce attack upon the
Lancastrians, but was unable to force their lines; in fact it was
scarcely practicable for them to come to hand blows with their enemies,
from the peculiarities and difficult nature of their position; and after
a short time he purposely retired from before their intrenchments with
his men, and with an appearance of being repulsed, in order to tempt the
Duke of Somerset from his stronghold. Somerset rashly quitted the
intrenchments through the openings already mentioned, and with his men
pursued the Duke of Gloucester into the open field, when the latter
suddenly ordered his forces to halt, and recover their ranks, and face
their enemies, which was accordingly done; and the Duke of Gloucester
with the Yorkists immediately attacked the troops of the Duke of
Somerset, repulsed them, put them to flight, and pursued them towards
their camp.
The two hundred spearmen were of great use on this occasion, as they
advanced to the assistance of Gloucester, and suddenly charged Somerset
and his Lancastrian troops in their flank, when they had already enough
to do, from being engaged with the others; and, dismayed at this new
charge upon them, they gave way, and attempted to regain their camp, and
were pursued by the King and Gloucester with the Yorkist forces. {141a}
Some of the fugitives “fled into the parke, other into the meadow there
at hand, some into the lanes, and some hid them in ditches, each one
making what shift he could, by the which he hoped best to escape; but
manie neverthelesse were beaten downe, slaine, and taken prisoners.”
{141b}
Lord Wenlock not having advanced to the support of the first line, but
remaining stationary, contrary to the expectations of Somerset, the
latter, in a rage, rode up to him, reviled him, and beat his brains out
with his axe.
Gloucester and his troops, pursuing those that fled with Somerset, forced
their way into the intrenchments, and were supported by the King, who
conducted himself very valiantly; the Lancastrians soon gave way, the
second and third lines making little resistance; the rout became general,
and was attended with great slaughter; and upon the camp being forced,
almost all such of the defenders as stood their ground were killed.
The Lancastrians fled towards the town, and were hotly pursued by the
victors, the King and others joining in the pursuit, and many of the
fugitives were slain, and “at a mill in a meadow fast by the town, a
great sort were drowned. Manie ran towards the towne, some to the
church, and diverse to the abbeie, and other to other places, where they
thought best to save themselves.” {142a}
In this decisive battle, and in the pursuit, about 3000 Lancastrians were
slain, with the following leaders:—The Earl of Devonshire, Lord John
Beaufort, Lord Wenlock, Sir Edmund Hamden, Sir William Wittingham, Sir
William Vaux, Sir Nicholas Hartry, Sir John Delves, {142b} Sir William
Fielding, Sir John Lewkener, Sir William Lermouth, Sir John Urnan, Sir
Thomas Seymour, Sir William Rouse, and Sir Thomas Fitzhenry. {142c} The
Duke of Somerset, the Prior of St. John, and other individuals of
distinction, escaped from the field, and sought refuge in the
neighbouring Abbey Church. They were pursued thither by King Edward, who
attempted to enter the church with his sword drawn, but was stopped at
the porch by a priest, with the Host, {142d} who prohibited his defiling
the sacred edifice with blood.
Prince Edward was taken prisoner by Sir Richard Crofts, and in
consequence of a proclamation, made by the King’s orders, that whosoever
should produce the Prince, should receive an annuity of one hundred
pounds, and that the Prince’s life should be spared if he were brought
forward unhurt, he was conducted by Sir Richard Crofts into the King’s
presence. Here an act of wickedness and cruelty took place, similar to
and equally detestable, with that which was perpetrated by Lord Clifford,
a leader of the other party, against the young Earl of Rutland, after the
battle of Wakefield. The King having asked, in a haughty manner, how
Prince Edward had dared to invade his dominions, and being irritated by
an imprudent and hasty reply from the youthful captive, struck him on the
face with his gauntlet. This seems to have been considered a sufficient
encouragement to others, to proceed to a deed of savage violence against
the unhappy Prince, and the Marquis of Dorset, Lord Hastings, the Dukes
of Clarence {143a} and Gloucester, and some others, dragged the Prince
away, and murdered him with their daggers. {144} His corpse was buried
in a common grave, in the Abbey Church, with some of the soldiers who had
been slain in the battle. The King pardoned a number of the fugitives,
who had taken refuge in the Abbey Church, although it did not possess any
privilege to protect rebels; and he might have taken them out of it
without breach of any liberty of that church; and he allowed the bodies
of the noblemen and others slain in the battle, to be buried in the
church, or wherever their friends or servants pleased; nor was there any
quartering or setting up in public places, of the heads, or quarters,
either of those who had been slain, or of those who had been executed: a
disgusting exhibition, which had too often been witnessed during the wars
of the Roses.
Near the centre of the choir, under the tower, is a brass plate, let into
a stone slab in the floor, with the following inscription, commemorating
the murder of the young Prince:—
NE TOTA PEREAT MEMORIA
EDVARDI PRINCIPIS WALLLÆ
POST PRÆLIUM MEMORABILE
IN VICINIS ARVIS DEPUGNATUM
CRUDELITER OCCISI
HANC TABULAM HONORARIAM
DEPONI CURABAT
PIETAS TEWKESBURIENSIS
ANNO DOMINI
MDCCXCVI
The inscription was written by the late Rev. Robert Knight, vicar of
Tewkesbury, and was placed there in 1796, in accordance with a tradition
that the body of the Prince had been interred there. It was ascertained,
by an examination some years ago, that the slab upon which the brass
plate is affixed, was over a stone coffin. The latter was examined, but
it did not exhibit any appearances to denote its having been the place of
the deposit of the young Prince’s remains. {145a}
In the addition to Camden’s _Britannia_, by Gough, it is stated, that
there was a monument in the chancel of the church, to the memory of
George Duke of Clarence and Isabel his wife; and that near the entrance
of the choir, under a large grey marble flag, stripped of its brasses,
Prince Edward was interred after his murder. “This deed is supposed to
have been done in a house since rebuilt, now Mr. Webb’s, an ironmonger,
on the north side of the High Street, near the Tolsey. His bones and
coffin were discovered by the breaking of the stone.” {145b}
Two days after the battle, Edward caused Somerset and other fugitives to
be taken from the sanctuary of the Abbey Church. They were brought
before the Duke of Gloucester, who officiated as high constable, and the
Duke of Norfolk the marshal, by whom they were condemned to death; and
accordingly, on Monday, the 6th of May, {146a} the Duke of Somerset, John
Longstrother the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem, Sir Humphrey Audley, Sir
Gervase Clifton, {146b} Sir William Grimsby, Sir William Cary, Sir Henry
Rose, Sir Thomas Tresham, {146c} Sir William Newborough, Knights; Henry
Tresham, Walter Courtenay, John Flory, Lewis Miles, Robert Jackson, James
Gower, John Delves, {146d} son and heir to Sir John Delves, {146d} and
other gentlemen of rank, were executed in the market-place of Tewkesbury,
a small triangular space, where the three principal streets meet. {146e}
The corpses of the Duke of Somerset, Lord John Beaufort, and the Earl of
Devonshire, were interred in the Abbey Church.
On the same day on which those executions took place, Margaret was
discovered in a poor religious house, and was conveyed, by Edward’s
orders, to London, and confined in the Tower, until she was ransomed, for
50,000 crowns, by her father, René Duke of Anjou and Lorraine, who also
used the empty and unsubstantial titles of King of Jerusalem, Naples, and
Sicily.
The following are the names of the persons of distinction who, according
to Leland, lost their lives, on the part of the Lancastrians, at or
immediately after, the battle of Tewkesbury:—
Prince Edward, buried in the Monastery of Tewkesbury.
Edmund Duke of Somerset, taken, beheaded, and buried there.
Lord John Somerset, brother of the Duke Edmund, buried there.
Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire, buried there.
Lord Wenlock, whose body was removed to be buried elsewhere.
Humphrey Handeley, beheaded with Thomas Courtenay, and buried together.
Sir Edmund Havarde.
Sir William Wichingham.
John Delves the elder, slain in the field, and
John Delves his son, beheaded there, buried together, afterwards
removed elsewhere. {147a}
Sir John Lukenor, slain in the field, and buried near the Delves.
Sir William Vaux, slain in the field, and buried there.
Sir Gervase Clifton, taken, beheaded, and buried there.
Sir William Car, and Sir Henry Ros, taken, and beheaded, buried in the
Cemetery of Tewkesbury.
Sir Thomas Tresham, taken, beheaded, and buried there.
Sir William Lirmouthe, Sir John Urman, Sir Thomas Semar
[_Quære_—Seymour?], Sir William Rowys, slain in the field, and buried
in the cemetery there.
Sir William Newborrow, taken and beheaded, and buried there.
Henry Wateley, Esquire, slain and buried there.
Henry Barrow, Esquire, slain and buried there.
— Fielding, Esquire, slain and buried there.
John Gower, sword-bearer of Prince Edward.
John Flore, standard-bearer of the Duke of Somerset, Henry Tresham,
Walter Courtenay, and Robert Acton, taken and beheaded.
The Prior of St. John’s, taken and beheaded; whose body was removed to
his own friends at London.
Hugh Courtenay, taken, and afterwards beheaded. {148a}
Life spared by King Edward, to each of the under-mentioned personages:—
Queen Margaret.
Anne, wife of the slain Prince Edward.
Foster, Chief Justice of England.
Doctor Mackerell, John Throgmorton, Baynton, and Wroughton. {148a}
Tewkesbury is a small town, situated ten miles from Gloucester, and eight
from Cheltenham, close to the confluence of the Severn and one of the
Avons. “It standeth in _lævâ ripâ Avonæ_, a good flite shot above the
confluence of Avon and Severne.”
“Ther is a greate bridge of stone at the northe ende of the towne,
and ther a little above the bridge, Avon brekith into 2 armes. Yet
the bridge is so large that both cum under it. The right arme
cummith into Severne withyn a flite shot of the bridge, and at the
point of this arme is the towne key for shippes callid Pickardes.”
“The other arme commith downe by the side of the towne, and the
Abbay, leving it on the este, and so passing harde ther by Holme
Castelle goith into Severne.” {149a}
The field of the battle of Tewkesbury is close to the first mile-post
{149b} on the turnpike road, leading from Tewkesbury, through Tredington
to Cheltenham and Gloucester. For the information of persons desirous of
visiting it, it may be well to observe, that on the westward side of the
town of Tewkesbury, there is a range of elevated ground, called the Holme
Ground, or Holme Hill, where a castle once stood, {149c} the rise of
which commences very near the town, upon part of which, contiguous to the
turnpike road, the union workhouse stands, and close behind the latter
there is a field called the Gastons; and immediately beyond the union
workhouse, are two fields which were purchased in 1855, for the purpose
of, and are now laid out as, a cemetery for Tewkesbury, and are called in
the title-deeds, part of “the Gastons,” a name which I shall afterwards
have again to refer to. This high ground extends on the side of the
turnpike road, as far as the first mile-post; just opposite to which, and
on the eastward side of the road, is a field which has immemorially been
called “Margaret’s Camp,” and which is situated upon a part of the
elevated ground which is called Gupshill.
The battle appears to have been fought at that place, and in the adjacent
fields to the southward, and also in those a little to the eastward of
it, {150a} and on the spot where Gupshill Farm houses and gardens now
stand.
The high road from Cheltenham did not formerly pass as close to
Margaret’s Camp as at present. Within the memory of persons now living,
it turned out of the present turnpike road from Cheltenham, in the
descent of the hill, two or three fields’ breadth before arriving at the
first mile-post from Tewkesbury, and wound with a considerable curve
round the westward side of Gupshill Farm houses and buildings, at which
place, part of the old road still remains, and joins the turnpike road at
a spot sixty or eighty yards nearer Tewkesbury than the first mile-post.
{150b}
In the field called “Margaret’s Camp,” are some slight inequalities in
the ground; but they are not sufficiently decided to enable any person to
state that they are the remains of intrenchments; and in the centre of
the field there is a small circular enclosure, which measures as nearly
as I could judge, by stepping over it, about twenty-eight or twenty-nine
yards across. It is surrounded by a small and shallow ditch, {150c}
which was dry when I visited it; and is without any hedge or bank; it
has, however, a number of large elm-trees growing round its inner edge.
It is too insignificant to have formed part of the military
intrenchments; but it may possibly have been a place of interment of some
of the slain; or, as seems probable, it may have been formed in
comparatively modern times, by some owner of the land, to commemorate the
spot where the Lancastrian army was posted.
It may readily be admitted, that the Lancastrians might have formed their
encampment, in some place possessing greater natural strength, on the
north instead of the south side of the town; but in that case, they must
most unwisely have abandoned to their enemies, the advantages of the
possession of the town, and the command of the river, and would have
enabled them to intercept the reinforcements which were expected.
It seems impossible to find any place near the town, where an army
intending to await and give battle to the Yorkists, when they advanced by
the road from Cheltenham, could have been so advantageously posted, as at
the spot before mentioned. Although perhaps not naturally very strong,
the position was, of course, strengthened by artificial defences, which
we may conclude, were then adopted, as has frequently occurred on similar
occasions, as for example by baggage waggons, fallen trees, and
intrenchments; and it had the additional defences of hedges, ditches,
brushwood, &c. It was approached on three sides by ascents, which,
though not steep, were at least disadvantageous to the assailants; and it
was situated at the end of the tract of elevated ground before noticed.
{151} The field before mentioned belongs to Mr. Haywood, and is tenanted
by Mr. John Phillips; and I was informed by elderly people, when I
visited it, that human bones had formerly been discovered in the
immediate neighbourhood of it; but I was not able to learn that any other
_indicia_ of the battle had been found there. It is not possible for any
intelligent person to mistake the spot, if he is desirous to find it,
when he has walked a mile from Tewkesbury on the turnpike road. The
place is called “Gupshill,” and is in the parish of Tewkesbury. {152}
The old annalists and chronicles have left us much in the dark, as to the
exact place near the camp of the Lancastrians, where Edward’s forces
passed the night prior to the battle; but on the morning of the battle,
and immediately before it commenced, his army, according both to
tradition and probability, took up a position upon some elevated ground,
adjoining the turnpike road, and to the southward of, and scarcely half a
mile from, the Lancastrian army. From that position, a small tract of
ground (now inclosed fields) slopes downwards so as to form a depression
between it and the spot occupied by the Lancastrians. This tract of
ground was formerly called the Red Piece; and is intersected by the
turnpike road, leading towards Cheltenham and Gloucester, and at present
forms two fields, one of which, on the right side of the road, is called
the Near Red Close, and the other, on the left side of the road, is
called the Further Red Close, belonging to Mr. Naish, of Bristol, of
which the tenant is Mr. William Brown, a farmer and cattle-dealer. The
portion of it on the left side of the road extends to the field called
Margaret’s Camp; and it was on the southward side of the latter, that
Edward’s forces appear to have made their attack.
A meadow rather in the rear of the Lancastrian position, but lying on the
westward side of the turnpike road, half a mile from Tewkesbury, and
within a few hundred yards of the Tewkesbury union workhouse, is called
the Bloody Meadow; it belongs to Miss Shapland, and is tenanted by Mr.
William Trotman, innkeeper and farmer; and an idea is generally
entertained, that it derived its name from the slaughter of many of the
fugitives, who fled from the battle towards the meadow, probably in hopes
of getting over the Severn, as there is a ford and ferry called Lower
Lode, near it. On the 27th of May, 1856, when I last visited the field
of battle, a husbandman who was at work in the garden of Gupshill Farm,
informed me, that when he was working a few years ago in a field near
Lower Lode Ferry, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Bloody Meadow, he
found a quantity of horses bones, and a considerable number of horseshoes
in the ground there. Mr. William Trotman informed me, that fourteen or
fifteen years ago, he found in the Bloody Meadow a long piece of iron,
which from its appearance, he believed had been part of a sword-blade.
He also showed me a cannon ball of small size, weighing one pound six
ounces, which had been dug up in the same meadow. {153a}
Besides the importance which we may fairly attach to tradition, and to
the name “Margaret’s Camp,” it is very remarkable how many strong proofs
are afforded, by the works of the ancient annalists and chroniclers, that
the before-mentioned spot, contiguous to the high road from Tewkesbury to
Cheltenham and Gloucester, was the place where the battle was fought.
We know from one of the old writers, {153b} that Edward advanced by the
road from Cheltenham towards Tewkesbury. The spot above mentioned, is on
that road, on a slight eminence, which was the best position near
Tewkesbury, that could have been selected by an army, with a view to
giving battle to Edward’s forces, on their advance from Cheltenham.
We are also told by one of our old chroniclers, with reference to the
position selected by Somerset, that he “so fyxed in a fayre parke
adioning to the towne he pytched hys felde;” {153c} and we learn from
another of them, that the position occupied by the Lancastrians, was,
“even hard at the Town’s end.” {153b} The field called Margaret’s Camp,
may be very correctly said to be “adjoining to the towne,” for it is only
one mile from it by the turnpike road, and is in fact “at the Town’s
end,” because it is little more than half a mile in a direct line from
the outskirts of the town.
We also find from the same authority, that “the Lancastrians had the town
and abbey at their backs.” {154a} This also tallies precisely with the
position already described, as being occupied by them, as the abbey is
visible from it; and the town and abbey must of necessity, be in their
rear [“at their backs”], when they faced an enemy advancing towards
Tewkesbury from Cheltenham.
The field is stated in Warkworth’s _Chronicle_ to be “not ferre from the
ryver of Severne.” {154b} That account is also very important, for the
place is not more than about half a mile from the river Severn.
Leland, in his _Itinerary_, {154c} in adverting to the battle, uses the
following remarkable expression:—“Edwardus Princeps Henric VI filius
venit cum exercitu ad Theokesbury, & intravit campum nomine _Gastum_,”
&c., and again, “Nomina occisorum in bello _Gastiensis_ prope
Theokesbury,” &c. I have already mentioned that upon part of the
elevated ground before noticed, and at the back of the union workhouse,
near Tewkesbury, and very near the spot called Margaret’s Camp, there is
a place called “the Gastons”; and after allowing for the difference in
spelling at the time when Leland wrote, it can scarcely admit of a doubt,
that the latter was the place which he meant, when, in adverting to the
battle, he used the expression—“campum nomine Gastum,” and “in bello
Gastiensis prope Theokesbury.” {154d}
We are also informed by one of the old historians, that many of the
Lancastrians were drowned at “a mill in the meadow fast by the town.”
{154e} This must certainly have been the Abbey Water-mills, which
(although at present, in a great degree, rebuilt and altered) still stand
in the meadow close to the town, in the rear of the Lancastrians, and in
a place where it is almost certain that some of the fugitives from the
battle, trying to escape towards the Avon and the Severn, would pass.
It is also a well-authenticated historical fact, which has not been
disputed by any author, that the Duke of Somerset, John Longstrother the
Lord Prior of St. John’s, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Gervase Clifton, and
other knights and esquires, when the battle was lost, fled to the Abbey
of Tewkesbury, and other places in the town. The distance was, as
already mentioned, only about half a mile from the rear of the
Lancastrian position to the Abbey Church and town; and if Margaret’s
forces had not awaited the approach of, and given battle to, the Yorkists
on the southward side of Tewkesbury, or, in other words, on the side of
the town which the Yorkists must naturally approach on the road from
Cheltenham, and with the abbey and the town in the rear of the
Lancastrians, it would have been utterly impossible for the fugitives to
have fled either to the abbey or town.