Pictures do take a while to download so please be patient when you click on a link. Some links are to one picture only, so take you immediately to the full size picture. Some are to a collection of pictures, so the link takes you to small images of each picture first (thumbnails). Each thumbnail is a link to the large picture. All the larger pictures are compressed from the originals for faster downloading.
Astley (Warwickshire) - Astley Castle
Astley Castle was built about 1266 near Nuneaton. Once a fortified manor house and
still surrounded by a moat, Astley Castle was built during the reign of Edward I but dismantled upon the Duke of Suffolk's attainder. It was home to Elizabeth Woodville
and Lady Jane Grey, who was beheaded after being Queen for only nine days. St Mary's Church Astley contains the tomb and effigy (on the far left) of Cecily Bonneville, second wife of Sir Thomas Grey, first Marquis of Dorset, son of Elizabeth Woodville before her marriage to Edward IV.
There are also the effigies of Sir Edward Grey and Elizabeth Talbot, wife of his son.
Atherstone (Warwickshire) - Merevale Church, Abbey, and Michael K. Jones' new site for the battle of Bosworth. (thumbnails)
Ashby St Ledgers (Northamptonshire) - Brass to William Catesby in the church.
Richard III's hard-working councillor William Catesby is buried in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Leodegarius under
a wonderful brass. There are also brasses to his father, son and grandson. The Catesby family lived in the manor house next to the church. William was captured after the battle of Bosworth and beheaded in Leicester three days later.
His lands were confiscated but restored to his son George in 1496.
Banquet - Twentieth anniversary banquet of the Worcestershire Branch of the Richard III Society: one of the tables, Ralph and his first retirement present , the banquet (a montage of photos). A photograph of the room.
Belbroughton (Worcestershire)
Beoley (Worcestershire)
Bewdley (Worcestershire)
Blore Heath (Staffordshire) - Battle re-enactment, site and Mucklestone Church. (thumbnails)
Bushley (Worcestershire)
Cardiff (Wales) - Cardiff Castle, Cowbridge Castle and St John the Baptist Church Cardiff. (thumbnails)
Carreg Cennen Castle (Wales) - Carreg Cennen Castle
Chaddesley Corbett (Worcestershire)
Croft Castle (Herefordshire) - Sir Richard Croft's tomb at Croft Castle. (thumbnails)
Elmley Castle (Worcestershire)
Fotheringhay (Northamptonshire) - Church of St Mary and All Saints. (thumbnails)
Gloucester (Gloucestershire) - Gloucester Cathdral and city. (thumbnails)
Goodrich (Herefordshire) - Goodrich Castle. (thumbnails)
Grafton (Worcestershire)
Great Witley (Worcestershire)
Guy's Cliffe (Warwickshire) - Guy's Cliffe and St Mary Magdalen Chapel. (thumbnails)
Haddon Hall (Derbyshire)
Hanley Castle (Worcestershire)
Harvington (Worcestershire)
Hellens (Herefordshire) - Hellens, a medieval manor house, and the Church of St Bartholomew, Much Marcle. (thumbnails)
Henley-in-Arden (Warwickshire)
Hereford (Herefordshire) - Hereford Cathedral and some pictures of the old parts of town.
Kilpeck Church (Herefordshire) - The arch over the south door of St Mary and St David, showing the magnificent carving.
Kington Church (Herefordshire) - Thomas Vaughan of Hergest Court and his wife. Their alabaster tomb is in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin. He was killed fighting for the Yorkists at the battle of Edgecot near Banbury in 1469.
Hergest Court, which dates from 1266, is now a farmhouse and garden centre.
Leominster (Herefordshire) - Leominster Medieval Fair and re-enactment of the battle of Mortimer's Cross, held on June 5th and 6th 2004 (thumbnails).
Losecoat Field (Rutland) - The Battle of Losecoat Field
Ludlow Castle and St Laurence's Church (Shropshire)
Malvern (Worcestershire)
Little Malvern Priory contains a portrait gallery of Edward IV's family in the east window. Bishop Alcock, who was tutor to Edward Prince of Wales, (Edward V), restored the church between 1480 and 1482, and installed this window.
Martley (Worcestershire)
Minster Lovell (Oxfordshire) - Minster Lovell church and ruins of the hall.
Morley Church (Derbyshire)
Mortimer's Cross (Herefordshire) - Battle site, church, monument and pub (thumbnails).
Much Wenlock (Shropshire) - Wenlock Priory and the Guildhall, and thumbnails of the Priory and Guildhall.
North Nibley (Gloucestershire) - Site of battle of Nibley Green, and church.
Norbury Church (Derbyshire)
Norton (Worcestershire)
Oddingley (Worcestershire)
Oxburgh Hall (Norfolk) - Photographs of Oxburgh Hall. (thumbnails)
Queenhill (Worcestershire) - Photographs of Ripple and Queenhill Churches.
Ribbesford (Worcestershire)
Richard III - The Denver Portrait of Richard III. The reverse of the third Great Seal dating from about 1472. Used by Richard III and Edward IV.
Ripple (Worcestershire) - Photographs of Queenhill and Ripple Churches.
Rous Lench (Worcestershire)
Rous Roll John Rous working on the roll. Queen Anne, Richard III and Edward Prince of Wales from the Rous Roll. Queen Anne from the Rous Roll.
Sheriff Hutton (Yorkshire)
Stamps - Royal Mail Stamps Heraldry, Bosworth Anniversary First Day Cover and stamp commemorating William Caxton
Stanford-on-Teme (Worcestershire)
Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire) - Battle re-enactment 2007 and branch display at medieval fayre. (thumbnails)
There is also a plaque to Edward of Lancaster, Anne Neville's first husband, in the choir.
The back of the sacristy door is covered with armour found on the battlefield. If you want to see this armour, please contact the abbey in advance of your
visit and make an appointment.
Yorkist roses decorate the ceiling to celebrate the victory against the Lancastrians.
The battle of Tewkesbury was fought on May 4th 1471 and the Yorkists were the winners. A major re-enactment and medieval fair is held every year in July.
Battle re-enactment 2006 and branch display at medieval fayre. (thumbnails)
Battle re-enactment 2005 and branch display at medieval fayre. (thumbnails)
Battle re-enactment 2004 and branch display at medieval fayre. (thumbnails)
Battle re-enactment 2003 and branch display at medieval fayre. (thumbnails)
Battle re-enactment 2002 and branch display at medieval fayre. (thumbnails)
Battle re-enactment 2001. (thumbnails)
The Museum in Barton Street contains a display on the battle, including a diorama made by Geoffrey Wheeler of the Richard III Society, and information panels about the battle and the heraldry of those involved.
Ye Olde Black Bear pub existed when the battle was fought, and has Warwick's emblem of the bear and ragged staff on its wall.
Upton Snodsbury (Worcestershire)
Warndon (Worcestershire)
Warwick (Warwickshire)
Wickhamford (Worcestershire) - Church of St John the Baptist.
Wigmore Castle (Herefordshire) - Photographs of the castle. (thumbnails)
Worcester (Worcestershire)
Richard III visited the city on Tuesday August 5th 1483 during his Coronation Tour.
On Friday 25th July 1483 Richard was at Magdalen College Oxford on his tour and heard a disputation in divinity by William Grocyn and John Taylor.
Grocyn lecturing in Greek at Oxford features in the Victorian glass (see below).
His brother Edward IV went to Worcester after the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471, on his way to Coventry.
In the cloisters opposite the gift shop is some Victorian stained glass depicting the period 1387 - 1485. It includes a figure of Edward IV, and Queen Margaret
(Henry VI's Queen) crossing the Lower Lode after the battle of Tewkesbury to seek refuge. Anne Neville, then the widow of Margaret's son Edward Prince of Wales, was with her.
Also represented in this window are William Caxton and Judge Littleton. Inside the cathedral is a plaque and portrait commemorating this local judge, who died in 1481. He has been called the father of our English law and probably Richard was familiar with his work.
Near Prince Arthur's Chantry is a triptych made in Edward IV's time. Description of triptych.
Inside the cathedral, Prince Arthur's chantry has some beautiful Yorkist emblems, including a rose en soleil
carved around it. His mother was Elizabeth of York, Richard's niece.
This collection of photographs of inside and outside the cathedral includes the former refectory, and more of the chantry and Victorian glass.
York (Yorkshire)
Youlgreave Church (Derbyshire)
Holy Trinity Church. There's a white rose and a sun in splendour, the badge of Edward IV, in the remnants of medieval glass. I think they are probably there for the Virgin Mary rather than as Yorkist symbols.
St Leonard's Church houses the tomb of William Sheldon who fought for Richard at Bosworth. He survived, had his estates confiscated by Henry VII, but managed to get back into favour
before he died. In the top of the north aisle window are two roundels of fifteenth century glass which show a York rose on a gold background and a sun in splendour.
One of William Sheldon's descendants commissioned a portrait of Richard III which is now in the Berger Collection in Denver Museum, America. A detailed article about the portrait
appeared in the July 2002 issue of Dickon Independent, and also in the Spring 2002 issue of the Ricardian Register.
Edward IV's 1472 Charter for the town is housed in the Town Clerk's Office. This was awarded because the Bewdley archers had fought for Richard Duke of Gloucester at Tewkesbury in 1471.
Click here to see a picture of it. Richard also gave 20 marks towards the building of Bewdley Bridge in 1483. Both Edward IV then Richard III owned Tickenhill Palace (now Manor) as part of their Mortimer inheritance.
St Leonard's Church, Ribbesford, Bewdley, shows the arms of Edward IV in stained glass, with a white boar below. (See Ribbesford below.)
Site of a Yorkist victory in a battle of the Wars of the Roses in 1459.
Paynes Place, a fine late fifteenth century timber-framed building, was a possible refuge of Queen Margaret of Anjou after the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Anne Neville, then widow of the Lancastrian Prince of Wales, would have been with her.
The Church of St Peter in Bushley was rebuilt in 1843 and contains the brass figures of Thomas Payne and his wife Ursula, fixed to the wall near the 12th century font. Thomas, a wool-stapler and supporter of the Earl of Warwick, built Paynes Place. In 1477 he obtained permission for the people of the village to bury their dead in the churchyard, instead
of having to take corpses to Tewkesbury. He died in 1500 and was buried in the churchyard. Close-up of Ursula.
One of the houses in the village displays wooden carvings associated with the Earl of Warwick, which came originally from Paynes Place. The bear and ragged staff, and ox or dun cow, both complete with cobwebs!
The Octagon Tower and Hall Block of Cardiff Castle were built by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, Richard III's grandfather. Inside where you can't take photos is a Victorian stained glass window of Richard and Anne, together with a portrait of Richard III.
A section of the south choir arcade is all that remains of the original stone building of St John the Baptist. It was sacked in 1404 during the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr, then it was reconstructed in the second half of the same century creating the fine perpendicular nave and tower which are such prominent features of the city today. It's likely that Anne Neville helped fund the rebuilding of the tower.
Richard III appointed a chaplain to Holy Cross Church Cowbridge.
The castle was slighted by the Yorkists in 1462. The castle existed in the thirteenth century and was owned
by the Welsh, but nothing remains of this building and it was rebuilt by one of Edward I’s barons, who was given the castle in 1283.
It sits on top of a limestone crag and dominates the surrounding area. After being dismantled in 1462 by 500 men with picks and crowbars, ownership was given to Sir Rhys ap Thomas, whose family held it till the end of the sixteenth century. The Vaughans took over, and gave it to Baron Cawdor in the nineteenth century. A massive programme of rebuilding ensured the survival of the castle.
St Cassian's Church. The manor of Chaddesley Corbett was owned by Richard, Earl of Warwick. The dedication is very unusual. There are three possible candidates: the Christian schoolmaster killed by his pupils during the Roman persecutions; the abbot of St Victor, Marseilles; or the Greek saint. There's no connection with Richard III other than the fact that the church existed in his time.
Sir Richard was a staunch Yorkist. Croft Castle is owned by the National Trust. As well as the castle and church there are extensive grounds.
Owned by George, Duke of Clarence. (No picture).
Richard was born on October 2nd 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle, and probably lived there until he moved to Ludlow in 1459. His parents and brother Edmund are buried in the church.
The Richard III Society holds a carol service in the church every December.
Richard III was Duke of Gloucester and his coat of arms is on St Michael's Tower in the city centre, to commemorate his granting a charter to the town on a visit in 1483. Gloucester kept out the Lancastrian army in 1471 so they were forced to march on to Tewkesbury where they were defeated by Edward IV's Yorkist army and Richard his brother. The charter is in the museum and you need to make an appointment to see it.
Much of the building is still intact, apart from roofs and floors,
and it's well worth a visit. It was a principal residence of the Talbot family during the Wars of the Roses. James, 11th Lord Berkeley, and his four sons, were imprisoned here by the Talbots, sometime in the 1440's. Eleanor Talbot married Edward IV.
The home of Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother Thomas who also fought for Richard III at the battle of Bosworth and survived to cause further trouble for Henry VII later on. (No picture).
Woodbury Hill nearby is where the Duke of Buckingham's rebellion of 1483 ended as all his troops deserted him. (No picture).
Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, founded a chantry chapel here in 1423. He provided money to pay for two priests, to rebuild the chapel in about 1430, and to provide decent accommodation for the priests.
The priests' job was to say a daily Mass for the souls of the Beauchamp family, including Richard Beauchamp after his death in 1439. John Rous became the chantry priest in 1445. Whilst there he produced his History of the Earls of Warwick, often called the Rous Roll, which
contains drawings of Richard III, his Queen Anne Neville, their son Prince Edward, and glowing references to Richard and his reign. But when Henry VII came to the throne, Rous revised his Roll, removing the pictures of Richard and his family and the glowing description. He replaced it
with the first defamatory description of Richard, and the legend of the evil Richard III was born. Fortunately for us one copy produced before 1485 survives, so we know the truth. Rous also produced a Life of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, containing 55 drawings.
A beautiful medieval manor house, mostly built by the Vernons who owned it from 1180 to 1565. The tapestry in the banqueting hall showing the royal arms of England was made during the reign of Edward IV.
Richard's father-in-law, Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, better known as the Kingmaker, owned Hanley Castle before his death in 1471. All that remains now of the castle are earthworks. In those days Hanley Castle had a busy quay on the River Severn.
Richard married Warwick's daughter Anne Neville in 1472. Parts of St Mary's church are medieval.
Richard owned Harvington when he was Lord of the Manor whilst Duke of Gloucester. (No picture).
Hellens, a medieval manor house in Much Marcle, 3 miles from Ledbury.
Richard III was Lord of the Manor of Henley-in-Arden while King of England, and his name appears on the board in the Guildhall.
Edward IV founded the cloisters which are now used as living accommodation. The Stanbury Chantry Chapel dates from 1470.
Kilpeck is a prime example of the Herefordshire School of Sculpture. There are 85 corbels
on the outside. The ruins of the castle are nearby.
Leominster Medieval Fair and re-enactment of the battle of Mortimer's Cross, held on June 7th and 8th 2003 (thumbnails).
The plaque describing the battle which can be found on the opposite side of the A1 to the wood called Bloody Oaks, on the lane heading for Pickworth.
In 1459 Richard spent several months at the castle while his father the Duke of York made it his headquarters. In October he was captured,
together with his mother, brother George and sister Margaret, when the Lancastrians sacked the castle and town. The Yorkist leaders all escaped.
When Edward IV, the Duke of York's eldest son, became king in 1461, Ludlow Castle became crown property. Edward sent his son there in 1473 as head of the Council of the Welsh Marches. The Prince of Wales lived there until
he became Edward V in 1483. More images of the castle and church (thumbnails).
Great Malvern Priory has a beautiful west window given by Richard and his wife Anne, when he was Duke of Gloucester and Lord of Malvern Chase. It is filled with full length figures of saints.
The Duke and Duchess' coats of arms probably occupied the two irregularly shaped openings at the tops of the main side divisions of the west window, but are now elsewhere.
High up in the clerestory glass on the south side of the quire you can see Richard's arms with boar supporters - remember to bring binoculars!
A fragment of the arms of Anne Neville, Duchess of Gloucester, with the remains of two white bear supporters to the shield is in the window to the right of the Henry VII window, along with many other fragments of medieval glass.
In the tracery lights can be seen the shield of Edward V when he was Earl of March.
You can read a bit about the priory in an article in one of our branch magazines.
The figures represent from left to right - Richard, Duke of York (missing); Edward, Prince of Wales (Edward V); King Edward IV (missing); Queen Elizabeth Woodville (now headless); Princess Elizabeth of York and her sisters, the Princesses Cecily, Anne and Katherine; Bishop John Alcock, tutor to the Prince of Wales.
In the tracery lights is some heraldic stained glass: -
The remains of shield of Bishop John Alcock, who installed the glass.
The arms of Edward, Prince of Wales (Edward V).
The royal arms of Edward IV his father.
There used to be various other coats of arms of interest in the windows of the church.
It's possible that Queen Margaret of Anjou sought refuge here after the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Anne Neville, then widow of the Lancastrian Prince of Wales, would have been with her, as would the Countess of Devon and Lady Katherine Vaux.
St Peter's Church houses the tomb of Sir Hugh Mortimer, a Yorkist, who died early in 1460. You can read all about Sir Hugh and the church in a book on the history of the church: St Peter's Church Martley A History by Jeremy Campbell Grant.
The advowson of the church was owned by the Abbot of St Mary and All Saints Fotheringhay between 1415 and 1554.
St Kenelm's Church was given to Eton College by Henry VI and still belongs to the college. The tomb in the church is believed to be William Lovell, Francis' grandfather, who built the hall.
Francis Lovell was one of Richard III's best friends and member of his council. Richard visited Minster Lovell Hall when king. Francis survived Bosworth and fought Henry VII at Stoke but disappeared afterwards.
The Church of St Matthew has an excellent display of medieval glass, including a lot transferred from Dale Abbey at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Among the many medieval monuments is a brass to John Sacheverell, who died at Bosworth Field.
There are also brasses to Henry Stathum, Lord of the Manor of Morley and father to John's wife Joan,and to Thomas Stathum, the previous Lord of the Manor.
A collection of photographs featuring the battle site of 2nd February 1461, the church at Aymestrey, the monument to the battle and the pub called the Mortimer's Cross Inn.
Battle re-enactment 2004. (thumbnails)
Battle re-enactment 2003. (thumbnails)
Edward IV granted a charter to Much Wenlock in 1468, and this is on display in the Guildhall.
It was also signed by Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
One of the lesser battles of the Wars of the Roses, the battle of Nibley Green, was fought near here on 20th March 1470. It was a private war between the Talbots and the Berkeleys over the Berkeley inheritance. William Lord Berkeley built the south aisle of St Martin's Church at North Nibley as thanks for his victory.
The Church of St Mary and St Barlok houses the tomb of Ralph Fitzherbert, twelfth Lord of the Manor, and his wife Elizabeth Marshall. He is wearing a Yorkist collar of suns and roses with a boar pendant for King Richard III. He built the north aisle of the church. His father Nicholas built the south tower, nave and chapel east of the tower. His collar of suns and roses has a lion pendant for King Edward IV. Details of both tombs.
The stone lectern from St Egwin's church. It is carved from Purbeck marble. It was found near the site of Evesham Abbey and is thought to have been made in the twelfth century.
Richard's father, the Duke of York, gave a window to St James' Church when he laid claim to the throne
in 1460. Oddingley was owned by him. This window shows the royal arms of England impaling (next to) those of Neville,
for his wife, Cecily Neville. The royal arms are shown without a difference to those of the king, so the window must have
been installed between October and December 1460, when the Duke laid claim to the throne. There is also a white rose
on the fifteenth century font, and a Yorkist fetterlock. (No picture).
Now owned by the National Trust, Oxburgh Hall was built by Sir Edmund Bedingfeld in 1482. He received his retrospective royal planning permission from Edward IV on 3 July 1482. A committed Yorkist, but he didn't go to Bosworth, choosing to make his peace with Henry VII.
In the window at the west end of the south aisle in St Leonard's Church are the Arms of England quartered with those of France and supported by two falcons. These are the Royal Arms of Edward IV who granted borough status to Bewdley in 1472.
Below can be seen a boar, the badge of Edward's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
Carving of Christ above south door of Rous Lench Church.
The Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross contains the cenotaph of Edward of Middleham, Richard III's only son.
His body may be at Coverham Abbey though the site of the grave is unknown. The monument has recently been restored. Edward was 11 years old when he died at Middleham Castle on 9th April 1484. His parents were at Nottingham Castle when they heard the news of his death.
The ruins of the castle, once the headquarters of the Council of the North, stand on private land.
St Mary's Church houses an alabaster monument to Sir Humphrey Selway and his wife Joyce.
He was marshal of the court to Henry VI and later associated with George Duke of Clarence, brother of Richard III and Edward IV. (No picture).
The abbey houses the bones of Richard's brother George Duke of Clarence,
and his wife Isabel Neville, though you are no longer allowed into the vault to see them. A plaque marks the entrance to the vault. Thanks to the American Branch's web site for these photos of the bones, and in particular Karen Ladniuk from Brazil who sent them to the American Branch.
According to the Victoria County History, Upton belonged to Viscount Francis Lovell when he was attainted in 1485, then was granted to Sir John Mortimer by Henry VII. Sir John had been an esquire of the body to Richard III. He was the son of Sir Hugh Mortimer of Martley. (No picture).
St Nicholas' Church Warndon was first mentioned in 1092. The Lord of the Manor rebuilt the Saxon church in Norman style in 1184. More rebuilding occurred in the early fifteenth century. Some of the Malvern tiles survive, as does a bit of the wall painting.
The font dates from 1485. It has an unusual heptagonal shape. The wooden lid is seventeenth century. The black and white tower may have been built in 1542.
The group of buildings which comprises the Lord Leycester Hospital were built around the Chantry Chapel of St James over the West Gate into Warwick, to house
the religious guilds. When Henry VIII dispersed the guilds in 1546, the property was saved from seizure by being transferred to the Burgesses of Warwick. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leycester, acquired the buildings in 1571 and founded a hospital for disabled soldiers and their wives,
with a charter from Queen Elizabeth. The Master runs the hospital and his house is on the north side of the courtyard.
Owned by English Heritage. Entry is free to explore the ruins.
Prince Arthur's Exhibition and Chantry Chapel Worcester Cathedral, 2002. (thumbnails)
The re-enactment of Prince Arthur's Funeral on its 500th anniversary. (thumbnails)
York Minster would have been very familiar to Richard III. His son was invested as Prince of Wales in the Archbishop's Palace in 1483.
The Society of Friends of King Richard III gave a window of stained glass to the Minster in 1997. It's in the south aisle.
All Saints' Church is the resting place of Thomas Cokayne, who is wearing a Yorkist collar of suns and roses. He was one of Lord Hastings' men. He died in a fight in 1488 with Thomas Burdett at Pooley Park in Warwickshire. They were both going to Polesworth Church and quarrelled over a family marriage settlement. As he predeceased his father his effigy is small, though he was a married man with a family.
