On 29 March 1461 the Lancastrians lined up to fight the Yorkists in what would become known as the bloodiest battle ever on English soil
Towton saw the bloody triumph of Yorkist King Edward IV over the Lancastrian supporters of Henry VI.
What happened at the Battle of Towton?
Towton was where two mighty armies met midway through the Wars of the Roses, on the 29 March 1461, to decide which of two rival kings should rule.
Fighting began with an archery duel in which the Lancastrians, shooting into a blinding blizzard, came off worse as their arrows fell short of the Yorkist line. Several hours of savage hand-to-hand combat then followed, with men laying about each other with swords, bills, maces and poleaxes.
Finally, the arrival of Yorkist reinforcements tipped the balance. The Lancastrian line crumbled and then broke. The Yorkist pursuit was merciless. Many fugitives died struggling to cross the River Cock; others were trapped in Tadcaster.
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The battlefield soon became a slaughterhouse. As the retreating Lancastrians struggled across the steep-sided Cock Beck, a stream swollen by the snow into a roaring torrent, they slid down its banks and drowned in their armour. The victorious Yorkists hacked at them with spear and sword, or pursued survivors on horseback – leaving a bloody six-mile trail across the snow.
Was this the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil? The claim that 28,000 died is almost certainly exaggeration, but contemporaries agreed that Towton was unusual, both in terms of the ferocity of the fighting and the scale of the casualties.
Two busy roads run through the battlefield site today, and there are few footpaths. Even so, Towton remains an evocative place to visit.
The removal of many hedgerows towards the end of the last century means that the undulating plateau on which the battle was fought has regained its medieval character. The land consists of a number of large, mainly arable, fields, although sheep now graze on the steep slopes leading to the River Cock, where so many of Henry’s soldiers met their demise.
Where is Towton Battlefield?
The battlefield lies just south of where the A162 and B127 roads converge between the villages of Saxton and Towton in Yorkshire.
Find out more at The Towton Battlefield Society
What can you see?
Today you can see the Towton battle cross, a memorial to remember the battle. This weathered ancient stone cross stands at the spot where Lancastrian Lord Dacre took an arrow through the throat.
It’s located in the heart of the battlefield where the two armies faced each other in west-east lines, with the Yorkists to the south of you, and the Lancastrians to the north.