Tag: Northampton

Latest News, Meetings, Northamptonshire Battlefields Society, Talks, Uncategorized

Northamptonshire Battlefields Society Speakers Programme 2018

All talks start at 7:30pm unless otherwise stated
Venue: Delapre Golf Centre, Eagle Drive, Northampton
Members: Free, Non- Members £5

25 January  – Overmighty Subjects: Factions and Feuds in the Wars of the Roses. Mike Ingram

Mike is the Society’s Chairman, a medieval historian, author of “The Battle of Northampton” the definitive account of the battle and local expert on The Wars of the
Roses.

22 February – The Georgian Militia. Prof Matthew McCormack

Professor McCormack is an expert on the militia of the Georgian period. An absolute
must for anyone fascinated by those dashing chaps in Jane Austen’s novels.

29 March – The Black Prince. Dr Michael Jones

Dr Jones is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the British
Commission for Military History and a noted historical writer.

26 April – The Princes in the Tower. Mathew Lewis 

Historical writer Matthew Lewis returns to discuss one of histories most controversial mysteries.

31 May – Uncovering Edgcote: Re-evaluating the evidence. Phil Steele with Graham Evans

Phil is the Society’s Vice Chair, and is leading the project to mark the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Edgcote in 2019.

28 June – Forging Identities: Heraldry. Dr Conny Bailey

Dr Bailey lectures in Art History at the University of Leicester, and has previously given talks at Northampton Museum.

26 July – The Man who Arrested the Earl: William Boteler Northamptonshire’s Swordsman. Graham Evans.

The editor of the Wild Rat discusses the life and times of the man who was
Northamptonshire’s military governor after the Civil War.

August No talk

27 September – Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen. Sara Cockerill

Sara is a historian and barrister who has written the only full length biography of Edward I’s beloved queen, and the woman after whom our Eleanor Cross is named.

25 Oct – AGM & talk (NB 7:00pm start) Agincourt past, present and future. Professor Anne Curry

Professor Anne Curry is the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of
Southampton. She is a Medieval Historian and the foremost expert on the Battle of
Agincourt. She was the Chair of the Trustees of the very successful Agincourt 600 Project. She is also a Trustee of the Battlefields Trust, and also the Royal Armouries.
The 600th anniversary of Agincourt in 2015 provided an opportunity to reflect on the
battle. But what more is there to know? Where next for studies of this iconic battle?
Professor Curry shares her views on this nation-defining battle.

Battle of Northampton 1460, Coppini, Earl of Warwick, King Edward IV, King Henry VI, Latest News, medieval knights, Northampton history, Northampton in the 15th century, Queen Eleanor's Cross, Wars of the Roses

Battle of Northampton Event 15/16 July 2017

The international award winning Northamptonshire Battlefield Society will be at Delapre Abbey on 15/16 July for the commemoration of the 1460 battle where we will be giving walks, talks and demonstrations. Come and play our new battle of Northampton game. We will have our new Northamptonshire and Rutland Wars of the Roses Gazetteer and battle heraldry posters on sale as well as the book and game.

delapre poster 2017

 

 

Battle of Northampton 1460, Coppini, Earl of Warwick, King Henry VI, Latest News, Northampton in the 15th century, Queen Eleanor's Cross, Wars of the Roses

Battle of Northampton Memorial Walk 10 July 7:00pm

All welcome. Meet at Delapre Abbey at 7:00pm to walk to Queen Eleanor Cross to lay flowers for the fallen of Northamptonshires medieval battles. Will include a mini tour and talk on the 1460 battle.DSCF9513

King Edward I, Latest News, Northampton history, Northampton in the 13th Century, Queen Eleanor's Cross, Uncategorized

Queen Eleanor’s Cross – The story so far

When Edward I’s queen, Eleanor died in 1290 at Harby, her viscera, less her heart, were sent to the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral for burial, and her body was then taken to London, taking 12 days to reach Westminster Abbey. Crosses were erected at the twelve places where her funeral procession stopped overnight. Today only three crosses still stand, at Geddington, Northampton, and Waltham Cross. The top of the Northampton Cross was missing in 1460 at the time of the battle.

eleanor cross

 Northampton’s Queen Eleanor Cross. Photo Nicola McKenna
In July 2016, Northamptonshire Battlefield Society began to express concerns about the deteriorating condition of the Northampton Cross in meetings with Northampton Borough Council and other stakeholders in Delapre park. NBS continued to bring it up at subsequent meetings but got no further than a than a dispute of who was responsible for its upkeep. Frustrated at the lack of action, NBS made their concerns public which were then taken up by BBC Radio Northampton. Starting Monday 24 April, for three days in succession it was headline news and the chair of NBS, author Sara Cockerill and others were interviewed on the radio. As a result, the Borough Council issued the following statement.

“We are aware of the many references to the cross on our website and sadly whilst this seems contradictory we still believe this isn’t proof of our ownership of the cross, however we have carried out extensive maintenance on the cross in the past we now intend to carry out further work to tidy up what is undoubtedly a fantastic monument of national importance”

And this was despite the cross being listed on the council’s asset register. So, on Wednesday 26 April this page was launched. The threat to the cross sparked outrage within the local community and further afield. Support grew rapidly and a twitter feed was greeted with a similar response, also gaining celebrity support from the likes of Tony Robinson and Al Murray. The cross’s plight made TV and interviews with the NBS Chair, plus Marie Dickie and Adrian Bell from the Hardingstone History Group was shown on BBC Look East on 2 May.

eleanor growth 3

Some of the growth on the Cross. Photo Matthew Lewis

Then on the afternoon of 2 May, Northampton Borough Council released the following statement

“We are moving ahead as quickly as possible to get the permission we need to carry out work on the Eleanor Cross. We have met with Historic England and taken their advice and have already approached three accredited restoration and conservation companies with the experience of working on such important monuments. Two have already responded and when we have heard from the third, we will appoint a contractor to carry out a condition survey, commission initial works and advise on what further work is needed going forward.
“We have formally made an application to work on a scheduled monument and once we have received the permission necessary from Historic England work will begin straight away. We are well aware of the importance of the Eleanor Cross and how our plans for Delapré Abbey will raise its profile even further.”

There is a way to go yet. Support continues to grow and NBS will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the council sticks to its promise. Responsibility needs to be confirmed and a long term maintenance program needs to be sorted. Better access to the site and some signage are also priorities. We will continue to report progress.
But all in all, not bad for little over a week. Thank you everybody.

eleanor patching

Earlier low grade repairs. Photo Matthew Lewis

Latest News, Meetings, threat to battlefield, Wars of the Roses

Northampton Battlefields Society receives new international award

NBS has received an international award. The silver plated figurine of Nathaniel Wade was given to NBS at the International Guild of Battlefield Guides annual dinner on Saturday 14 January 2017 and collected by Vice-Chair Phil Steele and committee member Graham Evans.
The GBG Nathaniel Wade Award is named after one of the first Battlefield Guides. Wade was a Bristol lawyer and the hardworking creator of the rebel army during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685.

 

The award publicly recognises the contribution of an individual, group or organisation associated with the GBG, who through their efforts has made a significant contribution to the craft of battlefield guiding and the wider Military History community. Last year it was awarded to the Belgian Tourist Office so we are in good company.

In July 2016, Chair Mike Ingram and the society received the Presidents Award from the Battlefields Trust for outstanding contribution to battlefield preservation and interpretation which was presented by Sir Robert Worcester. Previous to that, in 2015 it received an award from the NN4eight local community group for its work on battlefield preservation.

Chair Mike Ingram said afterwards “We are proud and pleased to receive the award and thank the GBG for considering us. It reflects the commitment and the hard work of our committee and members to preserving nationally important battles such as Northampton.”

 

award

The award came the day after NBS gave a display and talk about their work to the GBG at Delapre Golf Club.

 

 

Latest News, New Game, Northampton history, Northampton in the 15th century, Wars of the Roses

YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK – NOW PLAY THE GAME

 

We are pleased to announce that we are launching our new Battle of Northampton 1460 game at Kettering Museum on Saturday 21 January from 11am.

“Northampton 1460” is a two player game of the nationally significant Wars of the Roses battle fought on the 10th July 1460 in the fields of Delapre Abbey, to the south of Northampton. The game is quick and easy to learn and enables the players to refight the battle on their own dining room table.1460-cover-small

The game provides the players with the opportunity to examine the decisions made by the opposing commanders on the day, as well as those of an array of supporting characters such as Henry VI, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Queen Margaret. Players can either follow in their footsteps or change the course of history. The game system presents each player with the decisions they could have made on the day as well as those that were made and provides for a range of outcomes. The scoring system enables the players to see how well they have done compared to their historical predecessors, – so it is possible to lose the battle and still win the game!

The game book contains all the components needed to play, – accurate heraldic game counters representing the nobles present, player decision cards, a game board and cards that control the weather, as well as clear, concise rules and a description of the battle. All the players need to add are some dice.

game-components

This two player game, which can also be played solo, is suitable for both children and adults, providing an insight to the events both preceding and during this important battle in the bloody and treacherous Wars of the Roses. Produced in a book format it is that rare thing, – an educational game that is also fun to play.
Speed of set up and play means that you can play the game multiple times over to try out different plans and strategies.
Can you change the course of history and defeat Warwick the Kingmaker?
The game is based upon the very successful Northampton Battlefields Society participation game “Northampton 1460” which the Society uses at historical shows and events to explain the battle and promote the Society. Originally intended only to be used for public display repeated requests from participants asking where the game could be bought has led to the Society producing a version that can be played at home.

Age 8+
Retail Price £12.99 Full NBS members £9.99

Battle of Northampton 1460, Latest News, Northampton in the 15th century, threat to battlefield, Wars of the Roses

1460 Northampton battlefield update

Last year we asked all of you to object to a planning application from the local Golf Club to build a car park on the site of the battlefield.

Many of you did and in the end there were 217 objections. Thanks very much to all of you who took the time to write.

Since then things have moved on. The application was scheduled to be dealt with by the local planning committee last week. If you objected you should have had a letter offering you the opportunity to attend.

However the Golf Club withdrew the application at the last minute. This might sound like good news but for those of you who don’t understand the labyrinthine ways of the English planning process it actually isn’t.

You see the Club were going to lose. The application was inappropriate and the “Heritage Assessment” they paid for was a joke. Local press was opposed and then there was also all those objections. If they’d lost then that was it, pretty much.

What the Golf Club have decided to do is withdraw the application and resubmit a completely new one. This will mean that all the objections and work opposed to the old application won’t count any more. They now know all the reasons for objecting to the application, so they may well be able to deal with them in the new application which they will probably introduce on a shorter time frame.

What this means is that some time over the next few months I’ll probably be asking you all to object again and we will be hoping that you won’t be bothered because you did it last time. If the objections drop then the Golf Club will be able to argue that they have addressed the concerns of the community and interested parties.

In the interim what can you do? If you aren’t already a member of the Northampton Battlefields Society you could join (find us on Facebook). Membership fees go towards the costs of running the Society and organising opposition to damage to the local battlefields.

Or, if you haven’t bought a copy already, buy Mike Ingram’s book about the battle, available through Amazon: link

Profits from the book go into the Society’s fighting fund.

Thanks everyone for you support so far,

Graham Evans NBS committee member and editor of the NBS newsletter ‘The Wild Rat’

Battle of Northampton 1460, Coppini, Earl of Warwick, Henry IV, King Edward IV, King Henry VI, Latest News, Northampton history, Northampton in the 15th century, Queen Eleanor's Cross, Richard III, Richard Neville, Uncategorized, Wars of the Roses

New Book

We are pleased to announce the publication of our new book on the 1460 Battle of Northampton. Written by medieval historian Mike Ingram and illustrated by Matthew Ryan. Forward by Earl Charles Spencer.

It should have been the battle that ended Richard of York’s rebellions. With the Yorkists politically destroyed and the estates confiscated, all that remained was to carry out the punishment for treason – death. On 10 July 1460 King Henry VI and his army waited for the Yorkists in a heavily fortified camp in fields outside Northampton. However, they did not count on the treachery of Lord Grey of Ruthin. For the first time, this is the full story of the Battle of Northampton which took place during the turbulent period now known as the Wars of the Roses. It was the first and only time that a fortified camp was assaulted and was the last time protracted negotiations took place before a battle. In its immediate aftermath the House of York laid claim to the throne of England for the first time and so began the bloodiest phase of the Wars of the Roses – the war of succession. As well as the battle itself, the book looks at Northamptonshire’s medieval history and its involvement in the Wars of the Roses.

Foreword by Earl Charles Spencer

Northampton today is, frankly, an under-appreciated, often overlooked, town. The joke is, people only know of Northamptonshire because they shoot through it on the M1: they note the name of the county town on notice boards from exits 15 to 16. But this was, once, one of the great centres of power and influence in early and Medieval England. It was also, with Oxford, home to one of the first two universities in the land. Mike Ingram brings fine scholastic research to play, in reminding people of Northampton’s past importance – strategic and social. His energetic prose gives colour to every page, while his revelations intrigue and entertain. He helps us appreciate why one of the great battles of English history took place in this Midland town, and he skilfully resurrects the generals and ordinary soldiers who clashed in an engagement that helped lay the foundations of this nation’s past. You don’t need to be a champion or resident of Northampton to appreciate this overdue appraisal of the battle that bears its name. This is a book that everyone who loves History – particularly the almost forgotten kind – will savour.

The book is published by Northampton Battlefield Society priced £9.99 and is available in printed version and for kindle etc. Available from Amazon or from Northampton Battlefields Society.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/099307779X?keywords=mike%20ingram&qid=1449230084&ref_=sr_1_5&s=books&sr=1-5