Towton

To give you some idea of the hatred that existed before the Battle of Towton between the Counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire we can look back at the events of the 30th of December 1460-A large army of men from Lancashire lured the
Yorkists away from Sandal castle near Wakefield, the Duke of York was killed, his son the Earl of Rutland was also killed,
Lord Salisbury was taken prisoner and executed the next day in Pontefract castle. Their heads were cut off and taken to York where they were placed on public display on Micklegate Bar, the Duke of Yorks head was complete with a paper crown.....so the seeds of hatred were sown.....On Palm Sunday 1461 there took place a battle at Towton that must got down as the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil, the number of men killed on that one fateful day was between 22-28,000.
These battles were known as the wars of the roses, Yorkshire was the White rose and Lancashire the Red rose and lasted between the years 1455-85. Photo 1 is Dacres cross, the only monument marking the battle of Towton, Photo 2 is the grave of Lord Dacre where he and his war horse are buried in Staxton churchyard, the men in the photos are a group of people who get together every Palm Sunday in the dress and armour that is similar to that used that fateful day.