Skeleton found at War of the Roses battle site

A skeleton thought to date back to one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on English soil has been uncovered during work at a North Yorkshire manor house.

The human remains were found at Towton Hall, near Tadcaster, and are believed to be left over from the Battle of Towton, during the War of the Roses.

Taking place on 29 March 1461, the battle was fought between Henry VI of the House of Lancaster and Edward IV of the House of York.

Tim Sutherland, director of the Towton Battlefield Archaeology Project, said the skeleton was discovered during work to remove a tree near to the 18th Century hall and will be exhumed at a later date.

He said: "It's very rare that you can find an archaeological event from such a closely dated part of history."

Several skeletons have been found at Towton Hall by the group over the last 30 years.

"In July 1996, the builders were knocking an old part of Towton Hall down, the more modern part, when they were building an extension," says Sutherland.

"When they were digging the foundations for that extension they came across some human remains.

"We went back in September 1996, stripped away the topsoil and there was quite evidently a mass grave and we've subsequently presumed they are from the Battle of Towton."

Of the latest discovery he said: "On Wednesday afternoon we'd thought we found a location of a grave because the soil was different to the surrounding soil and we investigated down a little bit and found a human femur."

The exact death toll from the battle has never been fully established, and historical records vary greatly, but it is thought there were at least 10,000 casualties.

"We're trying to pull out the truth in a minefield of fiction to know what actually happened or get somewhere nearer the truth," Sutherland added.

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