Bosworth Battlefield

Richard's reign began in 1483, after his twelve-year-old nephew Edward V was declared illegitimate, likely at Richard's instigation. The boy and his younger brother were confined in the Tower of London and never seen in public again; their fate remains a mystery. The extrajudicial manner in which Richard took the throne — including the executions without trial of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, and Richard Grey, and the beheading of Lord Hastings — won him no popularity, and ill rumours spread through England.

Across the Channel, Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richard's difficulties and laid claim to the throne. A first invasion attempt in 1483 foundered in a storm, but his second landed unopposed on the south-west coast of Wales on 7 August 1485. Marching inland and gathering support as he made for London, Henry was intercepted by Richard's hurriedly mustered army near Ambion Hill, south of Market Bosworth.

Richard divided his larger force into three "battles", assigning one to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland; Henry kept most of his men together under the experienced Earl of Oxford. Norfolk's vanguard attacked but struggled, and some of his troops fled the field. Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king. Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley, who had brought a force to the battlefield and held back while deciding which side to support, finally intervened when they saw Richard's knights separated from his army: Sir William led his men to Henry's aid, and Richard was surrounded and killed. Henry was crowned king after the battle, and his subsequent marriage to Elizabeth of York united the warring houses. He also hired chroniclers to portray his reign favourably, and from the 15th to the 18th centuries the battle was glamourised as a victory of good over evil — a version that reaches its most famous form as the climax of Shakespeare's Richard III.

The Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, built in 1974, is the natural place to begin a visit. Be aware as you go that its site has been challenged by several scholars and historians: in October 2009 a team of researchers who had carried out geological surveys and archaeological digs in the area since 2003 suggested the battle was fought some two miles (3 km) south-west of Ambion Hill.

Organised public ghost hunts are held at the venue, and for anyone drawn to the atmosphere of the place after dark, joining one is a better idea than wandering the fields alone. Book ahead, dress for a cold night in open country, and treat the ground for what it is: the place where a battle was fought and men died, as much as a visitor attraction.