Richard III expert hits out at plans to build on battlefield
AN EXPERT who played a key role in pinpointing the most likely location of the Battle of Bosworth – where Richard III was slain in 1485 – has added his voice to the chorus of criticism over a council decision to allow new development at the site.
Dr Glenn Foard from the Uni- versity of Huddersfield is disappointed, but not surprised, that Horiba Mira have the permission from Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council for a new test track on part of the battle site.
The location planned for the track is where Henry Tudor’s forces are believed to have first caught sight of the armies of Richard III.
Dr Foard said: “You reach the crest of the hill and at that point you see what’s before you. That’s where you take your decisions. That’s where you deploy your army. Everything flows from that. And the test track development sits between the top of the hill and the central area of the battlefield.”
Dr Foard argues that Historic England has not grasped the significance of the location and he concurs with the view of the Bat- tlefields Trust that the organisation is lacking in specialist expertise, having abolished its Battlefield Panel in 2015.
He said: “There are a number of cases where Historic England have shown they are unable to adequately deal with the issues that arise on battlefields. The bigger issue at Bosworth is the integrity of the whole site.
“This development change the character of will the landscape completely, turning a Roman road into a major access to commercial industrial units, changing an essentially rural aspect to an urban aspect.”
It was after historians began to cast doubt on the traditional location for the battle that Dr Glenn Foard – Reader in Battlefield Archaeology at the University – was called in by Leicestershire County Council.
After a long and painstaking archaeological investigation, yielding finds including large amounts of lead shot – the first large-scale physical evidence of the use of gunpowder weapons on Europe’s medieval battlefields – it was deduced that Bosworth was not fought on the heights of Ambion Hill, but two miles away in low-lying ground, close to a Roman Road and beside a marsh known later as Fen Hole.
Historic England bosses say staff carried out a thorough assessment of the proposals before deciding that although the plan would cause some harm it could also bring benefits.