Bosworth Battlefield
Being an avid traveller I’ve been to some great and exciting Countries. When you have been on the road a while you become a little jaded. Once you seen one waterfall you feel like you’ve pretty much seen them all and the same goes for Battlefields. They tend to be rather a large field with a flag stuck in the middle and a visitors centre at the edge. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but they tend to be a bit samey after a while!
For this reason (and the fact that they don’t have the location of the battle correct) I’ve never been to Bosworth Battlefield. It does have the obligatory field with flag but there is much more to it and is part of a Country Park. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! The heritage centre was built in the 1970’s on its current site and I’m not entirely sure why this spot was chosen as in recent years researchers have suggested that the actual battle site was two miles South, this doesn’t however take away from the experience.
Bosworth Battlefield
Back in the 15th Century, Bosworth was the site where the Richard III was killed marking the end of the Plantagenet dynasty. His opponent and winner of the battle was Henry Tudor the first English Monarch of the Tudor dynasty thus making Bosworth part of one of the most defining moments of English history.
As Bosworth is part of a country park there are some lovely walks around the area. We walked down to Shenton Station and then back through the woods but you could make a longer loop and take in Ashby Canal as well. Its well signposted and has frequent information boards along the route describing the local wildlife and interesting facts about the battle as well as the local area.
We chose last weekend to visit as the in-house Falconry were displaying their Eagles & Owls which you actually get the chance to hold and in some cases to fly. The Lady who looks after the animals is very knowledgeable and ties the display in with the history of the time explaining that the Eagles would have been trained to catch food for the table and that the Owls would have been used as a decoy!
Liv at Bosworth
Every so often there are also re-enactment weekends in the heritage centre village. The actors are dressed in traditional costumes and are preparing for battle.
Preparing for battle
The kids loved the very blood thirsty stories and the weapons that were shown to us. Everybody involved went out of their way to be friendly and welcoming. During the holidays they have a lot of different activities and when October half term rolls around my girl and her best friend are attending ‘Knight School’! How much fun will that be?
I think it’s well worth a visit with or without children, especially if you can tie it in with a visit to Market Bosworth and a pub lunch!!!
The start of my history A level (bit like a History AP in the USA) was 1485, the Battle of Bosworth Field, and I’m ashamed to say I’ve never been there.
The BBC History magazine had a great piece all about Bosworth last March too. You can listen to a podcast from this page – http://www.bbchistorymagazine.com/podcast-page
Comment by Expat Mum — September 20, 2010 @ 1:40 pm
It’s definitely worth a visit! I’ve lied in Leicestershire on and off for 34 years but never made it until now *blush*!! Will listen to the podcast too thanks!
Comment by Emma — September 20, 2010 @ 6:18 pm
I like Bosworth, I have one of those Go Leicestershire tickets and we intend to use a visit to Bosworth for the last of the three trips (the other two were the Space Centre and the zoo)
Comment by Jen — September 20, 2010 @ 7:51 pm