14 DAY TRIAL // Experts in the United Kingdom were finally able to pinpoint the exact location of one of the most decisive fights in the nation's history, the Battle of Bosworth Field. It was during this confrontation that Richard III (October 2, 1452 – August 22, 1485) was slain by his opponents, thus allowing for the Tudor dynasty to make its way to England's throne. The battle was also one of the last in what is now known as the War of the Roses, between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The civil conflict was thus named because both houses featured roses on their crests. The BBC News reports that the actual location of the battle is about a mile to the south-west from where it was first established.
The finding was made possible as historians and archaeologists studied old documents and records, as well as the actual proposed site for the violent clash. They found clear indication that the actual site of the Battle of Bosworth Field, which took place in 1485, is actually a short distance away from where experts first determined it to have taken place. The discovery is founded on the studied paper, as well as on a thorough archaeological survey of the field at the new location. Experts managing the site say that they will now produce a new trail from the visitor center to the actual site.
Scientists also believe that they may have also found the original site where Richard III was dragged down from his horse, and killed. Historical accounts have it that the sovereign was surrounded by his enemies in a marshland, where he was eventually dismounted, and killed with a poleaxe. If the finding holds, experts managing the site say that they will not move the visitor center from its current location, on the site previously thought to have been the scene of the battle. “A lot of American battlefields have had to move their interpretation centers because they are actually destroying what they are trying to interpret. We are within walking distance of the battlefield therefore they can use us as the main area for interpretation and then go and see the field itself,” said operations manager Richard McKinder.
The discovery came after a four-year, one-million-pound project that was conducted by the Battlefields Trust. During this time, experts collected a large array of pieces of armor, as well as a vast amount of cannonballs from the new site, which eventually led to it being named the actual scene of the battle. The new study was authorized because historians and scientists split into different camps, each of them arguing the other when a new site was proposed. The actual location was discovered last fall, but it was kept a secret until now so that authorities could set up defenses against treasure hunters.