Society to recreate historic 'pilgrimage' for duke's death

Ten members will be making their way from Pontefract to Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the death of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, in the Battle of Wakefield during the Wars of the Roses.

Sixteen years after his death, the body was disinterred and taken in stages from Pontefract to Fotheringhay for reburial in the York dynasty's church of St Mary and All Saints.

The Duke's youngest surviving son, then Duke of Gloucester, accompanied the cortege throughout the journey.

He was later to be crowned as Richard III.

Marking the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Wakefield, a 10-strong team from Wakefield Historical Society has laid on events over a nine-day period from July 21 to 29 along the route of the original funeral procession.

Key elements of the 'pilgrimage' include the singing of Vespers of the Dead, or Vespers of Our Lady, each evening, in successive churches along the route.

The final event of the commemoration is a service of Compline at Fotheringhay which the Duke of Gloucester is to attend.

He will be met at Fotheringhay on July 29 by Lady Juliet Townsend, Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire.

At the Church, the Duke will be welcomed by the John Flack, Bishop of Peterborough, and the Reverend Brian Rogers, Vicar of Fotheringhay. Bishop Flack is a former Archdeacon of Pontefract.

Other members of the Historical Society will be introduced to the Duke of Gloucester at a reception.

The events begin on the afternoon of July 21 at Sandal Castle, Wakefield, when Richard Knowles, of the Historical Society and an authority on the Battle of Wakefield, will talk about the terrain, where the battle was fought and how the opposing sides formed up.

Before moving on to the Chantry Chapel on Wakefield Bridge – built originally in the 1350s and so already a century old at the time of the battle – those pursuing parts of the 'pilgrimage' will pause at the monument to the Duke of York in Manygates Lane.

Information at www.richarddukeofyorkfuneral.org.uk