Records indicate that a Chapel was erected over the graves of the dead. Confirm the location of the medieval chapel built, by King Richard III, to commemorate the dead.
The remains of this chapel are not where they are supposed to be.
Prior to the outset of the Towton survey, the artefact ‘signature’ of the medieval battle was presumed to be of ferrous metal – fragments of weapons and arrowheads lost during the conflict. Extensive surveys eventually proved that any such fragmentary evidence is masked manifold by ‘magnetic’ or ferrous ‘debris’ off agricultural machinery or simply discarded cinders from the remains of hearths, etc. – all such material produces anomalies on magnetic geophysical surveys rendering a search for ferrous objects alone as too labour intensive.
Increasingly sensitive metal detectors, on the other hand, proved to be able to discriminate between most forms of metals and other electromagnetic signals. In trained hands they are unparalleled at locating even tiny fragments of metal from a buried or non-visible context. Although the use of metal detector surveys has been slow to become generally accepted in archaeology, the proponents of battlefield archaeology have been determined to promote their controlled use.
The Towton metal detector studies discovered that the real archaeological ‘signature’ of the Towton battle is generally one of late medieval non-ferrous metal (copper alloy or lead) clothing or harness fittings such as lace ends, belt buckles, badges, brooches purse frames and coins, and jewelry lost during the conflict. Collectively, these were to prove essential as indicators of where the battle had been fought. Additionally, because they were recovered from the topsoil it highlighted the importance of prospecting this little utilised context.
The results from the Towton archaeological survey are currently suggesting a fundamental reappraisal of the historical literature associated with both warfare in general and the battle in particular. In doing so, so many anomalies were highlighted that a new interpretation of the Towton conflict became necessary.
The result was a paradigm shift in the perception of how the House of York and its new King, Edward IV fought for and eventually retained the English crown at Towton. The established notion of three protracted skirmishes and battles – Ferrybridge, Dintingdale and Towton – over two or three days has been questioned, to be potentially replaced by the concept of a dynamic conflict fought over the same ground in less than 12 hours, a possible revelation in terms of the logistics associated with late medieval military combat.