Note 81b — Chapter VI · THE FIELD OF THE BATTLE OF TOWTON. [81a]

I visited the field of battle on the 28th of July and 7th of August, 1848, and again in the years 1849, 1850, 1851, 1853, 1854, 1855, and 1856. In one of those visits (on the 2nd of August, 1853) I walked with my son, Mr. Alexander Brooke, entirely across the field of battle, commencing on the ground occupied by the left wing of the Lancastrians, along the whole line, to the spot occupied by their right wing; and we descended from thence through the meadows to the river Cock. Any antiquary inclined to pursue the same walk, should leave the Ferrybridge road, between Dintingdale and Towton, and enter the fields at the spot, where he may observe one of them of very large size, nearly opposite a white farmhouse standing on the eastward side of the Ferrybridge road. He may easily procure a countryman, for a small gratuity, to act as guide to him, if he has doubts about getting well over one or two fences, which, however, really do not present much difficulty. The Lancastrians evidently had selected the highest ground, commanding an extensive prospect, with the depression or valley after mentioned, in front of a considerable portion of their line. It was clearly the strongest position near Towton.