Flowers fit for a king

RICHARD III's end was bloody and ignominious. Hacked to death more than 500 years ago at the Battle of Bosworth, his body was slung across a horse and taken into nearby Leicester "stark naked, despoiled and derided, with a felon's halter about the neck," according to historian Susan Fern.

As the horse carrying his body was led into Leicester across a bridge over the River Soar, his "head was carelessly battered against the stone parapet", Fern wrote in The Man Who Killed Richard III. "For two days the body was kept on display in the house of the Grey Friars, then he was given a quick burial."

At least here in York the fallen king was properly mourned, however. The north had been his power base: and the people of York had clearly loved him.

In medieval England it didn't do to upset a reigning monarch.Yet, on hearing of Richard's death, York's city fathers didn't send a sycophantic letter to his successor, King Henry VII. Instead, they ordered a tribute to Richard to be set down in the City House Book - the council minutes of the day. They even went so far as to accuse those who killed Richard of treason.

"King Richard late reigning upon us was, through great treason of the Duke of Norfolk and many that turned against him... piteously slain and murdered, to the great heaviness of this city," they wrote.

When Richard is finally laid properly to rest next March, sadly, it won't be here in York, the city that so honoured him. Instead, he is to be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral, not far from the spot where his remains were discovered beneath a council car park two years ago.

The eyes of the world will no doubt be on the televised 'funeral', where the Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to lead mourners. And at least it means the last Yorkist king will finally be buried with the dignity and honour he deserves.

Up here in Yorkshire, however, one parish church is determined to do its own bit to celebrate Richard's life and death.

The church of St Helen and the Holy Cross in Sheriff Hutton has its own connection to Richard.

Sheriff Hutton was one of the power bases of the family of Richard's wife, Anne Neville - and later one of Richard's own power bases in the north. More poignantly Richard's only son, Edward of Middleham, is thought to be buried in the parish church.

Edward, who had been invested Prince of Wales in a lavish ceremony at York Minster in 1483, died the following year, at Middleham, of tuberculosis.

He is now thought to lie at rest in the ancestral chapel of his mother's family, the Nevilles, at St Helen and the Holy Cross.

A stone figure carved from bone-white alabaster tucked against the church's north wall is thought to be a representation of Edward.

It shows a boy of about 11 wearing a long, belted robe. On his brow there is a coronet. The features of his face are mainly gone: but he seems peaceful.

Prince Edward's remains aren't thought to be buried beneath this tomb - the Neville chapel where his remains are thought to lie is on the opposite side of the church.

But it makes for a powerful focal point for those who still visit the church to pay respects to Richard's son - and a poignant reminder of the powerful connection between this small parish church and the last-ever Plantagenet king.

Over the course of a weekend early next month, the church will be celebrating that connection for all it is worth.

October 3-5 will be the Richard III Flower Festival Weekend.

As the name of the festival suggests, the church will be garlanded with flowers for the duration of the weekend. There will, naturally, be plenty of white roses to symbolise the House of York - including one placed in the clasped hands of Edward of Middleham's alabaster effigy. But there will be other flowers too: among them orange gerberas to represent the Plantagenet 'Son in Splendour', and white lilies in the Neville chapel, which is dedicated to St Mary and St Peter.

The festival will be about much more than just flowers, however: it will be a true celebration of the last Yorkist king and his connection with this region. "He may be staying in Leicester, but we still celebrate him here, where his son is buried," says churchwarden Roy Thompson.

The weekend will even be opened by a distant relative of king Richard: Vanessa Roe, director of the Plantagenet Alliance, who claims to be a niece 16 generations removed of Richard himself, and who led the campaign for her many-times-removed great uncle to be reburied in York Minster.

On Saturday afternoon, meanwhile, Robert Woosnam-Savage, curator of European edged weapons at the Royal Armouries Museum, will give a talk about the king's death.

Woosnam-Savage has been studying the king's skeleton, says Mr Thompson.

"He was employed to help find and examine the evidence of weapon-inflicted trauma on the skeleton and identify the various types of weapons that may have been used." It is likely not to be for the faint-hearted.

Other highlights will include floral and costume displays throughout the weekend; a fanfare trumpet made by Richard Smith and his team (who have a workshop in nearby Cornborough) on display in the church; a folk music and poetry evening with buffet supper on the Saturday night; and on the Sunday a chance to meet the new Bishop of Selby, John Thomson, a medieval-style evensong, and a sermon by the Dean of York, The Very Rev Vivienne Faull.

Richard may not be coming back to his rightful home in the north for reburial: but we certainly haven't forgotten him.

• Tickets to the Richard III Flower festival Weekend are £25 for the whole weekend, or £5-10 for individual events. More information and bookings through kingrichard1485@btinternet.com or telephone 01347 878754. Proceeds will go towards the church's maintenance costs and towards improvements to the heating system.

Flower festival Weekend highlights

Friday October 3

Preview evening for sponsors : music, refreshment, entertainment and an opening welcome from Vanessa Roe of the Plantragenet Alliance, King Richard III's 16 x great niece.

Saturday October 4

• Killed The Boar, Shaved His Head - talk by Robert Woosnam-Savage of the Royal Armouries on the death of King Richard III

• Folk music and poetry evening with buffet supper featuring local group in the church. "In medieval times, the nave of a parish church served as the school, market place and village meeting place for social gatherings and weddings and funerals," says churchwarden Roy Thompson

Sunday October 5

• Flower Festival open all day with an illustrated presentation on the Forster and Andrews Pipe Organ

• Opportunity to meet the new Bishop of Selby, the Rt Rev John Thomson

• Medieval-style Evensong at 5pm sung by the Clerkes of All Saints, with Michael Stallybrass, Cantor from Old Malton Priory. Prayers from Richard III’s own Book of Hours will be included.

• Sermon by the Dean of York, the Very Reverend Vivienne Faull, one of the most senior women in the Church of England.