Exploded fragment of War of the Roses gun goes on show at new Richard III exhibition

BLINK and you’d miss it, but tucked away on the top floor of Monk Bar is one of the most important finds in the history of warfare. It may not look much, but this exploded fragment of a barrel is from the earliest hand gun found on a medieval battlefield anywhere in the world.

This is the evidence academics had been waiting for to prove that guns were used during the War of the Roses, and tomorrow it will go on public display for the first time.

“Handguns had been around for less than a century by the time of the Battle of Towton in 1461, and these fragments show just how unreliable they were,” says Sarah Maltby, of York Archaeological Trust. “We can tell that this weapon effectively blew apart, almost certainly in use, so we can only imagine the horrific injuries – and possible fatality – its owner would have suffered.”

The piece was found by detectorist Simon Richardson at Towton, the scene of the most barbaric battle ever fought on English soil, which led to the crowning of Edward IV, the first Yorkist king, and Richard III’s elder brother.

Part of the killing field was known as Bloody Meadow, with good reason. But for Simon it offers rich pickings. Over the years he has discovered hundreds of artefacts.

But nothing like this.

“It’s a very rare find,” he says.

“The only known gun fragment from that period found in Europe.

It’s also very important because it’s right on the cusp between armies using longbow and gunpowder weapons. This is from the beginning of the modern era of history.”

At first Simon didn’t know what he had unearthed. He’d found a lead ball so had a notion that guns might have been used, but nothing prepared him for this.

“It was a big lump of bronze that had been caught by a plough and brought up from really deep. At first I thought it might be from a steam engine, when I realised what I’d found I was overwhelmed, it was a bit more than wow.”

 The exploded fragment of a barrel from the earliest gun to be found on a battlefield anywhere in the world, which goes on show at the Richard III Experience 

The shard of gun barrel contradicts the previously held theory that during the period guns were only used to attack castles. And that lead ball fitted the bore perfectly.

Simon says he doesn’t believe in consigning his finds to a drawer and while nothing in his collection at Monk Bar compares in importance, there are some exquisite War of the Roses items on display.

“I’ve found several Yorkist supporters badges. The one on display is a particularly good example.

Some I found had their buckles pulled apart during hand-to-hand combat.

“The collection represents 30 years of hard work, which has been carefully recorded from the start.

Monk Bar, York, home of the Richard III Experience

Each find has been like a little piece of jigsaw, and piecing these together has made it possible to discover much more about how the Battle of Towton was conducted.”

The gun fragment is one of a number of new exhibits at York’s Richard III Experience, which reveal new perspectives about the life, reign and rediscovery of the much-maligned monarch as the nation prepares for the re-interment of his body at Leicester Cathedral later this month.

Another new highlight is a human skeleton, which archaeologists believe may be a Lancastrian soldier executed after Towton.

It is one of 12 human bodies discovered at York’s Knavesmire during excavations in 2013. They are thought to be soldiers captured in battle and brought to York for execution, before their remains were hastily buried near the gallows.

“He’s aged 25 to 39 years old and has a couple of interesting elements of pathology,” says osteo-archaeologist Ruth Whyte.

“There are compression fractures on his spine probably caused by hard physical work or fighting. But most interesting is his unhealed broken arm, which we can tell happened less than three weeks before he died.”

Was it a war wound? Certainly there is circumstantial evidence to suggest so. The mass grave carbon dates to the 1460s and was orientated north-south, rather than the Christian way of east-west.

“This was very deliberate,” says Ruth.

“We think he was buried by people who didn’t care what happens to him in the afterlife. Every one else in the grave was male and they all had healed fractures.”

Like the gun, Ruth says it is a very rare find.

Other things to look out for are the remains of a chapel commissioned by Richard III to mourn fallen soldiers. Although started in 1483, Richard’s death meant it was never completed.

Perhaps the quirkiest of the new items are clothes worn by archaeologist Philippa Langley when Richard’s body was uncovered in Leicester.

“King Richard may only have ruled for two years but his legacy extends right up to modern times, so we thought it was important to bring his story up to date,” says Sarah Maltby.

“It’s also impossible to understand Richard’s life without going deeper into the history of the Wars of the Roses that led to him being on the throne, so we are delighted to be displaying many finds from the Battle of Towton which have never been seen before.”

• The Richard III Experience is open from 10am to 5pm between April and October; and 10am to 4pm in November to March. Admission is £3.50 per adult, £2 per child, with a Family Ticket priced from £9. A ‘Medieval Pastport’ is also available as a ticket to visit all of the JORVIK Group attractions.

Monk Bar, York, home of the Richard III Experience

The bloodiest battle

THE Battle of Towton was fought on March 29, 1461, between the Yorkists (whose symbol was a white rose) and the Lancastrians (whose symbol was a red rose), two rival factions of the Plantagenet Royal Dynasty who both wanted the throne.

The battle, fought in a snowy Yorkshire field, has gone down in history as the bloodiest and largest fought in England.

The Lancastrians (supporters of the recently deposed King Henry VI) were led by Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset and the Yorkists by King Edward IV, the cousin of King Henry VI (and the grandfather of the future King Henry VIII).

Up to 100,000 men took part in the battle and, within 12 hours, 28,000 men lay dead, representing one per cent of the English population.

To put that into perspective, 10,000 British troops died on the first day of the Somme.

The battle was a decisive Yorkist victory. It is believed that one of the reasons why so many soldiers died at Towton was because of those killed during the rout at the end of the battle, when the Lancastrians fled.

Several bridges over neighbouring rivers collapsed under the weight of the armed Lancastrian men, plunging them into freezing water. Those stranded on the other side either drowned in the crossing or were cornered by their pursuers and killed.

Some of the worst slaughter was seen at Bloody Meadow, where it is said men crossed the River Cock over the bodies of the fallen. All the way from Towton to Tadcaster, the fields were full of bodies.

The fleeing Lancastrians made easy targets for Yorkist horsemen and footsoldiers, who killed many men who had dropped their weapons and thrown off their helmets to breathe more freely as they ran.

The War of the Roses lasted 30 years, from 1455 to the day in 1485 when Henry Tudor beat and killed King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and was crowned King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch.