The Wars of the Roses were caused by the protracted struggle for power between the dynasties of the House of Lancaster (red rose) and the competing House of York (white rose).
Even after the death of King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the grip of King Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty on the crown was not secure. In May 1487 a group of diehard Yorkists, led by the Earl of Lincoln, had Lambert Simnel declared King Edward VI in Dublin. Crossing from Ireland, Lincoln's 8,000 strong army marched south through Yorkshire into Nottinghamshire and crossed the Trent. The army of King Henry intercepted them near Newark.
The Yorkists attacked the royal vanguard before the rest of the army had formed up. Even so, the rebel force was beaten and the troops fled back towards the Trent. Tradition has the Red Gutter so named because of the bloodshed as the royal army pursued the rebels down to the river.
Stoke Field was the last pitched battle of the Wars of the Roses and the royal victory finally established King Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty.
The landscape in 1487 was one of open fields crossed by lanes and with few trees, much as it is today. The ford at Fiskerton where the rebels crossed has been lost to river improvement.
Humber Lane, a remnant of a prehistoric route known as the Upper Foss, gives access to the heart of the battlefield, while Trent Lane crosses it to the south. On the northern side, St Oswald's church contains interpretive panel and replica standards of the opposing armies. The remains of the deserted village survive as earthworks alongside Church Lane.
The northern part of the battlefield area falls within the East Stoke Conservation Area. The deserted remains of Stoke Village are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Syerston Hall is Listed.
Hay, D (Trans.), 1950, The Anglica Historia of Polydore Vergil AD 1485-1537
