The Battle of Ferrybridge
Updated: 3 days ago
The Battle of Ferrybridge – The Fight Before Towton
Ferrybridge is a place I've always had a bit of a soft spot for.
Years ago, I read a book that described it as something along the lines of “a post-industrial town that only a Yorkshireman could love.” I can't remember the author or the exact words, but the line has always made me laugh.
For generations, Ferrybridge was dominated by industry, the power stations and the constant traffic passing nearby. It doesn't immediately strike you as somewhere that played a part in one of the most dramatic periods of English history.
But look beyond modern Ferrybridge and there's a much older story here.
In March 1461, during the Wars of the Roses, control of the crossing over the River Aire made Ferrybridge an important obstacle between a Yorkist army heading north and the Lancastrian forces waiting ahead.
England Had Two Kings
By early 1461, the struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster had reached a critical point.
Richard, Duke of York, had been killed at the Battle of Wakefield only a few months earlier. His son Edward continued the Yorkist cause and, following victory at Mortimer's Cross, entered London.
On 4 March 1461 he was proclaimed King Edward IV.
There was just one rather significant problem.
Henry VI was still king as far as the Lancastrians were concerned.
England effectively had two rival kings, and Edward marched north to settle the matter. The road north brought his army towards the River Aire and the crossing at Ferrybridge.
Fighting for Ferrybridge
The traditional account places the main struggle for Ferrybridge on 28 March 1461.
Lancastrian forces contested the Yorkist attempt to cross the Aire, turning Ferrybridge into much more than a convenient stopping point on the road north.
One of the prominent Lancastrian commanders associated with the fighting was John, Lord Clifford.
The Yorkists needed another way across.
William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, led men towards Castleford, where they could cross the Aire and threaten the Lancastrian force from another direction.
With their position becoming increasingly difficult, the Lancastrians were forced to withdraw from Ferrybridge.
Lord Clifford and Dintingdale
The fighting wasn't quite finished.
As the Lancastrians withdrew northwards, they were pursued by the Yorkists.
According to the traditional account, the two sides clashed again at Dintingdale, close to Saxton. It was here that Lord Clifford was killed.
Later chronicler Edward Hall gives the wonderfully specific story that Clifford was struck in the throat by a headless arrow. The problem is that Hall was writing decades after the event, so it's one of those colourful Wars of the Roses details that is best treated with a little caution rather than accepted unquestioningly.
Clifford's death was nevertheless significant.
Only a few months earlier he had been on the victorious Lancastrian side at Wakefield, where Edward IV's father, Richard, Duke of York, had been killed.
Now Clifford himself was dead.
A Small Place in a Much Bigger Story
That's what I find interesting about Ferrybridge.
You can drive through today without giving much thought to what happened here. The modern roads, bridges and remains of its industrial landscape make medieval Ferrybridge quite difficult to imagine.
Yet for a short period in March 1461, possession of this crossing over the Aire mattered enormously.
And the fighting at Ferrybridge and nearby didn't settle anything.
The armies were still there.
The argument over who should wear the crown was still very much unresolved.
And what happened next would be on an altogether different scale.
But that's another story.
One thing I will say about Edward IV, though — by all accounts, he was a bull of a man! Standing well over six feet tall, unusually tall for the time, he was a formidable figure both on and off the battlefield.
We’ll save the rest of his story for another day.
Walk Around Ferrybridge
Lyn and I have walked around Ferrybridge ourselves, and it's a good way of seeing a side of the area that you simply don't notice when you're driving through.
DON'T MISS YORKSHIRE
Get new walks, places to visit, What's On picks and Yorkshire discoveries from Mick & Lyn at The White Shire.
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