East Stoke, Nottinghamshire

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= East Stoke
population=
latitude= 53.0390
longitude= -0.8780
map_type = Nottinghamshire
shire_district= Newark and Sherwood
shire_county= Nottinghamshire
region= East Midlands
constituency_westminster= Newark
post_town= NEWARK
postcode_district = NG24
postcode_area= NG
dial_code= 01636
os_grid_reference=
static_

static_image_caption=

East Stoke is a small village in Nottinghamshire nestled between the A46 Fosse Way trunk road (which cuts through the middle of the village) and the River Trent. It lies about 6 miles southwest of Newark. It is thought to be the site of the Roman settlement called Ad Pontem, the 'place of the bridges,' but this is disputed.

In 1487 it was the scene of a very bloody Battle of Stoke Field between Yorkist rebels and the army of Henry VII. The Yorkists were arrayed on the brow of a hill to the south east of the village, with their right flank anchored on a high spot known as Burham Furlong. Routed by Henry VII's army the Yorkists fled towards the Trent down a ravine (now known as Red Gutter) in which many were cornered and killed. To signify his victory Henry raised his standard on Burham Furlong. The spot is marked by a stone memorial with the legend "Here stood the Burrand Bush planted on the spot where Henry VII placed his standard after the Battle of Stoke 16th June 1487" [Haigh, Philip A. 1995. "The Military Campaigns of the Wars of the Roses". Stroud, Gloucestershire. Allan Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7509-0904-8] It is thought that several thousand combatants lost their lives in less than three hours. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoke_Field]

What remains clear is that "the Battle of Stoke Field effectively brought an end to that period of civil war known as The Wars of the Roses that had ravaged England since the 1450’s." [http://www.keyworth-history.org.uk/may.htm]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/Brown1896/stoke.htm Brown, 1896]
* [http://www.richardiii.net/stoke.htm Battle of Stoke, War of the Roses]
* [http://planning.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/ppimageupload/Image14435.PDF An account of the battle]
* [http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/warsoftheroses/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=42 Battle of Stoke Field]
* [http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/the_battle_of_stoke.htm End of the War of the Roses with good map]
* [http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/popup.asp?imageid=411 Image of the commemoration stone to the battle]