Editing Battle of Towton (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Battle of Towton reenactment 2010.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A line of people in mediaeval dress and armour, several with weapons, stand under a cloudy sky.|Re-enactors from the Towton Battlefield Society observe a moment of silence in memory of the dead of the battle.]]
Obtaining an accurate figure for casualties has been complicated:  remains were either moved or used by farmers as fertiliser, and corpses were generally stripped of clothing and non-perishable items before burial. However some survived when later buildings were constructed over their graves; the first were uncovered in 1996 and excavations have so far uncovered more than 50 skeletons from the battle. An analysis of their injuries shows the brutality of the contest, including extensive post-mortem mutilations.{{sfn|Sutherland|Schmidt|2003|pp=15–25}}

15th-century documents confirm some casualties were reburied in graveyards at Saxton and a chapel constructed for the purpose by [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] in 1484.{{sfn|Sutherland|Schmidt|2003|p=17}} His death at the [[Battle of Bosworth]] in 1485 meant the building was never completed and eventually collapsed.{{Sfn|NHLE 1000040|ignore-err=yes}} In 1929 stones allegedly from the chapel were used to create the Towton Cross, also known as Lord Dacre's Cross, which commemorates those who died in the battle.{{Sfn|Gravett|2003|p=51}}

Lord Dacre was buried at the church of All Saints in Saxton and his tomb was reported in the late 19th century to be well maintained, although several of its panels had been weathered away.{{Sfn|Fallow|1889|pp=303–305}} The tree from which Dacre's killer was supposed to have shot his arrow had been cut down by the late 19th century.{{Sfn|Ransome|1889|p=463}} In 2010 fragments from what are some of the earliest known handguns found in Britain were discovered on the battlefield.{{Sfn|Catton|2010}}

Views of the Wars of the Roses in general and of the battle as a charnel house were formed by Shakespeare and endured for centuries.{{Sfn|Saccio|2000|p=141}} However at the start of the 21st century the battle was no longer prominent in the public consciousness. Journalists lamented that people were ignorant of the Battle of Towton and of its significance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gill|2008}}; {{Harvnb|Kettle|2007}}</ref> According to English Heritage the battle was of the "greatest importance":  it was one of the largest, if not ''the'' largest, fought in England and resulted in the replacement of one royal dynasty by another.{{Sfn|English Heritage|1995|p=6}} Hill expressed a different opinion. Although impressed with the casualty figures touted by the chroniclers, he believed the battle brought no monumental changes to the lives of the English people.{{Sfn|Wainwright|2005|p=83}}

The Battle of Towton was associated with a tradition previously upheld in the village of [[Tysoe]], Warwickshire. For several centuries a local farmer had scoured a hill figure, the [[Red Horse of Tysoe]], each year, as part of the terms of his land tenancy. Although the origins of the tradition have never been conclusively identified, it was locally said this was done to commemorate the Earl of Warwick's inspirational deed of slaying his horse to show his resolve to stand and fight with the common soldiers.{{Sfn|Harris|1935}}{{Sfn|Salzman|1949|p=175}} The tradition died in 1798 when the [[Tysoe Inclosure Act 1796]] ([[36 Geo. 3]]. c. ''31'' {{small|Pr.}}) was implemented redesignated the [[common land]] on which the equine figure was located as private property.{{Sfn|Harris|1935}}{{Sfn|Salzman|1949|p=175}} The scouring was revived during the early 20th century but has since stopped.{{Sfn|Askew|1935}}{{Sfn|Gibson|1936|p=180}}