East Stoke, Nottinghamshire

East Stoke
237px Church of St. Oswald
East Stoke  East Stoke shown within Nottinghamshire
District	Newark and Sherwood
Shire county	Nottinghamshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWARK
Postcode district	NG24
Dialling code	01636
Police	Nottinghamshire
Fire	Nottinghamshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
EU Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Newark
List of places UK England Nottinghamshire

East Stoke is a small village in Nottinghamshire situated about half a mile to the east of the River Trent and lying about six miles southwest of Newark-upon-Trent. The A46 Fosse Way ran through East Stoke for many years: cutting the village in two with constant traffic: but since 2012 has been replaced by a new multi-lane A46 which now runs half a mile to the west. East Stoke is thought to be have been site of the Roman settlement of Ad Pontem; the 'place of the bridges' though this is disputed.

In 1487 East Stoke was the scene of possibly the bloodiest battle in British history: the Battle of Stoke Field between Yorkist rebels (supported by largely Irish and Swiss mercenaries) facing 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. The Yorkists were routed by Henry VII's army and fled towards the Trent : many were killed in the retreat. A popular tale is that the Yorkists were slaughtered in a ravine known as the Bloody Gutter. However, any local will be happy to inform you that the damp cutting you can still view on the site today was known as the Red Gutter. This was because it was the local source of red clay. The burial pits on the battlefield all lie off to the west along Church Lane.

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 16 June 1487" It is thought that several thousand combatants lost their lives in less than three hours.

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 1450s."

See also

• St Oswald's Church, East Stoke

External links

• Brown, 1896
• Battle of Stoke Field
• End of the War of the Roses with good map
• Image of the commemoration stone to the battle