The Ruins of St. Mary_'s Church, Eastwell
Tradition points to an uninscribed tomb in Eastwell churchyard as the last resting place of Richard Plantagenet, a reclusive bricklayer who claimed to be a son of Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England. The story goes, Richard boarded with a Latin schoolmaster until he was 15 or 16. He did not know who his real parents were, but was visited four times a year by a mysterious gentleman who paid for his upkeep. This person once took him to a "fine, great house" where Richard met a man in a "star and garter" who treated him kindly. At the age of 16, the gentleman took the boy to see King Richard III at his encampment just before the battle of Bosworth [22 August 1485]. The King informed the boy that he was his son, and told him to watch the battle from a safe vantage point. The king told the boy that, if he won, he would acknowledge him as his son. If he lost, he told the boy to forever conceal his identity. [At the time of his last stand against the Lancastrians, Richard was a widower without a legitimate son.] King Richard was killed in the battle, and the boy fled to London. He was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but kept up the Latin he had learned by reading during his work.
Around 1546 the bricklayer, by then a very old man, was working on Eastwell Place for Sir Thomas Moyle. Moyle discovered Richard reading and, having been told his story, offered him stewardship of the house's kitchens. Richard was used to seclusion and declined the offer. Instead, he asked to build a one-room house on Moyle's estate and live there until he died. This request was granted. A building called "Plantagenet Cottage" still stands. [Richard’s burial at Eastwell is recorded in the Parish records and is dated dated 22 December 1550]
The church is, of course, said to be haunted.
The Ruins of St. Mary_'s Church, Eastwell
Tradition points to an uninscribed tomb in Eastwell churchyard as the last resting place of Richard Plantagenet, a reclusive bricklayer who claimed to be a son of Richard III, the last Plantagenet King of England. The story goes, Richard boarded with a Latin schoolmaster until he was 15 or 16. He did not know who his real parents were, but was visited four times a year by a mysterious gentleman who paid for his upkeep. This person once took him to a "fine, great house" where Richard met a man in a "star and garter" who treated him kindly. At the age of 16, the gentleman took the boy to see King Richard III at his encampment just before the battle of Bosworth [22 August 1485]. The King informed the boy that he was his son, and told him to watch the battle from a safe vantage point. The king told the boy that, if he won, he would acknowledge him as his son. If he lost, he told the boy to forever conceal his identity. [At the time of his last stand against the Lancastrians, Richard was a widower without a legitimate son.] King Richard was killed in the battle, and the boy fled to London. He was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but kept up the Latin he had learned by reading during his work.
Around 1546 the bricklayer, by then a very old man, was working on Eastwell Place for Sir Thomas Moyle. Moyle discovered Richard reading and, having been told his story, offered him stewardship of the house's kitchens. Richard was used to seclusion and declined the offer. Instead, he asked to build a one-room house on Moyle's estate and live there until he died. This request was granted. A building called "Plantagenet Cottage" still stands. [Richard’s burial at Eastwell is recorded in the Parish records and is dated dated 22 December 1550]
The church is, of course, said to be haunted.