Medieval encaustic floor tiles depicting crests of the Woodville family and the House of York
The medieval Hermitage (religious retreat) of Grafton Regis was rediscovered when a section of the medieval floor tiles were found in an archaeological excavation in 1964. These tiles depict the L shaped crest of the Woodville family and the white rose of the House of York. Around the Woodville crest can be seen the outline of an oak tree and antlers. Called encaustic or inlaid tiles the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay poured into the mould before firing.
It is thought this tiled floor was laid to commemorate the marriage between Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV of England. On May Day 1464 Elizabeth married Edward in secret. Traditionally it is believed this took place at Grafton Regis, allowing the village to lay claim to be the only one in England to have ever hosted a royal wedding. The antlers link to the legend of how the couple met while Edward was hunting in Whittlebury Forest.
After Edward IV’s death, their eldest son Edward V and his brother were imprisoned by their uncle, Richard III. They are known as the Princes in the Tower. Following Richard III’s death, Elizabeth and Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York married Henry VII, aligning the red and white roses of both sides of the Wars of the Roses into the Tudor rose which is now an emblem of Northamptonshire.
Number 46 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects exhibition 2025.
Grafton Regis
Contributed by Ben Donnelly-Symes, Archaeological Archives Curator, Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre
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The Trustees of the British Museum
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