Events

The Palm Sunday Campaign 1461 and the battle of Towton symposium

Saturday 21st March 2026

The Palm Sunday Campaign is best known for the battle of Towton, 29 March 1461, often called ‘the biggest and bloodiest battle fought on English soil’. What is less known is that over the course of three days – from 28 to 30 March – several places between Ferrybridge and York were also sites of conflict. This symposium looks at the latest research on this most important of Yorkshire battles and considers how historians, archaeologists, heritage professionals and local communities can work together to recover the lost history of the Palm Sunday campaign.

Saturday, 21 March 2026, 12:00-17:00
The Wakefield Unitarian Chapel, Westgate, Wakefield, WF1 1XR
FREE TO ATTEND, ALL WELCOME

Speakers include Paul L. Dawson (local historian and author of Richard, Duke of York: Father of Kings), Keith Dowen (Arms and Armour specialist and historian, The Wallace Collection), David Grummitt (historian, The Open University) and Tim Sutherland (battlefield archaeologist).

The event is kindly sponsored by The Open University and The Battlefields Trust (Yorkshire Region)