New All Saints Hotel, in Fornham All Saints, near Bury St Edmunds, information boards on Battle of Fornham commemorated
The installation of two new information boards about a ‘decisive’ medieval battle was commemorated this week.
The Battlefields Trust held an event at All Saints Hotel, where the Battle of Fornham was fought in 1173, on Tuesday with the hotel and West Suffolk and Suffolk County councils to launch the boards.
Dr M J Walker, a local historian who has written about the battle, labelled it ‘one of the most important and decisive medieval battles’ and said it was exceptional that we know, in the modern day, precisely where it took place.
It was fought surrounding the River Lark valley near the church of St Genevieve on October 17, 1173. Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester, led around 4,000 troops against troops loyal to King Henry II. The King’s forces won and the majority of the rebel army died on the battlefield.
Ian Shipp, cabinet member for Leisure at West Suffolk Council, said: “People will be able to discover more about the importance of this battle and how it unfolded through the information boards and visit the council run Moyse’s Hall Museum to see artefacts of national note recovered from the battle site, including stunning 12th Century Sword kindly donated to our public collections by the MacRae Clan.
“We’d like to thank the Battlefields Trust for the opportunity to work in partnership with them, and Suffolk County Councillors, Beccy Hopfensperger and Robert Everitt, for their funding support which has helped achieve this project.”
The boards at the hotel, in Fornham All Saints, near Bury St Edmunds, show visitors what happened, how the battle unfolded and how the terrain helped the outcome
The boards were funded by locality budget donations from county councillors Beccy Hopfenserger and Robert Everitt, in partnership with WSC.
Joshua Harris, of All Saints Hotel, said: “We are delighted to have worked with the Battlefield Trust and local Councillors to locate the information boards at All Saints Hotel.
“It is important to understand and appreciate the history of the local area and we are pleased to be able to share this with visitors to the golf course and hotel."
Dr Walker said the boards provide comprehensive and succinct analysis and are a significant step in the rehabilitation of this ‘forgotten’ battle.
They said it was under rated in importance because, until recently, less was known about it and it had not been researched in detail.
David Austin, national operations director of the Battlefields Trust, said: “This battle was one of the biggest to ever take place in East Anglia and it is very good to see that it is now achieving the recognition that it deserves.”
