Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a county in central England. One of the borders is Watling Street, the A5. Leicestershire was recorded in the Domesday Book and the first recorded use of the name was as Laegrecastrescir.

West of Leicestershire, is the site of the Battle of Bosworth that claimed the life of King Richard III. The battle is considered to have marked the end of the Wars of the Roses, although further battles were fought in the years that followed as Yorkist pretenders unsuccessfully fought to reclaim the crown.

Leicester was a Parliamentarian stronghold during the English Civil War. In 1645, Prince Rupert decided to attack the city to draw the New Model Army away from the Royalist headquarters of Oxford. Royalist guns were set up on Raw Dykes and after an unsatisfactory response to a demand for surrender, the Newarke was stormed and the city was sacked on 30th May. Although hundreds of people were killed by Rupert's cavalry, reports of the severity of the sacking were exaggerated by the Parliamentary press in London. There was also a minor battle at Cotes Bridge near the town of Loughborough.