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Bosworth Country Park and Bosworth Battlefield

Location Plans


Permanent Orienteering Course available soon

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Bosworth Battlefield

Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and Country Park is not actually sited where the main part of the famous battle took place. The story of the death of a King and the birth of the all powerful Tudor dynasty is told at the exhibition centre and there is a replica of a typical village of the time and named as Ambion Parva. There are also refreshment facilities in a reclaimed medieval barn.


In the 1400s the Houses of York and Lancaster fought for the throne of England. Each believed they had the better claim to the throne and on 22 August 1485, two armies faced each other in this decisive battle leading to the birth of a dynasty that would last for 122 years and being the last time that an English King was killed in battle.


King Richard III had ruled the land for only two years and Henry, Earl of Richmond ended the day being crowned nearby, as Henry VII. Richard had marched out from Leicester with around 12,000 men with the intention of cutting Henry off from his march towards London but ended up being killed and even that was not the end of his troubles. Years later, when England's monasteries were being destroyed by Henry VIII, Richard's bones were dug up from Grey Friar's monastery in Leicester and thrown in the river - he is one of the few English Kings not to have a grave.


Battles were not tidy affairs and skirmishing probably took place all over the area but Ambion Hill and Ambion Wood probably still have secrets to unfold. The Country Park was developed in the early 1970's to provide an environment to interpret the famous battle. Four miles of field and woodland paths link the Battlefield Heritage Centre to Cheney Wharf on the Ashby Canal and Shenton Station on the Shackerstone Railway and further paths lead north into Bosworth Country Park. Ambion Wood itself is privately owned but paths traverse it and the old railway cutting by Shenton Station is a nature trail with quite complex landforms and mature woods.


We have mapped the whole area up to an including Bosworth Park to assist the Country Parks Service in organising a festival of walks etc. at the Battlefield Centre and as part of that celebration staged an afternoon 'come and try orienteering' event. We are to take advantage of the map to hold occasional small training events.


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Bosworth Park

This is a landscaped 35-hectare park which was formerly part of Bosworth Hall deer parkland. There are fine, mature trees, a lake, and a planted arboretum with exotic species, a wildflower meadow and a community woodland. We have used it for small orienteering events for years and it has a permanent orienteering course.


We have used it in conjunction with the streets of this market town and footpaths go south to join it to the Bosworth Battlefield Park and displays.


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