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DAY TWO
Today we travel west to visit a north Herefordshire castle. Hampton Court Castle dates back 80 years earlier than the more well-known Hampton Court Palace.
The land was granted by King Henry IV to Sir Rowland Lenthall at the time of his marriage to Margaret Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel, a cousin of the King. Lenthall built the original quadrangular manor house in 1427, 12 years after his Knighthood at the battle of Agincourt (1415). In 1434 he was granted licence to crenellate the house by King Henry VI.
After lunch we pick up our tour guide in Leominster and travel through the beautiful ‘Black and White Villages’ as well as the historic area that borders Wales called the ‘Mortimer Country’. Named as such because of the warlike, ambitious and powerful, Mortimer family bestrode the medieval stage. Linked with the great events of their time, their story is the tale of a turbulent England racked with dissension, rebellion and open warfare at home and abroad. Following in the footsteps of William the Conqueror they came from Normandy and established their power base on the border between England and Wales. As Earls of March they played a major part in the story of England. Although the main male line died out in 1425, it was a direct descendant of the Mortimers who became King Edward IV in 1461.
Also, the Battle of Mortimer's Cross was fought on 2 February 1461 in the area.
It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing forces were an army led by nobles loyal to the King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster, his Queen Margaret of Anjou and their seven-year-old son Edward, Prince of Wales on one side, and the army of Edward, Earl of March.
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