After the battle of Bosworth, Richard III’s body was buried in the Franciscan Priory church (Greyfriars) at Leicester.  In the mid sixteenth century a rumour spread that his remains had been dug up at the Dissolution and thrown into the River Soar.  In the 1850s a local business man, Benjamin Broadbent, who believed the rumour, put up a stone plaque near Bow Bridge saying that Richard’s remains lay ‘near this spot’.  Then in the twentieth century the Richard III Society erected a plaque overlooking the Greyfriars site and recording that Richard had been buried there.

The result of these conflicting plaques was to cause confusion for tourists and local inhabitants alike.  Local tourist guides reported that they were often quizzed about the contradiction.  Clearly it was desirable to clarify the situation.  Yet the Broadbent plaque was by now a well-established local monument and could not be removed.

Agreement was reached with the City Council, and with the owners and occupiers of the building on which the Broadbent plaque is placed, and in August 2005 the Society set up a new plaque beside the old one, explaining that it recorded a tradition now generally regarded as discredited. 

As a mark of the fact that the Society had no intention of undermining the real accomplishment of Benjamin Broadbent in commemorating Richard III, Broadbent’s direct descendant, Mr Christopher Broadbent, was invited to unveil the new plaque.  The simple ceremony formed part of the Society’s 2005 Bosworth commemoration.  Local tourist guides have welcomed the new plaque which will, they hope, make their job easier.

Photography courtesy of Sally Henshaw

After Mr Broadbent had unveiled the plaque and made a short speech, the Society Chairman Phil Stone thanked all who had contributed to its installation, including Barbara Howard, representing the current occupiers of the building on which it is fixed, Sally Henshaw and other members of the East Midlands Branch of the Society, and John Ashdown-Hill for arranging the production and installation of the plaque.

Afterwards there was a short service of commemoration at Leicester Cathedral for Richard III and all who fell at the battle of Bosworth.  The Precentor, the Reverend Canon Dr Stephen Foster, welcomed some sixty members of the Society.  In his address, Dr Foster said this was his first meeting with the Richard III Society, and that we would be truly welcome to come again.  Wreaths were laid on King Richard’s memorial stone by Gwen Millan, Carolyn West and Margaret York.  These three wreaths, made by member Ruth Green, were laid on behalf of the Canadian and Australasian Branches, and the Society in the UK, and joined the wreath given by members of the East Midlands Branch.