Hobbyist historian suggests Little Billing church mass graves could be linked to Battle of Northampton

The graves were discovered roughly 100 years ago and were assumed to be due to a plague
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A hobbyist historian from Northampton has posed a new theory that the historic mass grave at a Little Billing church could be linked to the Battle of Northampton.

Tom Welsh, a retired geology lecturer from the University of Northampton, suggested the link after studying historic newspapers that reported the mass grave's discovery about 100 years ago.

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He noticed that the grave site was under the closest church to the River Nene - All Saints Church, Little Billing - in which many mostly Welsh troops drowned while retreating from the battle in 1460. This occurring after King Henry VI was betrayed from within and defeated.

All Saints Church, Little Billing.All Saints Church, Little Billing.
All Saints Church, Little Billing.

For this reason the amateur historian proposed that it was the most suitable place for the soldiers' remains to be buried. So, as with many of the grimmer parts of war, they could all have been buried in the one grave.

Tom said: "There might be something to those graves. At the time of discovery, it was suggested that it was just the result of a plague or something else that meant a lot of people died at once. I think that's a shame because if more people knew about it, there would be a lot more interest in this period.

"As Little Billing is the closest Church to the river Nene, it would make sense for the dead soldiers to have been buried there, especially since I've read reports of some of the bones there displaying injuries and battle damage.

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"I think Northampton has got an awful lot to offer in its history and heritage.

"It is often the case in theoretical archeology, and a lot of it is theoretical as there is generally no hard evidence to support their claims, that once a narrative sets in there is no more discussion allowed.

"I think there should be more open discussion about Northampton's history. It feels like a lot of it is carved out in stone when it isn't really."