Memorial Type:

Memorial - no longer extant memorial brass

Does the monument still exist?

Yes

Installation Date:

Contemporary (pre-1500)

Inscription:

37 separate names on brass lozenges

Allegiance:

Neutral

Condition Description:

All 40 memorials were destroyed in the Reformation.

Memorial Notes:

These 37 deaths were in the first battle in the Wars of the Roses. The most important death was of Edmund, Duke of Somerset, a great-grandson of Edward III and a great uncle of Henry VII. There were records of people knowing that the burials had taken place right up the 1870s when the floor had to be lifted (for underpinning work) and human remains discovered there. None of these could be identified, but they were re-interred in the north churchyard. There is a record of the location in the cathedral's archives in the Muniments Room there. There is currently no physical reference to or commemoration of the burials in the cathedral, but as of 2024 the "Abbey Guides" do include them in dedicated Wars of the Roses tours of the building.