Royal Mail: Row over Wars of the Roses battle spelling

The Royal Mail has issued eight stamps from the 15th Century series of civil wars, including what it calls the "Battle of Edgecote Moor, 1469"

A row has broken out over the spelling on a commemorative Royal Mail stamp of a key battle in the Wars of the Roses.

Eight stamps featuring the 15th Century series of civil wars have been issued, including one marking the "Battle of Edgecote Moor" in 1469.

But the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society has argued the correct name is of the "Battle of Edgcote" as there is no such place as Edgecote Moor.

The Royal Mail said references "are split between the two spellings".

It has issued the stamps of key battles to mark the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Tewkesbury, which it said was "one of the defining conflicts of the wars".

The Wars of the Roses were a series of civil wars which occurred between two rival families from the royal House of Plantagenet - the House of York and the House of Lancaster - for control of the English throne.

They were named because of the symbols which represented the two houses - a white rose and a red rose respectively.

The battle took place near the village of Edgcote in Northamptonshire

According to the Battlefields Trust, the battle near the Northamptonshire village of Edgcote was the "first major action" in the campaigns of 1469-71, which was the "second major period of unrest" in the wars.

Reacting to the new stamp issue, Graham Evans, secretary of Northamptonshire Battlefields Society, said it was "an important and much misunderstood battle, so it is sad to see such poor research and misinformation being propagated".

He said: "In the last two years we have done a lot to raise its profile and correct these errors."

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A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "For all of our stamp issues we undertake extensive research with experts in the relevant fields.

"We were aware of the debate around alternative spellings for this battle.

"The settlement of 'Edgcote' is spelt without the 'e', but references to the historic battle are split between the two spellings. On this occasion, we followed the advice of the experts we worked with."

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