Is this the tomb of Richard III's illegitimate son at Eastwell, near Ashford?

by James Scott

Following the discovery of King Richard III’s remains, the owners of the Eastwell parish church said they would welcome similar works to uncover his son.

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester used DNA from a relative to confirm a skeleton found under a Leicester car park was that of the English monarch on Monday.

However what is little known is that King Richard (pictured below) apparently had an illegitimate son, known locally as Richard of Eastwell, who died on the Eastwell estate, near Boughton Aluph.

There is still a tombstone in the grounds of the ruined St Mary’s Church at Eastwell (pictured left), which reads: “Reputed to be the tomb of Richard Plantagenet 22 December 1550.”

The tale is that Richard was brought up without knowing his parents but was boarded with a schoolmaster who taught him Latin, a sign of someone being educated according to his status.

When he was older, one day he was brought to the Bosworth battlefield where the king embraced him and told him he was his son.

After the King, Richard III was killed in battle, his son fled and ended up at Eastwell, working as a gardener and bricklayer for Sir Thomas Moyle, who was the lord of the manor.

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It is thought he lived an inconspicuous life because people claiming to be descendants of the royal family were executed during the reign of the Tudors.

Matthew Saunders, director of the Friends of Friendless Churches which took over the church in 1980, said: “It’s a fascinating story even if it’s not true - although I think it is.

“The person buried there was called Richard Plantagenent and that was pretty clear.

"The thinking is it was probably the bastard son of Richard III who, when his father was killed, was adopted and became a gardener for the owner of Eastwell Manor.

“He lived for decades beyond the death of his father and was buried in the churchyard there.”

He added that he would support excavations or testing to see if Richard was a descendant of the king.

“One of the ways to be certain about it would be to take a DNA test of the bones,” he said.

“It would be an enormous task as that churchyard is probably full of 2,000 bodies, unless they do a localised search under the tomb.

“If they wanted to try and find him we would be delighted.”

The remains of Richard III were discovered underneath a car park by archaeologists. Picture: University of Leicester

Cllr Winston Michael, borough councillor for Eastwell and Boughton Aluph, said he would be contacting the University of Leicester to invite them to identify who Richard Plantagenet was.

"I think there's a great opportunity here to find out if it is actually Richard's son," he said.

"Some local people may say they don't want to spoil the myth but that's the risk of the task.

"I think I would rather we pursued it a little bit rather than leave it with a question mark.

"It would be useful to be able to say if it was Richard's son or not.

"It would be good for Ashford which has lost a lot of its history and its market. There might be an opportunity for some tourism as well."