THE FATE of the remains of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, has
long been a mystery. Since his death at the battle of Evesham in 1265,
one foot of the dismembered corpse has been confidently traced to
Alnwick abbey in Northumberland, from where it disappeared, probably at
the Reformation. A skull displayed in the Almonry Museum and Heritage
Centre at Evesham may belong to a member of the Montfort family. Stories
abound, of secret tunnels under the River Avon, and of remains collected
by Montfort's widow and interred in St Mary's abbey, Kenilworth. In this
booklet Dr Cox reviews the evidence for an alternative last resting
place of Earl Simon's bones, and outlines the circumstances under which
they might be recovered and identified. A challenge thus awaits us to
provide for Simon de Montfort the discovery and preservation accorded to
the last Plantagenet king of England, Richard III.
