Tour of grounds of Groby Old Hall

Led by Peter Liddle

Tuesday 4th July 2023 at 2.00 pm

This Tour is part of the Leicestershire Festival of Archaeology www.leicsfieldworkers.org/festival-of-archaeology/

Hard

Admission: £4 • Pre-booking is essential. Contact Mr Liddle on 0116 221 4508 or email peter.liddle51@gmail.com

Within the grounds is:

• the Motte of the former Groby Castle

• the shield of a De Quincy / Ferrers coat-of-arms in the brickwork of the Tower

• a surviving wall of part of the former grand medieval manorial complex

• a surviving wall presumed to have been a wall of the preReformation Chapel

• remains of a “ha-ha”

This site was the home of Sir John Grey of Groby, who died at the Second Battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461, and the property remained in the hands of the Grey family through to the time of Sir John’s great-great granddaughter

QUEEN JANE (LADY JANE GREY)

(1537 - 1554) and beyond.

Sir John’s widow ELIZABETH

WOODVILLE (c. 1437 - 1492) became QUEEN CONSORT to Edward IV (brother of Richard III). Through this second marriage, Elizabeth Woodville was the mother of the ill-fated “Princes in the Tower”.

She was also the mother of Elizabeth of York who became QUEEN CONSORT to Henry VII (Henry Tudor), and therefore she was maternal grandmother to Elizabeth and Henry’s son Henry VIII.

Further, she is an ancestor of both Queen Jane (Lady Jane Grey) and Jane’s rival Queen Mary. (By her first marriage Elizabeth Woodville was a great-great grandmother to Jane, and by her second marriage, she was a great grandmother to Mary).

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• Qualified Funeral Directors

• Floral Tributes arranged

• Hearse, Limousines and alternatives available

• Monumental Service

• Car parking available

• Online tribute and donation profile

• Catering suite

• Chapels of rest

• Funeral plans available

• 24 hour service

No, we’re not taking political sides, but showing support for left-handers, who make up between 10-12% of the world’s population. To celebrate the uniqueness of left-handed people – and to raise awareness of the advantages and disadvantages that come with it – International Left Handers Day is marked annually on 13 August.

The day was first observed in 1976 by Dean R Campbell, founder of Lefthanders International Inc.

Brain basics

The way the brain works is incredibly complex, but to give a simple explanation of where our left-hand dominance comes from, the brain is cross-wired, meaning the right side controls the left side of the body and vice versa. Hence the well-known

Famous left-handers

There may only be 10-12% of them on the planet, but there are some pretty impressive left-handers crammed into that number, from artists, politicians and sports stars to scientists, astronauts, actors and even royalty.

• Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Mozart, Aristotle, Julius Caesar, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, Bill Gates, tennis stars Rod Laver and Rafael Nadal.

• Then there’s former US presidents Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Harry S Truman to name a few.

• Musicians Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Paul McCartney and David Bowie join the leftie line-up, while stars taking a bow include Charlie Chaplin, Robert de Niro, Angelina Jolie, Keanu Reeves, Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise.

• Our own royal family aren’t exempt either, with the Prince of Wales and his eldest son Prince George (and body language showing possibly Princess Charlotte too), the Duchess of Edinburgh and King George Vl all being notable left-handers.