Towton: what to know before moving day
The A162 London Road is the village street, with the Rockingham Arms on it, and the homes off it are in small groups: Rockingham Court, The Close and The Stables. Old London Road and West Milford Lane lead out into the fields, and the B1223 Raw Lane heads east. Towton has four Grade II listed buildings: a memorial cross, a house, a milestone and a telephone kiosk.
The memorial is the Towton Cross, or Lord Dacre's Cross, put up in 1929 for those killed in the battle. The fighting took place on a plateau between Towton and Saxton, bounded by the steep banks of the Cock Beck, and it has been called probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil. In 2010 and 2011 metal detectorists found a pair of Iron Age gold torcs here, now in the Yorkshire Museum.
How the van gets to Towton
Everything comes through Towton on the A162, which runs north to Tadcaster and the A64 and south to Saxton, Barkston Ash and Sherburn in Elmet. For Bradford, the drive is roughly 45 to 55 minutes, going by Leeds and the A64 or by the A1(M). Raw Lane, the B1223, is the way east towards Kirkby Wharfe and Ulleskelf.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 45 to 55 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Towton
Each service below links to its Garforth page, which covers how the job works in and around Garforth.
Towton: questions before you book
Is the Towton battlefield next to the houses?
The battle was fought on the plateau between Towton and Saxton, south of the village, with the Cock Beck curving round its northern and western sides. The village houses stand along the A162 to the north of it.
Nearby areas
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- LS24 9PD: Towton parish, Appleton Roebuck & Church Fenton ward, North Yorkshire
- Towton: small village and civil parish, Iron Age gold torcs found 2010-11 and acquired by the Yorkshire Museum in 2013, name from Tofi and tun, Battle of Towton Palm Sunday 29 March 1461, described as probably the largest and bloodiest battle fought on English soil
- Battle of Towton: plateau between Saxton to the south and Towton to the north, the steeply banked Cock Beck, Towton Cross (Lord Dacre's Cross) made in 1929
- Listed buildings in Towton: four Grade II (memorial cross, house, milestone, telephone kiosk)
- Tadcaster: lies on the A64, A659 and A162
- OpenStreetMap map view (checked 2026-09-28): London Road (A162), Old London Road, Raw Lane (B1223), West Milford Lane, Rockingham Court, The Close, The Stables, Rockingham Arms