For more than 30 years, 15th century England was in the grip of what amounted to a civil war for control of the throne. The rival factions were represented by roses: red for the House of Lancaster and white for the House of York. These emblems led to the naming of the conflict as 'The Wars of the Roses' by Victorian historians.
Fighting raged the length and breadth of the country and this stamp issue marks the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Tewkesbury - one of the defining campaigns. The stamps - issued in four horizontal se-tenant pairs of 2nd class; 1st class; £1.70 and £2.55 - feature eight crucial battles: Bosworth; Tewkesbury; Barnet; Edgecote Moor; Towton; Wakefield; Northampton and the First Battle of St Albans. The stamps reproduce vivid images from oil paintings created by Graham Turner.
The Gold 500 cover carries a 22ct gold-blocked framed image of Edward IV following the Battle of Tewkesbury alongside an Edward IV Barbuda commemorative together with a pictorial York rose handstamp. Numbered Limited Edition of 500.
