Cock Beck is a small stream in West Yorkshire, beginning as run-off from the area of Winmoor in the eastern suburbs of Leeds before ultimately meeting the river Wharfe just south of Tadcaster. Previously known as the Cock River, the stream historically flowed much deeper and wider than in modern times, in most places too deep and wide to be crossed on foot. The name is thought to be a reference to salmon, with the stream being a spawning ground for both salmon and trout.
A crossing point over Cock Beck at Aberford has likely been in place since Celtic times, ultimately becoming part of the route of the Great North Road, the primary road connecting London with Scotland. The valley carved by the stream is riddled with the archaeological remnants of complex earthworks, built at three different periods of time but generally thought to have been constructed to allow a ford across Cock Beck to be fortified and controlled. One popular theory is that the original defences were constructed by the Brigantes confederation of Celtic tribes, which controlled territory that at its largest extended from close to the Scottish border across large areas of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland and Durham. The Brigantes violently defended this territory from neighbouring tribes, including the Carvetii, Parisii, Corieltauvi and Cornovii.
The Brigantes later had a turbulent relationship with the Romans during their conquest of Britain, with the crossing points of Cock Beck likely forming key defensive positions as they protected themselves from Roman advances from the south. The Brigantes were ultimately either wiped out or subjugated, with their last appearance in Roman records coming in the form of an unsuccessful uprising against the Empire under Antoninus Pius around the time of the construction of the Antonine Wall in AD 142, some 100 years after the beginning of the Roman Conquest. Some historians have suggested Brigantes rebels as the likely culprits behind the disappearance of the Ninth Legion, which disappeared in around AD 120 when stationed in northern Britain.
Despite it no longer forming part of the frontier of the Roman expansion, Cock Beck has continued as the location of a number of significant battles. The first came in 655 at the Battle of Winwead, where Mercian forces under King Pendra were defeated by a smaller force of Bernicians from Northumbria. Modern estimates puts each faction’s casualties during the battle at around 500, with as many as another 500 Mercians drowning in the rain-swollen waters of the Beck after the collapse of their line and subsequent retreat. Significantly, Winwead more or less marked the end of Anglo-Saxon paganism in Britain, with Mercia the last major kingdom to convert to Christianity after the death of King Pendra.
The most famous battle to take part along the course of Cock Beck was in 1461, during what is now known as the War of the Roses. The Battle of Towton took place during a snowstorm on the 29th March, with records indicating over 50,000 Lancastrian and Yorkist soldiers fighting for several hours. With 28,000 dead reported, it is generally considered the bloodiest ever battle to take place on English soil.
After fighting for over three hours, the battle remained a stalemate until the arrival of the Duke of Norfolk with Yorkist reinforcements, sparking a collapse and rout amongst the Lancastrian forces. Several contemporary accounts state that the majority of the Lancastrian army’s 20,000 dead came during this retreat, with many dropping weapons and helmets in an attempt to outrun the fresh forces under Norfolk, only to be ridden down in what later became known as the ‘Bloody Meadow’. Before the battle both armies had been instructed to show no quarter, even to knights, and exhumed skeletons from the site show deep wounds to their skulls and backs. 42 Lancastrian knights that surrendered during the battle were subsequently executed.
For those Lancastrian survivors that evaded the Yorkist pursuit, many were swept away by the waters of Cock Beck, swollen by melted snowfall. Others were trampled or pushed underwater by panicking comrades as they clamoured to escape, or shot by Yorkist archers as they struggled to cross the river. Chroniclers describe some Lancastrian soldiers ultimately escaping by clambering across a bridge of corpses that choked the waters.
The tale that Cock Beck ran red with blood for days following the battle of Towton is now well known and frequently repeated. However, my research indicates that while the Beck was filled with corpses following the battle, it was a separate incident that gave rise to the legend of the stream’s red waters. During the English Civil War, the much smaller Battle of Seacroft Moor took place close to Cock Beck, where 20 troops of Royalist cavalry descended upon a Parliamentary army comprised primarily of poorly equipped local infantry, killing over 1,000 of them. It was after this slaughter that the story that Cock Beck had flown red with blood for several days first originated.
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