I visited the site of Fotheringhay castle, where there is little trace a castle ever existed.
Fotheringhay castle was the birth place of King Richard III on 2nd October 1452

and also the place of the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. The reason I was initially drawn to photograph Fortheringhay in relation to my project was that on the surface of the earth there is barely any trace of the lives and events that once took place here. The execution of Mary Queen of Scots was a hugely important event in regards to the history of Britain. On the 8th February 1587 Mary was led into the Great Hall of the castle where a scaffolding had been specially erected.  Mary had requested to be buried in France, but Queen Elizabeth I refused her request. Mary was subsequently embalmed and left in a lead coffin, unburied, until she was laid to rest in Peterborough Cathedral in late July of 1587. Whilst Mary was embalmed her entrails were removed and buried, in secret, within Fotheringhay castle.



Fotheringhay, November 2012.