King Richard III was widely believed to have had his two nephews, Edward V (12) and Richard (9), murdered, so he could claim the English throne in 1483.He imprisoned the young heirs to the House of York in the Tower of London, but their bodies were never found.Historians have spent centuries trying to prove whether they did indeed die or somehow survived.<div id="attachment_32309"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32309" src="https://exeter.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/John-Evans-effigy-300x229.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="229">There are questions over the true identity of landowner John Evans</div>Now St Matthew’s Church, Coldridge, is being studied as part of the Missing Princes Project.Historians working on the project want to establish the true identity of John Evans, medieval Lord of the Manor and Deer Parker at Coldridge.There is a theory that he was the missing Prince, Edward V, who may have been moved to Coldridge following a possible deal with Richard III.The church contains a rare stained-glass portrait of Edward, which was installed by John Evans and has a crown above it.<div id="attachment_32310"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32310" src="https://exeter.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Coldridge-church-window-2-270x300.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="300">The church is being studied by historians</div>There are a number of other clues in the church, including on John Evans’ tomb, on the floor tiles and on the roof bosses.There is also a family connection to the church, the princes’ half-brother Thomas Grey owned land in Devon, including Coldridge.Their mother, Elizabeth Woodville, travelled there with her daughters after leaving the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey in 1484.The land then went to Sir Thomas Markenfield, an ally of King Richard III. Could he have been given the task of overseeing the young Edward V at Coldridge?Coldridge PCC member, John Dike, has been helping with the research and said “To have all these symbolic details in such a remote and inaccessible church, which in 1500 would have only been accessed by cart track, and is right in the centre of rural Devon, suggests the presence of a person of importance.“An ideal location for Thomas Grey, with the probable agreement of Richard III or later Henry VII, to place his half brother out of the political arena.”The PCC is now working with the Diocese of Exeter to ensure the church is able to welcome visitors, while at the same time preserving and protecting its historic legacy.
