Isabel Neville, daughter of Richard Earl of Warwick ('The Kingmaker') and his wife Anne Beauchamp, lived during one of the most turbulent periods in medieval in England: The Wars of the Roses. The Warwick sisters, well-known and sought-after young women, were both promised in politically-advantageous marriages by their father. Isabel's sister, Anne, was married very briefly to Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales, the son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou in a bid to cement the new partnership between the families to smooth Henry VI's return to the throne in 1470. Likewise, Isabel Neville and George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence were married for the same consideration, with the duke and earl having both defected to the Lancastrian cause to fight against Edward IV, Clarence's older brother.
As Duchess of Clarence, Isabel managed her own household which included ladies in waiting and servants as well as administrators and religious advisors. In December 1476 she gave birth at Tewkesbury to a son named Richard and, having returned to Warwick to recuperate, fell ill and died there. Rumours immediately swirled of poison. Isabel had died young, in a paranoid and suspicious age, although medics at the time had little to no understanding of viral or bacterial infections. Although her death was almost certainly caused by illness, the grieving Clarence accused one of the duchess' ladies, a Somerset grandmother named Ankarette Twynhoe, of poisoning her. She was tried, by a jury fearful of Clarence's icy glare, at Warwick in 1477 and hanged soon afterwards. Ankarette was later pardoned of any crime following a petition brought forward by her grandson.
In the winter of 1477 Isabel's body was brought from Warwick to Tewkesbury. The abbott, Lord John Strensham, headed the solemnities while the duchess' coffin was placed in the middle of the choir of the abbey. Clarence's own dean and chaplains performed solemn religious services, while Isabel was watched overnight, as per the medieval custom. Her body remained in the choir for thirty-five days before being buried in a vault under the floor. James Bennett, writing in 1830, refers to a source (the Abbey Chronicle) which states that the site of the burial was 'in a vault behind the high altar, before the door of the Virgin Mary's chapel, and opposite the door of St Edmund the Martyr's chapel.'
Today, the vault can be glimpsed through a metal grille in the floor of the abbey. Underneath there are, says Bennett, eight stone steps which lead down to the arched vault. The year after Isabel's burial, George Duke of Clarence was charged with treason against his brother Edward IV. He was executed on 18 February 1478 - according to legend, drowned in a barrel of Malmsey wine in the Tower of London - and his body laid alongside Isabel's at Tewkesbury.
While Isabel's funeral is well documented, there is limited evidence for the burial of her husband. Bennett thought that this might have been quietly and quickly done in private, bearing in mind the tense political atmosphere surrounding his death as a traitor.
In 1826 the vault was opened. Medieval ornamentation and carving was noted, along with a cross laid in the floor. However in the north-west corner of the vault there were two skulls and other bones left uncovered. Bennett wondered if the vault had been disturbed for relics or valuables in the sixteenth century during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the bones set to one side of the vault. Three years later, in 1829, the bones (identified as a male and a female) were placed in coffins and, to avoid further disturbance, a large stone placed on top of them. A sign nearby commemorates the couple along with a photograph of the vault, which is not open to the public.
Visit, March 2025
James Bennett, The History of Tewkesbury. London 1830. Archive.org
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