Towton 1461 England's Bloodiest Battle - Praeger Illustrated Military History Author:Christopher Gravett On a bitterly cold Palm Sunday, 29 March 1461, the army of King Edward IV met that of his Lancastrian enemies on a snow-covered battlefield south of the village of Towton in Yorkshire. The struggle lasted all day in the longest and bloodiest battle of the Wars of the Roses, and ended with the Lancastrians demolished.