Also recovered in the survey were eight horse harness pendants, one of which carries the arms of the Wake family, who were represented at the battle (Figure 6.9). There are several such pendants amongst the Towton assemblage.³¹ This has led to the suggestion that, although they are normally dated to the thirteenth or fourteenth century, they might still have been present on late fifteenth-century equipment and thus could relate to the battle. If we consider the distribution of these objects across the survey area then such an interpretation is thrown into doubt (Figure 6.6). There is only one certain example plus a possible fragment of a second from within the core of the battlefield. Given how intensively this area was detected, compared to the rest of the survey, 25% is a remarkably low percentage if these find were battle-related. Of the others only the two from Green Hill seem to have a potential to be related to action, as they could come from the general area suggested for the rout of Norfolk’s vanguard. Most of the rest are from the periphery of Sutton Cheney village, where they may represent part of the halo of artefacts deposited in manuring or chance loss. Even more striking, the pendant with a link to the Wake family who were involved in the action was found near Cadeby, some 6 km from the battlefield. This distribution suggests the objects are simply part of the background noise.

Also related to the use of horses are the two spur rowels and five spur fragments which are or may be medieval. A medieval rowel and a post-medieval spur fragment were found close to the sword guard in the core of the battlefield, while the medieval rowel that is tinned comes from the Dadlington windmill group. However, the other examples are scattered right across the survey area, including the one silvered spur fragment from near to Sutton Cheney. Thus while several may be from the battle, most may again simply represent background noise.