In the floor of the choir there are graves in which many notable persons, who made their mark in history, were buried.
Exactly under the central point of the vaulting of the tower is the site of the grave of Prince Edward, son of Henry VI. and Margaret Anjou. He died on the 4th of May, 1471, and with him the last hope of the Red Rose party was finally crushed.
A modern brass, with a Latin inscription which was composed by Mr. J.D.T. Niblett, records that "Hic jacet Edwardus princeps Walliæ, crudeliter interfectus dum adhuc juvenis Anno Domini 1471, mensis Maii die quarto. Eheu, hominum furor: matris tu sola lux es, et gregis ultima spes,"—or in English, that "Here lies Edward, Prince of Wales, brutally murdered while but a youth, in the year of our Lord 1471, on the 4th of May. Alas! the madness of men. Thou art the only light of thy mother, and the last hope of the flock." Holinshed writes that the body of the Prince "was homelie interred with the other simple corpses in the church of the monasterie of the blacke monks in Teukesburie." Another MS., which gives a list of noblemen slain in the battle of Tewkesbury, states more definitely that he was "buried in the midst of the convent choir in the monastery there." Traces of a coffin-lid were found near the north-west pier of the tower, and from other evidence it was taken to be the tomb of the young prince, and this would give more colour to Hall's statement that he "was buried without any solemnity among some mean persons in the church of the black friars in Tewkesbury."
In 1796, when several alterations were made in the church, a brass plate was inserted in a stone over a tomb in the choir supposed to be that of the Prince. This tablet is now on the wall of the south transept. It runs:
"NE TOTA PEREAT MEMORIA
EDWARDI PRINCIPIS WALLIÆ
POST PRŒLIUM MEMORABILE
IN VICINIS ARVIS DEPUGNATUM
CRUDELITER OCCISI HANC TABULAM
HONORARIAM DEPONI CURABAT
PIETAS TEWKESBURIENSIS
ANNO DOMINI MDCCXCVI."
Or in English: "That the memory of Edward, Prince of Wales (brutally murdered after the famous battle fought in the fields close by), perish not utterly, the piety of the people of Tewkesbury had this memorial tablet laid down, A.D. 1796." This tablet is mentioned in the accounts for that year, and the cost is put down at £10; but perhaps this included the composition of the Latin inscription, and the stone in which the plate was inserted. This pietas Tewkesburiensis still survives, as flowers are annually laid upon the site of the grave. Before this there was, according to Dingley, who wrote in 1680, a "fair tombstone of grey marble, the brass whereof has bin pickt out by sacrilegious hands, directly underneath the Tower of this Church, at the entrance into the Quire, and sayed to be layd over Prince Edward, who lost his life in cool blood in the dispute between York and Lancaster, at which time the Lancastrians had the overthrow."
Another grave under the tower was that of the Duke of Warwick, who is sometimes said to have been created and crowned King of the Isle of Wight by Henry VI. He died at the age of twenty-one, and was buried, at his own request, between the stalls in the choir. At the time the choir was repaved in 1875 a grave of stone filled with rubble was found, together with some bones of a man of herculean size. These, no doubt, were those of the Duke who was buried here in 1446. The large marble slab that formerly covered the grave disappeared early in this century, but the brasses that were originally in it had been taken away long before. Cecily the Duchess of Warwick, a daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, was buried in the same place in 1450.
Further eastward, in a line with the Warwick Chapel, are the graves known as those of the De Clares.
The first is a stone with an inscription running round the edge, in old French, as follows: "Ci gît Maud de Burgh la veuve comitisse de Gloucestre et Hertford, que mourust le 2 juillet l'ann grâce 1315. Nous cherchons celle que est à venir." This slab, which is of large size, covers a well-wrought stone grave, and must have contained a very handsome brass, judging by the matrix. The next grave contains the remains of the Lady Maud's husband, Gilbert de Clare, the third of that name, the tenth Earl of Gloucester and Earl of Hertford. Though young in years he had a wise head, for Edward II. made him his regent when he himself was fighting in Scotland, and later again in 1313 when fighting in France. Gilbert de Clare the third was killed at Bannockburn in 1314, and was laid to rest next to his father. The tablet gives his arms, and the inscription runs: "Gilbertus tertius nomine Glocestrie et Hertfordie comes decimus ultimus, obiit 23 Junii, 1314, prœlio occisus, Scotus gavisus." Which being freely translated is: "Gilbert, the third of the name, tenth and last Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, died on June 23, 1314. He was slain in battle, to the joy of the Scots."
The tomb next to this is that of his father, Gilbert the second, usually known as the Red Earl. He married the Princess Joan of Acre, a daughter of Edward I. This Earl was at first an important figure in the revolt of the Righteous Earl, Sir Simon de Montfort; but later, having changed his views and his side, was an important factor in his former leader's final overthrow at Evesham in 1265. Fragmentary remains only of a coffin assumed to be his were found in 1875. His tablet says: "Gilbertus secundus, cognomine Rufus, comes Glocestrie octavus, et Hertfordie septimus, obiit septimo Decembris, anno domini 1295. Vir strenuus et fortis cui deerat timor mortis. Ora et pugna." Or in English: "Gilbert the second, surnamed the Red, eighth Earl of Gloucester and seventh of Hertford, died the 7th of December, A.D. 1295. A stout and brave man, who had no fear of death. Pray and fight."