ULAS News

Summer Roundup: Outreach Activities

ULAS are always busy with various public outreach activities, whether site open days or talks to local schools and clubs. Over summer 2018, community involvement by ULAS staff engaged with over 5,000 people across the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland, and further afield. Key projects include… Bradgate Park Fieldschool The Bradgate Park Fieldschool is a major ULAS…

Summer Roundup: Leicester Excavations

This summer (2018) ULAS has been extremely busy on many archaeological projects, here’s a roundup of our key discoveries from three large excavations in Leicester, producing some significant new Roman and medieval discoveries. The Waterside project A major redevelopment of north-west Leicester is the Waterside project. In advance of redevelopment a series of archaeological evaluations…

Stibbe Roman mosaic to go on public display for first time

Free exhibition showcasing Leicester’s Roman past will take place at BBC Radio Leicester studio between 16 – 27 July University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) in partnership with BBC Radio Leicester are putting on public display for the first time, the newly conserved ‘Stibbe’ Roman mosaic. The FREE exhibit has been organised as part of…

Oakham Castle Community Dig: Photo gallery and 3D models

Below is a selection of photographs and 3D models from the April 2018 community dig at Oakham Castle. Excavation gallery: Artefact gallery: 3D Models: Oakham Castle – Trench 1 mid-excavation by Archaeological Services (ULAS) on Sketchfab Oakham Castle – Trench 1 post-excavation by Archaeological Services (ULAS) on Sketchfab Oakham Castle – Trench 2 post-excavation by…

Oakham Castle Community Dig: Some final reflections…

Now that the excavation at Oakham Castle has successfully concluded, the trenches backfilled and we have left site, there is time for some final reflections. The project has been a fantastic success. Over two-weeks, 50 volunteers took part in the dig and we could not have achieved what we did without their dedication and enthusiasm,…

Oakham Castle Community Dig: The dig so far…

With our first week of digging drawing to an end, we are starting to make some exciting new discoveries at Oakham Castle. Work so far has focused primarily in Trench 1 to the north-east of the Hall. First, turf and topsoil were removed with a mechanical digger. This revealed that various earth mounds within the…

Oakham Castle Community Dig: An Introduction

Welcome to the Oakham Castle Community Archaeology Dig. This is our first post of several about the upcoming excavation, so come back to discover more about what we find as the excavation progresses. What are we doing? Well, over two weeks at the end of April 2018, University of Leicester Archaeological Services in partnership with…

Community Archaeology opportunities in 2018

Fancy trying your hand at archaeology? Want to learn more about the history of your local community? In 2018, University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), working in partnership with Rutland County Council and the Market Bosworth Society, have two exciting opportunities for volunteers to take part in community archaeology projects. Oakham Castle Community Dig (18th…

New film reveals challenges behind lifting and conserving a Roman mosaic

A new film produced by the University of Leicester showcases how archaeologists successfully lifted and conserved a Roman mosaic found in Leicester. During the winter of 2016/17, archaeologists from University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) excavated a large site in Leicester, on the corner of Highcross Street and Vaughan Way next to the John Lewis car…

Prehistoric elephants, Roman belts and medieval villages: 2017 in review

Urban Adventures As the year draws to an end, we have time to reflect on a very busy 2017, and some of the discoveries made across the Midlands by the archaeologists at ULAS. Work in the first half of the year was dominated by large urban excavations in Leicester – at Highcross Street and over…