If you’ve been in Leicester’s city centre recently, you will have noticed the newly installed bollards. When Leicester City Council set out to install the bollards, they weren’t just reshaping traffic flow—they were opening a window into the city’s ancient past. In this blog, ULAS Project Manager Gavin Speed takes a look at what was discovered as part of the scheme.

Thanks to a process known as an archaeological watching brief, our team had the opportunity to monitor the groundworks and record any hidden history before it was lost. What we found beneath the tarmac was remarkable: Roman roads, medieval streets, and centuries-old structures—all lying just beneath the surface of modern Leicester.

What is a watching brief?

When construction projects risk disturbing buried heritage, archaeologists are often called in to observe the digging (as part of the planning process). If anything ancient appears, we pause the work, investigate, and record what we find.

In this case, our team—including Joe Bartholomew, Donald Clark, James Earley, Tim Higgins, and Wayne Jarvis—monitored bollard installations at ten locations across Leicester between August 2023 and February 2025. These weren’t easy digs: the trenches were narrow and packed with modern utilities like sewers and fibre-optic cables. But beneath all that, we found fascinating remnants of Leicester’s ancient past.

The main aim of the investigation was to record any archaeological remains that would be disturbed by the scheme, provide evidence to understand the nature, date, function, and character of the archaeological remains present, and to mitigate the impact of the development using preservation by record (e.g. excavation and reporting).

Location, location, location

The Leicester City Centre Bollard Replacement Scheme consisted of ten locations spread across the historic Roman and medieval core of the city, along with several locations in the suburbs. We know from previous excavations in the surrounding areas that these parts of Leicester are rich in archaeological remains of the Roman, medieval, and post-medieval periods. However, it was uncertain if anything survived below the modern streets of the city.

Of the ten new bollards that were installed, four only contained modern intrusions and backfills of deep services. However, archaeological deposits were discovered at six locations across the city at Guildhall Lane, Humberstone Gate, Church Gate, High Street, Hotel Street, and Grey Friars.

Roman ruins below Guildhall Lane

One of the earliest discoveries came from Guildhall Lane, where we uncovered a Roman street—likely part of the Fosse Way, the main east–west road through Roman Leicester. The road was made of compacted gravel and cobbles and sat just 1.55 metres below the modern surface. We also found evidence of a Roman wall, possibly part of a building near the town’s central forum-basilica complex.

The Fosse Way has been identified at other nearby sites, including Jubilee Square just to the west, and immediately to the north at 9 St Nicholas Place. In both cases the remains of the Fosse Way were seen at much greater depth of 1.78m, as these were truncated by later medieval activity.

The new discovery of the Roman street at Guildhall Lane indicates the street may have been around nine metres in width, a broader road width than many others in Roman Leicester. This is close to the centre of the Roman town, adjacent to the central Roman forum-basilica complex, this may indicate a hierarchical street system, with broader thoroughfares serving key civic or commercial functions.

These findings challenge some of our assumptions about Roman street alignments in the town and highlight how much we still have to learn about Leicester’s ancient layout.

Medieval streets and urban transformations

Archaeological evidence for the medieval period consisted of street surfaces at three distinct locations. Two of these—Humberstone Gate and Church Gate — were associated with extra-mural suburban streets, while a possible intra-mural street was identified at Hotel Street. The latter is significant as medieval street surfaces within the walled town are rarely preserved largely due to the extensive impact of modern infrastructure.

A particularly significant discovery was made at High Street, where a medieval stone wall and associated deposits, dating from the 12th to 14th centuries, were uncovered. If interpreted as a street-frontage wall, this feature suggests that the medieval Swinesmarket (now High Street) was originally narrower and underwent subsequent widening. This interpretation is supported by similar examples recorded in the surrounding area.

The shallow depth of the medieval deposits— in one instance as little as 0.75 metres below the current ground surface—is also noteworthy. This contrasts with deeper stratigraphy observed in comparable urban contexts and suggests a relatively undisturbed preservation environment beneath the modern road. Such conditions may be more widespread than previously assumed. This finding has implications for future urban archaeological strategies.  They highlight the potential for well-preserved medieval features to survive beneath contemporary road surfaces and underscore the value of targeted investigations in areas previously considered to have limited archaeological potential.

Grey Friars rubbish

One of the more unusual discoveries came from a bollard pit at the south end of Grey Friars, an area once part of the medieval Franciscan friary complex known as Greyfriars. This site is famously known as the original burial place of King Richard III, following his death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

The friary, established in the 1220s, once had a large precinct with gardens and an enclosure wall. The pit we investigated was likely located in the southeast corner of these gardens, close to the boundary wall.

What did we find? Layers of post-medieval and medieval garden soil, along with a curious mix of discarded items—most notably, a large deposit of animal bones and an incomplete knife blade. The bones came from cattle, sheep or goats, and pigs, and appear to be general kitchen waste from the friary, casually dumped in a quiet corner of the grounds.

While it might not sound glamorous, this kind of refuse tells us a lot about daily life in the friary—what people ate, how they disposed of waste, and how the space was used. It’s a reminder that archaeology isn’t just about grand buildings and famous names—it’s also about the everyday lives of the people who lived, worked, and worshipped here.

Small holes with wider significance

Despite Leicester being one of the most intensively excavated cities in the UK, many areas—especially beneath modern streets—remain unexplored. This project, carried out by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), shows just how much can still be discovered.

Though limited in scope, the discoveries have yielded significant insights into the Roman and medieval urban fabric of Leicester. These findings contribute meaningfully to ongoing debates surrounding historic urban development, street morphology, and archaeological preservation below modern streets in historic city centres.

The discoveries also contribute to broader research themes outlined in the East Midlands Historic Environment Research Framework. For the Roman period, the findings inform discussions on the chronology and spatial development of Leicester’s Roman urban centre, particularly in relation to street planning and civic infrastructure. For the medieval period, the results enhance our understanding of street networks, urban morphology, and the processes of urban transformation.

Preserving the Past, Informing the Future

In summary, these limited investigations have provided rare and valuable glimpses beneath modern street surfaces, revealing archaeological features from both the Roman and medieval periods. The results of the watching brief highlight the potential for future discoveries in areas of the historic urban core that remain underexplored.

The findings also emphasise the archaeological value of even small-scale monitoring within urban development projects. They demonstrate how even small interventions can contribute meaningfully to our understanding of past urban landscapes and inform future strategies for heritage management and preservation.

So next time you pass a bollard in the city centre, take a moment to imagine what lies beneath. You might be walking over a Roman road, medieval wall, or perhaps some other forgotten fragment of Leicester’s rich and layered past.