Bosworth Links digs Market Bosworth

Bosá’s farmstead

Today, Market Bosworth is best recognised for giving its name to the Battle of Bosworth, fought nearby in 1485, where the last Yorkist king of England, Richard III, was slain. In recent years, this defining moment has framed the town’s narrative, drawing in thousands of visitors and tourists, especially following the discovery of Richard III’s remains by University of Leicester archaeologists beneath a car park in Leicester in 2012. The battle’s long association with the town was reaffirmed in 2015, when the king’s funeral cortège passed through Market Bosworth on its way to Leicester Cathedral for his reburial. Today, a memorial plaque in the Market Place commemorates the event.

The town’s own history, however, is far from clear. Historical research, small-scale archaeological excavations, and the discovery of finds of Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and ‘Viking’ artefacts in Market Bosworth show that it has rich archaeological potential but leave many unanswered questions particularly regarding the origins and early development of the settlement.

Between 2017 and 2019, over 300 homeowners, volunteers and students from local schools excavated 60 test pits across Market Bosworth. Over 22,700 individual finds were recovered, ranging in date from the Neolithic period (0ver 4,500 years ago) to the present day.

Key discoveries included:

Strong evidence for an extensive late Neolithic / early Bronze Age landscape beneath the town, including a probably cremation cemetery.
Widespread Roman activity, probably associated with a known villa immediately north of the town.
Early Anglo-Saxon activity at the villa site and the adjacent Silk Hill.
Market Bosworth probably formed in its present location in the 10th century, particularly along Park Street to the south of St Peter’s Church, then spread westwards around the market place in the later 13th century.
In the late 14th / 15th century there was possibly a 41% drop in the pottery-using population, perhaps as a consequence of the Black Death.
Re-settlement of the depopulated areas did not take place until the mid-16th century.

Watch two short films about the project, produced by filmmaker Bill Newsinger.