ULAS News

Rediscovering Coleorton Pottery

Monitoring of the clearance of the former Coleorton Pottery site at Lount in north-west Leicestershire in 2012 has given ULAS archaeologists a rare opportunity to excavate a series of 19th and early 20th century kilns in the county, which has far fewer recorded potteries than Staffordshire or Derbyshire. The Coleorton Pottery was established in 1836…

2014: A year in reflection

As the year comes to an end Patrick Clay (co-director) looks back at the highlights for ULAS during the year. Some have already featured in our blog, others we will take a closer look at in the new year. The overwhelming impression of this year has been that it has been the busiest in over…

Medieval Coventry revealed in city’s Heatline Project

During the first half of 2013, ULAS carried out an intermittent inspection of extensive groundwork in the historic south-east quarter of medieval Coventry during the installation of the city’s new district heating system pipeline. Although Lady Godiva remains elusive, slight archaeological remains dating from the medieval period through to the 19th century were observed in…

King Richard III Identity: CASE CLOSED AFTER 529 YEARS!

An international research team led by Dr Turi King from the University of Leicester Department of Genetics has published overwhelming evidence that the skeleton discovered under a car park in Leicester indeed represents the remains of King Richard III, thereby closing what is probably the oldest forensic case solved to date. The team of researchers,…

Iron Age treasure found in Northamptonshire

A 2012 ULAS project near Weston by Welland in Northamptonshire has uncovered a small cache of Iron Age silver coins. The site is located on a prominent hilltop, with spectacular views over the surrounding countryside, and lies within a rich Iron Age and Roman landscape. Significant sites nearby include the Gartree Road, which runs south-east out of Leicester…

Latest volume of Transactions published

The latest volume of the Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (vol. 88, 2014) has been published. This year’s volume includes a new article co-authored by John Morison and ULAS’s Vicki Score on ‘The Lost Chapel of St Morrell, Hathern’ (Previously reported on by ULASNEWS). John Thomas has compiled the latest ‘Archaeology in…

Evidence of medieval iron production found at Irchester, Northamptonshire

A recent investigation of three fields east of Irchester in Northamptonshire has uncovered tantalising glimpses of a lost medieval iron smelting industry in the village. The work was undertaken by ULAS for the landowner in order to assess the likely impact of a proposed housing development on any underlying archaeology. Of the twenty-five trenches excavated,…

Recording Leicester’s hidden medieval heritage

Medieval is probably not a word often conjured up by people if asked to describe Leicester today; Victorian, perhaps Georgian, will be more commonly used but hidden behind the 18th and 19th century shop fronts little known fragments of the medieval town still survive. In 2012, ULAS carried out an historic building assessment of No….

Fifteenth century religious precinct wall discovered in Leicester

A small excavation carried out by ULAS has recently recorded a 15m long section of the medieval Newarke Wall, a 15th-century precinct wall surrounding the Newarke, a religious close containing a college of canons and a hospital which was once situated immediately south of the medieval town. The work was carried out for De Montfort…

Treasures in the Kitchen: Archaeological investigation of Reynard’s Kitchen, Dovedale, Derbyshire

Working with the National Trust and the Defence Archaeology Group’s Operation Nightingale, archaeologists from ULAS have recently undertaken an archaeological excavation at Reynard’s Kitchen, Dovedale, Derbyshire. The programme of controlled excavation work took place within a small cave set into the Dovedale gorge walls following the chance find of four Iron Age and Roman Republican…

Rare decorated Iron Age chariot fittings found at Burrough Hill hillfort

University of Leicester archaeologists have made a ‘once-in-a-career’ discovery of the decorated bronze remains of an Iron Age chariot. A team from ULAS and the University’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History has unearthed a hoard of rare bronze fittings from a 2nd or 3rd century BC chariot which appears to have been buried as…

Exploring the ponds of Grace Dieu Priory, Leicestershire

This summer, ULAS carried out a small archaeological investigation of a large earthwork bank, part of a medieval/post-medieval fishpond, next to the ruins of Grace Dieu Priory in north-west Leicestershire. This was to try and explain why water is being lost from the pond so that the Friends of Grace Dieu Priory can implement repairs…