Mud and painted nails: An archaeologist’s story

International Women’s Day has been celebrated on 8th March for more than a century. The theme for 2022 is #BreaktheBias. The day celebrates women’s achievement, raises awareness against bias and takes action for equality. For our post this year, ULAS Archaeological Assistant Isobel Moss tells us about what inspired her to become an archaeologist and…

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In memoriam – Deborah Sawday (1944-2021)

Last November we sadly reported the passing of Deborah Sawday, our medieval pottery specialist and part of the ULAS team since we began in 1995. Nicholas Cooper, ULAS post-excavation project manager remembers a friend and colleague who is greatly missed.

Leicester Cathedral Revealed – Anne Barratt (1786-1855)

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome back to our Leicester Cathedral Revealed updates. We have been back on site for a couple of weeks and we have now wrapped up Phase 1 of the excavation with a total of 124 burials excavated. Work has moved back to construction and we will be back in a…

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Digging for Britain: Leicester archaeology projects to feature on BBC

Projects led by Leicester archaeologists are to be showcased on the new series of BBC Two’s primetime TV series Digging for Britain in the New Year. Three University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) projects from across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are to feature on the latest series, presented by Professor Alice Roberts. The major discovery…

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Leicester Cathedral Revealed – John Wilson Ottey (1810-1851)

In our latest update from our excavation at Leicester Cathedral, Mathew Morris tells us more about the first burial the archaeological team have identified by name. Putting names to the dead when they are skeletal remains is very difficult. The burials that we have excavated so far are all late 18th and early 19th century…

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Encounters with Achilles: The Discovery of the Rutland Roman Villa

The Covid 19 Lockdown in 2020 forced many people to stay close to home for their recreational activities and also to find new interests to pursue.  For Jim Irvine a walk with his family on his father’s farmland was the start of a journey that led to the astounding discovery of an extensive Roman villa…

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Extraordinary Roman mosaic and villa discovered beneath Rutland farmer’s field

Archaeologists have unearthed the first Roman mosaic of its kind in the UK. Today (Thursday 25th November 2021), a rare Roman mosaic and surrounding villa complex have been protected as a Scheduled Monument by DCMS on the advice of Historic England. The decision follows archaeological work undertaken by a team from University of Leicester Archaeological…

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Leicester Cathedral Revealed – the 19th-century burial ground

ULAS archaeologists have now been on site at Leicester Cathedral for a month and today is a good time to start revealing what has been found so far. Mathew Morris, the archaeology team leader for the Heritage Learning Centre excavation tells us more… For my first project update I want to focus on the 19th-century…

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Leicester Cathedral Revealed – archaeological excavation begins at Leicester Cathedral

University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) are delighted to announce that we have been appointed archaeological contractors for the Leicester Cathedral Revealed project. Now that the Old Song School has been demolished we have a team of archaeologists on site monitoring ground works including the removal of old foundations and the installation of trench sheeting and the contiguous piled…

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New book explores life in Roman and Medieval Leicester

The most comprehensive book ever written on the archaeology of Leicester has been published by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). Walking through Leicester today it is difficult to appreciate that beneath its streets lie the remains of a 2,000-year-old settlement; beginning in the late Iron Age and subsequently re-shaped by a succession of Roman,…

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Buried Bouskell Self-Guided Circular Walk – UPDATED

Location: Bouskell Park, Welford Road, Blaby LE18 4FT Walk length: 0.5 miles / 0.8 km Gradient: Level and moderate, gravel path Parking: Yes, car park accessed from Welford Road Download a printable version of the walk here (pdf, 1.49mb). Welcome to Bouskell Park. I’m Mathew Morris from University of Leicester Archaeological Services and I’m the…

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