ULAS News

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…

Iron Age and Roman occupation unearthed at the new Stamford AFC Stadium

Last year, ULAS undertook an archaeological excavation at the proposed new Stamford AFC stadium at Ryhall Road, north of Stamford, Lincolnshire. The work was commissioned by the Burghley House Preservation Trust with R G Carter as the main site contractor. Features discovered date to the late Iron Age and early Roman period. Two large boundary…

ULAS archaeologists honoured

This week, ULAS co-directors Dr Richard Buckley and Dr Patrick Clay have been made Honoured Citizens of Leicester for their decades of dedicated work recording and promoting the city’s rich archaeological heritage. For more than 30 years (not 30 decades as some reported, although we like the idea that they have some insider knowledge of…

Iron Age settlement excavated near Lutterworth

During the autumn of 2013 ULAS carried out an archaeological excavation on land at Leaders Farm, on the south-western edge of Lutterworth in Leicestershire, for Bellway Homes (East Midlands) Ltd. prior to construction of a new residential development to be known as Whittle Fields. An evaluation carried out by ULAS in 2012 identified two areas containing…