Life and Death on the Waterside

Over the last five years, ULAS has been busy investigating Leicester’s waterside, a large area of the historic city centre stretching 400m along the east bank of the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal from Bath Lane to Frog Island. A once busy area, characterised by manufacturing, it has suffered decline over the last…

Reburying Richard III: 5 years on

It seems like yesterday, but five years ago today (Sunday 15 March 2015) the first stage of King Richard III’s reburial, the coffining of his mortal remains, took place at the University of Leicester in preparation for his reburial at Leicester Cathedral two weeks later. Mathew Morris, Project Officer at ULAS and excavation director for…

Dig Oakham Castle 2: Week 1 update

“It’s been a wet week” is perhaps an understatement for the first seven days of excavation at Oakham Castle but fortunately favourable ground conditions and the dedication of our volunteers mean we have lost less than half a day of digging time and half way into the dig we are making some exciting discoveries. The…

Dig Oakham Castle 2!

Archaeologists return to explore more of Oakham Castle’s hidden history. We’re back! Over the next two weeks (12th – 23rd June) we will again be digging in the inner bailey at Oakham Castle in Rutland. Our community project, commissioned by Rutland County Council and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the…

The Charterhouse Project: Some final discoveries

Work at Charterhouse is finished for now and analysis of the results is underway. The large quantities of artefacts we recovered are being cleaned and examined by experts at the University of Leicester and the results from the trenches are being investigated. The excavation has shed light on the functioning of the Carthusian monastery and…

The Charterhouse Project: The dig so far…

We are halfway through our dig at the Coventry Charterhouse, and despite some rather difficult weather conditions, fascinating new insights into this Carthusian monastery are being revealed. Excavation supervisor Richard Huxley tells us what the dig has revealed so far… The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St Bruno, was founded in the Chartreuse…

The Charterhouse Project: An Introduction

In March 2019, a team of archaeologists from University of Leicester Archaeological Services began a project to learn more about Coventry’s Cathusian Monastery, St Anne’s Charterhouse. The work is in partnership with the Historic Coventry Trust, Coventry City Council and Historic England, and is made possible with the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Excavation supervisor Richard…

2018 in 12 Images: Year in Review

We’ve excavated on a wide range of projects in 2018. Here we showcase 12 images taken throughout the year, highlighting our main discoveries, click on the images to read more from each project.

Summer Roundup: Leicester Excavations

This summer (2018) ULAS has been extremely busy on many archaeological projects, here’s a roundup of our key discoveries from three large excavations in Leicester, producing some significant new Roman and medieval discoveries. The Waterside project A major redevelopment of north-west Leicester is the Waterside project. In advance of redevelopment a series of archaeological evaluations…

Oakham Castle Community Dig: Photo gallery and 3D models

Below is a selection of photographs and 3D models from the April 2018 community dig at Oakham Castle. Excavation gallery: Artefact gallery: 3D Models: Oakham Castle – Trench 1 mid-excavation by Archaeological Services (ULAS) on Sketchfab Oakham Castle – Trench 1 post-excavation by Archaeological Services (ULAS) on Sketchfab Oakham Castle – Trench 2 post-excavation by…

Oakham Castle Community Dig: Some final reflections…

Now that the excavation at Oakham Castle has successfully concluded, the trenches backfilled and we have left site, there is time for some final reflections. The project has been a fantastic success. Over two-weeks, 50 volunteers took part in the dig and we could not have achieved what we did without their dedication and enthusiasm,…