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Richard III and LeicesterHeritage Badge

Charlotte BarrattRichard III Outreach OfficerUniversity of Leicester

What do you know about Richard III?

Why is Richard III associated with Leicester?Leicester is in the middle of the country.

To travel to the North from London the road comes through Leicester.

Richard III visited Leicester more than once and had planned to hold a parliament here.

What did Leicester look like in the 1480s…

What happened in 1485?

• Richard III was King of England.

• Henry Tudor, a distant cousin of Richard III had been waiting in France for a good time to sail to England and fight to become king.

• Henry Tudor landed in Pembroke in Wales with an army.

• Richard III had heard about this and was waiting in Nottingham to see where Henry Tudor would go.

This is what happened…

After Foard & Curry 2013

20 August, 1485

The Battle of Bosworth

Following the battle, Richard’s body was bought back to Leicester.He was placed on show in the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Newarke.

He was then buried in the Church of the Greyfriars.

Henry VII (Tudor) paid for an alabaster slab to be placed on the tomb.

Henry VIII had the Church pulled down in 1538.

In 2012, an archaeological dig began to find Richard III

First, we needed to find out where the Greyfriars Church used to be.

Using map regression analysis we can find this out.

Luckily, there were some clues to help.

Map Regression Analysis

This is our scenario: King Richard III was buried in the church of the Franciscan Friary of Grey Friars in Leicester in 1485. Fifty-three years later the church was demolished. Then, over the next 475 years Leicester changed. New houses, shops, schools, offices and factories were built; some of these were then knocked down and replaced by different buildings; new streets were built; some old streets disappeared; street names changed and all evidence of the church was lost; or was it?

Ordinance Survey Map 2004

Ordinance Survey Map 1955

Ordinance Survey Map 1885

Fowler’s Map 1828

Robert’s Map 1741

Place names can give us a clue

Some place names have stayed the same since Medieval times, others have changed.

New streets have also been built.

So what changed in Leicester?

• Leicester was defined by the Roman walls around the original town. (approximately 50AD-400AD)

• Medieval Leicester also used these walls.

• In the 1870s, Leicester Town Hall and the Clock Tower were built.

• In the 1970s, the Haymarket Shopping Centre was built.

• In 1990s, the Shires Shopping Centre was built, and then expanded into the Highcross in 2008.

Leicester in about 1450

Medieval Leicester, c.1450 (artwork by Mike Codd)

Medieval Leicester, c.1450 (artwork by Mike Codd)

St Margaret’s

Saturday Market

All Saints’

St Michael’s

St Peter’s St John’s Hospital

Black Friars

Blue Boar Inn

St Nicholas’

Austin Friars

Bow Bridge

The Newarke

Mary de CastroLeicester Castle

Newarke Gate

Grey FriarsGuildhall

St Martin’s

Line of medieval town wall

De Montfort University

St Nicholas Circle

Highcross Leicester Shopping CentreClock Tower

Market

Jewry Wall

Magazine Gateway

Medieval Leicester, c.1450 (artwork by Mike Codd)

Grey Friars

Blue Boar Inn

St Margaret’s Bus Station

Bow Bridge

Leicester Castle