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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