Archaeologists close to finding King Richard III’s body

Archaeologists close to finding King Richard III’s body

Archaeologists searching for remains of Richard III say they `are ‘tantalisingly close’ to finding his final resting place

The dig to recover the body of the king, who was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth by Henry Tudor in 1485, has already unearthed the long-lost Franciscan Friary where he was buried, The Telegraph reported.

The church, which is also called Grey Friars, was known to be where Richard III was buried but its exact whereabouts had become lost over time.

Now archaeologists say the dig will move into the third week and say they are getting ‘tantalisingly close’ in their search for the body.

Leicester City Mayor Peter Soulsby has authorised the work to continue for at least another week.

University of Leicester Archaeological Services Co-Director Richard Buckley said, “We are now tantalisingly close in our search and will investigate the choir where Richard is presumed to be buried. Whether we find Richard or not, this dig has been a huge success in terms of revealing the heritage of Leicester and I am proud that the University of Leicester has played a pivotal role in the telling of that story. There was an incredible turnout at the dig and the level of public interest in our work is phenomenal. I would like to thank the public for their generous support and it has provided huge motivation for us to continue our quest.” The search began two weeks ago and involved digging two trenches in a council car park before a third trench was excavated. There has been widespread interest in the project, which is being filmed for a Channel 4 documentary. daily times monitor

Archaeologists have so far discovered :

Over the past two weeks, the team has made major discoveries about the heritage of Leicester including:

* Determining the site of the medieval Franciscan friary known as Grey Friars.

* Finding the eastern cloister walk and chapter house.

* Locating the site of the church within the friary.

* Uncovering the lost garden of former Mayor of Leicester, Alderman Robert Herrick.

* Revealing medieval finds that include inlaid floor tiles from the cloister walk of the friary, paving stones from the Herrick garden, window tracery, elements of the stained glass windows of the church, a medieval silver penny a stone frieze believed to be from the choir stalls amongst others.