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A statue of King Richard III stands in Castle Gardens near Leicester Catherdral
A statue of King Richard III stands in Castle Gardens near Leicester Cathedral, close to where his body was discovered. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
A statue of King Richard III stands in Castle Gardens near Leicester Cathedral, close to where his body was discovered. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Richard III archaeologists to return to Leicester site in search of lost knight

This article is more than 10 years old
Excavators plan to search for Sir William Moton, who is believed to have been buried at Grey Friars church in 1362

Archaeologists are to return to the Leicester car park that last year yielded the remains of Richard III, this time in search of the tomb of a knight who died a century earlier.

The team from the University of Leicester hopes to learn more about the history of Grey Friars church, whose priests bravely claimed the body of the dead king, which had been humiliatingly exposed in the town after it was carried naked on the back of a horse from the Bosworth battlefield in August 1485.

A skeleton with a twisted spine, apparently buried naked in a hastily dug and slightly too short grave near the high altar, was found under the council car park that covers the site of the long demolished church.

The news went round the world when in February it was revealed that a battery of scientific tests, including comparisons with known descendants of his sister, had confirmed the bones were indeed those of the last Plantagenet king.

This time the team is applying to the Home Office for an exhumation licence for a lead-lined stone sarcophagus, which they believe holds the undisturbed remains of Sir William Moton, believed to have been buried at Grey Friars in 1362.

His tomb was one of four graves located in the search for Richard, although unbeknown to them the king's grave was the one they found in the first half hour of the excavation.

The archaeologists hope to be back on site in July, this time digging in the former playground of the Alderman Newton grammar school next to the car park, which will become a visitor centre next year telling the story of Leicester's connection with the life and death of the king. The Victorian wall dividing the site will be demolished to incorporate the king's last resting place.

The excavation director, Richard Buckley, said: "This will be a great opportunity to confirm the plan of the east end of the Grey Friars church to learn more about its dating and architecture, and will give us the chance to investigate other burials known to be inside the building."

The original dig was partly funded by the Richard III Society, but the next phase will be paid for by the university and city council, which is predicting a tourism bonanza from the discovery.

A battle continues over the bones, with other descendants seeking a court ruling that the king's remains be buried in York.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Son of York! Richard III relatives' descendants allowed to challenge Leicester burial

  • Archaeologists map lost medieval Suffolk town of Dunwich under the sea

  • Who else is buried in Richard III's Leicester car park cemetery?

  • Babylon's hanging garden: ancient scripts give clue to missing wonder

  • Excavated skull suggests Jamestown colonists resorted to cannibalism

  • Sealed coffin found near Richard III grave site in Leicester

  • King Richard III facial model goes on display in Leicester

  • Why Richard III's final resting place matters

  • Richard III's distant relatives threaten legal challenge over burial

  • York plans Richard III fest as part of royal reburial campaign

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