Richard III: Discovery and identification

Discovering the remains

Find out more about the excavation to find the remains of King Richard III from pinpointing potential locations and the digging of the trenches, to locating the remains and preserving the grave for posterity.

Knowing where to look

Whilst nothing of the friary remains above ground today, its site has never actually been lost.

Greyfriars in old maps and plans

How we pinpointed the potential location of Grey Friars.

Where to dig

We identified three potential areas of excavation and got to work.

Finding the remains of the Franciscan friary

Details on the beginnings - digging the trench in the car park.

Identifying clues to the position and orientation of the buildings

The archaeologists carefully removed dumps of building rubble left behind when the friary was demolished, exposing the medieval buildings beneath.

Locating the church within the friary

The discovery of the chapter house and eastern cloister walk in the first two trenches meant that parts of the church were likely be present in the car park or the school playground.

Locating the choir within the church

The expert team started to slowly remove the soil to uncover the remains.

Locating the mortal remains of Richard III

Find out more about the discovery of the grave and the important skeleton that resided.

The king's grave

Despite the ambiguous location, Richard III was found almost complete.

Preserving the grave

How we preserved the grave for posterity.

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