Richard III & the Car Park

[Monty]

The last couple of weeks the site has been barried off and left open.

No men, women, diggers, kit, just that.

Then today.....

Im passing that way on my way home, will see if anything has happened.

Cheers
Monty

[Monty]

Update

Around 90% of the site has been filled in now.

The small percentage remaining is the spot on and around where the alledged body of Richard III was found.

Monty

[Phil H]

Could be they are interested in soil tests which might turn up additional material.

Alternatively - they have plans for that spot - or the TV documentary have an interest.

Thanks Monty - you're a star!

Phil H

[Errata]

Did they just stop digging once they found the male remains, or were those the only two remains found on the whole site?

[Monty]

Funding

Monty

[Phil H]

In what way funding, Monty - not enough?

[Monty]

I think so Phil,

Plus the geography of the site. Not many open spaces to dig up unless you knock down thew former School or are willing to dig main roads up.

The council are push for a museum to be set up, so I'm guessing they are taking stock.

Monty

[Steve S]

After the way they cut the Hours at Jewry Wall,that'd be a cheek!

[Archaic]

Move Him To York?

Thanks for the update, Neil.

Apparently there are some who believe the remains (should they prove to be Richard's) should be buried in York.

I'm curious what people think of this. It seems to me if he's not going to end up in Westminster Abbey or someplace like that (which I doubt will happen), it's reasonable for his remains to stay in Leicester.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/oct/09/king-richard-iii-body-bones-burial-york-online-petition

Best regards,
Archaic

[Phil H]

I am pretty certain, in my own mind that Leicester will remain RIII's resting place (assuming the remains are proven to be his). I have said so from the beginning.

The basic reason is that the City has been his place of rest for 500+ years and it would require VERY strong arguments to say that he should now go elsewhere because he is special/royal. That argument might have worked in Victorian times, even to the mid-C20th, but I think would be less resonant now, when there no longer seems to be a view that LONDOn should have everything.

If Richard were to prove a popular tourist draw - then Leicester could well argue that it was being denied that income. York, emotion aside, seems to me to have no claim at all. (Rural, remote, Fotheringhay, the mausoleum of his house, might be argued to have a prior claim!!)

No, I think Richard will remain in Leicester and that any discussion might well centre on whether he is laid under the memorial slab already put in place (some years ago) by the RIII Society, or whether - now we have a body - he deserves a more elaborate tomb - perhaps a "reconstruction" of his old one at the Greyfriars with a 3D effigy. I am sure the RIII Society would have no problems in raising funds by subscription, so there would be no charge to the community or taxpayer.

Someone inderred earlier that a Council-funded museum in Leicester would be a strange thing given current cuts to public services. Personally, I am not sure what a museum would comprise, but surely if it were to become a tourist attraction then investment for the future would be a good thing, contributing to growth and job creation. I recall the great RIII exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in the 70s (I still treasure the catalogue) but it brought together precious objects from many sources. I doubt Leicester would be able to do that on a permanent basis. So what would a museum include - information, reconstructions?? Would that attract many people?

On York's claims to Richard's bones: what do they comprise? That Richard was revered there and commented on favourably even after his death? He never LIVED in York. He had a second coronation there and made his son Prince of Wales but is that a claim? His home was mainly Middleman in Wensleydale it appears. His House was called "York" but he was never Duke of york or called Richard of YORK - Gloucester, his ducal title has a cathedral, so on that basis why not reinter him there?

No, Leicester has the most solid claims and my money rests on his remaining there.

Phil H

[Monty]

Update

For those who are interested.

An excavation tent has been erected over the last open trench.

Information notices about the dig have been removed.

I guess they are awaiting the DNA test and a descion on what heppens next.

Monty

[Phil H]

Thanks for the update, Monty, much appreciated.

I remain keenly interested in this discovery.

Phil H

[Bridewell]

Thanks for the update, Monty, much appreciated.

I remain keenly interested in this discovery.

Phil H

So do I. (I'm amazed that this thread has run to 38 pages though!)

Regards, Bridewell.

[Bridewell]

Leicester Cathedral

For those who are interested.

An excavation tent has been erected over the last open trench.

Information notices about the dig have been removed.

I guess they are awaiting the DNA test and a descion on what heppens next.

Monty

Just a quick update:- according to the Mail on Sunday, if the DNA tests show that the body found is that of Richard III, the remains will be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral.

Regards, Bridewell.

[Monty]

That's official Colin.

I believe the Government has confirm precedent that such 'discoveries' of bodies are reinterred in the nearest Church which, in this case, is Leicester Cathedral.

Monty