The real grave site
The original grave cut under a glass floor, with a light projection tracing the bones exactly as they lay in 2012.
On the morning of 25 August 2012, on the very first day of digging beneath a Leicester council car park, a pair of human leg bones surfaced surprisingly close to the tarmac. They belonged to Richard III, the last English king to die in battle, whose grave had been lost since 1485 and whose bones, so the story went, had been thrown into the river. This centre was built over that exact spot, inside a former Victorian school, and opened in summer 2014 to tell how DNA from a Canadian-born descendant of the king's sister closed the case. The route splits neatly in two. The ground floor is the man and his age: the Wars of the Roses, the vanished princes in the Tower, the field at Bosworth where he fell. Upstairs is the better half, a proper detective story: how the archaeologists chose the site, what the skeleton revealed (a curved spine, eleven wounds, nine of them to the skull), and how a face was rebuilt from the skull. You get a full replica skeleton, a suit of armour and hands-on displays on isotope and DNA analysis. The real bones are not here; the king was reburied in March 2015 in Leicester Cathedral, directly across the street. The finale is what stays with you: a hushed room where the actual grave cut lies under a glass floor, with a light projection tracing the bones as they were found, folded into a hole too short for the body. Then cross to the cathedral, which is free, to see the new stone tomb, and the whole visit is done in two hours at most. There is a lift, level paths for pushchairs and wheelchairs, a small cafe and seating in every gallery. Worth the detour? For anyone who enjoys English history or a good archaeological whodunnit, absolutely, and it is the best reason to give Leicester half a day between London and Manchester or the North. Children under ten may glaze over on the text-heavy ground floor and perk up at the science upstairs; kids go free in September and October. The centre shuts early, at 16:00 most days, with last entry 90 minutes before closing, so do not leave it until the end of the afternoon.
The original grave cut under a glass floor, with a light projection tracing the bones exactly as they lay in 2012.
A replica skeleton, the battle wounds, the DNA match and the face rebuilt from the skull.
The king's new stone tomb sits in Leicester Cathedral, free to enter, and completes the story.
4A St Martins, Old Town, Leicester LE1 5DB
No. The skeleton on display is a replica; the remains were reburied in 2015 beneath a stone tomb in Leicester Cathedral opposite, which is free to enter. What is genuine here is the grave cut itself, under glass.
The ground floor is text-heavy and under-tens may drift, but the science floor and the grave room hold attention, and there is a lift for pushchairs. With children free in September and October it is an easy ninety-minute call.