Another mystery coffin has been found in a tomb next to Richard III’s final resting place.
Archaeologists discovered the 600-year-old casket yesterday morning beneath a second lead coffin, believed to hold medieval knight Sir William Moton.
Site director Matthew Morris, who discovered the former king last August, said the latest development is rare and exciting.
Mr Morris said: ‘For me, this is more exciting than Richard III.
The lead-lined coffin was discovered when the first excavation was carried out last year but it was left undisturbed while work concentrated on the king’s burial spot
‘I think that’s because there wasn’t that expectation to find Richard – we never thought we would actually uncover him.
‘Here, we have an element of mystery, we don’t really know who’s inside.
‘I just haven’t come across a stone tomb with an interior lead coffin before.
‘You can tell it’s a high-status grave because of the expense of the lead and the effort of making the stone tomb.
‘We can’t really be sure about what’s happened to the grave over the past 600 years, but the lid of the coffin doesn’t match the rest of it and there’s some damage to the mortar so it looks like it might have been opened.’
Eight people were needed to lift the stone lid of the 14th century coffin, which will now go to the University of Leicester for analysis.
The remains are encased in 5mm-thick lead. But the exposed feet, and some damage to the lead, suggest the corpse was dug up and reburied hundreds of years ago.
A crucifix embellished on the lid suggests religious valuables may have been placed in the coffin but removed some time later, according to lead diggers.
The team discovered the tomb containing the lead coffin last August but recovered it to concentrate on excavating Richard III.
The casket is the first fully intact stone coffin found in Leicester, and is likely to contain a high-status burial – although experts do not know who is buried within.
Grey Friars site director Mathew Morris, of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), said: ‘Stone coffins are unusual in Leicester – and this is the first time we have found a fully intact stone coffin during all our excavations of medieval sites in the city.’
Experts suspect the grave could belong to one of three prestigious figures known to buried at the friary.
These include two leaders of the English Grey Friars order – Peter Swynsfeld, who died in 1272, and William of Nottingham, who died in 1330.
Records also suggest the friary contains the grave of ‘a knight called Mutton, sometime mayor of Leicester’.
This may be 14th century knight Sir William de Moton of Peckleton, who died between 1356 and 1362.
The ULAS team also hope the dig will help to uncover more details about Richard III’s burial and its place within the Grey Friars church, as well as a much clearer picture of the church’s layout, dimensions and architecture.
Experts suspect the coffin could contain two leaders of the English Grey Friars order – Peter Swynsfeld, who died in 1272, and William of Nottingham, who died in 1330. Records also suggest the friary contains the grave of ‘a knight called Mutton, sometime mayor of Leicester’
The University of Leicester Archaeological Services team also hope the new dig may help to uncover more details about Richard III’s burial and its place within the Grey Friars church, as well as a much clearer picture of the church’s layout, dimensions and architecture
Experts are investigating the remains of a group of friars who were beheaded by Henry IV in the early 15th century too.
The story suggests they met their end after they subscribed to the rumour that the deposed King Richard II was still alive and were providing money for rebels who aimed to topple his successor, Henry IV.
Archaeologists have made a large trench measuring 25m by 17m around the area where Richard’s skeleton was found.
They has uncovered the north-east end of the church, including the choir area and the walking place around the main tower of the building.
The trench runs between Leicester City Council’s Grey Friars car park and the neighbouring car park of the former Alderman Newton School.
Richard III was discovered squashed into a very small and badly prepared ‘lozenge’-shaped pit as gravediggers rushed to bury him
Richard III was identified by analysing his his curved spine – he was reputed to have a hunched back – and the injuries he was reported to have sustained. During the latest dig, archaeologists will make a large trench measuring 25m by 17m around the area where his skeleton was found
HOW EXPERTS FOUND RICHARD III’S UNLIKELY LAST RESTING PLACE
It was one woman’s hunch led to the discovery of the skeleton which has now been proven to be that of Richard III.
Screenwriter Philippa Langley said she felt a chill on a hot summer’s day in 2009 as she walked through the area where it was thought he was buried.
Miss Langley initially funded the excavation of what is now a Leicester City Council car park because she was ’99 per cent certain’ that the remains were those of Richard.
The team have secured permission to remove part of the Victorian wall separating the two areas.
The site of Richard III’s burial place has been temporarily secured to protect it from the digging work during the excavation.
Richard Buckley, lead archaeologist, said: ‘We hope this dig will expand the context of Richard III’s grave. We also want to preserve the grave’s relationship with the rest of the site.
We want to leave some evidence of later activities on the site – including how close it was to the Victorian outhouse.
‘What drives us with the project is learning more about medieval Leicester and one of its great religious houses.
‘We hope this dig is going to give us a definitive plan of the dimensions and architecture of the church.
‘We may be able to recover more fragments. We might learn more about the dissolution of the church, and we might learn more about what was there before the friary.’
