Sunday, August 31, 2014

A visit to Leicester

Last Thursday as a treat, it being my birthday,  we had booked tickets for a one o'clock visit to the new Richard III Visitor Centre which is opposite the cathedral in Leicester.  We drove out towards Burton-on-Trent, Ashby de la Zouche and Coalville and made our way to the nearest park and ride bus service into the city centre which dropped us off very close to where we wanted to be. 


 We started with a visit to the Cathedral  where inside work was underway with the preparations for the re-internment of Richard III next March.


There is an exhibition at the back of the nave showing what the completed tomb will look like and a small model too.


The road between the Visitor Centre and the Cathedral was being pedestrianised, the statue of Richard III, which was previously in Castle Gardens had been placed opposite the centre.


I didn't know what to expect inside the centre as I hadn't seen the exhibition at the nearby Guildhall about the discovery of Richard III's skeleton at the Grey friar's excavation only the Chanel 4 documentaries and a visit to the site of the dig in 2012 (see my post - here)


 The exhibitions within the visitor centre are advertised as Richard III Dynasty Death and Discovery.  On the ground floor the displays are high tech, with audio visual displays which build up the historical context of Richard's life as characters and events drift across the screen behind the throne.  Showing when I took this photo is Cecily Neville and her young son Richard as she takes him to live in the household of his cousin the Earl of Warwick.

I loved the way the information boards were in the guise of large illustrated books and manuscripts.

The gloom inside was lit by the magnificent illustrations and films

Apologies that some of the photos aren't that great but the lighting was changing constantly and it was also hard to take the photos around other visitors but I hope they give you some idea of the colour and action in all the ground floor displays.

 Details from the above illustration

The mystery of the disappearance of the Princes casting a shadow over Richard's reign and reputation.



The White Boar public house in the city where it is recorded the Richard sometimes stayed was hastily renamed The Blue Boar after the Battle of Bosworth.  

 The pendulum of Lord Stanley's sword swings between Richard and Henry Tudor during the battle whose side will be chose to fight on?  He held the balance of power and the outcome of the battle in his hands.

 The second part of the exhibition is white, bright and clinical in a scientific way, as this is the 'Discovery' part of the centre.


The displays start with the story of dig itself, the finding of Richard's body and then the hard technical work of testing the remains to identify them.  The display takes you through the processes of scanning the bones for analysis, radio carbon dating of the bones and genealogy and DNA profiles also the creating of the likeness from the skull.

Again apologies for the quality of some of the photos - the one above was taken through glass.

 
 Above is the much discussed 'white' suit of armour

A reconstruction of Richard's spine showing the effects of Scoliosis.



There is also a display about Shakespeare's interpretation of the life and times of Richard III plus dates of some of the most noted actors who have played the role.  One or two I've seen most memorable being Ian McKellen's 1930s Fascist Dictator Richard at the National Theatre in the 1990s. 


The last part of the display is the most poignant as you walk out over the actual burial site near the altar of the church in Grey friar's priory.  The building itself is cool, calming and suitably contemplative and reverential with it's pale stone walls and pale gold ceiling and doors.  

 Under the glass you can see how the remains lay, hunched up into the quickly created grave, the yellow pegs of the dig still in place.
After a second visit to the upstairs gallery - there is so much to take in - we sat in the courtyard with refreshments.  You can see from the spire how close the Cathedral, where Richard's remains will be re-interred,  is to his first resting place.

20 comments:

  1. Belated Birthday wishes Rosie! My husband's Birthday was on the Wednesday and I knew yours was towards the end of August too! It looks like you had a lovely day in Leicester at the visitor centre. I wonder how true to life the reconstruction is of Richard III's face? Fascinating stuff! x

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    1. Thanks, Simone - the reconstruction of the face is very like the portrait in the Portrait Gallery - except he looks younger. We had a great day:)

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  2. I am so envious, Richard is a hero of mine and it looks like a good job they've done, but I so wish that it could have been York instead of Leicester.

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    1. I still can't believe they found him in my lifetime! He's been a hero of mine too since about 1970 when I first read 'Daughter of Time' by Josephine Tey:)

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  3. Belated birthday wishes Rosie. Because of your connection with Leicester and your interest in Richard III I'm sure you had a very enjoyable day there. The exhibition looks well presented and the city seems well prepared for March.

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    1. Thank you Linda, like your Cathedral in Sheffield - there is much renovation and alteration going on in and around the Cathedral in Leicester which can only be a good thing for the city and the area around it is looking so much better. My next visit, I hope, will be to see the tomb after it has been placed there in March:)

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  4. We've followed this story closely too, so it was really interesting to see your visit to the exhibition.
    I'm with Mac n'Janet on this one though. I really feel he should be buried in York.
    Happy Belated Birthday wishes x

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    1. Thanks, Kathy it's nice to see you here. It has been so fascinating hasn't it? Who would have thought it possible? I'm just glad that he has been found:)

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  5. That looks fascinating. I'm glad they let Leicester keep him. I know he was 'Richard of York' but the city really doesn't need any more attractions, and Leicester has tried hard to make him welcome. I'd have liked to read more of the bit about scoliosis. I was born with it, so I feel a special bond with Richard. I do plan to visit the centre, but I'm going to let the crowds settle down a bit first.

    Happy birthday!

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    1. I'm so glad he was found - Leicester will do him proud I'm sure. It wasn't as busy as I had expected it to be when we were there given the reported length of queues at the first exhibition at the Guildhall. For some reason when I crop and edit my photos in Picasa when I put them on my blog they can't be enlarged. I must find out how to do this. In the meantime I'll send you a copy of the photo unedited so that you can read what the information board says - I only got one side of it though because of the angles and people reading:)

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  6. Excellent display! I was hoping Richard would go back to York, but I'm glad Leicester are happy to have him. We will try to visit as soon as possible.

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    1. Hello and welcome, thanks for visiting. Glad you enjoyed my photos - I think Leicester are more than happy to hold on to him after all these years. I'm sure you will enjoy the visit:)

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  7. I have always liked Josephine Tey's book daughter of time about Richard A very interesting look at how history can become distorted.

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    1. Hello and welcome, thanks for visiting. Daughter of Time was the first book I read about Richard III and I've been interested in him and the whole Wars of the Roses era ever since. It is a fascinating display and well worth a visit:)

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  8. What an interesting visit. The displays and information have clearly been well thought out and very carefully done. xx

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    1. The attention to details was very good and thoughful too - each area was so different and yet as a whole it worked very well plus an excellent use of an old school building too:)

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  9. That sounds fascinating and a good day out.
    A belated Happy Birthday Rosie. x

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    1. Thanks, Jessica - it was a super day out and an excellent birthday treat:)

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  10. I watched an interesting documentary about this recently but I'm not sure if it is the same that you mentioned. In my view, the process to identify him is amazing. I'm glad you had so nice birthday, congratulations!

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    1. Thanks, Dolores - there have been several documentaries recently about finding Richard III's body and the analysing of the bones and etc. All fascinating:)

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