Leicester's Highcross shopping centre dig team up for award

Experts found a Roman cemetery in the Oxford Street area of the city

Archaeologists who uncovered traces of a city's Roman and medieval past under what is now a city shopping centre are up for a national award.

A team of University of Leicester experts excavated the area of the Highcross shopping centre.

Their discoveries cast light on the how the city's inhabitants used to live.

The team has been nominated in the 2023 Current Archaeology Awards for Research Project of the Year.

Excavations showed how Leicester had ties with Roman North Africa

Teams from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) dug the area before the original Shires shopping centre was constructed in 1991 and then again when it was extended and renamed from 2003 to 2006.

The nomination follows ULAS research being published in a book tracing the development of the Roman and medieval town, beginning some 2,000 years ago.

The university said the research demonstrates there was a vibrant and diverse community living within opulent town houses decorated with mosaics and wall paintings.

It also revealed links between Leicester and the wider Roman Empire and starts to tell the story of the city's early migrant population.

The research also covers the "lost" medieval parish churches of St Peter and St Michael, demolished 500 years ago, and the 1,600 burials that surrounded them.

Archaeologists at work in Leicester's Highcross Street where the shopping centre now stands

ULAS project officer Mathew Morris said: "We are delighted with the nomination for Current Archaeology's Research Project of the Year.

"Leicester is one of the most excavated cities in Britain and it is a privilege to be able to share the results of our work with a wide audience.

"Our research is providing fascinating new insights into Leicester's past, whose ancient inhabitants were clearly as diverse as those who reside in the city today."

Votes can be cast on the Current Archaeology Awards website until 1 February 2023.