Reburial of Richard III in March 2015

King Richard lll will be reinterred in March 2015

The date of the service in which Richard lll will be finally laid to rest will be Thursday the 26th March 2015. This is one of three services planned, which will remember the life and death of the only Monarch of England without a marked grave.

The mortal remains of Richard lll will be received into the care of the Cathedral on the evening of the 22nd March. Here he will lie in repose for three days. On the morning of Thursday 26th he will be reburied. The following days, Friday 27th and Saturday 28th of March, will mark the end of the journey with the tomb being revealed and with yet another service to mark the completion of the reinterment.

At a press-meeting the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt. Revd. Tim Stevens said: “Our cathedral has been consistently committed to providing a fitting, dignified and memorable ceremony for the reinterment of King Richard. We can now see how this works out in detail and our city and county look forward to all the events of next spring.”

The Very Revd. David Monteith said: “King Richard’s reinterment in Leicester Cathedral will proclaim afresh his Christian hope in the resurrection. We are now preparing with great care to offer him lasting sanctuary and peace.”

Procession

The service will form part of a 7-day programme of events in Leicester and Leicestershire, centred on Richard lll. On Sunday 22nd March the University of Leicester – whose team discovered King Richard III and formally identified him after extensive research – will transfer the mortal remains into a lead-lined coffin, with which they will travel from Leicester to Bosworth, remembering the life the King lost and his journey in 1485. Villages on the way will be included, remembering key moments of King Richard’s last days.

Whether or not the Committee has planned for the necessary security while carting his dead body around, has not been unveiled. However, it would not be the first time medieval relics were pinched and one never knows what crackpots will be roaming the countryside. Nevertheless the plan is to return to the  “city with honour and dignity, accompanied by a dignified cortege and as befitting a king.” The coffin will arrive at the Cathedral in the early evening. Here it will be transferred into the care of The Church during a service of reception.

For three days King Richard lll will then lie in repose, in his coffin and covered with a commissioned pall. Special arrangements will be in place to allow as many as possible to visit, to pay their respect and to pray. Attendance at the Cathedral services will be by invitation of the Dean.

The service of reinterment will however be broadcast live on Channel 4 with a programme of highlights shown that evening.

Channel 4 will be covering the events of the week, and will be the only national broadcaster to relay the service of reinterment live. A series of programmes will surround this extraordinary event, covering the extensive work undertaken behind the scenes for the reburial, the discoveries made by scientists analysing his bones, the history of Richard’s reign and the impact of the discovery on the people of Leicester. The programmes will feature historians, scientists and representatives of the City of Leicester, the University of Leicester team which carried out the dig, the Looking for Richard project who originated the search and the Richard III Society.

Channel 4 Commissioning Editor John Hays said: “Having been there at the start of this extraordinary story, we’re proud to be working with our partners in Leicester to bring this, its culmination, to the country and the world. I simply cannot think of any comparable event and so am hugely looking forward to what promises to be a unique national moment.”

Patron

His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester is to be Patron of Leicester Cathedral’s King Richard III Appeal in support of the Cathedral’s plans to reinter the medieval king in spring 2015.

The Appeal target is £2.5m and the Cathedral has already raised nearly £1 million. It is working with trusts and foundations, private individuals and businesses to reach its fundraising target. A group of leading citizens within Leicester and London are actively helping and supporting the Cathedral in this task.

The patronage is highly appropriate since Richard was Duke of Gloucester before he was crowned king in 1483. This title was conferred upon him by his elder brother, King Edward IV.

David Monteith, Dean of Leicester, said: “This is a huge boost not just for the Appeal but for the whole of Leicester. It demonstrates, beyond all doubt, that our Cathedral and city are well equipped to undertake this responsibility on behalf of the entire nation. We are now very well advanced in our plans and look forward to reinterring Richard next year with dignity and with honour.”

Building Work

The building work to create a space for the tomb of King Richard lll has begun this week.

Contractors: Fairhurst Ward Abbots have long experience in conservation works, having worked on Buckingham Palace, Ely Cathedral, Leicester’s Magazine Gateway and most recently Chatsworth Hall in Derbyshire.

They will start by carefully screening off the entire area of works, before moving on to the major tasks. This will begin with the careful dismantling of existing wooden screens and removal of furnishings, and the taking up of existing stone floors, much of which will be relocated within the new arrangements. Later in the works the new grave space will be dug and lined.   The main above ground works for the tomb itself will be added in after this phase of work is completed.

Matt Webster of FWA said: “We are delighted to have the privilege of being part of the Richard lll story. It is a great honour to be asked to create a resting place for a king, especially in Leicester’s delightful Cathedral.”

There will be an opportunity for the public to view the works as they proceed by means of observation windows cut into the main screening – and Channel 4 will be installing a time-lapse camera to record the entire process from start to finish.

The Final Tomb

The final design of the tomb has also been unveiled. Where earlier design placed the sarcophagi on a white rose, It is now place on a plinth of black Kilkenny marble and placed on chequered floor. However the tomb is still made of Swaledale fossil stone and looks as before.

READ MORE:

The Life and Times of Richard III

The Discovery of Richard III

 

SUBSCRIBE

Get our Medieval News with links to our premium content

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.