Revealing the lives of the inhabitants of Leicester – May 2026.

At Leicester Cathedral on May 7, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, the first of the Summer Talks programme begins with ‘Revealing the lives of the inhabitants of Leicester: Preliminary analysis of post-medieval remains from Leicester Cathedral‘.

In 2021-2022, excavations at Leicester Cathedral revealed the remains of over 1100 individuals dating from the high medieval period through to the mid 19th century. Analysis of the first 100 individuals excavated from the Post-Medieval layers is starting to reveal more information about the lives of the inhabitants of the city.

This talk with renowned experts from the Univeristy of Leicester outlines the impact of the burial conditions on the individuals skeletons before discussing major conditions that affected the people during their lives, including their oral health, joint diseases, infectious diseases, trauma, and patterns of tobacco use.