Plans for the reinterment of Richard III announced

The plans for the reinterment of Richard III in Leicester Cathedral next year have been announced. And you cannot accuse the city of stinting on the occasion.

On Sunday 22 March a hearse containing his remains will leave the University of Leicester and visit the site of his death, Fenn Lane Farm near Stoke Golding.

It will also visit the nearby villages of Sutton Cheney and Dadlngton, where some of the dead from the Battle of Bosworth are buried.

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, will then lead a short ceremony at the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre in the early afternoon.

The cortege will go on to visit Market Bosworth, Newbold Verdon and Desford on its way back to Leicester.

The Leicester Mercury report goes on:

The king’s mortal remains will re-enter the city in mid-afternoon at Bow Bridge, where they will be greeted by the City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, and the Lord Mayor Councillor John Thomas. 

A horse-drawn hearse will then be used to complete the final section of the king’s journey from Bow Bridge through the city centre to the cathedral, where the Dean of Leicester, the Very Revd David Monteith, will meet the coffin just before 6pm. 

Dr Richard Buckley, lead archaeologist in the hunt for Richard’s remains, will then formally pass of the Ministry of Justice licence - granted to the university for the remains of the king - to the Dean of Leicester. 

At that point, the responsibility for the king passes from the university to the church. King Richard’s coffin will be carried into the cathedral for an evening service of Compline, at which the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, will preach the sermon.

King Richard’s remains will lie in repose within the cathedral on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, during which time members of the public will be invited to visit the cathedral to pray and pay their respects. 

The re-burial service will take place on Thursday March 26.

I think this week in March will be a big deal for Leicester, but I also find the prospect of it oddly moving.