See DMU's links to Richard III as we mark the anniversary of his reburial

The two remaining arches of the Church of the Annunciation can be viewed by the public this weekend, as De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) marks the first anniversary of the reburial of Richard III.

DMU TALENT: Students who helped design the centre with the Vice-Chancellor

The arches form the centrepiece of a permanent exhibition at DMU’s Heritage Centre which recalls the historical importance of the Newarke area and its role in the Richard III story, as well as recording the university’s development since its foundation as the Leicester School of Art in 1870.

The Church of the Annunciation is famous for being the place where the battle-scarred remains of Richard III were placed after the Battle of Bosworth to ensure the citizens of Leicester knew he was dead. His body was then taken away and buried in the Greyfriars Friary.

The church arches were unearthed in 1935 when an extension was being built for the university’s Hawthorn Building and they have stood preserved in the basement of that building ever since.

The Heritage Centre, which will open from 10am to 3pm on Saturday, was built around the arches and opened in the same month that the eyes of the world focussed on Leicester Cathedral to witness the reburial of Richard III. DMU Interior Design, Design Crafts and Architecture students helped create the centre.

It has proved to be a popular draw on the Leicester tourist trail with 3,000 people visiting in the first three months of opening.

Creating a fitting home for the remaining church arches was not the only contribution DMU made to commemorate the reburial of Richard III on Thursday 26 March last year.

DMU academics’ work is on display at the Richard III Visitor Centre, in Peacock Lane.

The award-winning centre celebrates the discovery by the University of Leicester of the remains of Richard III, which were buried under a car park where the former Greyfriars Friary once stood.

De Montfort University’s Digital Building Heritage Group has created a stunning fly-through of the Franciscan friary as it would have looked at the time of Richard III.

While Geoff Trevor, sculpture technician at DMU and conservation expert, has recreated the famously crooked spine using vertebrae created by Loughborough University.

DMU Design Crafts 2011 graduate Perin Towlson designed and created the ceramic pots into which was placed samples of soil from where Richard III was born, lived and died. The soils were laid around his coffin by the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reburial.

And the Digital Building Heritage Group also produced the first 3D model of the Church of the Annunciation

Ten DMU students also helped prepare Leicester Cathedral for the reburial service when they worked with Royal Florist Rosemary Hughes.