Leicester Market archaeology talk at Guildhall on 21 July

Name: The Archaeology of Leicester Market by Joseph Peters
Start: 2026-07-21T14:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-07-21T15:00:00+01:00
Location: The Guildhall

demoduck.co.uk editorial team 2026-07-21 09:52 3 min read

An archaeological site with excavated ruins and standing stone columns under a protective roof.

Two thousand years of Leicester Market history will be compressed into a one-hour presentation at The Guildhall on Tuesday 21 July. Site Director Joseph Peters will introduce discoveries from the excavation, including a Roman coin hoard and evidence of a medieval covered building.

The Archaeology of Leicester Market by Joseph Peters runs from 2pm to 3pm at The Guildhall, Guildhall Lane, Leicester, LE1 5FQ. Standard admission is £6, and the published event listing states that booking is available.

Anyone curious about Leicester’s past can hear directly from the archaeologist leading the market excavation. Rather than approaching the site through a single period, the talk follows finds spanning more than 2,000 years.

Roman coins and a market building centuries apart

One of the presentation’s central discoveries is a hoard of Roman coins dating from the fourth century. The find provides the earliest of the two highlighted points in the event programme and places activity at the market site deep within Leicester’s Roman-era history.

Peters will also discuss archaeological evidence for the market’s first medieval covered building. That structure has been dated to the 15th century, more than a millennium after the Roman coin hoard.

Together, the discoveries show why an excavation of a familiar city location can reveal several distinct layers of occupation and use. The talk’s focus is not simply on individual objects: it connects material found below Leicester Market with the changing use of the site across Roman and medieval periods.

Leicester Market archaeology talk at Guildhall on 21 July

The presentation is led by the excavation’s Site Director, giving attendees an opportunity to hear the principal findings organised around the work carried out at the market. The published description does not provide a complete list of discoveries, so the Roman hoard and medieval building evidence are the two confirmed programme highlights.

An hour inside Leicester’s Guildhall

The venue for the presentation is The Guildhall, on Guildhall Lane in central Leicester. Doors or arrival arrangements are not specified in the listing, but the scheduled performance time is 2pm to 3pm.

The event has been listed as a talk or presentation rather than a tour of the excavation. No accessibility, transport or audience guidance is supplied, so visitors who require specific arrangements should confirm them directly with the venue or event organiser before attending.

The listing identifies a standard ticket price of £6 and carries a “Book now” instruction. It does not state whether tickets will be available at the door, making advance booking the only entry route explicitly indicated by the source.

Date, price and booking details

Event: The Archaeology of Leicester Market by Joseph Peters
Date: Tuesday 21 July 2026
Time: 2pm to 3pm
Venue: The Guildhall, Guildhall Lane, Leicester, LE1 5FQ
Price: £6 standard admission
Format: Talk and presentation
Confirmed highlights: A fourth-century Roman coin hoard and evidence of a 15th-century covered market building
Booking status: The event listing says “Book now”

The event information was published by Visit Leicester using listing data supplied to Leicester City Council by Phylum Forge Limited trading as Data Thistle. The source warns that event information may change, so attendees should check the current time, ticket availability and entry arrangements with the venue or organiser before travelling.

Source: Visit Leicester Events

Context & actions About this article

Source check How the details were checked

The preview uses the date, venue, price, schedule and excavation highlights stated in the Visit Leicester event listing.

Checks

Checked the scheduled date and 2pm to 3pm running time.
Checked The Guildhall address and £6 standard admission price.
Matched the confirmed Roman coin hoard and medieval building evidence to the event descrip...
Kept missing accessibility, transport and door-ticket arrangements clearly identified as u...

Visit Leicester Events Check wider coverage