Festival of archaeology will be held in historic village near Harborough

A fascinating fortnight of archaeology is to be held in an historic village near Market Harborough next month.

Hallaton Festival of Archaeology is to be staged from Saturday July 16 to Sunday July 31 in St Michael’s Church.

The event will tell the extraordinary story of over 2,000 years of pilgrims’ journeys to an ordinary hillside on the edge of the Harborough village.

The new Hallaton Tapestry relates how late Iron Age Britons travelled there to feast and left their cherished treasure.

The magical saga continues with Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Normans.

In the 13th Century a lord built a chapel dedicated to St Morrell on the hillside.

And it became the destination of pilgrims from all over the country for more than 300 years.

As a result the village of Hallaton grew to become one of the biggest and most important towns in Leicestershire.

The last recorded pilgrimage occurred during the reign of King Henry VIII, who sat on the throne from 1509 to 1547.

The site of St Morrell’s Chapel was excavated in 2013 as its grisly secrets were revealed.

Nearly 30 skeletons were found buried by the chapel.

And isotope analysis established who they were and where they came from - one Pilgrim may even have travelled from North Africa.

Hallaton Festival of Archaeology tells this story of history through exhibitions, guided walks and talks by local and national personalities.