IT IS a legend which stretches back to 1485 but the mystery has been reignited after a stone coffin believed to be Richard III’s was unearthed in Earl Shilton.

The ancient coffin was discovered in the grounds of a house on Candle Lane by the property’s former gardener, Reg Colver.

Archaeologists believe the sarcophagus dates from the time Richard died and could have once been in Greyfriars Church, Leicester, where the king was apparently buried.

Legend has it that after Richard’s death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 he was buried in Greyfriars but his grave was ransacked 50 years later and his bones thrown into the River Soar.

His coffin is then said to have been given to the landlord of Leicester’s White Horse Inn, where it was used as a water trough before being broken up to repair the yard in 1758.

An episode of BBC 1’s The One Show explored the mystery on Monday night, with Dan Snow.

Mr Colver, 69, from Jersey Way, Barwell, first became aware of the coffin when the owners of the house, where he worked as a gardener, told him what it was.

He added that he started to think it may be Richard III’s coffin after watching a TV programme on the subject.

He said: “It can never be proved that it is his coffin but then I don’t think it can be disproved either.

“It’s from that era anyway, so who knows? It is part of history and so hopefully it will go on display and local children can go and look at it.

“It’s a very interesting thing and I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t lost.”

But Richard Knox, from the Battle of Bosworth Heritage Centre, said that although it would not be ruled out, he was confident the unearthed coffin - discovered on the site of a new housing development - is not that of the king.

He said “This is unlikely to be Richard’s coffin for a number of reasons. Richard’s coffin was reportedly a different style with head and shoulders cut out but this one is a simple, tapering coffin.

“It is also quite possible that Richard’s coffin is still buried at the church at Greyfriars and was never dug up at all.

“However, it is quite possible this is a coffin dug up from the Greyfriars and we know that it was used as an animal trough in Leicester, before it was brought to Earl Shilton in 1903. This is why the idea of it being Richard’s coffin came about.

“(The coffin) is an important medieval artefact in its own right, it also shows the strength of the Bosworth myth which makes all local medieval finds somehow relevant to Richard and the Battle of Bosworth.”