Leicester
| City of Leicester | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Unitary, City (1919) |
| Region: | East Midlands |
| Ceremonial County: | Leicestershire |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 276th 73.32 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Leicester |
| ONS code: | 00FN |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density | Ranked 21st 283,578 3,868 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 63.9% White 29.9% S.Asian 3.1% Afro-Carib. |
| Politics | |
| Leicester City Council http://www.leicester.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | Liberal Democrats + Conservative |
| MPs: | Parmjit Singh Gill, Patricia Hewitt, Keith Vaz |
Leicester (pronounced Lester) is a city in the English Midlands, on the River Soar. It is the traditional county town of Leicestershire (the administrative centre now being Glenfield). It lies on the edge of the National Forest. The 2001 census recorded a population of 279,921.
The city is next to the M1 motorway, and is on the Midland Main Line between London and Sheffield. High-speed trains operated by Midland Mainline can reach London in just over an hour. It is also served by rail lines to Birmingham and Coventry via Nuneaton, and by a line to Peterborough.
The urban area spreads outside the boundaries of the city proper, and includes Oadby, Wigston, Braunstone Town, Glenfield, Blaby, Thurmaston, Syston, and Leicester Forest East.
Major industries in Leicester today include food processing, hosiery, footwear, knitwear, engineering, electronics, printing and plastics.
Leicester is home to two universities, the University of Leicester (Royal Charter 1957) and De Montfort University (founded 1992 from Leicester Polytechnic), and has an Anglican cathedral of St Martin's.
The city centre is mainly Victorian with some later developments, which have usually been integrated in smoothly. The heart of the city centre is the Clock Tower, which is at the intersection of five routes into the city - High Street, Churchgate, Belgrave Gate, Humberstone Gate, and Gallowtree Gate. Today the latter two are pedestrianised, and vehicles restricted on the others, making it very pedestrian-friendly. The city centre is home to the Haymarket and the Shires shopping centres, both of which face the clock tower. Leicester Market, Europe's largest covered market, is nearby.
In 1990 it was designated the UK's first Environment City, and won the European Sustainable City Award in 1996.
Venues include the Haymarket Theatre, the Phoenix Arts Centre, and the De Montfort Hall.
Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England with a history going back nearly 2000 years. Leicester was founded in AD 50 by the Romans, as a military settlement upon the Fosse Way Roman road. The Romans named it Ratae Coritanorum, named after the Corieltauvi, the Celtic tribe that dwelt in the area before they arrived.
Ratae Coritanorum grew into an important trading and military centre and one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. The 'Jewry Wall', still to be seen at Leicester, is basically the remaining wall of the forum of Roman Leicester along with foundations of the baths. It is quite large and impressive and has a visitors' centre attached.
The Roman town was largely abandoned when the Romans left Britain in the 5th century, but was later re-settled by Saxons. Some of the Roman street layout has survived to this day - Gallowtree Gate and Market Place run side-by-side, and are separated by where the eastern wall of the city used to be.
It is believed the name "Leicester" is derived from the words castra (camp) of the Ligore, meaning dwellers on the 'River Legro' (an early name for the River Soar).
In the 8th century it was recorded as Legro Ceaster. The Doomsday book three centuries later recorded it as Ledecestre probably a corrupted version of those words. The name has gradually corrupted to its current form over the centuries. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that it was named after King Lear, but this is not generally accepted.
In the 9th century, Leicester was captured by the Danes (Vikings) and became one of the five boroughs (fortified towns) of Danelaw although this position was short lived.
Leicester had become a town of considerable importance by Medieval times. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'civitas' (city), but Leicester lost its city status in the 11th century owing to power struggles between the Church and the aristocracy. It was eventually re-made a city in 1919, and the Church of St Martin made Leicester Cathedral in 1927.
With the construction of the Grand Union Canal in the 1790s which linked Leicester to London and Birmingham, Leicester began rapid industrialisation. The main industries being hosiery, footwear and engineering.
By 1832 railways had arrived in Leicester with the opening of the Leicester and Swannington Railway which provided a supply of coal to the town from nearby collieries. By 1840 the Midland Counties Railway had linked Leicester to the national railway network which further boosted industrial growth.
The borough expanded throughout the 19th century, most notably in 1892 annexing Belgrave, Aylestone and North Evington.
The City of Leicester's coat of arms was first granted to the city at the Heraldic Visitation of 1619, and is based on the arms of the First Earl of Leicester, Robert Beaumont.
After Leicester became a city in 1919, the city council applied to add to the arms, permission for which was granted in 1929, when the supporting lions, from the Lancastrian Earls of Leicester, were added.
The motto "Semper Eadem" was the Motto of Queen Elizabeth I who granted a royal charter to the city. It means "always the same". The crest on top of the arms is a white or silver legless wyvern with red and white wounds showing, on a wreath of red and white. The supporting Lions are wearing coronets in the form of collars, with the white cinquefoil hanging from them.
On April 1, 1997, Leicester was removed from Leicestershire and made into an independent unitary authority.
Leicester is divided into three Parliamentary constituencies. Leicester East and Leicester West are represented by Keith Vaz and Patricia Hewitt respectively - both members of the Labour Party. The third seat, Leicester South, was left vacant in May 2004, following the untimely death of Labour politician Jim Marshall - the Leicester South by-election was held on July 15, and was won by Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats with a 21% swing.
After a long period of Labour administration (since 1979), the city council is now (since May 2003) being run by a Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition.
Sports teams include Leicester City F.C (soccer), Leicester Tigers (rugby union), Leicester Riders (basketball), and the Leicestershire County Cricket Club. The city has also hosted British and World track cycling championships at its Saffron Lane velodrome. Leicester is now sometimes regarded (by its inhabitants at least) as the sporting capital of the UK.
Recent titles won by local teams
To celeberate the successes of 1997-98, the Leicester Mercury organised the placement of a statue portraying a cricketer, a footballer, and a rugby-player on Gallowtree Gate, not far from the Clock Tower at the heart of the city.
Leicester is twinned with
General information
The Clock TowerHistory
Leicester's Coat of Arms
Politics in Leicester
Sport in Leicester
The Sports Statue on Gallowtree GateTowns, villages and places of interest
Famous people from Leicester
Twinning
Local radio stations
The local DAB multiplex has the following stations:
Local publications
External Links
| Districts of England - East Midlands | |
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Administrative counties with multiple districts: Derbyshire - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire - Northamptonshire - Nottinghamshire |