Leicester
 Abbeys |
For all its apparent modernity, the county town of Leicestershire has a long history stretching back some 2000 years; this antiquity is traceable in Leicester's many museums and in the ancient buildings gathered around the city centre.
When the invading Romans reached the site of Leicester in the-mid 1 st century AD, they came upon a small settlement of huts clustered together on a low gravel mound by an island in the River Soar. By the time of the Norman Conquest this site was a part of the territory of the British tribe called Coritani, thus Roman Leicester was called Ratae Coritanorum - capital of Coritani. No relics of the Roman walls around the town survive above ground, but it may be assumed that the rectangular course of the medieval walls, enclosing about 100 acres, more or less preserves the Roman line, as in other English towns. Towards the end of the 1 st century AD the first stages of town planning have been detected through excavation - four internal streets have been clearly identified. Ratae Coritanorum stood at the junction of important Roman roads, the Fosse Way and the Via Devena, and grew to be one of the richest towns in Roman Britain.
Roman Leicester was not deficient in monumental architecture albeit of provincial quality. Relics suggest a theatre, temples and a colonnaded square with many of the houses being affluent enough to possess mosaic floors - an example being the mosaic from High Cross Street. Two fine mosaics survive in situ , both belonging to the early 3 rd century AD. The Blackfriars Pavement, in Blackfriars Street, comprises a 21ft square composition of geometrical flowers and designs and must have originated from a sizeable building. The Peacock Pavement at 50 St Nicholas Street is less delicate, with a formal peacock as centrepiece. Of standing remains the Jewry Wall, close to St Nicholas Circle, has never been lost to sight and is all that remains of the Roman town. It formed part of a complex including a public-bath and shops. The Jewry Wall itself is revealed as a part of the west wall of the basilica of the Forum - the latter being a relatively recent discovery. The Jewry Wall Museum contains excavated Roman finds from the Forum site, as well as relics from other parts of the city.
Before the Romans left in the mid-5 th century another great change came to Leicester, three bishoprics were founded; in the 4 th century the Roman town hall was probably employed for Christian worship. When the Dark Ages fell across Britain, the city walls of Roman Ratae Coritanorum slowly crumbled into ruin, though the Jewry Wall, 75ft in length and 20ft in height, defiantly withstood the rigours of time. Invading Saxons were the next occupants, renaming the place Leircestre, the fortress on what was then the River Leire. The Saxon church of St Nicholas was constructed a few feet away from the Jewry Wall, built largely of Roman stones and tiles taken from the ruined Forum. It is one of the oldest churches in England, the first recorded bishop being in office from AD679. Unmistakable evidence of early Anglo-Saxon influence may be seen in the two windows in the north wall above the arcade, where re-used Roman brick has been employed in the arches. Late in the 11 th century a central tower was added, Early Norman in design.
The Norman Conquest of 1066 is one of the great landmarks in English history. The closing years of the 11 th century introduced an epoch of economic expansion and population growth that lasted until the middle decades of the 14 th century. Leicester epitomised this growth in population and wealth (found most notably in the more favoured regions of the Midlands and southern England, where the population trebled in the two centuries that followed the Conquest). The town is mentioned under the name of Ledecestre in the Domesday Book of 1086, the nation wide survey instigated by William I to access the country's resources for the purpose of taxation.
There was a bishopric of Leicester until 874 when it lapsed for centuries; in fact it was not revived until 1926 when the parish church of St Martins was raised to the station of cathedral, as a consequence of which Leicester became a cathedral city. It had officially gained city status only seven years before this. St Martins is believed to stand on the site of a Saxon church mentioned in the Domesday Book. Its gabled front is flanked by pinnacled buttresses enriched with saints in niches. The nave arcades are 13 th century, while the arches between chancel and chapels are 15 th century. The Bishop's Throne is a splendid sight, about 16ft high it reaches almost to the roof, it's diminishing tiers adorned with tracery and pinnacles.
The medieval town had an Augustinian abbey founded in 1143, which soon became one of the major monastic establishments of Leicestershire. The ruins of Leicester Abbey lie in Abbey Park and in its prime was one of the largest English houses of the order, with 20-30 canons in residence at different times. Cardinal Wolsey died at the abbey in 1530, and a slab marks the presumed site of his grave.
Leicester's other major religious buildings are All Saints Church in High Cross St, dating from about 1300, and 15 th century St Margaret's Church standing in Churchgate. All Saints took its name from an ancient cross replaced in Elizabethan times by a charming 8-sided building with an open arcade and a domed canopy. All Saints incorporates a number of anomalies. One is the unusual position of the embattled tower projecting at the north-west corner of an aisle; another is the fine west doorway, enriched by Norman zigzag and scalloped capitals. The third is a fascinating canopied clock from the period of James I, incorporating a painting of Father Time sitting with hourglass and sphere, and two carved gilded men striking the quarters with their hammers. A wholesome peal of 10 bells rings out from St Margaret's tower, built from the proceeds of the ‘Smoke Farthing', a tax levied on every hearth or fireplace in the parish. With its panelled belfry, buttresses, battlements and pinnacles, the tower, rising 108ft from the ground, is one of the grand sights of this imposing church.
In all Leicester, with its great variety of historic appeal, there is nothing more charming than the Guildhall, now fulfilling the role of museum. On the north side of its quadrangle the hall is divided by timber arches into five bays. The three eastern bays comprised the original hall founded in 1347 as a meeting-place for members of the Corpus Christi Guild. The other two bays were added in the 15 th century when the hall was utilised as a committee room for the mayor and corporation, this usage continued until the 19 th century. The Mayor's Parlour, adjoining the great hall, was built early in the reign of Henry VII, a lofty room turned into a three-storied building during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Library includes a collection of antique books, brought here in 1632, having been kept for years in the belfry of St Martin's Church. Amongst these precious books, numbering about 900, are the Codex Leicestriensis , a Treacle Bible and a Latin Grammar bearing Ben Jonson's autograph.
Several attractive 18 th century buildings survive in Leicester, among them Belgrave Hall, a fine house of Queen Anne's day, now a museum of furniture. Farm implements and old coaches are displayed in the stables. There are Georgian town houses in Friar Lane and New Street. New Walk, running from the city centre for one mile to Victoria Park, is a tree-lined traffic-free residential avenue laid out in 1785. The Museum and Art Gallery is located in New Walk, in a building designed by J.A.Hanson in 1849 - the same man who patented the horse-drawn cab that bears his name. The city centre is distinguished by a Gothic clock tower dated 1868, bearing the name of Simon de Montfort together with other city benefactors - this is possibly Leicester's best known landmark. The market square, lying just behind Gallowtree Gate, is still in daily use as a livestock market, as it has been since the 13 th century - a timely reminder that Leicester lies at the heart of an agricultural county.