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Top Attractions in Leicestershire

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest. It is the burial place of King Richard III. In the 2011 census the population of the Leicester unitary authority was 330,000, making it the largest unitary authority in the East Midlands region and the tenth largest city in the United Kingdom. "Unlike almost every other city in the UK, Leicester has retained a remarkable record of its past in buildings that still stand today". Ancient Roman pavements and baths remain in Leicester from its early settlement as Ratae, a Roman military outpost in a region inhabited by the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe. Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain, the early medieval Ratae is shrouded in obscurity, but when the settlement was captured by the Danes it became one of five fortified towns important to the Danelaw and it appeared in the Domesday Book as "Ledecestre". Leicester continued to grow throughout the Early Modern period as a market town, although it was the Industrial Revolution that facilitated a process of rapid unplanned urbanisation in the area. A newly constructed rail and canal network routed through the area stimulated industrial growth in the 19th century, and Leicester became a major economic centre with a variety of manufacturers engaged in engineering, shoemaking and hosiery production. The economic success of these industries, and businesses ancillary to them, resulted in significant urban expansion into the surrounding countryside. Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, it was the centre of the bishopric from around 670, endowing it with city status. However, it lost city status in the 11th century during a time of struggle between the church and the aristocracy. The boundaries of Leicester were extended several times in the 19th and 20th centuries; it became a county borough in 1889, and was re-granted city status in 1919. Today, Leicester is located at the intersection of the north/south Midland Main Line and east/west Birmingham/Leicester/Cambridge CrossCountry railway lines and at the confluence of the M1 / M69 motorways and the A46 / A6 trunk routes. The city and metropolitan area is culturally diverse, with well established South Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities, in addition to more recent influxes from European Community countries, amongst others. Leicester is a major centre of learning: the University of Leicester is famous for the quality of its teaching and research; De Montfort University is very well regarded in many of its specialist fields. On 20 June 2013, Leicester was announced as one of four shortlisted cities for the second UK City of Culture award. Kingston upon Hull was announced as the winner on 20 November.

Loughborough

Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and home to Loughborough University. The town had a population of 57,600 in 2004, making it the largest settlement in Leicestershire outside the city of Leicester. The town is close to the Nottinghamshire border and is within a short driving distance of locations such as Nottingham, the East Midlands Airport and Derby. In 1841, Loughborough was the destination for the first package tour, organised by Thomas Cook for a temperance group from Leicester. The town has the world's largest bell foundry — John Taylor Bellfounders, which made the bells for the Carillon war memorial, a landmark within the Queens Park in the town, Great Paul for St Paul's Cathedral, and York Minster. The first mention of Loughborough is in the 1086 Domesday Book. To the north of the edges of Loughborough, Dishley Grange Farm was formerly the home of agricultural revolutionist Robert Bakewell. The farm was also once home to the annual Leicestershire County Show. Loughborough's local weekly newspaper is the Loughborough Echo. The town is also served by Leicestershire's daily newspaper, the Leicester Mercury.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Ashby-de-la-Zouch, often shortened to Ashby, is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. It is a sister city with Pithiviers in north-central France and lies close to the Derbyshire border. Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle was of importance from the 15th to the 17th centuries. In the 19th century the town became a spa town and before the growth of Coalville it was the chief town in northwest Leicestershire. In the 19th century its main industries were ribbon manufacture, coal mining and brickmaking. The town was served by the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line of the Midland Railway from 1849. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Shellbrook west of the town. Nearby villages include Lount, Normanton le Heath, Smisby, Packington, Donisthorpe, Oakthorpe, Moira, Measham and Coleorton. The towns of Swadlincote, Burton-upon-Trent, Melbourne and Coalville are all within 10 miles of Ashby, with the city of Derby 11.5 miles due north. The town is situated at the heart of The National Forest and approximately 24 miles due south of the Peak District National Park. It lies on the A42 national route between Tamworth and Nottingham.

Market Harborough

Market Harborough is a market town within the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 22,911 and is the administrative headquarters of Harborough District Council. It sits on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border. The town was formerly at a crossroads for both road and rail; however the A6 now bypasses the town to the east and the A14 which carries east-west traffic is 6 miles to the south. The town is served by East Midlands Trains with direct services to Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Derby and St Pancras International. Rail services to Rugby and Peterborough ended in 1966. Market Harborough is located in an area which was formerly a part of the Rockingham Forest, a royal hunting forest used by the medieval monarchs starting with William I. Rockingham Road takes its name from the forest. The forests original boundaries stretched from Market Harborough through to Stamford and swallowed up Corby, Kettering, Desborough, Rothwell, Thrapston and Oundle. The centre of the town is dominated by the steeple of St. Dionysius Parish Church which rises directly from the street, as there is no church yard. It was constructed in grey stone in 1300 with the church itself a later building of about 1470. Next to the church stands the Old Grammar School, a small timber building dating from 1614. The ground floor is open, creating a covered market area and there is a single room on the first floor. It has become a symbol of the town. The nearby square is largely pedestrianised and surrounded by buildings of varying styles. The upper end of the High Street is wide and contains mostly unspoiled Georgian buildings. Market Harborough has two villages within its confines: Great Bowden lies over a hill about a mile from the town centre; Little Bowden is less than half a mile from the town centre. The three centres have largely coalesced through ribbon development and infill, although Great Bowden continues to retain a strong village identity.

North West Leicestershire

North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Coalville. The district contains East Midlands Airport, which operates flights to the rest of Britain and to various places in Europe. It is also notable as the location of Castle Donington and Donington Park, a grand-prix circuit and a major venue for music festivals. The district is represented in the UK Parliament by the constituency of the same name. The area has a long history of mineral extraction, with coal, brick clay, gravel and granite amongst the products. All the deep coal mines in the area have closed, but opencast mining still continues. The district was formed in 1974 by a merger of Ashby de la Zouch Urban District, Ashby Woulds Urban District, Coalville Urban District, Ashby de la Zouch Rural District, Castle Donington Rural District and Ibstock from the Market Bosworth Rural District.

Twycross

Twycross is a small village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the A444 road. The civil parish includes the hamlet called Little Orton, as well as Twycross Zoo, and the selective, private Twycross House School. Administratively, Twycross forms part of the Hinckley and Bosworth district. It is named 'Twycross' because its centre lies at the intersection of three roads. The A444 connects it to Burton-on-Trent and Coventry and the B4116/B4114 to Birmingham. The Twycross Cricket Club is a village club with a 1st and 2nd XI who play in the Leicestershire Senior League. It also has a Sunday XI which plays many friendly games throughout the season. The 1st team XI play regularly in the Premier division, whilst the 2nd team XI play in division 3, which hosts a 1st team and 2nd teams while also holding a Sunday friendly team. It has a youth set-up with under-15, under-13, and under-11 teams. The church of St. James contains the oldest stained glass in England, originally from Sainte-Chapelle, Saint-Denis, and Le Mans Cathedral. The earliest glass is c1145 from Saint-Denis, the panels having been presented to William IV who gave them to Earl Howe, who got the glazier Thomas Willement to arrange and install them in the church during its restoration in the 1840s. The video game developer Rare is based at Twycross. The company has developed games and series such as GoldenEye 007, Viva Piñata, Banjo-Kazooie, Killer Instinct, Conker, Perfect Dark, and many of the Donkey Kong games from as early as Donkey Kong Country in 1994 to as recent as Diddy Kong Racing DS in 2007. They became a Microsoft first-party in 2003, when their contract with Nintendo was bought out. Twycross also lent its name to one of the planets of the Inner Sphere in the BattleTech universe, which became well known as one of the planets the Refusal War between Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon was fought on, as portrayed in BattleTech sourcebooks and novels, as well as the video game MechWarrior 2.

Harborough

Harborough is a local government district of Leicestershire, England, named after its main town, Market Harborough. Covering 230 square miles , the District is by far the largest of the eight district authorities in Leicestershire and covers almost a quarter of the County. The District extends south and east from the Leicester urban area; on the east it adjoins the County of Rutland; has a boundary on the north with the Boroughs of Charnwood and Melton; on the south it has a long boundary with the County of Northamptonshire comprising the Boroughs of Corby, Kettering and the District of Daventry. To the west the boundary is with Warwickshire and the Borough of Rugby, a boundary formed for much of its length by the line of Watling Street. The north-western boundary of the district adjoins Blaby District and the Borough of Oadby and Wigston. The villages of Thurnby, Bushby and Scraptoft abut the suburbs of the City of Leicester. The population of the District at mid-2007 was estimated as 82,300. The principal centres of population are Market Harborough , Lutterworth and Broughton Astley . The District also has four large villages of over 3,000 population Kibworth ; Fleckney ; Great Glen and Thurnby and Bushby . The District has 17 parishes with populations between 500 and 3,000, 40 parishes with populations between 100 and 500 and 28 parishes with populations of below 100 (mid-2004 population estimates).

Markfield

Markfield is a commuter village sitting within both the National Forest and Charnwood Forest and in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. The settlement dates back to at least the time of the Norman conquest and is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Merchenefeld. A variant of this is still used as the name for the village primary school, Mercenfeld. It is to the south-east of Junction 22 of the M1, and to the south of the A50. The highest point in Markfield is shown on OS sheet 129 at 222 metres above sea level. Nearby places are Newtown Linford, Groby, Field Head, and Stanton under Bardon. In the 1831 census its population was recorded at 1,088. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 5681. Markfield is within the LE67 postcode district. In 2012 Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council published an overview of Markfield conservation area.

Hinckley and Bosworth

Hinckley and Bosworth is a local government district with borough status in south-western Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Its only towns are Hinckley, Earl Shilton and Market Bosworth. Villages include Barwell, Burbage, Stoke Golding, Groby, Shackerstone and Twycross. As of the 2015 local election, the council is controlled by the Conservative Party. The district is broadly coterminous to the Bosworth parliamentary constituency, which is represented in Parliament by David Tredinnick . The Borough was formed in 1974 by the merger of the Hinckley Urban District and the Market Bosworth Rural District less Ibstock. It was originally to be known as Bosworth, but the council changed its name on 20 November 1973, before it came into its powers. It was granted borough status in 1974.

Edmondthorpe

Edmondthorpe is a small village in Leicestershire, close to the border with Rutland. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Wymondham. It has Danish origins. The name Edmondthorpe is derived from a corrupted form of the Old English personal name 'Eadmer', in old records spelled variously, Edmersthorp ; Thorp Edmer; Thorp Emeri; Thorp Edmeer; Edmerthorp; or Thorp. The most likely origination of the name could be from the Saxon: ED = East; MUND = mound or barrier; THORPE = a street or village. The Church of St Michael and All Angels, maintained by The Churches Conservation Trust, is situated in the centre of the surrounding farms and cottages, close to the ruins of Edmondthorpe Hall. Although in former times a number of households from the neighbouring village of Wymondham "parished" to Edmondthorpe, St Michael and All Angels' Church now holds services on special occasions, only. There is a canonical sundial on the south wall. The church holds the tomb of Sir Roger Smith, which includes decorative alabaster figures. A fault in the alabaster of the Smith monument helped give rise to the Edmondthorpe Witch Legend. The legend tells that Lady Ann Smith was a witch who could turn herself into a cat. While a cat, she was wounded in the paw by her butler, and the injury remained on her hand when she became human again. During the Second World War the Hall (built by Sir Roger Smith in 1621) was used as a prisoner of war camp for Italian personnel, but was destroyed by fire in 1943. Buildings from the 19th century stable block, which was designed by R. W. Johnson in 1869, remain. An avenue of mature trees leads from South Lodge (formerly West Lodge) to the Hall through the park on the southern edge of the village. From the road near South Lodge a set of bee boles, used for keeping bees before the advent of modern hives, may be seen in the wall to the left of the church. An embanked section of the disused Melton to Oakham Canal lies to the west of the village and loops under the road between Edmondthorpe and Teigh. There are several families that have lived in Edmondthorpe over many centuries. These include the Veaseys and Extons, which are detailed in the Census transcripts for the village.

New Walk Museum

The New Walk Museum and Art Gallery is a museum on New Walk in Leicester, England, not far from the city centre. The original building was designed by Joseph Hansom, designer of the hansom cab. Two dinosaur skeletons are permanently installed in the museum — a cetiosaur found in Rutland, and a plesiosaur from Barrow upon Soar. Other permanent exhibits include an Egyptian area, minerals of Leicestershire, the first Charnia fossil identified nearby, and a wildspace area featuring stuffed animals from around the world. The museum opened in 1849 as one of the first public museums established within the United Kingdom In September 2011, the New Walk Museum expanded its Dinosaur Gallery, reorganizing fossils, adding a new room, and modifying the gallery itself. The opening of the new Dinosaur Gallery was launched by David Attenborough. The "star attractions" of the new gallery include the aforementioned Rutland cetiosaur, Charnia and plesiosaur fossils, as well as a Leedsichthys fossil and a piece of the Barwell Meteorite. The new gallery predominantly features on extinct marine reptiles.

Ullesthorpe

Ullesthorpe is a small village in south Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 868. It is known for its windmill which is currently undergoing restoration. The village's name comes from the Scandinavian personal name Úlfr. Traces of the medieval settlement are still visible on the edge of the village. Local amenities include a primary school, post office, village shop, butcher's, doctors' surgery, hairdressers', garden centre, congregational church, two pubs and a golf courseassociated with the 'Ullesthorpe Court Hotel' which also offers a gymnasium and health facility to guests and members. The village previously had a railway station which was closed in 1962. The village is mentioned in The Holy Thief, book 19 of the Cadfael Chronicles, a series of novels set in medieval Shropshire and nearby areas.
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