Timeline of Leicester

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Leicester, England.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 16th century

• 48 – The Roman town of Ratae Corieltauvorum is established (approximate date)[1]
• 130 – Jewry Wall built by Romans (approximate date).
• 145 – Public baths built by Romans (approximate date).
• 150 – The "Blackfriars Pavement" is laid (approximate date)[2]
• 155 – The "Peacock Pavement" is laid (approximate date)[2]
• 680 – Cuthwine is installed as the first Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Leicester
• 870 – Leicester ceases to be a separate diocese when the last Saxon Bishop flees from the invading Danes.
• 877 – The Danes are in power.[3][4]
• 880 – St Nicholas' Church active (approximate date).
• 1070 – Leicester Castle built (approximate date).
• 1086
  • Market active.[5]
  • St Margaret's Church and St Martin's Church are active (approximate date).[6][7]
  • In the Domesday survey, the walled town occupies 130 acres, with 322 houses and 6 churches.[8]
• 1107 – Castle Chapel is founded.[9][10]
• 1143 – Leicester Abbey is founded by Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester.[3][11]
• 1228 – Leicester fair active.[5]
• 1230 – Franciscan monastery active (approximate date).
• 1330 – Trinity Hospital is founded.[12][13]
• 1350 – Guild of Corpus Christi constituted.[14]
• 1390 – Corpus Christi Guildhall built (approximate date).
• 1444 – Most of St Margaret's Church is rebuilt, including the West Tower (approximate date).[10]
• 1485 – Richard III spends his last night in Leicester before the Battle of Bosworth Field. His body is afterwards brought back to the town and buried at Greyfriars.[15][16]

16th–18th centuries

• 1511 – Wigston's Chantry House is built in the Newarke (approximate date).[13]
• 1513 – Wyggeston Hospital founded.[12]
• 1530 – Cardinal Thomas Wolsey dies at Leicester Abbey.
• 1535 – The Greyfriars Monastery is closed.
• 1538 – With the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Leicester Abbey is surrendered to the king and demolished.[11]
• 1548 – The Guild of Corpus Christi is dissolved.[8]
• 1550 – The Free Grammar School is established by this year, using money left by William Wyggeston .[17]
• 1589 – Corporation of Leicester established.
• 1595 – Skeffington House is built in the Newarke (approximate date).[13]
• 1642 – Charles I passes through Leicester before raising his standard at Nottingham.[18]
• 1645 – The Siege of Leicester during the English Civil War.[18][19]
• 1751 – Leicester Journal newspaper begins publication.[20]
• 1770 – Daniel Lambert is born in Leicester [21]
• 1771 – Leicester Royal Infirmary opens.[22]
• 1773 – The High Cross in High Street was removed.[6]
• 1785 – The Greencoat School is established with money left by Alderman Gabriel Newton .[17]
• 1792 – Leicester Chronicle newspaper begins publication.[23]
• 1800 – Leicester Medical Book Society founded.[24]

19th century

• 1801 – Population: 17,005.[25]
• 1804 – The South Fields are inclosed.[10]
• 1806 – Racecourse established.[25]
• 1817 – Leicester Savings Bank established.[14]
• 1821 – Leicester Gas Company is established.[26]
• 1825 – Wharf Street Cricket Ground opens, home to the Leicestershire County Cricket Club.
• 1828 – The new Leicester Prison opens on Welford Road.[10]
• 1832
  • Leicester and Swannington Railway begins operating.[27]
  • Christ Church built.[12]
• 1835 – Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society founded.[28][29]
• 1836
  • Leicester Borough Police Force is established.[30]
  • The Theatre Royal opens in Horsefair Street.[10]
• 1838 – Union Workhouse built.[14][29]
• 1840 ---The Midland Counties Railway from Derby to Rugby opened, with a station at Campbell Street, Leicester.[31]
• 1845 – Particular Baptist Chapel opens.[12]
• 1849
  • Chamber of Commerce established.[14]
  • New Walk Museum opens [29]
• 1851 – A pumping station is built near the River Soar under the Leicester Sewerage Act.[11]
• 1853
  • Rowe's Circulating Library in business.[32]
  • Leicester gains its first piped water supply [29]
• 1857
  • Hitchin-Leicester railway begins operating.[14]
  • Leicester Guardian newspaper begins publication.[14]
• 1860 – Major restoration of St Martin's Church is begun; the tower and spire are demolished and rebuilt.[7]
• 1861 – Population: 68,056.[25]
• 1862 – Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man", is born in Leicester [33]
• 1863 – The Old Bow Bridge is demolished and replaced with an iron bridge.[34]
• 1864 – South Leicestershire Railway (Hinckley-Leicester) begins operating.[14]
• 1866
  • Leicester's first working men's club opens [29]
  • The Collegiate School for Girls opens.[17]
• 1867 – Leicester Cathedral built.
• 1868 – Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower erected.[14]
• 1871
  • The Free Library opens in Wellington Street.[29][35]
  • Population: 95,084.[25]
• 1872 – Leicester Borough Fire Brigade is established.[29]
• 1874
  • Leicester's first horse-drawn tram service begins operating, from the Clock Tower to Belgrave.[29][35]
  • Leicester Mercury newspaper begins publication.
• 1875 – Trams begin operating from the town centre to Victoria Park and Humberstone.[29]
• 1876
  • Leicester Town Hall is built.[29]
  • Leicester Co-operative Hosiery Manufacturing Society organised.[36]
• 1877
  • The Wyggeston Hospital School opens.[17]
  • Skating rink opens in Rutland Street.[35]
  • Leicester Bicycling Club active (approximate date).[37]
  • The Opera House opens in Silver Street.[38]
• 1878 – Leicestershire County Cricket Club's new ground at Grace Road opens
• 1878 - Leicestershire Lawn Tennis Club Established
• 1879 – The first municipal swimming baths open in Bath Lane.[29]
• 1880 – Leicester Tigers Rugby Union Football Club is founded
• 1881 – Population: 122,351.[25]
• 1882 – Victoria Park and Abbey Park open.[29][39]
• 1884 – Leicester Fosse football club formed.
• 1885 – Leicester and Leicestershire Photographic Society founded.[40]
• 1886 – Spinney Hill Park opens.[29]
• 1889
  • Leicester becomes a County borough per Local Government Act 1888.
  • Leicester Branch of the Socialist League organised.[24]
• 1891
  • Filbert Street stadium opens.
  • Abbey Pumping Station in operation.
  • The Borough of Leicester is greatly enlarged by the Leicester Extension Act, with the addition of Aylestone, Belgrave, Knighton, Newfoundpool and parts of Braunstone, Evington and Humberstone.[29]
  • Population: 174,624.[25]
• 1892 – Leicester Tigers move to their new home at Welford Road Stadium
• London Road Station replaced Campbell Street Station.[41]
• 1896
  • Leicester Corporation purchases Gilroes and begins laying out a cemetery there.[11]
  • All of the civil parishes within the Borough of Leicester are merged into a single parish.[29]
• 1898 – The Grand Hotel is built in Granby Street.
• 1899 – British United Shoe Machinery is established in Belgrave Road.[42]

20th century

• 1904 – The conversion of Leicester's horse-drawn trams to electric trams is completed.[29]
• 1913 – De Montfort Hall opens.
• 1919 – Leicester attains city status.[29]
• 1920 – The City Boys School opens .[17]
• 1921
  • The University College of Leicester is established.[43]
  • Population: 234,000.[29]
• 1923 – In the General Election, Winston Churchill is the Liberal candidate in Leicester West and loses.[44]
• 1925 – Braunstone Frith is absorbed into the city of Leicester.[11]
• 1927
  • St Martin's Church becomes Leicester Cathedral.[7]
  • Dr. Cyril Bardsley is appointed the first Bishop of Leicester.[7]
• 1932 – The Little Theatre opens in Dover Street.
• 1935 – New Parks and Beaumont Leys are absorbed into the city of Leicester.[11]
• 1940 – Leicester suffers its worst air raid of World War II on the night of 19 November.
• 1958 – Rock 'N' Roll comes to Leicester when Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform live at De Montfort Hall
• 1962 – Jewry Wall Museum built.
• 1963 – The Beatles perform live at De Montfort Hall for the first time.
• 1966 – The City of Leicester Polytechnic is established.
• 1969 – The Museum of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment opens in the Magazine Gateway.
• 1970 – University of Leicester's Attenborough Building constructed.
• 1972 – Abbey Pumping Station museum opens.
• 1973
  • Haymarket Shopping Centre in business.
  • Leicester Theatre Trust formed.
• 1974 – Leicester City Council established per Local Government Act 1972.
• 1985 – St Margaret's Bus Station opens.
• 1992 – The Leicester Polytechnic becomes De Montfort University.
• 1997
  • Leicester City Council becomes unitary authority per 1990s UK local government reform.
  • Leicester Bike Park opens.

21st century

• 2002 – King Power Stadium opens.
• 2011 – Institution of an elected mayor.[45]
• 2012
  • Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duchess of Cambridge visit Leicester during the Queen's Golden Jubilee tour of Britain.
  • The remains of King Richard III are discovered beneath a Council car park. Plans are begun for his eventual reinterment in Leicester Cathedral.
• 2016 - Leicester City win the 2015–16 Premier League for their first league title, being 5000-to-1 outsiders at the start of the season,[46] and won the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award.[47]

See also

• History of Leicester
• History of Leicestershire
• Timelines of other cities in East Midlands: Derby, Lincoln, Nottingham

References

1. Blank, Elizabeth (1970). A Guide to Leicestershire Archaeology. Leicester Museums.
2. Johnson, Peter (1980). The Mosaics of Roman Leicester.
3. "Leicester's History Headlines". Around Leicester. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
4. George Henry Townsend (1867), "Leicester", A Manual of Dates (2nd ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co.
5. Samantha Letters (2005), "Leicestershire", Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516, Institute of Historical Research, Centre for Metropolitan History
6. McKinley, R. A. (1958). "24 "The Ancient Borough – St Margaret's"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
7. McKinley, R.A. (1958). "26 "The Ancient Borough – St Martin's"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
8. McKinley, R. A. (1958). "6 "Political and administrative history, 1066-1509"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
9. "History". Leicester: St. Mary de Castro. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
10. McKinley, R.A. (1958). "26 "The Ancient Borough – St Mary's"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
11. McKinley, R. A. (1958). "42 "Parishes added since 1892 – North-west Leicester"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
12. "Leicester", Black's Guide to the Counties of Leicester & Rutland, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1884
13. McKinley, R.A. (1958). "22 "The Ancient Borough – The Newarke"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. pp. 328–335. ISBN 978-0712910446.
14. James Thompson (1876). History of Leicester (Pocket ed.). F. Hewitt.
15. Woodward, G.W.O. (1977). King Richard III. Pitkin. ISBN 0-85372-162-9.
16. Williams, D.T. (1975). The Battle of Bosworth. Leicester University Press. ISBN 0-7185-1113-1.
17. McKinley, R.A. (1958). "17 "Primary and Secondary Education"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
18. Wilshere, Jonathan; Green, Susan (1972). The Siege of Leicester – 1645. Leicester Research Services.
19. McKinley, R.A. (1958). "8 "Political and Administrative History, 1509-1660"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester.
20. "Leicester". Newspaper Press Directory. London: Charles Mitchell. 1847.
21. Seccombe, Thomas. Daniel Lambert. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
22. McKinley, R. A. (1958). "34 "Hospitals and Almshouses"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
23. "Leicester (England) Newspapers". Main Catalogue. British Library. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
24. University Library, Special Collections. "A-Z of All Collections". University of Leicester. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
25. "Leicester", Chambers's Encyclopaedia, London: W. & R. Chambers, 1901
26. McKinley, R.A. (1958). "10 "Parliamentary history, 1660-1835"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
27. Frederick Smeeton Williams (1888), The Midland Railway: its rise and progress (5th ed.), London: Bentley, OL 7043506M
28. "History". Leicester Literary & Philosophical Society. University of Leicester. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
29. McKinley, R. A. (1958). "13 "Social and Administrative History since 1835"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
30. McKinley, R.A. (1958). "12 "Parliamentary History since 1835"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
31. White, William (1846). History, Gazetteer and Directory of Leicestershire. Sheffield: William White.
32. Leicester Postal Handbook. Leicester: Ward & Son. April 1869.
33. Osborne, Peter; Harrison, B. (September 2004). "Merrick, Joseph Carey [Elephant Man] (1862–1890)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37759. Retrieved 24 May 2010. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
34. McKinley, R. A. (1958). "29 "The Ancient Borough – White Friars"". A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
35. Robert Read (1881). Modern Leicester. London: Simpkin, Marshall.
36. History of the Leicester Co-operative Hosiery Manufacturing Society, 1898
37. Bicycling Times, 1, 24 May 1877
38. McKinley, R. A. (1958). A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
39. William Kelly (1884). Royal Progresses and Visits to Leicester. S. Clarke.
40. "Photographic Societies of the British Isles and Colonies", International Annual of Anthony's Photographic Bulletin, New York: E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, 1891
41. Pevsner, Nikolaus (1992) [1984]. Buildings of Leicestershire and Rutland. London: Penguin. p. 228. ISBN 014-071018-3.
42. McKinley, R. A. (1958). A History of the County of Leicester Volume 4: The City of Leicester, Chapter 15 "Footwear Manufacture". ISBN 978-0712910446.
43. McKinley, R. A. (1958). A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
44. McKinley, R. A. (1958). A History of the County of Leicester. 4: The City of Leicester. ISBN 978-0712910446.
45. "British Mayors". City Mayors.com. London: City Mayors Foundation. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
46. "Leicester City win Premier League title after Tottenham draw at Chelsea". BBC Sport. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
47. "Sports Personality 2016: Leicester win Team of the Year, Claudio Ranieri top coach". BBC News. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.

Further reading

• John Nichols (1795). "History and Antiquities of the Town of Leicester". History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester. 1. London: Nichols & Son. p. 407+.

Published in the 19th century

1800s–1840s

• John Britton (1807), "Leicester", Beauties of England and Wales, 9, London: Vernor, Hood & Sharpe, hdl:2027/mdp.39015063565736
• "Leicester". Commercial Directory for 1818-19-20. Manchester: James Pigot. 1818.
• Susanna Watts (1820). A Walk Through Leicester; Being a Guide to Strangers (2nd ed.). Leicester: T. Combe.
• Robert Watt (1824). "Leicester". Bibliotheca Britannica. 4. Edinburgh: A. Constable. hdl:2027/mdp.39076005081505. OCLC 961753.
• "Leicester". Pigot & Co.'s National Commercial Directory for 1828-9. London: James Pigot.
• John Curtis (1831). "Leicester". Topographical History of the County of Leicester. W. Hextall.
• David Brewster, ed. (1832). "Leicester". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. 12. Philadelphia: Joseph and Edward Parker. hdl:2027/mdp.39015068380875.
• "Leicester", Leigh's New Pocket Road-Book of England and Wales (7th ed.), London: Leigh and Son, 1839
• John Thomson (1845), "Leicester", New Universal Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary, London: H.G. Bohn
• James Thompson (1849). History of Leicester. Leicester: J.S. Crossley.

1850s–1890s

• William Napier Reeve (1854), "Our Town; and How it Strikes a Stranger", Leicester New Monthly Magazine, London: Houlston and Stoneman, 1, Eliot Roscoe
  • "Our Town, No. 3: Roman Leicester", Leicester New Monthly Magazine, 1
  • "Our Town, No. 4: Saxon Leicester", Leicester New Monthly Magazine, 1
  • "Our Town, No. 6: Lancastrian Leicester", Leicester New Monthly Magazine, 1
  • "Our Town, No. 7: Yorkist Leicester", Leicester New Monthly Magazine, 1
  • "Our Town, No. 8: Tudor Leicester", Leicester New Monthly Magazine, 1
  • "Our Town, No. 9: Stuart Leicester", Leicester New Monthly Magazine, 1
• "History of the Borough of Leicester". History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the Counties of Leicester and Rutland. Sheffield: William White. 1863.
• Leicester Postal Handbook. Leicester: Ward & Son. 1868–1869.
• James Thompson (1871), The history of Leicester in the eighteenth century, Leicester: Crossley and Clarke, OCLC 6120339
• "Roman Leicester", Transactions of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society, Leicester: Samuel Clarke, 4, 1878
• John Parker Anderson (1881), "Leicestershire: Leicester", Book of British Topography: a Classified Catalogue of the Topographical Works in the Library of the British Museum Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, London: W. Satchell
• Hammond's Guide to Leicester and the Abbey park. W.A. Hammond. 1882.
• "Leicester", Handbook for Travellers in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Staffordshire (3rd ed.), London: J. Murray, 1892, OCLC 2097091
• "Leicester". Official Guide to the Midland Railway. London: Cassell & Company. 1894.
• Charles Gross (1897). "Leicester". Bibliography of British Municipal History. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.
• Spencer's Illustrated Leicester Almanack ... for 1898. Leicester: J. & T. Spencer. 1898.

Published in the 20th century

• G.K. Fortescue, ed. (1902). "Leicester". Subject Index of the Modern Works Added to the Library of the British Museum in the Years 1881–1900. London. hdl:2027/uc1.b5107012.
• J.G. Bartholomew (1904), "Leicester", Survey Gazetteer of the British Isles, London: G. Newnes
• Mrs. T. Fielding Johnson (1906), Glimpses of ancient Leicester, in six periods (2nd ed.), Leicester: Clarke and Satchell
• "Leicester", Great Britain (7th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1910, hdl:2027/mdp.39015010546516
• "Leicester", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424
• "Leicester". England. Blue Guides. London: Macmillan. 1920.

External links

• "Leicestershire", Historical Directories, UK: University of Leicester. Includes digitised directories of Leicester, various dates
• "(Leicester)". Discovering Britain: Walks: East Midlands. Royal Geographical Society. c. 2013.
• "(Leicester population of 2019)".