Timeline of Leicester

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

Prior to 16th century

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• 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]

19th century

• 1800 – Leicester Medical Book Society founded.^[24]
• 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
• 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 – Peter Soulsby 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]

See also

• History of Leicester
• History of Leicestershire

References

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 
• "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. 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. 
• "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. 

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. 
• 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 
• "Leicester", Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424 
• "Leicester". England. Blue Guides. London: Macmillan. 1920. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leicester.

• "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. 

Coordinates: 52°38′00″N 1°08′00″W / 52.633333°N 1.133333°W / 52.633333; -1.133333

Ceremonial county of Leicestershire
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Unitary authorities	Leicester
Boroughs or districts	Blaby Charnwood Harborough Hinckley and Bosworth Melton North West Leicestershire Oadby and Wigston
Major settlements	Ashby-de-la-Zouch Braunstone Town Castle Donington Coalville Earl Shilton Hinckley Leicester (Leicester Urban Area) Loughborough Lutterworth Market Bosworth Market Harborough Melton Mowbray Oadby Shepshed Syston Wigston Magna See also: List of civil parishes in Leicestershire
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