History of Leicester
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History of Leicester
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Leicester probably started as a Celtic settlement. It was the capital of the local Celtic tribe, the Coriletavi. The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD and they captured Leicestershire by 47 AD. The Romans built a fort at Leicester in 48 AD. The Celtic settlement nearby prospered as the Roman soldiers provided a market for the townspeople’s goods. About 80 AD the Roman army moved on but the nearby town flourished.
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Leicester was ruled by an Earl. However the Earl appointed a steward to run the town day to day. By law all grain had to be ground to flour in the Earl’s mills and all bakers had to bake their bread in his ovens. The Earl also took fines for minor offences such as baking underweight loaves. He also took the tolls from stallholders in the market. The Earl caused the town much suffering in 1173 when he rebelled against the king. The king’s men captured Leicester and burned part of it down. But Leicester soon recovered from this disaster. In 1231 the Earl banished all Jews fromLeicester.
The main industry in Leicester in the Middle Ages was making wool. First the wool was woven into cloth. Then it was fulled. That means it was cleaned and thickened by being pounded in a mixture of water and clay. The wool was pounded by wooden hammers, which were worked by watermills. When the wool dried it was then dyed.
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In 1500 Leicester probably had a population of about 3,000. Like all towns in those days Leicester suffered from outbreaks of the plague. It struck in 1564, 1579, 1583 and 1593. However Leicester continued to grow despite periodic outbreaks of plague. Henry VIII closed the abbey, the friaries and the hospitals of St Leonard and St John. His son closed the merchants guild (The Tudors dislike guilds as they felt they restricted trade) and confiscated their property, including the guildhall. In 1563 it was sold to the town council.
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Leicester was described in a magazine in 1909: ‘it is difficult to think of Leicester as a town of considerable industrial importance. The impression remains with one of a clear and sunny atmosphere with wide streets, clean brick buildings and constant background o green trees. The boot and hosiery factories appear to give out little or no smoke. Leicester continued to grow. In 1919 it was made a city. From 1928 Leicester had a Lord Mayor. In 1926 the city was given a cathedral and a bishop. The boundaries of the city were extended in 1935.
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| In the early 20th century a Jewish community grew up in the Highfields area and after 1945 Polish and Latvian refugees moved into this area. In the 1950s West Indians moved into the area. In the 1960s some Asians came to Leicester and their numbers were swelled in the 1970s when Indians were forced to leave Uganda. Leicester is now a multi-cultural city. In 1971 the Haymarket Centre opened and in 1973 Haymarket Theatre opened. In 1984 St Martins Shopping Centre opened. The Phoenix arts centre opened in 1988. The Shire Shopping Centre opened in 1992. Today the population of Leicester is 279,000. |
