Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Timeline of Leicester

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

Contents

Prior to 16th century

  • 48 – The Roman town of Ratae Corieltauvorum is established (approximate date)
  • 130 – Jewry Wall built by Romans (approximate date).[1]
  • 145 – Public baths built by Romans (approximate date).[2]
  • 150 – The "Blackfriars Pavement" is laid (approximate date)[3]
  • 155 – The "Peacock Pavement" is laid (approximate date)
  • 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.
  • 880 – St Nicholas' Church active (approximate date).
  • 1070 – Leicester Castle built (approximate date).
  • 1086
  • Market active.
  • St Margaret's Church and St Martin's Church are active (approximate date).
  • In the Domesday survey, the walled town occupies 130 acres, with 322 houses and 6 churches.
  • 1107 – Castle Chapel is founded.
  • 1143 – Leicester Abbey is founded by Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester.
  • 1228 – Leicester fair active.
  • 1230 – Franciscan monastery active (approximate date).
  • 1330 – Trinity Hospital is founded.
  • 1350 – Guild of Corpus Christi constituted.[4]
  • 1390 – Corpus Christi Guildhall built (approximate date).[5][6]
  • 1444 – Most of St Margaret's Church is rebuilt, including the West Tower (approximate date).
  • 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.

    • 16th–18th centuries

  • 1511 – Wigston's Chantry House is built in the Newarke (approximate date).[7]
  • 1513 – Wyggeston Hospital founded.
  • 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.
  • 1548 – The Guild of Corpus Christi is dissolved.
  • 1550 – The Free Grammar School is established by this year, using money left by William Wyggeston .
  • 1589 – Corporation of Leicester established.
  • 1595 – Skeffington House is built in the Newarke (approximate date).[8]
  • 1642 – Charles I passes through Leicester before raising his standard at Nottingham.
  • 1645 – The Siege of Leicester during the English Civil War.
  • 1751 – Leicester Journal newspaper begins publication.
  • 1770 – Daniel Lambert is born in Leicester
  • 1771 – Leicester Royal Infirmary opens.
  • 1773 – The High Cross in High Street was removed.
  • 1785 – The Greencoat School is established with money left by Alderman Gabriel Newton .
  • 1792 – Leicester Chronicle newspaper begins publication.

    • 19th century

  • 1800 – Leicester Medical Book Society founded.
  • 1801 – Population: 17,005.
  • 1804 – The South Fields are inclosed.
  • 1806 – Racecourse established.
  • 1817 – Leicester Savings Bank established.
  • 1821 – Leicester Gas Company is established.
  • 1825 – Wharf Street Cricket Ground opens, home to the Leicestershire County Cricket Club.[9]
  • 1828 – The new Leicester Prison opens on Welford Road.
  • 1832
  • Leicester and Swannington Railway begins operating.
  • Christ Church built.
  • 1835 – Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society founded.
  • 1836
  • Leicester Borough Police Force is established.
  • The Theatre Royal opens in Horsefair Street.
  • 1838 – Union Workhouse built.
  • 1840 ---The Midland Counties Railway from Derby to Rugby opened, with a station at Campbell Street, Leicester.
  • 1845 – Particular Baptist Chapel opens.
  • 1849
  • Chamber of Commerce established.
  • New Walk Museum opens [10]
  • 1851 – A pumping station is built near the River Soar under the Leicester Sewerage Act.
  • 1853
  • Rowe's Circulating Library in business.
  • Leicester gains its first piped water supply
  • 1857
  • Hitchin-Leicester railway begins operating.
  • Leicester Guardian newspaper begins publication.
  • 1860 – Major restoration of St Martin's Church is begun; the tower and spire are demolished and rebuilt.
  • 1861 – Population: 68,056.
  • 1862 – Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man", is born in Leicester
  • 1863 – The Old Bow Bridge is demolished and replaced with an iron bridge.
  • 1864 – South Leicestershire Railway (Hinckley-Leicester) begins operating.
  • 1866
  • Leicester's first working men's club opens
  • The Collegiate School for Girls opens.
  • 1867 – Leicester Cathedral built.
  • 1868 – Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower erected.
  • 1871
  • The Free Library opens in Wellington Street.
  • Population: 95,084.
  • 1872 – Leicester Borough Fire Brigade is established.
  • 1874
  • Leicester's first horse-drawn tram service begins operating, from the Clock Tower to Belgrave.
  • Leicester Mercury newspaper begins publication.
  • 1875 – Trams begin operating from the town centre to Victoria Park and Humberstone.
  • 1876
  • Leicester Town Hall is built.
  • Leicester Co-operative Hosiery Manufacturing Society organised.
  • 1877
  • The Wyggeston Hospital School opens.
  • Skating rink opens in Rutland Street.
  • Leicester Bicycling Club active (approximate date).
  • The Opera House opens in Silver Street.
  • 1878 – Leicestershire County Cricket Club's new ground at Grace Road opens [11]
  • 1879 – The first municipal swimming baths open in Bath Lane.
  • 1880 – Leicester Tigers Rugby Union Football Club is founded [12]
  • 1881 – Population: 122,351.
  • 1882 – Victoria Park and Abbey Park open.
  • 1884 – Leicester Fosse football club formed.
  • 1885 – Leicester and Leicestershire Photographic Society founded.
  • 1886 – Spinney Hill Park opens.
  • 1889
  • Leicester becomes a County borough per Local Government Act 1888.
  • Leicester Branch of the Socialist League organised.
  • 1891
  • Filbert Street stadium opens.
  • Abbey Pumping Station in operation.[13]
  • 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.
  • Population: 174,624.
  • 1892 – Leicester Tigers move to their new home at Welford Road Stadium[14]
  • London Road Station replaced Campbell Street Station.
  • 1896
  • Leicester Corporation purchases Gilroes and begins laying out a cemetery there.
  • All of the civil parishes within the Borough of Leicester are merged into a single parish.
  • 1898 – The Grand Hotel is built in Granby Street.
  • 1899 – British United Shoe Machinery is established in Belgrave Road.

    • 20th century

  • 1904 – The conversion of Leicester's horse-drawn trams to electric trams is completed.
  • 1913 – De Montfort Hall opens.
  • 1919 – Leicester attains city status.
  • 1920 – The City Boys School opens .
  • 1921
  • The University College of Leicester is established.
  • Population: 234,000.
  • 1923 – In the General Election, Winston Churchill is the Liberal candidate in Leicester West and loses.
  • 1925 – Braunstone Frith is absorbed into the city of Leicester.
  • 1927
  • St Martin's Church becomes Leicester Cathedral.
  • Dr. Cyril Bardsley is appointed the first Bishop of Leicester.
  • 1932 – The Little Theatre opens in Dover Street.
  • 1935 – New Parks and Beaumont Leys are absorbed into the city of Leicester.
  • 1940 – Leicester suffers its worst air raid of World War II on the night of 19 November.[15]
  • 1958 – Rock 'N' Roll comes to Leicester when Buddy Holly and the Crickets perform live at De Montfort Hall[16]
  • 1962 – Jewry Wall Museum built.
  • 1963 – The Beatles perform live at De Montfort Hall for the first time.[17]
  • 1966 – The City of Leicester Polytechnic is established.
  • 1969 – The Museum of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment opens in the Magazine Gateway.[18]
  • 1970 – University of Leicester's Attenborough Building constructed.
  • 1972 – Abbey Pumping Station museum opens.[19]
  • 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.
  • 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, and won the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award.

    • References

    Timeline of Leicester Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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