Leicester

Leicester, United Kingdom

The Roman Jewry Wall in Leicester glows ochre in low evening sun, with a stone path leading to it across the grass.

Leicester is a compact East Midlands city where Roman walls, a king's tomb and Gujarati street food all sit within easy reach.

The place

Leicester sits on the River Soar in the East Midlands of England, about 140 km north-north-west of London and 67 m above sea level. Around 370,000 people live in the city, and the built-up area runs well beyond its boundary, which gives the place the feel of a busy regional centre rather than a postcard town. Nottingham, Derby, Coventry and Birmingham all lie within about 53 km, and the eastern end of the National Forest is close by. The middle of the city is compact and flat enough to cover on foot. A medieval cathedral, a stretch of Roman bath-house wall, timber-framed halls and Victorian civic buildings stand within a short walk of one another, with shopping streets and a market threading between them. Further out, the city's character comes from its communities. A large South Asian population, many with Gujarati roots, shapes the east side, where sari shops, jewellers and snack counters line Belgrave Road and the road that continues from it. Older industry, mainly hosiery, knitwear and shoes, left brick mills and canal-side warehouses, some now turned into flats and studios. Leicester is not a city of one headline sight, and anyone expecting one will be puzzled. Its appeal is accumulation: Roman, medieval, Victorian and modern fragments side by side, a food scene built around its migrant history, and a pace that is easier than London's. The weather is typically English, meaning mild, changeable and often grey, so a day here works best with a few indoor stops planned in.

Its story

Leicester's story starts before the Romans. An Iron Age settlement grew here in the last couple of centuries BC, with round houses clustered on the east bank of the Soar, where the river split into two channels around a marshy island and a ford gave control of the crossing. The Roman name, Ratae Corieltauvorum, joins a Celtic word usually read as 'ramparts' to the name of the local tribe, whose spelling was garbled in later records until an inscription found in 1983 set it straight. Under Rome the settlement became a proper town with streets, a forum and public baths, and the tall fragment of masonry now called the Jewry Wall is what survives of the bath complex. After the Roman centuries the town passed through Anglo-Saxon and Danish hands before the Normans built a castle, and the churches of St Nicholas and St Mary de Castro preserve strands of that long medieval thread. The best-known medieval footnote came in 1485, when Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth, a short distance to the west. His body was brought to Leicester and buried locally, and the grave was forgotten until archaeologists found a skeleton beneath a car park in 2012 and DNA tests confirmed his identity. Hosiery, knitwear and shoe-making drove the Victorian expansion, and in the twentieth century families arriving from South Asia and East Africa added the layer that defines the city today.

What to see

Culture

Leicester's culture is best understood as layers of faith, trade and community packed into one compact city. Churches set the older tone: the cathedral is the seat of the Church of England's Bishop of Leicester, and St Nicholas, beside the Roman wall, keeps traces of building work from before the Norman Conquest. Alongside them stand Hindu temples, mosques, gurdwaras and Jain centres, a sign of the large South Asian presence that has shaped the city since the later twentieth century. The calendar reflects this. In autumn, Diwali brings lights, music and crowds to the Belgrave Road area, and in summer a Caribbean carnival fills the streets with sound systems and costumes. The performing arts have a modern home at Curve, a glass-fronted theatre designed by Rafael Viñoly that opened in 2008, while football and rugby give the city its weekend rhythm. The Richard III story has become a point of local pride, and guides, cafés and shops lean on it cheerfully. Conversation is usually direct and friendly, with a dry East Midlands humour, and older locals may still call a stranger 'duck' without meaning anything by it. When visiting a temple, mosque or gurdwara, remove your shoes where others do, cover your shoulders and knees, and ask before photographing worshippers.

What to wear

Leicester's traditional dress comes mostly from its South Asian communities. Women wear saris in silk, cotton or georgette, often with zari (metallic thread) borders, and salwar kameez or lehenga for weddings, Diwali and temple visits. Gujarati families favour bandhani, the tie-dyed cotton and silk made by pinching and binding the cloth before dyeing. Men wear kurta or sherwani at weddings and festivals. The city also has a local textile story of its own, since hosiery and knitwear were its great trades, and knitted goods still turn up in shops. In daily life most people dress as they would anywhere in England: jeans, trainers, practical coats, and football or rugby shirts on match days. Students from the city's two universities add a casual, cheap-and-cheerful look. On Belgrave Road, bright festival clothes mix with ordinary office wear, especially in the weeks before Diwali. Visitors need layers and a waterproof, since the weather changes quickly in every season, plus comfortable shoes for a day on paved streets. Light cotton and sun cream suit the warmer months, and a proper coat is needed from late autumn. For temples, mosques and gurdwaras, bring clothes covering shoulders and knees, a scarf for covering the head where asked, and shoes that slip off easily.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May to September is the mildest stretch and best for walking between sights. Diwali, in October or November, brings lights and crowds to the Golden Mile. Winters are cold, damp and short on daylight, and rain can fall in any month.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Trains from London St Pancras run about every 30 minutes and take around an hour; trains from Birmingham New Street also run every 30 minutes and take about an hour. For flying in, Birmingham Airport (BHX) has the widest range of routes, with a train via New Street, while East Midlands Airport (EMA) has a bus link. The station is a short walk from the centre.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources