Everything about Leicestershire totally explained
Leicestershire (abbreviation
Leics., is a landlocked county in central
England. It takes its name from the heavily populated
City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester
unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire. The county borders onto
Derbyshire,
Nottinghamshire,
Rutland,
Warwickshire,
Staffordshire,
Lincolnshire, and
Northamptonshire. The border with Warwickshire is
Watling Street (the
A5).
County Hall, situated in
Glenfield, about 3
miles (5
km) northwest of Leicester city centre, is the seat of
Leicestershire County Council and the headquarters of the county authority. The City of Leicester is administered from offices in Leicester itself and the City Council meets at Leicester Town Hall.
The
River Soar rises to the east of Hinckley, in the far south of the county, and flows northward through Leicester before emptying into the
River Trent at the
point where Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire meet. A large part of the northwest of the county, around
Coalville, forms part of the new
National Forest area extending into Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The highest point of the county is
Bardon Hill at 278 m/912 ft, which is also a
Marilyn.
As part of a
2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity
Plantlife chose the
Foxglove as the
county flower.
History
Leicestershire was recorded in the
Domesday Book in four
wapentakes:
Guthlaxton,
Framland,
Goscote and
Gartree. These later became
hundreds, with the division of Goscote into
West Goscote and
East Goscote, and the addition of
Sparkenhoe hundred. In 1087, the first recorded use of the name was as
Laegrecastrescir.
Leicestershire's external boundaries have changed little since the Domesday Survey. The
Measham-
Donisthorpe exclave of
Derbyshire has been exchanged for the
Netherseal area, and the urban expansion of
Market Harborough has caused
Little Bowden, previously in
Northamptonshire to be annexed.
In 1974, the
Local Government Act 1972 abolished the
county borough status of Leicester city and the county status of neighbouring
Rutland, converting both to administrative
districts of Leicestershire. These actions were reversed on
1 April 1997, when Rutland and the City of Leicester became unitary authorities. Rutland became a distinct
Ceremonial County once again, although it continues to be policed by
Leicestershire Constabulary.
The symbol of the county council, and
Leicester City FC, is the
fox. Leicestershire is considered to be the birthplace of
fox hunting as it's known today.
Hugo Meynell, who lived in
Quorn, is known as the father of fox hunting.
Melton Mowbray and
Market Harborough have associations with fox hunting, as has neighbouring Rutland.
Demographics
The population of Leicestershire (excluding the city of Leicester) is 609,579 (
2001). The county covers an area of 2,084 km² (804 sq mi).
The largest population centre is
Leicester, followed by
Loughborough. Other major towns include
Ashby-de-la-Zouch,
Coalville,
Hinckley,
Market Harborough,
Melton Mowbray,
Oadby and
Wigston.
Some of the larger of Leicestershire's villages are:
Broughton Astley (said to be the largest village in the county, which has also claimed to be the largest village in England and indeed Europe),
Castle Donington,
Kibworth Beauchamp (along with Kibworth Harcourt), Great Glen,
Ibstock,
Countesthorpe and
Great Easton.
One of the most rapidly expanding villages is Anstey, which has recently seen a large number of development schemes.
Economy
Engineering
Engineering has long been an important part of the economy of Leicestershire.
John Taylor Bellfounders continues a history of bellfounding in Loughborough since the 14th century. In 1881 John Taylors cast the largest bell in Britain, "Great Paul", for St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Norman & Underwood
have been making sand cast sheet lead roofing and stained glass since 1825 working on many of England's major cathedrals and historic buildings, including Salisbury Cathedral, Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court Palace, and Chatsworth House.
Snibston Discovery Park is built on one of three coal mines that operated in Coalville from the 1820's until 1986.
Abbey Pumping Station houses four enormous steam powered beam engines built in Leicester in the 1890's in the Vulcan factory owned by Josiah Gimson, whose son
Ernest Gimson was an influential furniture designer and architect of the English
arts and crafts movement.
Engineering companies today include
sports car maker
Noble Automotive Ltd in
Barwell,
Triumph motorcycles in
Hinckley, Jones & Shipman (machine tools), Metalfacture (sheet metal work), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment), Trelleborg Industrial AVS in
Beaumont Leys (industrial suspension components), Parker Plant (quarrying equipment), Aggregate Industries UK (construction materials), Infotec in
Ashby-de-la-Zouch (electronic information display boards), Alstec in
Whetstone, Leicestershire (airport baggage handling systems), and
Brush Traction (railway locomotives) in
Loughborough. Local commitment to nurturing the upcoming cadre of British engineers includes apprenticeship schemes with local companies, and academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at
Leicester University,
De Montfort University, and
Loughborough University. The
Systems Engineering Innovation Centre and
Centre for Excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technologies are both based at
Loughborough University. Private sector research and development organisations include
PERA - the technology based consultancy in Melton Mowbray, and
MIRA - the automotive research and development centre based on the outskirts of Hinckley. Automotive and aerospace engineers use the test facilities at
Mallory Park, and
Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and proving ground. On 18 October 2007, the last airworthy
Avro Vulcan was flown from
Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome after 10 years of restoration there by aerospace engineers of the Vulcan Operating Company.
Trade Associations
There are several trade associations with their head offices based in Leicestershire including the Ergonomics Society, the European Construction Institute, the Institute of Diagnostic Engineers, the Pre-cast Flooring Federation, the Concrete Pipe Association, the Timber Packaging & Pallet Confederation, and the National Association of Wood Shaving & Sawdust Merchants & Contractors.
Farming
Leicestershire has a long history of livestock farming which continues today.
Robert Bakewell (farmer) (1725 - 1795) of Dishley, near Loughborough, was a revolutionary in the field of selective breeding. Bakewell's
Leicester Longwool sheep was much prized by farmers across the
British Empire and is today a heritage breed admired
all over the world. There are several commercial and rare breeds associated with the descendants of Bakewell's sheep including the
English Leicester,
Border Leicester, Bluefaced Leicester, Scotch mule, and Welsh halfbred.
In 2006 in Leicestershire and Rutland there were 6,450 people working as farmers, managers and farm labourers on 2,719 farms with 192,181 acres of farmed land. The animal population was 122,284 cattle, 57,059 pigs and 314,214 sheep Source
DEFRA.
The
Leicestershire County Show is held on the first Bank Holiday in May each year and includes animal showings, trade exhibitions, and show jumping. Melton Mowbray Market is an important regional livestock market.
Field Sports remain an important part of the rural economy of Leicestershire, with stables, kennels, and gunsmiths based in the county.
Thatched roofs are built and maintained by members of Rutland & Leicestershire Master Thatchers Association.
Food and drink
Stilton (cheese),
Red Leicester cheese, and the
Pork pie are three of Leicestershire's most famous contributions to
English cuisine.
Leicestershire food producers include Claybrooke mill one of the very few commercially working watermills left in Britain producing a range of over 40 flours, meat from rare and minority breeds from Brockleby's, Christmas turkey and goose from Seldom Seen Farm, and the only manufacturer of Red Leicester cheese based in the county the Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Company.
All natural non-alcoholic fruit cordials and presse drinks are made by Belvoir Fruit Farms and sold in supermarkets across Britain. Swithland Spring Water is sourced from the Charnwood hills. Breweries in Leicestershire and Rutland are listed on the
Leicester CAMRA website. The county's largest beer brewer is
Everards, and there are several microbreweries such as Brewsters, Belvoir, Parish, Grainstore, Hathern and Langton. Vineyards in Leicestershire include Chevelswarde Vineyard (
Lutterworth), Welland Valley Vineyard (
Market Harborough), and Eglantine (
Loughborough). Melton Mowbray Sloe Gin is a liqueur with a distinctive flavour.
Markets are held across the county, a list of some of the larger markets is
here. A list of
FARMA certified Farmers Markets in Leicestershire is
here. A list of smaller country markets, supported by members of the Women's Institute, is
here. Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered marketplace in Europe and among the products on sale are fruit and vegetables sold by enthusiastic market stallholders who shout out their prices, and fresh fish and meat in the Indoor Market.
The annual
East Midlands Food & Drink Festival held in Melton Mowbray had over 200 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors attending in 2007 making it the largest British regional food festival.
Food processing in the city and county includes popular British fish and chip shop pie
Pukka Pies who are based in Syston. Walkers Midshire Foods, part of the Samworth Brothers group, makes sausages and pies in its Beaumont Leys factories. Samworth Brothers has operations in Leicestershire and Cornwall, making a range of products from sandwiches to desserts for UK retailers under their brands as well the company's own portfolio of brands including Dickinson & Morris, producers of
Pork pies and Melton Hunt Cake.
Walkers crisps are made in Beaumont Leys using Lincolnshire potatoes.
United Biscuits have their distribution centre in
Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The
Masterfoods UK factory at Melton Mowbray produces petfood for brands such as Cesar,
Kitekat, PAL, Pedigree,
Sheba,
Whiskas, Aquarian and Trill. Hand made chocolates are produced by Chocolate Perfection in
Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Some 15 major Indian food manufacturers are based in Leicester including Mayur Foods, Cofresh Snack Foods Ltd, Farsan, Apni Roti, and Spice n Tice. The 'Mithai' Indian sweet market is catered for by award winning Indian restaurants - for instance the vegetable samosas approved by the Vegetarian Society sold at The Sharmilee on Belgrave Road. The growing market for Indian food has afforded new opportunities to long standing local companies, for example the Long Clawson dairy, a co-operative manufacturer of
Stilton (cheese) now also makes
Paneer cheese used in the Indian dish
Mattar Paneer.
Leicestershire food links, set up by the
Soil Association and
Leicestershire County Council, provides information for and about Leicestershire farmers and food producers. It is currently running projects aimed at publicising farmers markets, using local food in schools, and improving distribution.
Leicestershire food exported abroad includes cheese from the Long Clawson dairy which is sold in supermarkets in Canada and the United States via a network of distributors coordinated by Taunton based company Somerdale. Belvoir Fruit Farms cordials and pressé drinks are sold on the United States east coast in
Wegmans Food Markets,
World Market,
Harris Teeter,
Dean & DeLuca, and in specialized British food stores such as Myers of Keswick (New York City), and the British Pantry (near Washington, D.C.).
Leicestershire County Council publishes a quarterly
food and drink newsletter. In 2007 the Leicester Mercury published a series of articles on the
Taste of Leicestershire.
The annual Leicestershire & Rutland Restaurant Awards has several categories including Leicestershire & Rutland Restaurant of the Year, Best Asian Restaurant, Best Service, Best Newcomer, Best Fine Dining Restaurant, Best Value for Money, Best Drinks/Wine List, Best Local Produce Menu, Best Gastro Pub, Best Neighbourhood Restaurant, Best Business Lunch, and Leicestershire & Rutland Young Chef of the Year.
See also
Leicester food & drink
Clothing
Leicester and Leicestershire has had a traditional industry of
knitwear,
hosiery and
footwear, and the sheep on the county's coat of arms is recognition of this. The rich history of the East Midlands knitting/knitwear industry is chronicled on the
Knitting Together website. The local manufacturing industry, which began with hand knitting in the Middle Ages, and was fully industrialized by the end of the 19th century, survived until the end of the 20th century through retailers buying UK sourced products, and government measures such as the protection of the
Multi Fibre Arrangement which ended in 2004. Cheaper global competition, coupled with the 1999 slump in the UK fashion retail sector, led to the end of much of the cheaper clothing manufacturing industry. Today Leicestershire companies focus on high quality clothing and specialty textiles, such as the socks and knitwear made by Pantherella and Commando Knitwear, technical textiles for industrial or medical purposes, and clothing and fabric for the
British Asian community - for example Saree Mandir sells silk
saree's and salwar suits for women whose design patterns closely follow contemporary Indian trends. The British Knitting & Clothing Federation continues to be based in Leicestershire. On the creative side the design centre for
Next (clothing) is in Enderby, and the design centre for George Clothing (Asda/Walmart) is in Lutterworth.
De Montfort University has, in the form of its Fashion and Contour Design course a leading design department for female underwear. It also has the only UK University courses in Footwear Design providing future designers for local shoemakers Shoefayre, Stead and Simpson, and
Shoe Zone, who all have their headquarters in the county.
Healthcare
University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust employs 12,000 in the city and county.
Leicestershire County and Rutland Primary Care Trust employs 3,300 staff in healthcare services in the county.
Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust employs 3,000 staff providing mental health and learning disability services in the city and county.
The British Psychological Society, and the Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) based in Wigston, have their head offices in Leicestershire.
Biomedical industries
Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical instrument manufacturing companies include
AstraZeneca pharmaceuticals,
3M, Bridgehead International in Melton, Fisher Scientific in Loughborough, and Ashfield Healthcare in Ashby de-la-Zouch.
Freight and distribution
Transportation links are good.
East Midlands Airport is one mile south of
Castle Donington, next to the
M1 in North West Leicestershire, and is the second largest freight airport in the United Kingdom after London Heathrow.
DHL Aviation have a large purpose built facility at EMA, and courier companies
UPS and
TNT also use the airport as a base.
Lufthansa Cargo is also a regular user of East Midlands, and the airport is a primary hub for
Royal Mail. The M1 is Leicestershire's other important transport hub. The start of the
M6, and part of the
A14 briefly intersect with the southern tip of Leicestershire. Many large retail companies have huge warehouses at the Magna Park complex near Lutterworth including ASDA, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Argos, ECF, Sara Lee, Unipart, DHL, Britvic Soft Drinks, LIDL, Merck, BT, Exel, P&O, The Disney Store, Panasonic, Kingfield Heath, Costco, Computer 2000, and TNT. Pall-Ex of
Ellistown provide automated palletised freight distribution services from their location off Junction 22 of the M1. The
Midland Main Line provides important connections to Yorkshire and London, and the
Birmingham - Stansted Line is essentially Leicestershire's east–west connection from Hinckley to Melton.
Other
Ibstock based developer
Wilson Bowden was bought in 2007 by
Barratt Developments plc in a GBP2.2 billion deal. Charles Street Buildings (Leicester) and Jelson Homes are two other successful Leicester based property companies.
Syston based Dunelm Mill is a growing home furnishings retailer. The company started in 1979 as a family business selling curtains from a Leicester market stall whose first store opened in Churchgate Leicester in 1984. In 2006 Dunelm opened its 80th store, and the company floated on the stock market, placing the company's founders the Adderley family among Britain's most successful entrepreneurs.
Hamilton based LPC Group manufactures more than 600 million toilet rolls and kitchen towel rolls per year in its Leicestershire factories.
Oadby based Invicta Plastics manufacture the red noses used for
Comic Relief's Red Nose Day campaign.
Much loved toy car company
Corgi Classics Limited is based at the Meridian Business Park.
Hairdresser Barrie Hedley operates three Barrie Stephen salons in the city and county, and has been a finalist in the British hairdressing awards 2004, 2005, and 2006. In 2007 Hedley won the Entrepreneur of the year at the Leicestershire Business Awards.
Lumbers, of Market Street Leicester, was a finalist in the Independent Retailer category of the UK Jewellery Awards 2007.
Ulverscroft Large Print Books, of
Anstey, Leicestershire, are a leading publisher of books for the visually impaired.
Financial and business services
Financial and business service companies with operations in Leicestershire include
Alliance & Leicester,
Royal Bank of Scotland,
State Bank of India,
HSBC, and
PricewaterhouseCoopers. Companies that have their head office based in the area include
Next (clothing), and British Gas Business. The Institute of Credit Management, the European Association of Trade Mark Owners, and the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) are all based in Leicestershire.
Invest Leicesteshire provides information to businesses looking to relocate to the city or county, or to established local companies wanting to develop.
Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce is another good source for business advice.
Business awards
The Leicestershire Business Awards has categories including Investing in Leicestershire, Contribution to the Community, and Entrepreneur of the Year.
Recent Leicestershire winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise are listed on the Lord Lieutenant's
website.
Statistics
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire and
Rutland (it doesn't include the
City of Leicester) at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year |
Regional Gross Value Added |
Agriculture |
Industry |
Services |
| 1995 |
6,666 |
145 |
2,763 |
3,758 |
| 2000 |
7,813 |
112 |
2,861 |
4,840 |
| 2003 |
9,509 |
142 |
3,045 |
6,321 |
Education
Publicly funded secondary schools in Leicestershire are comprehensive. The schools are segregated by age in some areas to ages 10-14 (
middle schools), and 14 to 16 or 18 (
upper schools). The schools, compared with other
LEAs, have large numbers on the roll with school enrollment often 2000 and more. For Melton and Blaby districts, although there's division by middle and upper schools, there's only one school for that whole district (for one particular age group); there's no choice of school. However, it should be noted that many students of
Lutterworth College in
Harborough District, students hail from the Blaby district.
Charnwood has the largest school population - four times the size of the Melton district.
In 2007, the best state school at GCSE was the
Beauchamp College in Oadby. No comprehensives in Leicestershire LEA were poorly performing, unlike neighbouring counties. 7800 pupils took the exam. In Leicester, the worst school was New College Leicester.
At A level, the best school in the county was the
De Lisle Catholic Science College in Loughborough. The best schools overall at A level were the two private single-sex schools in Loughborough.
GCSE results by district council
% of pupils gaining 5 grades A-C in 2007 including English and Maths (46.8% was the England average compared to Leicestershire's 48.9%).
Harborough 56.3
Oadby and Wigston 55.4
Hinckley and Bosworth 48.5
Charnwood 47.9
North West Leicestershire 46.5
Melton 41.0
Blaby 41.0
(City of Leicester Unitary Authority 36.5)
Private schools
Private schools in Leicestershire include Leicester Grammar School (mixed), Leicester High School for Girls (girls), Loughborough Grammar School (boys), Loughborough High School (girls), Fairfield Preparatory School (primary school - mixed), Welbeck College (military 6th form college - mixed), Ratcliffe College (Roman Catholic - mixed), Grace Dieu Manor School (Roman Catholic - mixed), Stoneygate school (primary school - mixed), and Leicester Montessori School (mixed).
Further Education
Leicester College offers, among others, courses in catering, cookery, hospitality and leisure, plumbing, electrician, carpentry and joinery, building trades and gas, motor vehicle maintenance, computing, business, design, and media and print.
Stephenson College Coalville offers, among others, courses in construction building trades and gas, motor vehicle maintenance and repair, beauty, computing, business, sport and coaching, care and complementary therapy.
Farming sector training
Brooksby Melton College provides apprenticeships and further education training courses in animal care, countryside, equine, fisheries, and land based service engineering, at their Brooksby campus.
Higher education
Leicestershire has three universities, Leicester University, De Montfort University, and Loughborough University.
Educational Associations
Several educational associations have their head offices in Leicestershire, including the Mathematical Association, the Association of School and College Leaders, the Association for College
Management, the Girls Schools Association, the National Adult School Association, the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education and the Headmasters & Headmistresses Conference.
Sporting Associations
A number of UK sporting bodies have their head offices in Leicestershire, including the Institute of Sports & Recreation Management, the Institute of Swimming Teachers & Coaches, the English Volleyball Association, the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association, the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, the British Judo Association, the British Parachute Association, the
British Triathlon Association, the Amateur Swimming Association, the British Gliding Association, the British Motorcycle Federation, the English Indoor Bowls Association, the Youth Sports Trust and
the British Isles Bowls Council.
Music
The full range of music is performed in the county, from early medieval, European and Asian classical music, folk, jazz, blues, rock, and pop.
Symphony Orchestras
The Philharmonia Orchestra, Leicester Symphony Orchestra, and the internationally famous Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra are three of the larger orchestras in the county.
Amateur Orchestras
Leicestershire Sinfonia, the Loughborough Orchestra, the Charnwood orchestra, and the Coalville Light Orchestra.
Choirs and choral societies
Leicester based choirs include the Leicester Bach Choir, Broom Leys Choral Society Whitwick, Cantamici, the Cecilian Singers, Charnwood Choral Society, Coalville and District Male Voice Choir, Coro Nostro Chamber Choir, Humberstone Choral Society, Kainé Gospel Choir, Kingfisher Chorale, Leicester Church Music Consort, Leicester City Male Voice Choir, Leicester Philharmonic Choir, Loughborough Male Voice Choir, Meridian Singers, Newtown Linford mixed voice choir, Red Leicester choir, the Scarlet choir, Shepshed Singers, and the Peepul Choir.
Early music
The Longsdale Consort perform music of the renaissance and baroque periods. Leicester Recorder Society.
Music shops
Stores selling sheet music and musical instruments in Leicestershire include Sona Rupa (Indian), Sheehans Music Instruments, Intasound Music Centre, ABC Music Market Harborough, MH Music, and the Musician Shop.
Towns and villages
See the list of places in Leicestershire.
Places of interest
Top Deck Tours is a tour bus service linking many of the major tourist sites in the county.
Abbey Pumping Station
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal
Ashby Castle
Arnesby May Fayre
The Battlefield Line (heritage railway)
Beacon Hill
Belgrave Hall & Gardens
Belvoir Castle
Bosworth Battlefield
Bradgate Park & Swithland Wood
Brampton Valley Way (former railway path to Northampton)
Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and proving ground
Burrough-on-the-Hill Iron Age Hill Fort
Castle Park
Donington Park and the Donington Grand Prix Collection museum
East Midlands Airport
Eyebrook Resevoir
Fosse Park
Foxton Locks
Great Glen Methodist Church
Great Central Railway (heritage railway)
High Cross
Kirby Muxloe Castle
Launde Abbey
Leicester Cathedral
Mallory Park
Moira Furnace
Mount St. Bernard Abbey
National Space Centre
The National Forest and Conkers
Stanford Hall
Stoney Cove the National Diving Centre
The Emporium
Twycross Zoo
Ulverscroft Priory
University of Leicester Botanic Garden
Watermead Country Park
Wigston Framework Knitters MuseumFurther Information
Get more info on 'Leicestershire'.
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