Leicester
Leicester (/ˈlɛstər/ ⓘ LES-tər)[7] is a city, unitary authority area, unparished area and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a population of 366,018 in 2021.[4] The greater Leicester urban area had a population of 559,017 in 2021, making it the 11th most populous in England,[8] and the 13th most populous in the United Kingdom. In 2023, Leicester was named as the best place to live and work in the East Midlands.[9]
This article is about the city in England. For other uses, see Leicester (disambiguation).
Leicester
c.47 AD as Ratae Corieltauvorum
1919
1997
- Abbey
- Aylestone
- Aylestone Park
- Beaumont Leys
- Birstall (Village) (part)
- Braunstone Town (Village) (part)
- Clarendon Park
- City Centre
- Dane Hills
- Evington
- Frog Island
- Glenfield (Village) (part)
- Glen Parva (Village) (part)
- Hamilton
- Humberstone
- Kirby Muxloe (Village) (part)
- Knighton (Village) (part)
- New Humberstone
- New Parks
- North Evington
- Oadby (Town) (part)
- Rowlatts Hill
- Rowley Fields
- South Wigston (Village) (part)
- Stoneygate
- Thurncourt
- Westcotes
- Wigston (Town) (part)
- Wolsey Island
Susan Barton
Alison Greenhill
28.32 sq mi (73.34 km2)
366,018
12,930/sq mi (4,991/km2)
Leicestrian
- 24.7% Christianity
- 23.5% Islam
- 23.0% no religion
- 17.9% Hinduism
- 4.5% Sikhism
- 0.3% Buddhism
- 0.1% Judaism
- 0.6% other
- 5.6% not stated
0116
E06000016
TLF21
2021 estimate[6]
£9.2 billion
£25,124
2021 estimate[6]
£10.2 billion
£27,848
The city lies on the River Soar and is approximately 90 miles (140 km) north-northwest of London, 33 miles (53 km) east-northeast of Birmingham and 21 miles (34 km) northeast of Coventry. Nottingham and Derby lie around 21 miles to the north and northwest respectively, whilst Peterborough is located 37 miles (60 km) to the east. Leicester is close to the eastern end of the National Forest.[10]
Leicester has a long history extending into ancient times, it was the site of the Roman town of Ratae Corieltauvorum, which was later captured by the Anglo-Saxons, and then by the Vikings who made it one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw. Leicester became an important town during the Middle Ages, and then an important industrial and commercial centre in the Victorian age, eventually gaining city status in 1919. Since the mid-20th century, immigration from countries of the British Commonwealth has seen Leicester become an ethnically diverse city, and one of the largest urban centres of the Midlands.
Leicester is at the intersection of two railway lines: the Midland Main Line and the Birmingham to London Stansted Airport line. It is also at the confluence of the M1/M69 motorways and the A6/A46 trunk routes. Leicester Cathedral is home to the tomb of King Richard III who was reburied in the cathedral in 2015 after being discovered nearby in the foundations of the lost Greyfriars chapel, more than 500 years after his death. In sporting terms, Leicester is the home to football club Leicester City and rugby club Leicester Tigers.
Name
The name of Leicester comes from Old English. It is first recorded in Latinised form in the early ninth century as Legorensis civitatis and in Old English itself in an Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 924 as Ligera ceastre (and, in various spellings, frequently thereafter). In the Domesday Book of 1086, it is recorded as Ledecestre.[11]
The first element of the name is the name of a people, the Ligore (whose name appears in Ligera ceastre in the genitive plural form); their name came in turn from the river Ligor (now the River Soar), the origin of whose name is uncertain but thought to be from Brittonic (possibly cognate with the name of the Loire).[11][12][13][14]
The second element of the name is the Old English word ceaster ("(Roman) fort, fortification, town", itself borrowed from Latin castrum).[11]
A list of British cities in the ninth-century History of the Britons includes one Cair Lerion; Leicester has been proposed as the place to which this refers (and the Welsh name for Leicester is Caerlŷr). But this identification is not certain.[15]
Based on the Welsh name (given as Kaerleir), Geoffrey of Monmouth proposes a king Leir of Britain as an eponymous founder in his Historia Regum Britanniae (12th century).[16]
Public services
In the public sector, University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust is one of the larger employers in the city, with over 12,000 employees working for the Trust. Leicester City Primary Care Trust employs over 1,000 full and part-time staff providing healthcare services in the city. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust[161] employs 3,000 staff providing mental health and learning disability services in the city and county.
In the private sector are Nuffield Hospital Leicester and the Spire Hospital Leicester.
Local media
Print and online
The Leicester Mercury was founded by James Thompson in 1874. Until recently, it was based at 16–18 New Walk but since the COVID-19 pandemic it operates almost entirely remote. The newspaper is currently owned by Reach plc.
Pukaar Group, a local media company, publishes the Leicester Times.
A co-operative and independent newspaper, the Great Central Gazette, was launched online in March 2023. It is based on the model pioneered by The Bristol Cable. It plans to launch a print edition in 2024.[162]
National World has plans to launch online-only Leicester World.[163]
Television
The Midlands Asian Television channel known as MATV Channel 6 was broadcast in Leicester until late 2009.