Victoria Park in Leicester,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

is a public park of 69 acres (279,000 m²). It is in the south-east, just outside the city centre, backing on to the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

and close to the

Leicester railway station Leicester railway station (formerly Leicester Campbell Street and Leicester London Road) is a mainline railway station in the city of Leicester in Leicestershire, England. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway and owned by Network Rai ...

History

The park was historically part of the South Fields of Leicester, and was used from 1806 to 1883 as a

racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

– a function that was then transferred to the purpose-built

Leicester Racecourse Leicester Racecourse is a horse racing course in Oadby, Leicestershire, about three miles south of the city centre. History of horse racing in Leicester The earliest evidence suggests that racing took place at Abbey Meadow, Leicester on 23 Mar ...

Oadby Oadby is a town in the borough of Oadby and Wigston in the county of Leicestershire, England. Oadby is a district centre south east of Leicester city centre on the A6 trunk road. Leicester Racecourse is situated on the border between Oadby ...

. It was opened as a park in 1882. A Victorian grandstand stood in the park until the mid-20th century, and was used as a pavilion after racing moved to Oadby. It was damaged by a German parachute bomb in 1940 and later demolished, with the new pavilion built on the same site and opened in 1958.Pavilion rises in place of Victorian version hit by bomb
, ''

Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its ...

'', 15 January 2010, retrieved 2011-06-09 Leicester Fosse (who later became Leicester City Football Club) played here on various occasions between 1884 and 1890.

Facilities

It has facilities for various sports, including tennis, basketball, bowls, croquet, football and cricket. A skate park has recently been added, and there is an adventure playground for young children. The majority of the park is level, open grassland and the largest space in particular is sometimes used as a venue for outdoor events – in recent years these have included

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

's One Big Sunday, the Leicester Caribbean Carnival, Leicester Pride and the Summer Sundae music festival.

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karl ...

also had a sell out

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

here with 50,000 tickets sold. A pavilion provides sports changing facilities, and is also the site of a cafe.

Landmarks

The park is home to two memorials. The

Arch of Remembrance The Arch of Remembrance is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located in Victoria Park, Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. Leicester's industry contributed significantly to the British war effort. A tempora ...

, a quadrifrons arch, was designed by Edwin Lutyens and built in 1923, to commemorate the dead of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The memorial, a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, stands at the top of an ornamental walkway ("Peace Walk") with gates (also by Lutyens) opening on to University Road. A smaller memorial near the cafe commemorates the American 82nd Airborne Division, stationed in Leicester prior to D-Day. The gates and lodges on the London Road side of the park were also designed by Lutyens and built in 1930.

Sport

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

takes place in the park every Saturday morning at 9am.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria Park Leicester Leicester City F.C. Leicester Tigers Parks and open spaces in Leicestershire Tourist attractions in Leicestershire Sports venues in Leicester