Belgrave is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. Belgrave is the location of and known for the

National Space Centre The National Space Centre is a museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and astronomy, along with a space research programme in partnership with the University of Leicester. It is located on the north side of the city ...

, Space Park Leicester, the Golden Mile and

Belgrave Hall Belgrave Hall is a Queen Anne-style Grade II* listed building in Belgrave. It is located on the northern edge of the city of Leicester. History It was built as a family home for Edmund and Ann Cradock in 1709 in the midst of of walled garden ...

The old Belgrave Village, containing the Belgrave Conservation Area, including

, St Peter's Church and The Talbot Inn is to the west of Loughborough Road and to the east of the River Soar.

Geography

Belgrave is bounded by the wards and areas of the suburb of

Rushey Mead Rushey Mead is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 15,962. It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Rushey Mead in its entirety, as ...

and the village of Birstall to the north, Spinney Hills, North Evington and Northfields to the east on the other side of the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

, St Matthew's and

Leicester City Centre Leicester City Centre is Leicester's historical commercial, cultural and transport hub and is home to its central business district. Its inner core is roughly delineated by the A594, Leicester's inner ring road, although the various central c ...

to the south and Beaumont Leys and Stocking Farm to the west. It is located just north of the centre of Leicester, in the eastern part of the city. The old village part of Belgrave is close to the Leicestershire county border and the Borough of Charnwood at the beginning of the Leicester Urban Area in that direction which is located on the other side of Red Hill Circle. Belgrave therefore stretches from and adjoins the city centre and the county.

Etymology

The settlement was named in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

as ''Merdegrave'' (from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''mearð'' 'marten' + ''grāf'' 'grove'). However, after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

the ''merde'', which means ''excrement'' in French, was changed to ''bel''.

History

Belgrave was originally one of Leicestershire’s ancient villages, the first mention of which, under its original Saxon name of Merdegrave (which in old English means Martins grove) appears in Domesday Book of 1086 where it is listed amongst the lands given to

Hugh de Grandmesnil Hugh de Grandmesnil (1032 – 22 February 1098), (known in French as ''Hugues'' and Latinised as ''Hugo de Grentmesnil'', aliter ''Grentemesnil'', etc.), is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle ...

. Grandmesnil had fought at the side of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

at Hastings and was his chief cavalry commander. As a reward for his services he was granted several Manors / Lands of which this was one.''Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration''. London: Penguin, 2003. p. 653 by the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. The land consisted of a mill, of meadow and land for six ploughs. For centuries afterwards Belgrave continued as a small agricultural village. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Belgrave became one of Leicestershire’s wealthier livings. In the thirteenth century its value rocketed. In 1217 it was valued at 16 marks, at 30 in 1254 and at 60 in 1291. Belgrave was one of the communities in Leicestershire that experienced the shock of military confrontation because of its situation on the busy

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

road which cut right through the heart of the village unlike neighbouring Birstall and Wanlip which it bypassed by some hundreds of yards. When the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

burst violently into Belgrave, records indicate that there were a number of skirmishes between the opposing forces around the Thurcaston Road bridge and inside St Peter's Church. There is damage to the Tudor Memorial to Ambrose de Belgrave which suggests that it may have been used for target practice. With large 19th Century terraced developments along the A607 (Belgrave Road and Melton Road), this area now has a large, vibrant Asian community featuring the "Golden Mile". The Asian community based in and around Belgrave and Melton Road have been residents since the early 1970s. The

area is a conservation area. Belgrave is home to Belgrave Hall & Gardens.

, built between 1709 and 1713 is a Grade II* listed building in a plain classical style. The Hall is in the midst of two acres of serene walled gardens that are open to the public during special events. It has changed hands many times but the owners have always played a major role in the economic, social and charitable life of the community. St Peter's Church is the oldest building in the local conservation area, parts of which date from the twelfth century. Archaeologists believe there may be an earlier Saxon church beneath the present structure. The Talbot Inn has origins in the 14th Century, when it was a popular stop providing bed and board to those who travelled through Leicester along Loughborough Road. As can be seen by some of the houses along Loughborough Road there were some very wealthy residents, including the Chief constable of Leicester at one point. As the wealth of the area grew so did the population and by the late 19th Century many more houses were being built. As Belgrave grew so did the town of Leicester and at such a rate that by 1891 Belgrave was subsumed into the Corporation of Leicester. The area continued to expand with some of the earlier 19th century houses being replaced by 1930s semis. By the 1960s and 1970s large parts of Belgrave were cleared of the old Victorian terraced houses including Mellor School, the Baptist Church on Loughborough Road and Claremont Street Methodist Church, and were replaced with more modern structures. In 1975 the old area of the village was declared a Conservation area and it is this area that represents the nucleus of the ancient village.

Business and commerce

Belgrave based British United Shoe Machinery, formed around the turn of the 20th century as a subsidiary of United Shoe Machinery Company of the United States, became part of a group which for most of the 20th century was the world's largest manufacturer of footwear machinery and materials, exporting shoe machinery to more than 50 countries. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was Leicester's biggest employer employing more than 4,500 locally and 9,500 worldwide. Most of the workforce was recruited via an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

scheme which trained a large proportion of Leicester's

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...

.. The company had "a respected reputation for technical innovation and excellence", between 1898 and 1960, it developed and marketed nearly 800 new and improved shoe machines and

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

ed more than 9,000 inventions, at one time employing 5% of the UK's

patent agent A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and op ...

s. Parker Plant in Belgrave opened in 1911 inside a single railway arch. The business relocated to an 18-acre site in 1926. In the 1950s, 60s and 70s they were employing over 1,400 people to meet demand. In 1969, 1978 and in 1994 the business won the prestigious

Queen's Award for Enterprise The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity (through social mobility). They are the highest ...

. In 2006 Universal Conveyors was acquired and in 2007 Phoenix Parker Holdings Ltd was formed. In 2014 Phoenix Transworld, Cartem & Universal Conveyors marketed under the Parker brand.

Bostik Bostik is a manufacturer and distributor of adhesives and sealants for the construction, industrial and consumer markets. With annual sales of €2.1 billion, the company employs 6,000 people and has a presence in more than 40 countries. Bo ...

is in Belgrave as well as the

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

clothing label having been in Belgrave.

Demographics

The area, since the 1970s, has had a large Asian population and is now predominately Asian. According to the 2001 UK Census, 104

Pacific Island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

born people were residing in Belgrave, with many more being of Pacific Islander descent. This is the largest number for any location in the UK.

As of the 2011 census

The population of Belgrave was 11,558 and is made up of approximately 51% females and 49% males. The average age of people in Belgrave is 36, while the median age is lower at 34. 43.0% of people living in Belgrave were born in England. Other top answers for country of birth were 28.4% India, 5.6% Kenya, 3.2% Sri Lanka, 1.6% Africa not otherwise specified, 0.8% Pakistan, 0.6% Zimbabwe, 0.4% Somalia, 0.3% Bangladesh, 0.2% Scotland. 46.7% of people living in Belgrave speak English as their main language. The other top languages spoken are 35.8%

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

, 4.3% Punjabi, 3.3%

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, 1.3% Portuguese, 0.9% South Asian Language, 0.9% Polish, 0.9% Hindi, 0.9% Urdu, 0.6% Somali. The religious make up of Belgrave is 54.6%

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 14.3% Christian, 14.1% Muslim, 6.4% No religion, 5.5% Sikh, 0.3%

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. 443 people did not state a religion. Four people identified as Jedi knights. 48.1% of people are married, 4.0% cohabit with a member of the opposite sex, 0.5% live with a partner of the same sex, 28.9% are single and have never married or been in a registered same sex partnership, 7.5% are separated or divorced. There are 487 widowed people living in Belgrave. The top occupations listed by people in Belgrave are Elementary at 20.6%, Process, plant and machine operatives at 18.7%, Elementary administration and service at 14.3%, Sales and customer service at 13.1%, Sales at 10.7%, Sales Assistants and Retail Cashiers at 9.8%, Administrative and secretarial at 9.6%, Caring, leisure and other service at 9.2% and Process Operatives at 8.5%.

Education

Schools in the area

Primary schools: Belgrave St Peter's Church of England Primary, Mellor Community Primary, Catherine Infants and Catherine Juniors, St Patrick's Catholic Primary, Abbey Primary and Rushey Mead Primary. Secondary schools: Rushey Mead Academy, which is the best state-funded secondary school in Leicester and Leicestershire and

Soar Valley College Soar Valley College is an 11-16 co-educational comprehensive secondary school in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. It was designated a Maths and Computing specialist college in September 2004. As part of the Building Schools for the Fu ...

. College: Leicester College - Abbey Park Campus.

Places of interest

- An 18th Century Hall owned at one point by the MP and Businessman John Ellis. It is known for its paranormal happenings and has been subject to world media attention. It was a museum but is now an events venue and is occasionally used for public events with the gardens opening periodically throughout the year. *The Belgrave Conservation Area - Includes

, St Peter's Church and The Talbot Inn. *The Golden Mile - Known for the many Indian shops along it, including gold jewellery, food and saree shops. This road is at the centre of annual Diwali celebrations in the city, having rows of lights that are switched on in front of tens of thousands of visitors each year. *The

- museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, containing the United Kingdom's largest planetarium. *Space Park Leicester - a pioneering £100 million research, innovation and teaching hub for space-related high-tech companies and researchers focussing primarily on research, development and applications of space. *

Abbey Pumping Station The Abbey Pumping Station is a museum of science and technology in Leicester, England, on Corporation Road, next to the National Space Centre. With four working steam-powered beam engines from its time as a sewage pumping station, it also houses ...

- a science and technology museum. * Abbey Park - Leicester’s premier park in which the River Soar runs through. *The

Peepul Centre The Peepul Centre is an arts centre An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as the ...

- a multi-use facility. *Leicester Outdoor Pursuits Centre - a sports facility aside the River Soar.

Scenery

The River Soar runs along the west of Belgrave.

Gallery

File:Belgrave Hall Museum - geograph.org.uk - 70266.jpg, Belgrave Village with

in the background File:Church of St Peter, Belgrave, Leicester (geograph 2837997).jpg, St Peter's Church, Belgrave File:River Soar, Belgrave, Leicester - geograph.org.uk - 70260.jpg, The River Soar in Belgrave with the

in the background File:River Soar, Belgrave, Leicester - geograph.org.uk - 70275.jpg, The River Soar at Belgrave Lock File:Agar Street, Belgrave, Leicester in 1976.jpg, The

Cobbled Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fr ...

Agar Street

Area

The electoral ward of

contains a part of Belgrave meaning that despite the actual geographical location that specific area may also be classed as being in

by virtue of the electoral ward mapping. Agar Street, Belgrave, Leicester in 1976

Transport

Major roads

Belgrave is located on, at the start of and at the south end of the A607 and is also on the A6 and the A563.

Bus

First Leicester Leicester Citybus,Companies House extract company no 2000072< ...

service 4 and 21 serve Belgrave on the A607 and Catherine Street respectively.

First Leicester Leicester Citybus,Companies House extract company no 2000072< ...

services 25 and 26 travel along Belgrave Gate with service 25 going through the Old Village and service 26 going by Abbey Park and by the Old Village.

Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...

services 5, 5A and 6 all serve the A607 whilst

service 127 serves Loughborough Road, travelling by the Old Village. All bus services operate along or by the Golden Mile from and into

. The nearest bus stations, both in

are the Haymarket and St Margaret's.

Train

The nearest train station is

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 ...

. The

runs along at the east of Belgrave. Leicester Belgrave Road railway station and Belgrave and Birstall railway station are both now closed.

Airport

The nearest airport is

East Midlands Airport East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () ...

, in Leicestershire and 19.2 miles away from Belgrave.

Politics

Belgrave is located within the

Leicester East Leicester East is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since December 2019 by Claudia Webbe, who was ele ...

parliament constituency, a seat held by the Labour Party consistently since 1987 albeit with a significantly reduced majority in the 2019 United Kingdom general election, though reflecting a widespread national trend for the Labour Party in that particular election. The Belgrave electoral ward is currently represented on

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently control ...

by Labour Councillors Padmini Chamund, Nita Solanki and Mahendra Mohanbhai Valand. The electoral ward of

includes parts of Belgrave. Former Councillors for Belgrave include Archibald Berridge and Ramnik Kavia, both of whom served as Lord Mayors of Leicester, Colin Hall, the city's Lord Mayor from 2010 to 2011 and a resident of the area since 1968 and Manjula Sood, Britain's first Asian woman Lord Mayor. Belgrave was represented within the East Midlands parliamentary constituency in the European Parliament.

Council election results

Belgrave 2019

Belgrave 2015

Sport

Belgrave Road Cycle and Cricket Ground in Belgrave was a sports ground which hosted early matches of Leicester Fosse, who re-formed as

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and Leicester Tigers. The ground was opened on 5 May 1880 by

Edwyn Sherard Burnaby Edwyn Sherard Burnaby (22 May 1830 – 31 May 1883) was a major-general''Gentleman's Magazine'', September 1867, p. 398 and Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire North from 1880 until his death. He served in the C ...

, the MP for Leicestershire North as a 10-acre site with mile long running and cycling tracks, cricket and football pitches and hosted Leicester Tigers first official game against

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

on 23 October of that year. The Tigers moved from Belgrave in January 1881 before moving back for the 1882/83 season. Leicester Fosse, a forerunner of

played soccer at the ground for the 1887/88 season, their fourth, however only lasted one season before their outbidding for use of the ground by Leicester Tigers. In June 1881 it also hosted Leicestershire County Cricket Club against an All England XI. It opened in 1880 and closed in 1901 when houses, shops and part of the British United Shoe Machinery were built on the site.

Notable people

* John Ellis - MP for Leicester, businessman, Chairman of

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

, noted liberal reformer and Quaker and a former owner and resident, along with his family of

. * Jennie Fletcher - British competitive swimmer, Olympic gold medallist and former world record holder - born in Belgrave. * Tony Sibson - Professional boxer and former European and Commonwealth middleweight champion - lived in and went to school in Belgrave. * David Weston - artist and author - born in Belgrave. * Tom Sidwell - cricketer - born in Belgrave. * George Walton - cricketer - born and died in Belgrave.

Bibliography

References

External links

Visit Leicester - BelgraveCurve Theatre - Fashioning a City - Belgrave

Belgrave's first saree shop
from

BBC Radio Leicester BBC Radio Leicester is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at St Nicholas Place in Leicester. According to RAJAR, the station ...

* {{Authority control Areas of Leicester