Belgrave is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. Belgrave is the location of and known for several notable and famous landmarks such as the National Space Centre, Space Park Leicester, Abbey Pumping Station, the Golden Mile and Belgrave Hall. It is also noted for being the location of businesses such as British United Shoe Machinery and Wolsey.
The Old Belgrave Village, containing the Belgrave Conservation Area, including Belgrave Hall, Belgrave House, St Peter's Church and The Talbot Pub 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 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, St Matthew's and Leicester City Centre 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 as Merdegrave (from Old English mearð 'marten' + grāf 'grove'). However, after the Norman Conquest 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. Grandmesnil had fought at the side of William the Conqueror at Hastings and was his chief cavalry commander. As a reward for his services he was granted several manors/lands by the King, of which this was one.Domesday Book: A Complete Transliteration. London: Penguin, 2003. p. 653 The land consisted of a mill, of meadow and land for six ploughs. For centuries afterwards Belgrave continued as a small agricultural village.
The Bishops Fee included Belgrave.
During the Middle Ages 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.
Back in the 14th Century Thurcaston Road was one of the country's most important roads. On a map of 1675 it is shown as part of the great road from London to Manchester and Carlisle and its importance was further recognised when it became a tumpike (toll road) in 1784. A bridge existed on Thurcaston Road in 1357 although the current medieval one dates from the 15th Century.
Another important influence on Belgrave was the construction of The Leicester Navigation in 1791. A canal was dug to the south and north of the village to provide a passage for barges where the River Soar was unsuitable for navigation. It helped industry in the town, bringing coal, limestone, state and wool into Leicester and taking hosiery and other finished goods out. The wharf in Belgrave Village, just south of the bridge was the offloading point for Mountsorrel Granite. The medieval bridge had to be widened to allow the barges to pass through.
Belgrave was one of the communities in Leicestershire that experienced the shock of military confrontation because of its situation on the busy London to Derby 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 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.
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.
Belgrave is home to Belgrave Hall and Gardens. Belgrave Hall, built between 1709 and 1713 in a plain classical style is in the midst of two acres of serene walled gardens. 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. It is very well known for Paranormal Activity.
St Peter's Church is the oldest building in the local conservation area. It has the most magnificent Norman doorway in England. Archaeologists believe that there may be an earlier Saxon church beneath the present structure. Sightings of Apparitions have also been seen.
The Talbot Inn, named after the Talbot Hound, a white hunting Dog dates from the 18th Century and 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. Originally a three-storey coaching inn on a major road, the second storey was removed in 1958 after a fire. It is said that The Talbot was the last place a criminal could get a meal or drink on their way to be executed. Their bodies were then returned to the Inn's outbuildings, which also served as a morgue. Paranormal Activity has been reported at The Talbot.
Belgrave House was built in 1776.
Cross Corners on Thurcaston Road was built by James Vann at the same time that his brother William built Belgrave House. During World War One Belgian refugees were accommodated here and in the 1920s it became a home for “mentally deficient” boys. The building is now owned by Leicester City Council and in 2003 Cross Corners Community Arts Centre opened there.
Tho National School on the corner of Loughborough Road and Thurcaston Road was built in 1861 and stands on the site of the original Bull's Head Pub. Alfred Ellis, who lived opposite in Cross Corners, disliked the “sordid” and “run-down” pub so bought and demolished it, giving the land for a new school. A new Bull's Head was built opposite the school on Bath Street a few years later. By 1877 the school had 350 pupils. It closed in 1974 and is now owned by a firm of solicitors. The Clock was bought to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee of 1887.
As Belgrave grew it became important enough to be linked to Leicester by Horse Tram. The first route of the new Leicester Tramways Company Ltd in 1874 was from the Clock Tower to the Loughborough Road and Thurcaston Road Junction. Electric Trams replaced Horse Trams in 1904.
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. In 1891 the parish had a population of 11,405. On 31 October 1891 most of the parish became part of the County Borough of Leicester, on 26 March 1896 the parish was abolished to form 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.
Cobbled Agar Street was an Unadopted Road.
The Belgravians were a very close-knit community at one time. If there had been a misdemeanour in the village and the miscreant was a local then it would be highly unlikely that the culprit would be brought to book. In the early 1900s one of the more popular forms of recreation for the men would be the little gambling schools. In summer they would meet up around the fields by the River Soar for a few rounds of 'Pitch and Toss', a simple game where players would place some pennies either Heads or Tails up and the ‘Chucker’ would throw a penny and whichever side it landed was the winner. The Constabulary took a dim view of such practices however and on one memorable Friday evening a notoriously keen police inspector crept up on a small party. He appeared and declared ‘I’ve got you now‘ and the men did no more than throw the furious policeman into the River. The next day when enquiries were launched to track down the culprits, nobody knew anything. As a result, Belgrave earned another title of 'Dummy Town', as if there was any trouble then everybody acted dumb.
Belgrave Flyover, which connected the area with the City Centre was demolished in 2014, being replaced by Belgrave Circle Roundabout.
The 2022 Leicester unrest happened in Belgrave.
Historic production 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 scheme which trained a large proportion of Leicester's engineers.. 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 patented more than 9,000 inventions, at one time employing 5% of the UK's patent agents.
Wolsey, a heritage British clothing brand founded in 1755, making it one of the oldest existing textile companies in the world was based in Belgrave.
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. 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.
Walkers Midshire Foods - Walkers Deli & Sausage Co, part of Samworth Brothers is on the Cobden Street Industrial Estate in Belgrave. The Business specialises in the manufacturing of Premium Sliced Cooked Meats and Sausages as well as being the largest producer of Pate in the UK.
Demographics The Belgrave area has become home to affluent Indian-origin East African Hindus.Andrews, A., ‘A history of South Asian migration into Leicester: an essay on Hindu/Muslim segregation’, in Jewson, N. (ed.), Migration Processes and Ethnic Divisions (Leicester: The Centre for Urban History and The Ethnicity Research Centre, University of Leicester, 1995)
The area, since the 1970s has had a large Asian population and is now predominately Asian. It has become an example of a Little India.
According to the 2001 UK census 104 Pacific Island 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.