New Heritage Information Panels Installed

Published: 23 April 2021

Leicester City has a wealth of heritage, dating back over 2,000 years. Much of this history is hidden and is brought alive by heritage information panels across the City. As part of the Story of Leicester project, the panels celebrate the places of Leicester’s recent and distant past.

The panels can be seen in shopping centres, near former warehouses and in front of the city’s iconic landmarks such as the Clock Tower. They can also be seen in Leicester’s historic villages, including Aylestone, Belgrave and Evington.

Five new panels have recently been added to the 128 already installed, at locations including Elston Fields and Vulcan Road.

In Spinney Hills park a new panel tells the story of Highfield’s development. In the early 1800s Leicester’s ‘high fields’ was a rural area on the edge of town. By the late 1800s the area became more developed, new houses and streets were built. Today, Highfields is one of the most culturally diverse areas of the city.

The development of housing in Eyres Monsell, North Braunstone and Saffron Lane is featured in three new panels. Located near the Eyres Monsell Community Centre the Eyres Monsell housing panel looks at the development of the estate in the 1950s. The Saffron Lane panel, in Tick-Tock Park, shows the 1920s origins of this “garden suburb”. It also remembers former famous residents and writers Joe Orton and Sue Townsend.

Located on Vulcan Road, a new panel tells the amazing story of The Vulcan Works building. Now the Vulcan House Business Centre. The works were built between 1876 and 1879. It was one of the first factories in the country to have an iron foundry and engineering works on the same site. The beam engines, which are in Abbey Pumping Station, were made at the works.

To find out more about the history on the five new heritage panels. Visit the Story of Leicester website, using the links below.