Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Conservation Area Sought for Church Gate

There is a proposal before Leicester City Council to create a new Conservation Area around Church Gate.

Church Gate is an important thoroughfare which lies just outside the line of Leicester’s old Town Wall. It was part of the suburb settled by Danes a thousand years ago.

The suffix “Gate” is an ancient Danish word that simply means “street”. In this case, it signifies the street leading to St. Margarets Church.

The area also contains Leicester’s historic Great Meeting, and a weatherboarded warehouse of a type common in Essex but rare in the East Midlands.

Just off the street is St. Margarets Bus Station, where many visitors arrive in the city.

The last area of Leicester to be awarded Conservation Area status was around All Saints Church.

If the current proposal is accepted, that will make a total of 24 Conservation Areas in the city, a not unreasonable number for what is one of the oldest towns in England.

Posted by colin on Wednesday 16th November, 2005 at 6:21pm