Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Town Hall (Leicester)

[An image showing Town Hall]Leicester Town Hall is in the City Centre in Town Hall Square, running between Horsefair Street and Bishop Street.

It was built in the Queen Anne style by Francis Hames, a local architect, in 1875, on the site of the former Cattle Market. The Council had organised a competition to build a new Town Hall, and entries were invited from any architect who cared to take part. Hames was the ultimate winner. It was the first civic building in England to be built in the Queen Anne style.

Most Town Halls built around this period tend to be either Classical or Gothic - either way, they tend to be rather severe. This does not apply to Leicester Town Hall, which has a friendly and inviting feel about it.

The Town Hall still contains the Council Chamber and various other meeting rooms, although most of the council offices are located elsewhere in the city. The city's Register Office, where marriages take place, has recently been relocated to the Town Hall.

The Town Hall has an extra tower which contains a clock, and there are extra wings, to Bishop Street and Bowling Green Street, which were added in 1910 and 1924 respectively.

Before 1875, Leicester's Guildhall had acted as the Town Hall for 400 years. This attractive timber-framed hall, one of the oldest civic buildings in England, was constructed for the Guild of Corpus Christi in the late 14th century, and extended a century later, at about the time of Richard III.

The Town Hall's friendliness is enhanced by the open space in front, known as Town Hall Square. This contains the Town Hall Square Fountain, also built by Francis Hames, in 1879.

Town Hall (Leicester) is the starting point for...

A Closer Look at Leicester, A Handful of Architects, Bank on Leicester, Beyond the Grave, Black Annis and Friends, Faith in Leicester, Friday the Thirteenth, Gone, But Not Forgotten, Goosepimples, Haunted Leicester, Hidden Leicester, Historic Leicester, Keeping Faith in Leicester, Local Heroines, Looking Up In Leicester, Lost Inns and Coffee Houses, Markets of Leicester, Richard III, Saints and Preachers, Set in Stone, St. George and the Dragons, Stage and Screen, Street Names of Leicester, Talks, Talks 2, The Ghosts of Christmas, The Grim Reaper, The Holly and the Ivy, Victims of Jack the Ripper, Victorian Leicester, Walk in Dread, Walking the Walls

Where is Town Hall?

View a map showing the location of Town Hall.

Press the 'Back' button on your web browser to return here.

Bookmark this page

Bookmark this page with del.icio.us

What is del.icio.us?

Places in Leicester...

Events in Leicester...

Locales