Visit Leicestershire Places

Welcome to Visit Leicestershire Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Leicestershire

  

Leicestershire Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Leicestershire

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Leicestershire history

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Leicestershire was recorded in the Domesday Book in four wapentakes: Guthlaxton, Framland, Goscote and Gartree. In 1087, the first recorded use of the name was as Lægrecastrescir. In 1974, the Local Government Act abolished the county borough status of Leicester city and the county status of neighbouring Rutland.

Leicestershire economy & business

Engineering

Engineering has long been an important part of the economy of Leicestershire . Engineering companies today include sports car makers Noble Automotive Ltd in Barwell and Ultima Sports Ltd in Hinckley . John Taylor Bellfounders continues a history of bellfounding in Loughborough since the 14th century .

Farming

Leicestershire County Show is held on the first Bank Holiday in May each year . Melton Mowbray Market is an important regional livestock market . Field sports remain an important part of the rural economy .

Food and drink

Stilton and Red Leicester cheeses and pork pie are the three most famous contributions to English cuisine from Leicestershire . Claybrooke mill is one of the very few commercially working watermills left in Britain producing a range of over 40 flours .

Clothing

Leicester and Leicestershire has had a traditional industry of knitwear, hosiery and footwear . The sheep on the county’s coat of arms is recognition of this . The local manufacturing industry began with hand knitting in the Middle Ages, and was fully industrialised by the end of the 19th century .

Healthcare

University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust employs around 11,000 at its three hospitals in the city and county, the Glenfield, the General and the Royal Infirmary . Leicestershire Partnership NHS trust employs over 5,500 staff providing mental health, learning disability and community health services .

Biomedical industries

Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical instrument manufacturing companies include 3M, Bridgehead International in Melton, Fisher Scientific in Loughborough and Ashfield Healthcare in Ashby-de-la-Zouch .

Freight and distribution

East Midlands Airport is one mile (1.6 km) south of Castle Donington, next to the M1 in north-west Leicestershire . It is the second largest freight airport in the United Kingdom after London Heathrow . DHL Aviation have a large purpose built facility at EMA, UPS and TNT also use the airport as a base . Lufthansa Cargo is also a regular user of East Midlands .

Other

Wilson Bowden was bought in 2007 by Barratt Developments plc in a GBP2.2 billion deal . Sofidel Group manufactures more than 600 million toilet rolls and kitchen towel rolls per year in its Leicestershire factories . Toy car company Corgi have European operation at the Meridian Business Park .

Financial and business services

Financial and business service companies with operations in Leicestershire include Alliance & Leicester, Cambridge & Counties Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, State Bank of India, HSBC, and PricewaterhouseCoopers . Pension provision company Mattioli Woods employs 170 people at its . HQ .

Business awards

Recent Leicestershire winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise are listed on the Lord Lieutenant’s website . The awards have categories including Investing in Leicesterhire, Contribution to the Community, and Entrepreneur of the Year .

Statistics

Chart of trend of regional gross value added of non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire and Rutland . It does not include the City of Leicester .

Leicestershire geography / climate

The River Soar together with its tributaries and canalisations constitutes the principal river basin of the county. The geographical centre of England is in Leicestershire, near Fenny Drayton in the southwest. Bardon Hill at 278 m (912 ft) is also a Marilyn; with other hilly areas of c. 150–200 metres (490–660 ft) and above in nearby Charnwood Forest.

You can visit Leicestershire places with Walkfo Leicestershire to hear history at Leicestershire’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Leicestershire has 48 places to visit in our interactive Leicestershire map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Leicestershire, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Leicestershire places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Leicestershire & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 48 audio facts unique to Leicestershire places in an interactive Leicestershire map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Leicestershire Places Map
48 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Leicestershire historic spots	Leicestershire tourist destinations	Leicestershire plaques	Leicestershire geographic features
Walkfo Leicestershire tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Leicestershire

  

Best Leicestershire places to visit

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Leicestershire has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Leicestershire’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Leicestershire’s information audio spots:

St Mary & St John Church, Rothley St Mary & St John is a Church of England parish church in Rothley, England. It has a congregation of mixed ages and backgrounds. It aims “to reach out with the good news of Jesus Christ”

Swithland railway station Swithland was a railway station on the Great Central Main Line between Rothley and Quorn and Woodhouse. The station was due to open in March 1899 but was never completed. The line through the station site was closed in May 1969.

River Lin The River Lin is a river which runs through North Leicestershire. The source of the river is in Ulverscroft, near Charnwood Forest. The river also feeds Cropston Reservoir and Swithland Reservoir.

Beacon Brook Beacon Brook is a brook which runs through North Leicestershire. The source of the rivulet is in Beacon, near Woodhouse Eaves. The river runs for around 6 kilometres between its source and confluence with the River Lin.

List of local nature reserves in Leicestershire Leicestershire is a county in the East Midlands of England. The area of the administrative county is 806 square miles (2,090 km) and the population according to the 2011 census is 980,000. Leicester City Council is a unitary authority, with seven district councils in the second tier. As of December 2017 there are 23 local nature reserves in the county, the largest is Burbage Common and Woods at 85 hectares (210 acres)

Swithland Swithland is a linear village in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire. The civil parish population was put at 230 in 2004 and 217 in the 2011 census. The village is known for the slate that was quarried in the area.

Woodhouse, Leicestershire Woodhouse is a small village and civil parish in the heart of Charnwood, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,319, including around 300 term-time boarders at the Defence College. Beaumanor Hall, ancestral home of the Herrick family, was used as listening station during the war and intercepted signals intelligence for Bletchley Park.

Visit Leicestershire plaques