Aylestone
| Aylestone | |
|---|---|
 Bridge over the canal at Aylestone Meadows | |
  Aylestone Location withinLeicestershire | |
| Population | 11,151 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SK573009 |
| •London | 101 mi (163 km)S |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Leicester |
| Postcode district | LE2 |
| Dialling code | 0116 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Aylestoneis a suburb ofLeicester,England, southwest of thecity centreand east of theRiver Soar.
St Andrew's Church, Aylestonedates from the 13th century.[1]The area around the church retains much of the former village character. It is largely surrounded by Victorian housing close to the city centre (Aylestone Park) and by 20th-century housing in other directions.
Theelectoral wardof Aylestone covers Old Aylestone village (including theconservation area), the Gilmorton estate, the south and west of Aylestone Park (the remainder is in Saffron ward) and the southwest side of Saffron Lane (to Grace Road). The ward borders Saffron and Eyres Monsell wards and the county parish ofGlen Parvaand is in the parliamentary constituency ofLeicester West.The ward has two elected councillors: currently these are Councillor Scott Kennedy-Lount (Liberal Democrat, first elected 2023) and CouncillorNigel Porter(formerly Conservative, from 2011 a Liberal Democrat).[2]
History
[edit]The name 'Aylestone' comes from the Anglo-Saxon 'Aegel's settlement' or 'Egil's settlement'.[3]Aylestone was recorded in theDomesday BookasAilstone,held in the reign ofEdward the Confessorby Alveva, Countess of Mercia.[4]In 1086 it was held byRobert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester.[5]The manor passed from Robert to his sonRobert le Bossu,thence to Bossu's sonRobert Blanchemainsand finally to Blanchemains' son,Robert FitzPernel.[6]FitzPernel died without issue, and his estates were divided between his two sisters, the manor of Aylestone passing to Margaret, who marriedSaer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester.[6]The manor passed by marriage into the hands of the Harcourt family, and then the Pembrugge family ofTong, Shropshire.[7]On the death of Fulke de Pembrugge IV in 1409, the manor passed to his wife Isabel.[8]Fulke and Isabel having no issue, the manor eventually passed to the grandson of Fulk's sister Juliana, Richard Vernon III.[9]Aylestone remained in the hands of theVernonfamily until the death ofSir George Vernonin 1565.[10]His daughterDorothyhaving married John Manners, second son of the1st Earl of Rutland,Aylestone passed to the Manners family, who later became theDukes of Rutland.[11]
The estate was sold by the6th Duke of Rutland,the sale being held at theTemperance HallinLeicesteron 26 June 1869.[12]
The Leicester Extension Act of 1891 incorporated Aylestone into the Borough of Leicester. The village had at this time an area of 1,723 acres.[13]On 26 March 1896 the civil parish was abolished and merged with Leicester.[14]
Aylestone'sopen fieldswereenclosedin 1766.[15]about this time Aylestone was the chosen route into Leicester Town for the supply of coal from the areas around Bagworth, Desford and Swannington which was carried in by Packhorse "trains" who crossed, on the Aylestonepackhorse bridge,the (sometimes swampy) flood plain area now known asAylestone Meadows.
During theEnglish Civil War/War of Three KingdomsKing Charles1 of England andPrince Rupertused Aylestone Hall as their headquarters during the siege and storming of Parliamentarian Leicester Town by the mainRoyalistfield army on 30 and 31 May 1645. Aylestone Hall was occupied by a ladies'boarding schoolin 1846. When the estate was sold in 1869 the hall was occupied by a tenant, Nathaniel Stone, who purchased it. From 1871 to 1938 the hall was occupied by the Stretton family. It was requisitioned by the army duringWorld War II.In 1950 Leicester City Council purchased it, and after renovation the hall and the grounds were opened in 1954 as a public park, with a restaurant and a clubhouse for the local bowling club.[16]
Aylestone Hall was renovated again in 2003, and converted into three separate dwellings and a clubhouse.[17]It had been assumed that much of the hall's medieval fabric had been destroyed when alterations were made in 1850.[17]However early timber framing, including parts of an aisled hall, were found during a preliminary investigation. The timbers were dated bydendrochronologyto 1339.[17]The hall has a mid-16th-century cross wing of stone in a timber frame, and was re–roofed in the late 17th century, using many of the original 14th-century timbers.[17]Many of the seeminglyTudorarchitectural features, such as the star–shaped chimneys, were introduced during the rebuilding of 1850.[17]It was the home ofDorothy Vernonand John Manners.[18]
A 15th-centurypackhorse bridgeat the west end of Marsden Lane crosses theRiver Soaron eleven arches.[19]
Aylestone Park is an area of housing approximately a mile square, which grew betweenLeicesterand Aylestone village and which has housing generally built since 1875.
Aylestone Meadows is a large area ofplaying fieldsandwater-meadownearby, and contributes to the semi-rural character of the suburb. In 2003 they were designated aLocal Nature Reserve.[20][21]Plans byLeicester City Councilto bulldoze an area within the Aylestone Meadows to make way for an artificial sports pitch, single storey clubhouse and car park, were defeated on 21 March 2011 when the Planning Committee rejected the plans. Many groups including the Aylestone Meadows Appreciation Society, Leicester Friends of the Earth, Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, the Leicester Civic Society, and theCampaign for Rural England,all helped rally support against the plans. It was the first time that anE-Petitionon Leicester City Council's website had ever been used.[citation needed]
Demography
[edit]In 2001, the ward of Aylestone had a population of 10,801.[2] The population of the parish in 1871 was 450, in 1881 it was 2,546 and in 1891 it was 5,381.[22][23]
Culture and community
[edit]The Aylestone Boathouse, a large wooden building, was built c. 1911 by Gordon Biggs on the site of a canal wharf close to Middleton Street. Rollers were installed by the side of King's Lock to allow boats to be transferred to the River Soar from the canal. Later a brick-built ballroom and restaurant, and tennis courts, were added. The building was used as an engineering works during World War II. The boathouse was demolished c.1980.[24]The ballroom became abingohall, and was eventually demolished and replaced by housing.[25]
Transport
[edit]From Aylestone thecanalisedRiver Soar flows northwards to theRiver Trent.Southwards the Soar was too shallow for navigation, and a canal was dug from a junction with the river just north of the packhorse bridge toMarket Harborough,where it connected with theGrand Junction Canal.The section fromLoughboroughto Aylestone andBlabywas opened in 1794, and the section to Market Harborough in 1809.[26]
Ahorse tramservice to Grace Road was started on 7 June 1878.[27]The tramlines were extended to Belvoir Drive in 1884.[28]Leicester Corporation took over the system in 1901, and converted it to electric traction in May 1904, at which time it was extended to a terminus at Wigston Lane.[28]Services ceased on 5 January 1947.[29]
TheGreat Central Railwaypassed near to the village, on an embankment between 35 ft (10.7 m) and 40 ft (12.2 m) high. Although the line opened for passenger traffic on 15 March 1899, no station was provided at Aylestone. The nearest stations wereLeicester CentralandWhetstone.[29]
Arriva Midlandsoperate frequent buses into Leicester on services 84, 85 and 87 all running along Aylestone Road whileCentrebus83/83A routes also operate at infrequent times into the nearby Gilmorton Avenue estate.
Education
[edit]In 1786 the assistant curate of St Andrew's,William Bickerstaffe,and 58 householders petitioned the4th Duke of Rutlandto establish a Charity School at Aylestone for 30 children.[30]In 1844 a National School was opened on land given by the5th Duke,off Church Road (then called School Road). It had about 40 boys and 50 girls. The school was enlarged in 1881 to accommodate 170 boys, 170 girls and 300 infants, and was run by the Aylestone School Board. It was closed in 1891, when the schools in Aylestone were taken over by the Leicester School Board.[22][31]
In 1879 the Aylestone School Board applied to open two more schools; these were in Landsdown Road (1881) and Granby Road (1889).[31]The Leicester Education Authority built two schools, at Knighton Fields Road West and Wigston Lane, before 1939.[31]
Religious sites
[edit]
The Anglican church, St Andrew's, is built of grey-greenTriassicsandstone.[32]The tower and north aisle are 13th-century; the aisle was enlarged in the 14th century when thechancelwas built. In the 15th century aclerestoryand a south aisle were added.[33]The tower is surmounted by abroach spirewhose base is inset behind a parapet.[34]The chancel, built circa 1300–1310, is taller, longer and wider than thenave.[33][34]
The Roman Catholic church ofSt Edward the Confessoropened on 3 May 1922. This replaced temporary premises in Knighton Lane (abake houseand later a room over a stable) which had been used since 1915 as chapels. The church was served by the Dominicans ofHoly Cross Priory, Leicester,until 1937 when the parish was taken over by theRoman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham.[35]
TheBaptistsof Aylestone originally met, from 1855, in a cottage belonging to a Mr and Mrs Crosher in The Hollow.[36][37]By 1868 the cottage was recorded as being in disrepair.[36]In 1869 a lean-to brick building adjoining a cottage in The Hollow was acquired; this held about 50 people.[36]At the same time a plot of land on Sanvey Gate was purchased for the building of a chapel- this, the Aylestone Baptist Chapel, was built in 1871.[36]A new church and school building was built on Lutterworth Road in 1932, and opened in February 1933. The old church was sold in 1934, and became a clubhouse. It was acquired by theApostolic Churchin 1974.[37]
The Church of the Nativity, on Cavendish Road, Aylestone Park, is a combinedMethodistand Anglican church, formed as aLocal ecumenical partnership(LEP).[38]
Geography
[edit]Aylestone is the name of twooutput areasused in theUK Census.One, code 00FNNG, is centred on the Leicester location; the other, code 00GANY, is centred on Aylestone Hill (grid referenceSO520407),Herefordshire.
Sport
[edit]Of the two local football teams, St Andrew's FC has a pitch on Disraeli St, off Church Road, Aylestone. Their local rivals Aylestone Park F.C are located on Saffron Lane, Leicester.
References
[edit]- ^Dare 1924,p. 39
- ^abLeicester City Council."Ward Maps".Archived fromthe originalon 13 June 2011.Retrieved11 October2011.
- ^"Key to English Place-names".kepn.nottingham.ac.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 10 August 2021.Retrieved10 August2021.
- ^Dare 1924,p. 3
- ^Dare 1924,p. 4
- ^abDare 1924,p. 5
- ^Dare 1924,p. 10
- ^Dare 1924,p. 15
- ^Dare 1924,p. 17
- ^Dare 1924,p. 20
- ^Dare 1924,p. 29
- ^Dare 1924,p. 74
- ^Parker 2004,p. 4
- ^"Relationships and changes Aylestone Tn/CP/AP through time".A Vision of Britain through Time.Retrieved15 January2024.
- ^Braund & Evans 1983,p. 6
- ^Parker 2004,p. 13
- ^abcde"A 14th Century Aisled Hall at Aylestone"(PDF).Leicester University. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 December 2013.Retrieved25 September2012.
- ^Dare 1924,p. 24
- ^Pevsner 1960,p. 168
- ^"Aylestone Meadows".Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Archived fromthe originalon 22 December 2015.Retrieved4 August2013.
- ^"Map of Aylestone Meadows".Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.Archivedfrom the original on 22 January 2016.Retrieved4 August2013.
- ^abGerald T. Rimmington."Leicestershire School Boards 1871–1903"(PDF).Leicester University.Archived(PDF)from the original on 5 March 2016.Retrieved29 September2012.
- ^"Population statistics Aylestone Tn/CP/AP through time".A Vision of Britain through Time.Retrieved15 January2024.
- ^Braund & Evans 1983,pp. 27–28
- ^Parker 2004,p. 22
- ^Braund & Evans 1983,p. 29
- ^Braund & Evans 1983,p. 32
- ^abBraund & Evans 1983,p. 33
- ^abBraund & Evans 1983,p. 34
- ^Dare 1924,p. 71
- ^abcParker 2004,p. 17
- ^Parker 2004,p. 36
- ^abBraund & Evans 1983,p. 8
- ^abPevsner 1960,p. 167
- ^Parker 2004,p. 42
- ^abcdBraund & Evans 1983,p. 26
- ^abParker 2004,pp. 30–32
- ^"The Church of the Nativity website".Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2017.Retrieved22 February2017.
Bibliography
[edit]- Braund, John; Evans, Janet (1983).Old Aylestone.Blaby, Leicester: Anderson Publications.ISBN0-907917-04-6.
- Dare, M. Paul (1924).Ayleston Manor and Church.Leicester: Edgar Backus.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1960).The Buildings of England:Leicestershire and Rutland.Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin.
- Parker, J. John (2004).Spirit of Aylestone.Blaby, Leicester: Blaby Art and Print.
External links
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