Sitting on the south-eastern edge of Leicester, Evington is an electoral ward within the Leicester district, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire. The area takes in three distinct communities: the original historic village of Evington, and the mid-twentieth-century council estates of Rowlatts Hill and Goodwood. At the 2021 census, the ward had a population of 17,268. The village itself has been a designated conservation area since 1989, preserving the character of its older streets around Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys.
History and Development
The name Evington comes from the Old English for ‘farm or settlement of Eafa/Aefa’, and the earliest recorded spelling appears in 1259, when Walter de Evington leased around 100 acres of land here. After the Norman Conquest, the land passed to Hugh de Grentesmesnil. For much of its history Evington was a self-contained rural parish – large enough to include the areas now known as North Evington and Evington Valley, both of which were annexed by Leicester in 1892. By 1931 the remaining parish had a population of just 1,802, but on 1 April 1935 the expanding city boundary absorbed nearly all of it, drawing Evington into Leicester’s outer suburbs. The 1950s brought further change, with housing development along Downing Drive and Spencefield Lane. Rowlatts Hill, designed by City Architect Stephen George, was built between 1964 and 1967 on a hillside north of Leicester General Hospital, with two 22-storey tower blocks and low-rise grey brick houses; a later phase of red brick houses followed between 1973 and 1977. The Goodwood estate, a 1950s development of just under 1,000 residences, is treated separately from Rowlatts Hill for council housing administration.
Village Green and Evington Park
Evington Village Green is a triangular open space bounded by Main Street to the north, High Street to the south-west, and Church Street to the east. A war memorial stands at the north-east corner, while the west corner holds a Baptist Chapel and the building known as the Manse. A large old oak tree occupies the south-east corner, and a children’s playground – refurbished with funding from the Friends of Evington Village Green – sits within the green. The village fete and show takes place here each year. Evington Park covers 44 acres of public parkland and opened in 1948 on the former estate of Evington House, built in 1836, which now houses offices and some public amenities. The park contains many mature trees, among them a mulberry thought to date from around the time the house was built. Visitors will find public exercise machines, tennis courts, and pitches for both football and cricket.