Sitting just west of Leicester city centre, across the River Soar, the area known as Westcotes – or West End – occupies a compact patch of inner-city Leicester bounded by Braunstone to the south and Dane Hills to the west. It lies south of West Bridge and the old town gateway once known as West Gates. The three main roads running through the area are Braunstone Gate, Hinckley Road, and Narborough Road, all of which feed directly into the city centre. Its proximity to De Montfort University makes it a popular choice for students and young professionals, and the area has a well-established concentration of shops, bars, and restaurants.
History Beneath the Streets
The ground beneath West End has a long history. Two Roman roads once crossed this area, both meeting the River Soar near where West Bridge stands today. One was the Fosse Way, running from the vicinity of Exeter through Leicester into Lincolnshire. The other headed west to connect with Watling Street at Mancetter in Warwickshire. In the 1970s, the remains of a Roman villa were uncovered close to the Mancetter road on Saxon Street, complete with evidence of under-floor heating and painted wall-plaster. Earlier still, in the early 1780s, Roman mosaics were found among cherry tree roots at Danet’s Hall – a property held by the Danet family from the 15th to the late 17th century, situated along what later became King Richards Road. Finds from both discoveries can be viewed at the Jewry Wall Museum.
Victorian Development and the Mile Straight
According to the Domesday Book of 1086, West End formed part of a settlement called Bromkinsthorpe. The land was divided under the enclosure acts during the reign of Charles I in 1626, and it remained in private hands until the 1870s – which is why the area developed later than other parts of Leicester and is somewhat less densely built than inner-city districts like Highfields and Belgrave. The turning point came in 1861 when Dr Noble, the then owner of Danet’s Hall, died of cholera in Spain, and the estate passed to the Leicester Freehold Land Society, prompting construction. The Leicester Improvement Act 1881 led to a long straight cut being made from the Burton Railway Bridge north to King Richards Road, canalising the River Soar into what became known as the Mile Straight and draining the marshy ground that had previously made building difficult. At the 2011 census, the ward’s population was recorded at 11,644. West End is an electoral ward of Leicester City Council.