Just west of Leicester city centre, across the River Soar and below the old town gateway of West Gates, lies Westcotes – also widely known as the West End. The area sits within Leicester City Council as an electoral ward, with Braunstone to the south and Dane Hills to the west. Three main roads run through it: Braunstone Gate, Hinckley Road, and Narborough Road. Its proximity to De Montfort University has made it a popular address for students and young professionals, who are drawn by the concentration of shops, bars, and restaurants along its main streets.
History and Development
Westcotes developed later than much of inner Leicester because the land remained in two private estates until the 1870s. This is reflected in its relatively lower density compared with other inner city areas such as Highfields and Belgrave. At the 2011 census, the ward had a population of 11,644. The area’s history stretches back considerably further, however. Two Roman roads once crossed the West End, both passing over the River Soar near where West Bridge now stands. One was the Fosse Way, running from the vicinity of Exeter to Lincolnshire through Leicester. The other headed west to join Watling Street at Mancetter in Warwickshire. In the 1970s, the remains of a Roman villa – complete with under-floor heating and painted wall-plaster – were uncovered near Saxon Street, close to the line of that western road.
Medieval Roots and Victorian Change
The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded this part of Leicester as forming part of a settlement known as Bromkinsthorpe. During the reign of Charles I in 1626, the land was divided into two areas under the inclosure acts. By the early 1780s, Roman mosaics had been found among the roots of cherry trees at Danet’s Hall, a property on what was then called Watt’s Causeway – later to become King Richards Road. The Danet family had held the hall from the 15th century through to the late 17th century. In 1850, the then owner Dr Noble commissioned a dig after suspecting Roman remains on the property; finds from both that excavation and the later 1970s villa discovery can now be seen at the Jewry Wall Museum. Following Dr Noble’s death from cholera in Spain in 1861, his estate passed to the Leicester Freehold Land Society and building work began in earnest. The Leicester Improvement Act 1881 enabled a long straight cut to be made from Burton Railway Bridge north to King Richards Road, canalising the River Soar into what became known as the Mile Straight and draining the previously marshy land to allow further development.