Highfields, Leicester

In the early nineteenth century, Highfields was a rural area lying outside of the city of Leicester. "Known as High Fields, the area was rich in water sources and windmills".[10] This area of farm land was reached by short lanes that led off of London Road. The layout and width of Mill Hill Lane still survives much in the form that it took in the 1820s, although the housing was not built until the 1850s. Prebend Street and Saxby Street also formed two of these lanes that led from London Road to farms although both of these roads have been widened since.[11]

The 1820s saw the beginnings of the development of the area as a residential district. First to be developed were Glebe Street, Conduit Street and Prebend Street and No 20 Glebe Street remains as one of the oldest surviving houses in the area. By this time there were already a few large villas on the London Road (e.g. 78–82). The Collegiate School on College Street was built in 1835.[12]

The first terraced houses were built in Lincoln Street, Hobart Street and Seymour Street in the 1860s. By the 1870s, although much of the area east of London Road was still open fields, a large house (Highfields House) had been built and the area between Highfield Street and Mill Hill Lane had been developed (Maps 3 and 4). Houses facing London Road were mainly built between the mid-1850s and the late 1860s and most still remain, although all have been converted to commercial uses.[12]

St Peter's Church, St Peter's Road

Substantial houses continued to be built as the area expanded southwards until the 1880s. Several streets were named after Prince Albert, the Prince Consort's family, but were renamed during the 1st World War; Saxe Coburg (now Saxby) Street was built between 1872 and 1881, Gotha (now Gotham) Street between 1877 and 1887 and Mecklenburg (now Severn) Street between 1875 and 1888. Places of worship were also built to cater for the growing population. In 1874 St Peter's Anglican Church was consecrated on St Peter's Road opposite the end of Highfields Street. The building was designed by the renowned architect George Edmund Street who was also responsible for the Courts of Justice in London. The Society of Friends opened a Meeting House at the corner of Glebe Street and Prebend Street in 1876 and, by 1886, several more places of worship had been built - a Congregational Chapel on London Road, a Wesleyan Church and Sunday school on the corner of Saxby Street and Sparkenhoe Street and the Victoria Road Baptist (now Seventh Day Adventist) Church and Sunday school at the corner of London Road and Victoria (now University) Road.[13]

By the 1880s, land prices were high and small residential enclaves such as Woodbine and Gordon Avenues were built in 1884 with only footpath access to make the maximum profitable use of the land. This also occurred between Prebend Street and College Street, creating College Avenue in 1886 and Brookhouse Avenue in 1888 and between Gotham Street and London Road, creating Victoria Avenue (1889), on part of the site of an earlier large villa and garden ('The Chestnuts'). These pedestrian enclaves give the area a unique feel. However, the development of Stoneygate began to attract the middle classes away from Highfields and demand for larger houses declined. Development was completed by the construction of smaller terraced houses on Churchill, Connaught and Hamilton Streets (1886–1888).[14]

In 1898, the respected local architect Arthur Wakerley designed the Highfield Street synagogue. This place of worship served a newly established Jewish community that was beginning to settle in the area.

Since completion of the Victorian suburb, there has been no wholesale redevelopment of the area and so much of it still looks as it would have done in the nineteenth century. The main changes have been the loss of front gardens on the west side of London Road (and most of those on the east side) for highway use and the wholesale conversion of buildings on both sides of London Road into shops and offices.[15]

The 1920s and 1930s saw some continued development and redevelopment in the area. Offices and businesses were built on Nelson Street, whilst new shops and offices were built on London Road (55-57) in the Art-deco style in 1935.[15]

Most of the original houses between Conduit Street and Prebend Street, including the Congregational chapel, gave way to 3 and 4-storey offices and showrooms between the 1930s and 1960s. Further along London Road, Nos. 132 to 140 were replaced by offices with a large setback from the street frontage to accommodate road-widening which never took place.[15]

Before and during the Second World War, the Jewish community expanded, with evacuees and refugees from Europe; a Polish and Latvian community began to be established.[16]

The area was badly bombed during the Second World War. The worst night of bombing took place on 19 November 1940, with high-explosive bombs and incendiaries falling across the area between the Old Horse and the city centre. This night is often referred to as Leicester's Blitz. Several buildings at the corner of Highfield Street and Tichborne Street were destroyed and 41 people killed at this site (now occupied by Trinity Life Church in a community hall and ex-garage). On the same night a number of bombs fell on Sparkenhoe Street destroying homes, the local Post Office and the Methodist Church on the corner of Saxby Street and killing two people. Fragments of the bomb which destroyed the Methodist Church also damaged St Peter's Church, passing through the West window, bouncing several times before becoming embedded in the high altar.[17] This was the city's largest of at least 8 recorded enemy raids between September 1940 – July 1942, where 122 people died in total and 284 recorded as seriously injured.[18] Among those killed on that night were 12 members of the Royal Army Pay Corps who were billeted in the area.[19]

It is recorded that one of the Luftwaffe's largest of bombs was dropped on Grove Road (the 1000 kg Parachute Mine), causing extensive damage to adjacent streets.[20] It is still possible to trace the paths of the bombs by looking at the areas of post-1950s building that have gone on in the area.[21] More recently, some infill development has taken place, such as De Montfort Mews behind 5 to 19 De Montfort Street, Andrew Court and Tichborne Court flats (late 1970s) and the bank at 121 to 123 London Road (1973/4). In 1999, a bank was built to replace a 1960s office block on the corner of Saxby Street and London Road.

After the war the area became less desirable as the trend towards suburban living encouraged many residents to move out to the outskirts of the city. The area became characterised by lodging houses and poor quality rented accommodation and this attracted a succession of migrants to make their homes in the area. In the post-war period these incomers were largely Irish migrants.[22] The post-war period also saw the migration of ex-servicemen and workers from the Caribbean to the area.[16]

The post-war period also saw the first South Asian migrants moving to the area. This first wave of South Asian migrants who came directly were Punjabi and Gujarati in response to the demand for unskilled labour during the post war economic boom. Most of these migrants were men from rural areas where unemployment levels were high. Upon arrival in Leicester they formed a tight-knit community and in order to maximise their ability to save, these groups established lodging houses in the Highfields area of Leicester.[23]

During the early 1970s and especially after 1972, a large number of the Asian community in East Africa began to move to the area following expulsion from Uganda by Idi Amin. This group migrated in large numbers over a relatively short period of time and it quickly became apparent that Highfields was not going to be able to accommodate the entire East African Asian population.

These immigrants differed from the earlier direct migrants from Gujarat and the Punjab who had settled in Leicester. Perhaps the most important difference was that many of them were refugees and involuntary migrants. In addition to their strong trading, business and professional backgrounds and good knowledge of English, the Asians settled in East Africa tended to arrive as complete families, including ageing parents and relatives.[24] As a result, their housing needs and aspirations differed significantly from those predominately single migrants from other countries.[25] And some were able to bring some, if not all of their savings. This ensured that these new migrants were quickly in a position to purchase much of the available housing in the Highfields area. However, Highfields did not have sufficient capacity and the Asians arriving from East Africa became centred in Belgrave.

On 10 July 1981 a riot broke out in the area as part of a wave of riots that were sweeping the country.[26] These riots had a range of causes but to some extent were a protest about perceived discrimination and acute disadvantage. Lord Scarman found the riots that took place across the country to be communal disorders with a racial dimension.[27]