Eyres Monsell - History

History

Eyres Monsell was constructed as a council estate in the southern suburbs of Leicester, England. The area is defined by Saffron Lane to the east, the Birmingham to Peterborough railway to the south, Lutterworth Road to the west, and Glenhills Way to the north. Although located in the far south-west corner of Leicester, the area is under the administration of Leicester City Council rather than the Leicestershire County Council as some of the neighbouring estates are.

The land was acquired by the corporation of Leicester for housing development purposes for £40,500 by compulsory purchase order in the early 1950s. The area takes its name from the previous land owner, former Conservative MP Bolton Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell. The largely rural area was purchased with an aim to avoid the spatial limitations that had led to the foreboding tower blocks and intimidating alleyways of inner city developments and to provide a greener and more open plan estate. Eyres Monsell would become Leicester's second largest estate to be built after World War Two.