Leicester City Centre - Modern Developments

Modern Developments

With increasing development, particularly in the 19th century, the focal point moved eastwards, with the Clock Tower roundabout seeing the five-way junction of the London to Manchester, Birmingham to Yarmouth and Fosse Way roads. This was influenced by the replacement of the Welford Road (now the A5199) by the Market Harborough road (the Harborough Turnpike, now the A6), as the main route to London, because the Welford Road terminated in the tiny streets of the old town, and was therefore a hindrance for vehicles, while the London Road went past the East Gates of the city.

Meanwhile the civic centre moved southwards, with the Corporation of Leicester moving to a new town hall building in 1876 in the Market Street area, facing onto a new Town Hall Square, and just outside of the walled town. Between these areas is the modern market, based to the south-west of the Clock Tower area, which features the permanent outdoor covered Leicester Market (the largest in Europe), alongside an indoor market building selling fish, dairy produce, meat, etc., and the old Cornmarket building. Much of this old area of town is now in various conservation areas.

Outside of the ringroad, but close by, are the main campus of De Montfort University, Leicester Royal Infirmary, the Leicester Tigers' Welford Road stadium and the prison. Leicester railway station is just on the outer side of the ringroad, on the A6. The University of Leicester is further away to the south-east, linked by the pedestrian-only path New Walk. When this was laid out in 1785, on the route of an ancient footpath, it passed through open land, but soon saw development of large private houses on both sides of it. It is now largely offices, although the New Walk Museum makes a strong impact.

The area inside the ringroad has two large shopping malls - Highcross Leicester (first opened as The Shires on the northern side of High Street and opening in 1991 with a large extension opened on 4 September 2008), and the Haymarket Shopping Centre (opened in 1974, on the site of the old hay market), both facing onto the Clock Tower area. On the opposite side of Humberstone Gate to the Haymarket is a new building, with no communal space, occupied by a variety of retailers, that incorporates the famous Lewis's tower from the previous department store on the site.

Major chain stores can also be found on the pedestrianised Gallowtree Gate, running south-east from the clock tower, and which continues to the railway station as Granby Street. To the south of the Shires and west of Gallowtree Gate is an area known as The Lanes consisting mostly of small independent shops. This area's centrepiece is the St Martin's Square development (dating from the 1980s), and also features various smaller arcades, the Odeon Arcade, the Royal Arcade and the Malcolm Arcade. Of particular interest is the now mainly disused Silver Arcade, dating from 1899. Further south than this is the market, and then the civic centre (as mentioned above), which also features the main lending and reference libraries, and a number of shops, both chain and independent.

Gallowtree Gate and Humberstone Gate west of Charles Street are fully pedestrianised. Private cars (but not buses and taxis) are forbidden at certain times from a larger area. Plans exist to fully pedestrianise High Street also, which will involve routing buses via Mansfield Street.

The area around the junction of Humberstone Gate and the ring-road is the site of two strip malls - the larger of which is on the south-east side of the roundabout and called 'St George's Retail Park', the smaller being on the south-west side.