Leicestershire

Country: England
Region: East Midlands
Established: Historic
Area: 2,156 km2 (832 sq mi)
Population: 1,053,486
Largest settlement: Leicester (712,300 pop.)

Leicestershire is a county in the East Midlands of England.
It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south east, Warwickshire to the south west, and Staffordshire to the west.

There are prehistoric earthworks in the county, including hill-top camps of the 1st century BC and sites of deserted villages abandoned in the later Middle Ages.

Leicestershire was inhabited by the ancient British tribe formerly known as Coritani, a Celtic tribe living in Britain prior to the Roman conquest

There are hill-forts, Roman camps, linear earthworks, castle sites, moated homesteads and sites of deserted villages. The remains of prehistoric burial mounds and tumuli are scanty.

The region was settled by the Angles in the sixth century and became part of the Kingdom of Mercia, and the county existed at the time of the Dome
sday
survey in the 1080s.

The county was sparsely populated up to the 10th century AD and a large part of it was thickly wooded areas of heavy clay. However, during the rest of the Middle Ages most of the land was progressively cleared and settled; so that it became populous and prosperous, but more so in the eastern half and in the southeast.

The Jewry Wall, one of the tallest surviving pieces of Roman masonry in the country, can be seen from the roadside on St Nicholas Circle. The Jewry Wall Museum is currently closed for refurbishment, so check visitleicester.info for updates on the museum. A short walk from Jewry Wall, you will find what remains of Leicester Castle. The castle was originally built around 1150 by Robert de Bossu, 2nd Earl of Leicester.

The county has had a relatively quiet existence, however in 1485 it was the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field. This battle established the Tudor dynasty's position as monarchs of England.

Leicester Castle is one of 22 castles built in the county. One of the most famous is Belvoir Castle. Construction of this castle first began in 1067 but, due to persistent conflict and destruction, it has been rebuilt several times since then. The present castle dates back to the early 1800s.

King Richard III has become Leicestershire’s most famous monarch. He was killed during the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 and buried at the city’s Grey Friars Church. When the church was demolished in 1538, the site and the King’s remains were lost with no way to relocate them.

In 2012, after extensive map research, experts traced the site of the church to a city centre car park. An archaeological dig took place and, amazingly, both the church and the King were rediscovered.

The King has now been reinterred inside Leicester Cathedral, where his grave is marked by a raised stone. There is also an exhibition, documenting the story of the King’s life, death and eventual rediscovery.

During the Industrial Revolution the Leicestershire coalfield in the north and west of the county was exploited.

In agriculture the county is still known for Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies.