A TIMELINE OF LEICESTER HISTORY
By Tim Lambert
43 The Romans invade Britain
47 The Romans capture what is now Leicestershire
48 The Romans build a fort and a town grows up nearby
80 The Roman army moves on but the town flourishes
100 The town of Ratae (Leicester) is rebuilt
c.250 Suburbs grow outside the walls of Ratae (Leicester)
407 The Roman army leaves Britain. Roman civilisation breaks down and Roman towns are abandoned.
c. 800 Town life revives in England. The old Roman town at Leicester is revived by the Anglo-Saxons.
877 The Danes capture Leicester
918 The English recapture Leicester
1086 Leicester has a population of about 1,500
1143 Leicester Abbey is built
1173 An earl rules Leicester. He rebels against the king but the king's men capture Leicester and burn part of it.
1231 The Earl, Simon de Montfort expels all Jews from Leicester
1464 Leicester is given a corporation and a mayor
1500 The population of Leicester is about 3,000
1545 A grammar school is built in Leicester
1564 The plague strikes Leicester
1583 The plague returns to Leicester
1604 and 1606 The plague is back in Leicester
1610 The plague returns to Leicester
1612 A conduit is built to bring water into Leicester
1625 The plague strikes Leicester again
1636 and 1638 The plague strikes but fortunately the 1638 epidemic is the last one
1645 During the Civil War the Royalists briefly capture Leicester
1670 The population of Leicester is about 5,000
1681 Leicester gains a fire engine
1686 A scavenger is appointed to clean the main streets of Leicester
1730 The population of Leicester is about 8,000
1737 New Road is built
1759 Pumps are installed by public wells
1771 The Royal infirmary is built
1774 The town walls are demolished
1794 The Soar Canal is finished
1801 Leicester has a population of about 17,000
1821 Leicester gains gas light
1836 Leicester gains a police force
1849 Cholera strikes Leicester
1853 Leicester gains a piped water supply
1855 Leicester gains a sewage works
1871 The first public library in Leicester opens
1881 A telephone exchange opens in Leicester
1882 Victoria Park and Abbey Park open
1894 Electric street lights are switched on in Leicester for the first time
1910 The first cinema is built in Leicester
1914 The first council houses in Leicester are built
1919 Leicester is made a city
1927 Leicester gains a cathedral and a bishop
1935 Leicester General Hospital opens
1940 Bombs kill 40 in Leicester
1957 The University of Leicester is established
1969 Leicester Polytechnic is formed
1971 The Haymarket Centre opens
1977 Gas Museum opens in Leicester
1984 St Martins Shopping Centre opens
1988 The Phoenix Arts Centre opens.
1992 Shire Shopping Centre opens. Leicester Polytechnic becomes Simon De Montfort University.
1997 Leicester is made a unitary authority