Highfields is an inner city area of Leicester, England. It is one of the highest areas in the city, on high ground southeast of the city centre. To the west the area is bounded by the Midland Main Line, to the south by London Road (A6), and to the east by East Park Road. To the north is Spinney Hills, though there is no clear boundary between the two areas, and Spinney Hills (which extends northwards to Humberstone Road) is often considered to be part of Highfields. The neighbourhood is within walking distance of the city centre of Leicester and offers many amenities for religious, social, cultural and commercial activities. The population is split between the Spinney Hills, Wycliffe and Stoneygate wards of the Leicester City Council.
A section of the area running between London Road, Evington Road and St Peter's Road was designated as the South Highfields Conservation Area in April 1981. This conservation area originally had an area of approximately 22.20 hectares. The boundaries of the conservation area were reassessed in 2003, and it was reduced to approximately 20.55 hectares.
Highfields is bounded by London Road and Evington Road meaning that it has a large amount of amenities on its doorstep. Notably this includes the railway station, many Mosques (the biggest includes a leisure centre within its grounds), Churches, Temples, a modern health centre, nurseries, schools, local shops, restaurants, community centres and banks. The area also has a public library which is located on Melbourne Road.
Community centres and groups The area is also notable for having a large number of well developed community institutions which represent the whole community and sections of it. African Caribbean Centre Leicester Community Radio (94.1fm, 1449 AM) is based at St Peter's Church, Highfields and is committed to providing a significant number of hours per week of programming dedicated for the Afro-Caribbean Community Highfields Association of Residents and Tenants (HART) is pledged to improve the area of Highfields and holds regular meetings to organise and represent the area's residents. Highfields Youth and Community Centre: opened in 1974 as a community centre, to enable the Highfields Community Association (HCA) to provide social and recreational activities for local residents. Over the years, the centre's work has developed and progressed to offering a full range of lifelong and community development services.Highfields Youth and Community Centre, The centre was modernised in 2004, and houses facilities where functions, occasions and events take place. After local government budget cuts in 2010, Leicester City Council handed over running of the centre to HCA, with an underlying business plan to enable the centre to become "self-sustaining", enabled by a grant initially of £293,000pa. Ever since, HCA have been embroiled in a disagreement with the city council. In July 2015, elected Mayor of Leicester Peter Soulsby signed an agreement to end funding to HCA in March 2016 due to a number of reasons, including lack of a business plan and the centre being "significantly under-used". Melbourne Centre on Melbourne Road which was formerly a Polish school. The front of this building was redeveloped for use as a health centre in the early 2000s while the rear of the building is quite run down in parts and in use by a number of organisations and businesses such as ACCF and Olies Caribbean Kitchen. Muslim Khatri Association (MKA) was established in 1982 as the UK Khatri Welfare Centre. Early work consisted mainly of translation, interpretation, funerals, social gatherings and marriage counselling. However, due to the changing needs of the community, the centre has evolved to its present form with 2 workers. The MKA works to empower the South Asian communities and local residents to confront some of the problems they may experience including unemployment, poor housing in inner city areas, racial abuse and cultural alienation with a particular focus on the needs of women and children. South Highfields Neighbours St Peter's Neighbourhood Management Board engaged support of residents and service providers to address neighbourhood issues in health, employment, education, as well as housing and Leicester City Council neighbourhood management problems. In making pioneering use of the internet by publishing high resolution photo slideshows and videos of neighbourhood issues such as littering, criminal damage and flytipping they attracted a small degree of criticism but overall widespread general support for their methods. In particular for its decision to broadcast residents' own video footage of anti-social behaviour (litter louts, louts vandalising a parked car and a graffiti vandal) over the internet on their website in order to highlight the issues, to identify those involved or / and create a deterrent effect. St Peter's Community Centre The Leicester Hebrew Congregation, Highfield Street
Schools The area has a number of schools including:- Medway Community Primary School Uplands Sparkenhoe Highfields Shenton Charnwood Moat Community College Bridge School Sacred Heart RC School
Policing The area is policed by the Leicestershire Constabulary. The closest police station to the area is situated on East Park Road on the corner of Spinney Hill Park. The Spinney Hill Park area is divided into a number of neighbourhood beats. The Highfields Area is largely covered by the Highfields and Spinney Hill beats.Leicestershire Constabulary website, Spinney Hill Park LPU - St Peters NM... Station Tour Slide Show,
Political representation
As a part of the city of Leicester the area is governed by Leicester City Council. The Highfields area is represented by the Spinney Hills and Stoneygate wards.
Current councillors in the Spinney Hills ward Hanif-Jussab AQBANY (Labour) Mohammed DAWOOD (Labour) Dr. CHOWDHURY (Labour)
Current councillors for the Stoneygate ward Lucy CHAPLIN (Labour) Iqbal DESAI (Labour) Mustafa KAMAL (Labour)
The area is part of the Leicester South constituency.
History
Nineteenth century 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". Highfields Remembered 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. South Highfields Conservation Area Character Statement (March 2003) , p. 4.
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.South Highfields Conservation Area Character Statement (March 2003) , p. 4.
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.
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.South Highfields Conservation Area Character Statement (March 2003) , p.4.
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).South Highfields Conservation Area Character Statement (March 2003) , p. 5.
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.
Twentieth century 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., p.5.
1920s and 1930s 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.
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.
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.
Second World War