England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Leicester St Nicholas

The Parish

Leicester is an ancient city, probably of pre-Roman foundation, and capital of its county. The city is divided into a number of parishes, and several extra-parochial areas, of which St Nicholas is one of the smaller by both population and area. The "cester" in its name indicates that it was a town of considerable importance in Roman times, as a major city of the kingdom of Wessex it was considered one of England's top 5 centres. Leicester is almost 100 miles northwest of London and at the heart of the East Midlands is still one of its major cities. St Nicholas' parish consists of much of the western centre of the city and contains the site of the city's Roman foundations. The parish is set at about 60 metres above sea level and sits on the eastern banks of  the River Soar which passes through the western bounds of the city. Leicester grew substantially during England's industrial revolution, particularly trades involving the cotton spinning and manufacture of clothing. Leicester became a city when the former church of St Martin became a cathedral in 1927. St Nicholas' parish covered a roughly circular shape between the main bridge crossing the Soar, West Bridge, and Friars Causeway, a relatively small acreage yet within that small area a population of close to 1,500 would have resided. Today much of St Nicholas' area is dominated by the route of the city's inner ring road which runs in viaduct immediately south of the church As befits a major city Leicester has a very detailed entry in Domesday Book covering details of the properties and rental attributable to the King.

The Church

St Nicholas' church occupies a very urban setting, with the busy inner ring road passing by and commercial premises all around, yet it is one of the oldest buildings in Leicester and certainly the oldest church in the city. The church sits upon the Roman foundations of what is believed to be palestra of the Roman Baths. It has been suggested that this Saxon church may once have been , itself, a cathedral and seat of a bishop. Documentary evidence for a see based in Leicester can be found as early as 737 and perhaps existed as early as 680. Evidence for the Saxon origin of St Nicholas is displayed by two splayed windows in the north wall of the nave which re-use Roman brick in their arches, Pevsner also believes the western wall of the nave to be similarly Saxon in age and the chancel also shows pre-Conquest fabric in the eastern portion of its north wall. The 11th century saw the insertion of the formidable crossing tower, a favourite design for Norman Romanesque churches. The platform topping to the tower was once the site of a spire which was removed in c1805. To add to the formidable evidence of its historic origins the northern arcade & southern doorway both show 12th century Norman Romanesque style. A northern chapel added in the 13th century Early English Gothic style was largely removed but its southern equivalent and a southern chapel show this style and date. During the late 14th century a typical Perpendicular style feature was inserted, namely a clerestory and in the 16th century the timbered southern porch. Such an ancient building has had restorations a plenty, Pevsner records work in 1830, 1876, 1889 and 1905 but work was probably almost in continuous phases throughout the Victorian period and into the modern era. Like most urban churches there are few opportunities to park close by, definitely one to park in the many city car-parks and visit on foot. Surprisingly, given the ultra-urban setting, there are trees obscuring both the southeastern and northwestern aspects and the tightly fitting small churchyard makes for a limited set of views available to the photographer.