Leicestershire - 70 Attractions You Must Visit

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About Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands, being within the East Midlands. Leicestershire takes its name from the city of Leicester located at its centre and administered separately from the rest of the county. The ceremonial county – the non-metropolitan county plus the city of Leicester – has a total population of just over 1 million, more than half of which lives in the Leicester Urban Area.

Types of Attractions in Leicestershire

Activities Around

List of Attractions in Leicestershire

Meridian Leisure Park

Meridian Leisure Park

Iconic Buildings

Meridian Leisure Park is a prime destination for bowling, cinema, fitness, and dining. The state-of-the-art Vue multiplex cinema at Meridian Leisure Park with nine screens is the perfect place to see all the latest movie blockbusters. There are also so many options for dining and so more.

Moira Furnace is a nineteenth-century iron-making blast furnace, Museum and Country Park located in Moira, Leicestershire. There is also a restored section of Ashby Canal on the site so you may wish to enjoy a boat trip. Enjoy finding out about it's fascinating history, with woodland walks and trails to explore.

Moira Furnace is a nineteenth-century iron-making blast furnace, Museum and Country Park located in Moira, Leicestershire. There is also a restored section of Ashby Canal on the site so you may wish to enjoy a boat trip. Enjoy finding out about it's fascinating history, with woodland walks and trails to explore. It is a most important industrial monument, since it is remarkably well-preserved, and dates from a formative period of the Industrial Revolution.

Mount St. Bernard Abbey

It was the first Catholic Abbey to be founded in this country after the Reformation. This is a Cistercian Monastery of white monks founded in 1835 as a continuation of Garendon Abbey. Includes gardens, high calvary, gift shop, and Abbey Church. The abbey was the first permanent monastery to be founded in England since the Reformation and is the sole Trappist house in England. The monks brew the only Trappist beer in Britain.

Mountsorrel Railway

Mountsorrel Railway

Man-made Structures- Other

The Mountsorrel Railway was a network of industrial railway lines that served the granite quarries which dominate the Leicestershire village of Mountsorrel. After being closed in the 1950s, a section was reopened in 2015 as a heritage line run by Mountsorrel & Rothley Community Heritage Centre.

National Gas Museum Trust

Natural Gas Museum was started by a national trust that has set out to make sure England’s history of gas usage both in the home and in industry is preserved. The collection is held across two floors in the gatehouse of the former Leicester Corporation Gas Works, once a major provider of industrial gas in the area. There is a tableau of a 1920s kitchen with gas equipment. Domestic items include washing machines, gas irons and even a gas-powered radio.

National Space Centre

National Space Centre

Museums

Planetariums

The National Space Centre is a visitor attraction, education facility, corporate venue, an information hub, and home to NSC Creative and the National Space Academy. Many of the exhibits, including upright rockets, are housed in a tower with minimal steel supports and a semi-transparent cladding of ETFE 'pillows' which has become one of Leicester's most recognizable landmarks.

National Trust - Stoneywell

Stoneywell is an arts and crafts house set in the beautiful Leicestershire countryside, cared for by the National Trust since 2012. It was built in collaboration with Detmar Blow in 1899 for Ernest's brother Sydney Gimson as a summer residence, and along with much original furniture, it remained in the Gimson family for over a century. As part of a highly influential vernacular movement, it has become well known within Arts and Crafts circles.

Nelson Mandela Park

The Nelson Mandela Park is a public park in Leicester, England. It is located just inside the city centre near Leicester Prison and the Leicester Tigers' Stadium. The park was named in honor of South African president Nelson Mandela. The park's facilities include a small children's play area, flood-lighting, and public toilets. As of March 2017, a selection of outdoor gym equipment has been installed opposite the children's play area.

Old John Tower

Old John Tower

Iconic Buildings

Old John Tower is an iconic folly at the highest point of Bradgate Park, a former medieval deer park north of Leicester. The tower is one of the most famous landmarks in Leicestershire and looks down over the ruins of Bradgate House, a Tudor mansion that was the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey. The tower was adapted in the mid-19th century by the seventh Earl to serve as an observation tower for the practice circuit he laid out for his horses, along with the building of a stable block lower down th

Out Woods

Out Woods

Outdoors- Other

The Outwoods is 110 acres of ancient woodland to the south of Loughborough and is one of the oldest surviving woodland sites in Charnwood. The Outwoods supports a rich variety of plants, insects and birds typical of such old woodlands. The Outwoods is open all year round and the car park and toilets are open from approximately 7am until dusk. Adjacent to the Outwoods is the smaller Jubilee Wood and close by is Beacon Hill.

Queen's Park

Queen's Park is well used as a place to play, relax or learn and is easily reached by foot, bicycle, car or bus. Pay and display car parking is available close to the park off Granby Street. There is a 'figure-of-eight' walk that passes alongside a watercourse, which is spanned by a stone bridge. There is also another, smaller lake. The dominant feature of the park is the Carillon Tower, which is a war memorial.

Sence Valley Forest Park

Sence Valley Forest Park

Lake/ River/ Ponds

Outdoors- Other

Forests

A beautiful 60ha country park created by Leicestershire County Council on a former opencast colliery site near Heather. It includes the River Sence and three major lakes, which attract a wide variety of wildfowl. Large areas of the site are planted with Corsican pine, larch and poplars, which will provide an income when they are thinned in about 20 years. It is excellent for birdwatchers. Surfaced trails provide access for walkers, cyclists, riders and disabled visitors. A varied events programm

St Mary De Castro Church

St Mary de Castro is a 12th century parish church in the heart of Mediaeval Leicester and its needle-crocketed spire has dominated the Leicester skyline since the beginning of the 15th century. It is believed to have been the first church in the UK to be viewable online using Google Streetview, having been photographed in August 2012.

Stapleford Miniature Railway

Stapleford Miniature Railway

Man-made Structures- Other

Stapleford Miniature Railway is a preserved 10 ¼" gauge steam railway running through nearly 2 miles of scenic parkland and celebrated its centenary in 2008. Considered one of the finest examples of its type, the railway is now private but still attracts thousands of visitors from the UK and abroad during its two public charity events each year.

Staunton Harold Reservoir

Staunton Harold Reservoir

Lake/ River/ Ponds

Outdoors- Other

This beautiful 210-acre reservoir was built in 1964. It has a visitor center and wildflower meadow. You can enjoy bird watching, dinghy, and sailboarding with the Staunton Harold Sailing Club. The reservoir also includes two nature reserves, coarse fishing and the Staunton Harold Sailing Club. Has an events programme and features a large adventure play area.

Stonehurst Family Farm and Motor Museum

The Stonehurst Family Farm and Motor Museum is a working farm and a motor museum located in the village of Mountsorrel, Leicestershire. It is a real working family farm, come and meet our cows, sheep, and pigs and their farmyard friends. Take home some of Leicestershire’s finest produce, with homegrown potatoes, organic herbs and vegetables, free-range eggs and local cheeses meats, and delicatessen in the Stonehurst Farm Shop and also visit Stonehurst Motor Museum, housing a fascinating collecti

Stoney Cove

Stoney Cove

Lake/ River/ Ponds

Outdoors- Other

Stoney Cove is a large flooded quarry which is a popular inland scuba diving site, located between Stoney Stanton and Sapcote in Leicestershire, England. It is now home of the UK National Diving Centre, probably the body of water where more people qualify as scuba divers than any other place in the UK. The site is regularly used to train police divers and even US Air Force.

Swithland Reservoir

Swithland Reservoir is located just to the south east of Loughborough. The Leicestershire Round long distance trail runs along the north eastern side of the water. It's a very pretty spot with nice views across the water to the surrounding woodland and countryside. Also look out for the steam trains of the Great Central Railway passing over Swithland Viaduct.

Swithland Wood and The Brand

Swithland Wood and The Brand is an 87.9 hectares biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire. Swithland Wood is part of the Bradgate Estate and is managed by the Bradgate Park Trust. Swithland Wood is a public woodland in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire. Although close to the village of Swithland, it is almost entirely within the parish of Newtown Linford.

The Clock Tower

The Clock Tower

Iconic Buildings

Clock Tower, one of the city´s best known and most iconic landmarks was built originally as a solution to traffic congestion on the site of the town´s former hay and straw market in 1868. It was built mostly in Ketton stone with a base of Mountsorrel granite, and incorporates column shafts made of polished Peterhead granite and serpentine.

Map of attractions in Leicestershire

Comments

For more information about Leicestershire, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicestershire