The History of Highfields

The History of Highfields

In the early nineteenth century, the part of the city of Leicester now

known as Highfields was a rural area lying outside the city to the

east. Known as High Fields, the area was rich in water sources and

windmills; the springs in High Fields were said to give exceptionally

pure water. An Ordnance Survey map of 1828 shows only a small amount

of developement out of the city along the London Road.

It was in the mid to late nineteenth century that Highfields began to

be developed. Jack Simmons in Leicester Past and Present documents

this growth. By 1885, the Ordnance Survey map shows half the area

covered by housing and small factories. By 1915 the area was

completely developed, with Spinney Hill Park the only open space. The

housing in the area was a mixture of small terraces and large,

spacious properties; several of the people interviewed for Highfields

Remembered can recall these large houses having servants.

The early twentieth century saw the beginning of a trend which was to

continue to the present day. Highfields began to be the home of new

communities, with a small Jewish community settling in the area. The

Highfields Street synagogue, still a thriving centre, was built at

this time. From the early 1940s, local street directories begin to

show evidence of the middle-European background of some residents.

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. The Polish church, day centre and Polish club

were set up at this time, and still serve thriving communities, though

many of the original Polish residents have dispersed across the city.

After the Second World War, during the early 1950s, some ex-servicemen

and many workers from the Caribbean settled in Highfields, drawn by

the opportunities for work offered by the need to rebuild the country

after the war. As the 1991 census data shows, Highfields continues to

have a considerable African- Caribbean community.