A History of Medieval Leicester by Carol Brown

Leicester Cathedral

All Saints Church

A History of Medieval Leicester

by Carol Brown

Leicester was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. At the time there would have been around 2,000 people living in 378 houses in the city, along with two mills and six churches.

The city was surrounded by walls on three sides and there appear to have been gates to the North, South, East and West, although no evidence of a wall on the west side. The city was mostly surrounded by fields with some woodland to the North.

The main road through the city was known as High Street, part of the King’s Highway. Other important streets ran from East to West across the city, crossing the main road at ‘High Cross’.

The Back Lanes and All Saints Church

All Saints Church is in the north quarter of Leicester and has been there since straight after the Norman conquest. There were also three other churches nearby; St Clements, St Michaels and St Peters.

After a siege in 1173 this area was completely destroyed and remained the least lived in for the next 300 years. The lanes, known as ‘Back Lanes’, where there were once lots of houses, led mostly to orchards and closes. By the 14th century High Street was lined on both sides with houses surrounded with orchards, gardens or a small field and most of the inns could be found here too, easily identified by their rudely painted signboards.

By 1534 All Saints Church was the only one still in use. It may be because the church

follows the line of what would have been the main street, just inside the city’s gate. It is likely that many travellers would have stopped there to give thanks for a safe journey.

Other important buildings were also near to All Saints Church including the Hospital of St John, the prisona regis or County Gaol and the Shire Hall. To the west side was Cordwainers Row, where the shoemakers carried on their trade, as well as the Blue Boar Inn and a bellfoundry, which continued for more than 300 years. The Blue Boar inn is said to be where Richard III spent his final nights before the Battle of Bosworth.

The History of the Bellfoundry

The bellfoundry is known to have existed since 1307 when Roger Le Belleyetere (or bellfounder) was recorded as being a taxpayer and it has many different associations with All Saints Church.

In 1338, John of Stafford, described as a ‘belleyetere’, was a member of the Guild of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary in All Saints Church. He was elected as mayor four times and represented the town in Parliament on at least five occasions. John of Stafford cast the tenor bell of All Saints.

The Newcombes were another great family of bellfounders. Thomas Newcombe came into the business through marriage in the early 1500s but died in 1520 and is buried at All Saints. His monument is the oldest in the church and has a slab with the indents of three bells, a man and a woman.

After Thomas Newcombe’s death, his widow Margery married again and took the business to her third husband, Thomas Bett. Bett was Mayor of Leicester from 1529-1530 and his tomb also lies in All Saints. Following Bett’s death, the business was passed to Thomas Newcombe’s eldest son, Robert, along with his wife Katherine (née Betts).

In 1540, Robert Newcombe bought a house in old High Street opposite All Saints where he could live and carry on the business. He was a churchwarden and also Mayor of Leicester in 1550.

The bellfoundry remained in the Newcombe family until the early 1600s and the last dated bell made by the Newcombes is 1612. After that, the bellfoundry seems to have gone to Hugh Watts, a relative by marriage.

Carol Brown

I have lived in Leicester all my life, as has my family for many generations before me. I have always had a great interest in history, particularly genealogy. I volunteered for this project to find out more about my home city’s history and, in particular, about the area around All Saints Church, a church I have walked past many times throughout my life.