Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
led to the establishment of three ornamental gardens (Castle, Westcotes and St George's
Church), two playgrounds and a small park at Westcotes. After 1920, further urban
expansion led to the establishment of six multipurpose parks with sports facilities, the
largest at Braunstone (66.8 ha) in 1925 on the periphery of the city as a focal point of a
large inter-war council estate. In contrast, other parks developed in the inter-war period
were located in private housing areas such as Humberstone (8 ha) in 1928, Knighton
(32.9 ha) in 1937, Evington (17.6 ha) in 1949 in eastern and southern suburbs. To balance
the geographical distribution of provision, two large
Figure 5.2:
Urban park development in Leicester
Source:
redrawn from Strachan and Bowler (1976) and with permission
from Leicester City Council's Legal Services Department
recreation grounds were opened at Rusley Fields (1 1.4 ha) in 1921 and Aylestone
Playing Fields (33.2 ha) in 1946 a number of smaller open spaces were also developed on
new council estates at Braunceston Park and Humberstane and a number of amenity open
spaces amounting to 40.8 ha. In the post-war period, attention in Leicester City Council
shifted towards provision of small neighbourhood and local facilities as key features of
new council estates. Only a limited number of larger open spaces were created on land
unsuitable for residential development (e.g. Netherhall's 12.8 ha site in 1958 and Ingeld's
5.6 ha site in 1970). Amenity open space was also incorporated into 13 council estates
providing 105.6 ha of open space. A number of small village parks and playgrounds in
old villages (e.g. Old Humbestone) contributed to the 27 parks and recreation grounds
opened between 1950 and 1975
Since 1975
Leicester City Council has maintained an
