Information on Loughborough

The Slums of Leicester, c1840-1970

Posted on 05/10/2009

Leicestershire Councty Council Community Services

5 October 2009

The Slums of Leicester, c1840-1970

From Monday 12th October 2009 a new exhibition containing sometimes shocking photographs of former housing conditions, gives a picture of life in a Leicester that has long since disappeared. Until the start of slum clearance in 1932, the slums of Leicester had been home to thousands of people who had to live in conditions that were frequently cramped, unhealthy and sometimes dirty.

During the 19th century, the growth of local industry transformed Leicester from a market town into an industrial city but there had been a price to pay…. In the 20th century, slum clearance changed the face of Leicester again but it was only as late as 1976  that  the last of some 16,000 sub-standard houses had been ‘cleared’ to make way for new roads, council housing and industrial estates.

This exhibition, put together by Ned Newitt, who has just published a book on the slums of Leicester, will feature photographs from the Record Office as well as his own private collection. It can be seen  during normal opening hours at the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Long Street, Wigston Magna, Leicester LE18 2AH, from Monday 12th  October until Friday 27th November. Admission is free.

For further details please contact : Jess Jenkins at the Record Office, Long Street, Wigston Magna, Leicester LE18 2AH.  

Tel : (0116) 257 1080   Email : recordoffice@leics.gov.uk

For more details about the Record Office please go to :

  • www.leics.gov.uk/recordoffice
  • http://twitter.com/RecordOffice