Humberstone and Hamilton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Humberstone & Hamilton |
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 Humberstone & Hamilton
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| Population | 18,854 (2011) |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEICESTER |
| Postcode district | LE5 |
| Dialling code | 0116 |
| Police | Leicestershire |
| Fire | Leicestershire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament |
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Humberstone and Hamilton is a special area, or electoral ward, in the city of Leicester, England. It includes the north-eastern parts of Leicester like Humberstone, Humberstone Garden City, Hamilton, and Netherhall.
Contents
History of Humberstone and Hamilton
Where the Names Come From
The name of this area comes from an old village called Humberstone and a newer housing area called Hamilton. The name 'Humberstone' is very old. It was first written down in a famous book called the Domesday Book in 1086. It means 'Hunbeorht's stone'.
The "Humber stone" is a huge granite rock. Nobody knows exactly where it came from, but it might have been left by a glacier (a giant sheet of ice). This stone is in a field in Hamilton. For a long time, it was fully visible. But around 1750, a farmer cut off part of it and buried the rest. In the 1980s, people dug it up a bit so everyone could see it. Now, it has a fence around it and a sign that tells its story.
Hamilton got its name from a deserted medieval village. This was a village that people left a long time ago, and it's just outside Leicester.
Life in the Past
The village of Humberstone has been lived in for many hundreds of years. Part of the wall around St Mary's church is an original wall made of cob, which is like a mix of clay and straw. There's also an old cottage with a thatched roof that dates from a similar time.
The oldest parts of St Mary's church are the tower and the walls of the chancel (the part near the altar), which are from the Middle Ages. Most of the church was rebuilt in 1857–1858. Inside, they used local Humberstone alabaster stone for carvings. The church also has a stone slab with a picture of a knight carved into it. This was from the tomb of a knight named Richard Hotoft, who died in 1451.
There are two houses on Main Street called "the Manor." One was built in the 1500s and made bigger later. It had a barn nearby that is now a house. The other Manor house was built in the 1700s.
More people started living in Humberstone during the 1700s and 1800s. The city of Leicester began to grow closer to Humberstone. In 1821, about 415 people lived in Humberstone. This number more than doubled in the next 40 years!
Humberstone used to have two train stations. Humberstone Railway Station closed in 1962. Humberstone Road Railway Station opened in 1875 and closed in 1968.
In 1891, part of Humberstone became part of Leicester city. Electric trams reached what is now Humberstone Park in 1904. Humberstone was also a place where people made knitted items, like socks, by hand. Two big houses were built around this time: Monks Rest and Humberstone Hall. Monks Rest's grounds are now a park. Humberstone Hall had a long driveway lined with tall trees, which you can still see today on Pine Tree Avenue.
There was a Roman villa (a large Roman house) near where the old village of Hamilton used to be. The medieval village of Hamilton was abandoned in the 1400s. You can still see bumps and shapes in the ground where the old streets and buildings once stood.
Many houses in Humberstone were built in the 1920s on land that used to belong to Humberstone Hall. Some gardens in the area still have old fruit trees from the time when it was an orchard.
Humberstone village officially became part of Leicester city in 1935. The Netherhall Estate was built by the city council in the 1950s and 1960s.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some private gardens were going to be turned into new houses. But local people didn't like the idea, and the building plans stopped. The land was then turned into a public garden.
The name Hamilton was used again for a new housing area built in the 1980s.
Humberstone Garden Suburb
The Humberstone Garden Suburb was built using ideas from the Garden city movement. This idea was about creating nice places to live with lots of green spaces. Garden suburbs were built outside cities in more natural areas, like Humberstone.
The Humberstone Garden Suburb is special because it was built by a group of workers who worked together. They formed a group called the Anchor Tenants Housing Association in 1887. These workers made boots and shoes. They saved a part of their wages and bought land near Humberstone village. They then built 97 houses for themselves.
The first houses were ready by 1908. The workers could rent these houses at a fair price, which helped pay for their upkeep. The houses were designed to look like cozy cottages. The streets in the suburb have names like Lilac Avenue and Chestnut Avenue, which show the "garden" idea of the area.
Where Humberstone and Hamilton Is
Humberstone and Hamilton is next to other areas of Leicester. To the north is Rushey Mead. To the west is Charnwood. To the south are Coleman and Thurncourt. The area also borders the wider county of Leicestershire.
The ward includes the Humberstone area in the west, Netherhall in the southeast, and Hamilton in the northeast. Hamilton is the most north-eastern part of Leicester.
People Living Here
In 2001, Humberstone & Hamilton had about 11,893 people living there. Many of the people living here were between 30 and 59 years old.
In 2011, the population had changed. About 43.8% of the people were White British, 40.1% were Asian, and 4.4% were Black.
Things to Do and Places to Go
Humberstone village used to have two pubs, The Humberstone and The Windmill. The Humberstone closed in 2020. The village also has two clubs for members: the Humberstone Royal British Legion and the Old Humberstone Constitutional Club.
The public library used to be on Main Street. It later moved next to the school, and then moved again to the car park of the Hamilton Tesco Extra store.
Humberstone has a bowls club and a youth football club called Humberstone Rangers. There used to be a tennis club, but houses were built there. The local golf club, Humberstone Heights, is run by the city council.
When the Humberstone Garden Suburb was first built, it had many sports facilities. These included a bowling green, a cricket pitch, a football ground, tennis courts, and golf links. These sports areas and the shoe factory are no longer there, but the houses are still used today.
Schools and Learning
Humberstone Nursery, Infants, and Junior School are all located close to each other in Humberstone. Humberstone Juniors became an academy school in 2012. In 2014, Falcons Primary School opened in the area. It is a Sikh free school.
Hamilton has two primary schools: Kestrel's Field Primary School and Hope Hamilton, which is a Church of England school.
Orchard Mead Academy is a school for students aged 11 to 16. Nearby, Keyham Lodge School is for boys aged 11–16 who have learning difficulties or behavioral problems. Gateway Sixth Form College has a new building near the Tesco store, with a special bridge for students to cross the road.
Getting Around
Humberstone & Hamilton are served by several bus companies. These include Arriva Midlands (services 53, 56, 58/58A), Centrebus (service 747), Orbital, Hospital Hopper, and First Leicester (services 38/38A).
