Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester, England at grid reference SK572008. It is south-west of the city centre, but to the east of the River Soar.
It was formerly a separate village, but the growth of the city has meant that it is now part of the urban area, largely surrounded by 20th century housing. However, the area around the parish church of St Andrew retains much of the former village character. Aylestone Hall has recently been restored, it was the home of Dorothy Vernon, who is related to the Dukes of Rutland, (see Belvoir Castle). Aylestone Park is not a park but an area of housing half-a-mile square, which grew between the city and the village and which has housing generally built between 1875 and 1920.
Aylestone Meadows is a large area of playing fields and water-meadow nearby, and contributes to the semi-rural character of the suburb.
Plans by Leicester City Council to bulldoze an area within the Aylestone Meadows to make way for (an artificial sports pitch, single storey club house with associated 4.5 metre fencing, 16metre high floodlights, car parking and landscaping), were defeated on 21st March 2011 when the Planning Committee rejected the plans. Many groups including Aylestone Meadows Appreciation Society, Leicester Friends of the Earth, Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, The Leicester Civic Society and The Campaign for Rural England all helped rally support against the plans. It was the first time that an E-Petition on Leicester City Council's website had ever been used.
Aylestone is the name of two output areas used in the UK Census. One, code 00FNNG, is centred on the Leicester location; the other, code 00GANY, is centred on Aylestone Hill (grid reference SO520407), Herefordshire.