Evington

Coordinates: 52°37′16″N 1°04′19″W / 52.621°N 1.072°W / 52.621; -1.072

Evington, Rowlatts Hill & Goodwood
Population	9,788
OS grid reference	SK628030
Unitary authority	Leicester
Ceremonial county	Leicestershire
Region	East Midlands
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	Leicester East
List of places UK England Leicestershire

Evington is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It used to be a small village centred on Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys but was close enough to Leicester to become one of the outer suburbs in the 1930s. Today, the ward comprises the historical village of Evington, as well as the modern ex-council estates of Rowlatts Hill and Goodwood.

History

Evington village

Evington Village Conservation Area

The name Evington comes from the Anglo-Saxon name Aefa's Tun.^[1] After the Norman conquest the land was given to Hugh de Grentesmesnil.^[1] The first known spelling Evington was of Walter de Evington 1259 who leased a carucate of land at the village of Evington – about 100 acres (0.40 km²). The parish of Evington was originally quite large and included the areas now known as North Evington and Evington Valley. These were annexed by the borough of Leicester in 1892, and are not generally considered part of Evington.^[2]

In 1935, the boundaries of Leicester (by this point a city), were expanded again, including nearly all of the remaining parish of Evington, except for a small part which went to Oadby. The modern ward does include the large 1950s development based at Downing Drive and Spencefield Lane.^[2]

Evington village has been a conservation area since 1989.^[3]

Council estates

Rowlatts Hill is a council estate established on a hillside to the north of Leicester General Hospital in 1964–67 by the City Architect Stephen George with two 22-story blocks of flats and single or two-storey houses of grey brick. A later development (1973–77) is of red brick houses.^[4] For council housing purposes it is considered separate from Evington.^[5]

Goodwood is a 1950s council estate considered together with Evington for council housing purposes.^[5][6] It is just under 1000 residences.^[7]

Features

Evington Village Green

Evington Park

Village Green

Evington Village Green is a triangle of land bounded on the North by Main Street, on the Southwest by High Street and on the East by Church Street. The village war memorial is located on the northeast corner. On the West corner is a Baptist Chapel and a building called the Manse.^[8] It is largely open space for recreation, with a large old oak tree in the south-east corner.^[8] It also features a newly refurbished kids playground, funded by the Friends of Evington Village Green. There are benches for people to sit on and relax, and it is the site of the Evington Village Fete and Show, held annually.

Evington Park

Evington House

Evington park is some 44 acres (0.18 km²) of public parkland, opened in 1948, formerly the estate of Evington House (built 1836) which is used as offices and some public amenities.^[1] It contains many mature trees, including a Mulberry dating from about the same time as the house. There are public exercise machines as well as tennis courts, football and cricket pitches and bowling greens.^[9]

Arboretum

This was established as a public amenity in 1970 and consists of an area south of St Denys Church, bounded on the west by a golf course, with more than 500 trees largely planted in taxonimic groups.^[10][11] In the northmost area, many individual trees are planted by arrangement with the council as memorials to people who have died.^[10]

Piggy's Hollow

The Hollow

This is Scheduled monument (SM17026), often known as 'Piggy's Hollow', consisting of the remains of the moats of a manor house built in the late 13th century by John de Grey.^[12][13] It is on the north side of the Arboretum and adjacent to St Denys Church on the west.

St Denys parish church

St Denys Church

The Church of England church of St Denys has been the parish church for almost 800 years, having been dedicated on 9 October 1219 by the Bishop of Lincoln.^[14] It is a Grade II* listed building.^[15] The tower and spire are original: the South and North Aisles date from the 14th century, and the Chancel from the 19th century.^[14] Its rare ring of 4 bells was augmented to six following an appeal in the late 1980s.^[9] The interior includes 3 stained glass windows from 1870.^[15]

Evington Chapel

Evington Chapel

This is a Baptist Chapel on the corner of Main Street and High Street, by Evington Village Green.^[16] It is an 1837 Gothic style with slate roof, being a Grade II listed building.^[17]

Masjid Umar Mosque

Masjid Umar Mosque

The Masjid Umar mosque, which is also Evington Muslim Centre, was completed in 2000.^[18][19][20]

Amenities

Evington Library

Evington has two main shopping centres: the first largely based in a modern development near the old village and including the local library, and the second towards the northern end of Downing Drive. Public houses include the Cedars in the old village and the Dove in Downing Drive. The Village Hall is a brick building on Church Lane, opposite St Denys: its foundation stone calls it King George V Hall and is dated MDCDXII (1912).

Evington Village Hall

Nearby places, Goodwood, Evington Valley, Oadby, Thurnby, Stoughton.

Evington is home to the Leicestershire Golf Club, on the south of the village, and west of the arboretum.^[21]

The largest employer in the area is the Leicester General hospital, located near Goodwood on Coleman Road which is south of Uppingham Road (the A47).

The Evington Echo is the community newspaper. It is produced by volunteers and is delivered free of charge to 5,800 houses in the area. It was first published in 1981 and the current (2013) editor is Helen Pettman.^[22]

Schools in the area

Primary schools: Linden Primary School, Whitehall Primary School, Oaklands (Special School), Coleman Primary School.

Secondary schools: City of Leicester College, St Paul's Catholic School, Judgemeadow Community College.^[23]

Independent schools: Leicester Grammar School.

Evington Hall is a Grade II listed building (built about 1840)^[24] which in the past was a convent school,^[2] then part of Leicester Junior Grammar School, but is now part of a Hindu faith school which opened in September 2011.^[25][26]

Transport

Evington is connected to other parts of Leicester by the following bus services:

Arriva Fox County services 53/53A, 56/56A

Centrebus Services 10, 11, 22, 40, 54A, 81 and 747,

Coachmaster Service 36

First Leicester Services 22, 38/38A and 54.

Council Election Result, 2007

People

Evington was the home of England Football international Emile Heskey. Both Emile Heskey and Gary Lineker (Winner of the Golden Boot) attended the City of Leicester College in Evington, as did former Labour media advisor Alistair Campbell and Dr Nicholas Shepherd (Co-founder of the internet). Heskey and Shepherd were both pupils at Linden Primary school in Evington. What is now the Cedars public house and restaurant on the corner of Main Street and School Lane was formerly the home of novelist E. Phillips Oppenheim.^[2]

References

Further reading

• British History Online Evington

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evington.