Humberstone & Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Humberstone & Hamilton is an electoral ward
and administrative division of the city of Leicester
, England
. It comprises the north-eastern Leicester suburbs of Humberstone, Humberstone Garden, Hamilton and Netherhall.
to the north, Charnwood
to the east and Coleman
and Thurncourt
to the south. West and north are the boroughs
of Charnwood
and Melton in the county of Leicestershire
.
of 1086, where it appears as 'Humerstane'. The name means 'Hunbeorht's stone'. The "Humber stone" is a granite
monolith
of unknown (perhaps glacial
) origin that lies in a field in Humberstone. Until 1750 it had been fully exposed, but was then truncated and the remainder buried by a farmer. In the 1980s it was partially uncovered and made accessible to the public. It was then fenced in when the Leicester north ring road was built and had a sign erected at the site, describing the stone's history.
Hamilton was named after a deserted medieval village
in the civil parish of Barkby Thorpe
, just outside the Leicester city boundary. The name is being revived for new developments on the A563 road, east of Rushey Mead
.
Humberstone was formally annexed to the city in 1935. In the late 1980s/early 1990s several private gardens were sold to property developers, but a combination of local hostility and a crash in the property market resulted in the land becoming disused. It has since been taken over by the council and converted into a public garden.
. Garden suburbs modified the principles of garden cities to allow for residential "garden suburbs" without the commercial and industrial components of the garden city. They were built on the outskirts of cities, in rural settings such as Humberstone.
The Humberstone Garden Suburb is notable because it is the only time that a UK workers cooperative created a housing cooperative
and built a housing estate for its members. The Anchor Tenants housing Association was formed in 1887 by the workers cooperative of the Anchor Boot and Shoe Co-operative Society which was a co-operatively run boot and shoe works in Asforby Street Leicestershire. The members of the cooperative contributed a percentage of their wages and bought a block of land just outside Leicester by the village of Humberstone, and they built 97 houses. The first houses were in use by 1908 and the Anchor employees were let houses by the association at a rent that was collected to cover the upkeep of the properties.
Compared to the Leicester average, Humberstone & Hamilton's Asian population is a minority at 19%, with a 73% native English population.
Humberstone has a bowls club and a youth football club, Humberstone Rangers. There was a tennis club in the village until the mid-noughties when it was demolished and houses built there. The local golf club, Humberstone Heights, is one of the few council-run clubs in the city.
Humberstone Garden originally contained a bowling green, a cricket pitch, skittle alley, football ground, tennis courts and golf links. These facilities and the shoe factory no longer exist but the housing estate still remains intact.
Also there is a secondary school located near the tesco store called Hamilton Community College, where students attend between the ages of 11-16. Near to that is Keyham Lodge School which is an all boys school (again for 11-16 year olds) but this school is for children with learning disabilities and behavioural problems. Gateway Sixth Form College have recently opened their brand new building opposite the Tesco store, complete with a new pedestrian footbridge across the outer ring road, linking the college to Tesco.
services 40, 747 and UHL.
Humberstone formerly had a station on the Leicester spur of the Great Northern Railway
, named Humberstone railway station
. Further to the west, Humberstone Road railway station
was on the Midland Main Line
.
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
and administrative division of the city of Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It comprises the north-eastern Leicester suburbs of Humberstone, Humberstone Garden, Hamilton and Netherhall.
Geography
Humberstone & Hamilton is bordered by the wards of Rushey MeadRushey Mead
Rushey Mead is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Rushey Mead in its entirety, as well as historical parts of Northfields and Thurmaston.-Geography:...
to the north, Charnwood
Charnwood (ward)
Charnwood is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Northfields and its Tailby and Morton ex-council estates.-Geography:...
to the east and Coleman
Coleman, Leicester
Coleman is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England, consisting of the Leicester suburbs of Crown Hills and North Evington.-Geography:...
and Thurncourt
Thurncourt
Thurncourt is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It comprises the suburb and housing estate of Thurnby Lodge in eastern Leicester.-Geography:...
to the south. West and north are the boroughs
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Charnwood
Charnwood (borough)
Charnwood is a borough of northern Leicestershire, England. It is named after Charnwood Forest, which it contains. Loughborough is the largest town in the district and serves as the borough's administrative and commercial centre.-History:...
and Melton in the county of Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
.
Name
The ward takes its name from the historical village of Humberstone and the modern housing estate of Hamilton. The place-name 'Humberstone' is first attested in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086, where it appears as 'Humerstane'. The name means 'Hunbeorht's stone'. The "Humber stone" is a granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
of unknown (perhaps glacial
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
) origin that lies in a field in Humberstone. Until 1750 it had been fully exposed, but was then truncated and the remainder buried by a farmer. In the 1980s it was partially uncovered and made accessible to the public. It was then fenced in when the Leicester north ring road was built and had a sign erected at the site, describing the stone's history.
Hamilton was named after a deserted medieval village
Deserted medieval village
In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convention is to regard the site as deserted; if there are more...
in the civil parish of Barkby Thorpe
Barkby Thorpe
Barkby Thorpe is a hamlet and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. The parish has a population of around 50, and is close to the Leicester urban sprawl in Thurmaston. It contains the abandoned village of Hamilton. Nearby villages are Barkby and Beeby....
, just outside the Leicester city boundary. The name is being revived for new developments on the A563 road, east of Rushey Mead
Rushey Mead
Rushey Mead is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Rushey Mead in its entirety, as well as historical parts of Northfields and Thurmaston.-Geography:...
.
Medieval history
The village of Humberstone has been inhabited for many centuries. Part of the wall around the local St Mary's church is an original cob wall. There is also a thatched cottage dating from a similar time. Most of the houses in Humberstone were built in the 1920s on land that previously was part of the estate of Humberstone Manor. Some of the gardens in the area bear testament to this as they still have parts of the century-old orchard trees in them.Humberstone was formally annexed to the city in 1935. In the late 1980s/early 1990s several private gardens were sold to property developers, but a combination of local hostility and a crash in the property market resulted in the land becoming disused. It has since been taken over by the council and converted into a public garden.
Humberstone Garden development
The development of Humberstone Garden was based on the principles of the Garden city movementGarden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
. Garden suburbs modified the principles of garden cities to allow for residential "garden suburbs" without the commercial and industrial components of the garden city. They were built on the outskirts of cities, in rural settings such as Humberstone.
The Humberstone Garden Suburb is notable because it is the only time that a UK workers cooperative created a housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
and built a housing estate for its members. The Anchor Tenants housing Association was formed in 1887 by the workers cooperative of the Anchor Boot and Shoe Co-operative Society which was a co-operatively run boot and shoe works in Asforby Street Leicestershire. The members of the cooperative contributed a percentage of their wages and bought a block of land just outside Leicester by the village of Humberstone, and they built 97 houses. The first houses were in use by 1908 and the Anchor employees were let houses by the association at a rent that was collected to cover the upkeep of the properties.
Demographics
Humberstone & Hamilton had a population of 11,893 at the 2001 census. The ward has a relatively older population, with the greatest share of the area's residents being between the ages of 30 and 59.Compared to the Leicester average, Humberstone & Hamilton's Asian population is a minority at 19%, with a 73% native English population.
Amenities and facilities
Until the mid 1980s Humberstone village had two pubs, The Humberstone (which still exists) and The Windmill (which lay derelict until the late 1990s when it was demolished). The village is also home to two members' clubs, the Humberstone Royal British Legion and the Old Humberstone Constitutional clubs.Humberstone has a bowls club and a youth football club, Humberstone Rangers. There was a tennis club in the village until the mid-noughties when it was demolished and houses built there. The local golf club, Humberstone Heights, is one of the few council-run clubs in the city.
Humberstone Garden originally contained a bowling green, a cricket pitch, skittle alley, football ground, tennis courts and golf links. These facilities and the shoe factory no longer exist but the housing estate still remains intact.
Education
Humberstone has a primary school, comprising two separate schools (Humberstone infants and Humberstone juniors) which are situated next to each other. There was a public library situated next to the school, but it was relocated to the car park of the nearby Hamilton Tesco store in the mid noughties.Also there is a secondary school located near the tesco store called Hamilton Community College, where students attend between the ages of 11-16. Near to that is Keyham Lodge School which is an all boys school (again for 11-16 year olds) but this school is for children with learning disabilities and behavioural problems. Gateway Sixth Form College have recently opened their brand new building opposite the Tesco store, complete with a new pedestrian footbridge across the outer ring road, linking the college to Tesco.
Transport
Humberstone & Hamilton are serviced by many different bus companies and services; First Leicester routes 21A & 38/38A, Arriva services 53/53A, 56, 58/58A and CentrebusCentrebus
Centrebus is a privately owned company that operate a number of services around Leicester and Leicestershire, Grantham, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, mainly in areas where Arriva has scaled down its bus operations. Centrebus also competes with Arriva on some routes in Leicester, Luton and Stevenage...
services 40, 747 and UHL.
Humberstone formerly had a station on the Leicester spur of the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
, named Humberstone railway station
Humberstone railway station
Humberstone railway station was a railway station serving the eastern side of Leicester. It was on the Great Northern Railway Leicester branch. The station opened in 1882 and closed to regular traffic in 1953.Former Services...
. Further to the west, Humberstone Road railway station
Humberstone Road railway station
Humberstone Road station was a station to the north of Leicester, England, opened in 1875 and closed in 1968. It was opened by the Midland Counties Railway, which shortly joined the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway.The small village of...
was on the Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
.