In front of the City Rooms is an enchanting figure entitled the Leicester Seamstress. It was designed by James Butler in 1990. One water source of old Leicester is still noted by an information plaque in St.Martin's Square. An engraved metal block set in the carriageway of Cank Street marks the site of a public well known as The Cank. It was first recorded in 1313. 'Cank' is an old dialect word meaning 'to gossip' or 'meeting place.' In this location is the former Natwest bank, a spectacular building featuring giant coupled columns on the upper floor and two round domed angle towers. It was designed by S.Perkins and Pick and built in 1900. There are a good number of Georgian buildings in the St.Martin's area, particularly the old Alderman Newton's Girls School, Church House and the Provost's House. A walk along Peacock Lane brings you into the Castle Park area of the city. The church of St.Martin's was one of six parish churches recorded in Leicester at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086.

St.Martin's was extended in the 14th and 15th centuries and restored in the 19th century. It is possible to see how the church looked before the Victorian restoration by looking at a drawing by Eliza Sultzer who captured the building on paper in 1833. The church was hallowed as the Cathedral of Leicester in 1927. The city had lost its cathedral status when the Vikings raided the Midlands during the 9th century when it was moved first to Dorchester-on-Thames and, later, Lincoln. The Victorian restoration is not without its critics but much of the work was faithful to the original. For example, the medieval spire was replaced in the 1860's with a new design by Raphael Brandon but the detail is a conscientious attempt to reproduce the Early English style. Other work by Brandon includes a clerestory in the Perpendicular style. Inside the cathedral there is a memorial to King Richard III who was killed by the Earl of Richmond in the Battle at Bosworth Field in 1485. The play by William Shakespeare has given us the immortal lines of 'Now is the winter of our discontent' and 'A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!'

Although some of ancient Leicester has been preserved much was lost when Vaughan Way was ploughed through the old Castle Park area. On the other side of this monstrous dual carriageway you'll find a former hosiery factory which has been converted into the Guru Nanak Gurdwara. Although the opening times are restricted, there is a museum here which contains dramatic paintings and models illustrating the history of Sikhism and the sacrifice and devotion of its followers. The oldest church in Leicester is dedicated to St.Nicholas. It dates back to Saxon times. Indeed, it has been suggested that the building was the first cathedral of the city. The earliest record of a bishop here dates from 679. Although the building was altered by the Normans and again by the Victorians, it retains many examples of Saxon work, particularly in the windows inside and the north wall above the arcade. The Saxons and Normans used many of the Roman bricks readily available next door. A good example can be seen in the late 11th century tower which displays a herringbone pattern of Roman bricks.

The Jewry Wall Museum records the archaeology and history of the Leicester and the county from prehistoric times to 1485. The Roman section contains a spectacular display of mosaic floors and wall paintings excavated around the city. The Peacock Pavement and the Blue Boar Wall paintings date back to AD150. The central octagonal panel of the Peacock Pavement consists of a magnificent Peacock. Its features are highlighted by the use of blue gloss. It is probable that it formed the floor of a residence of an important public official. It was found in 1898 and for many years, for one penny, it could be viewed in the basement of a corset shop. The Blue Boar paintings were found during archaeological excavations in 1958. Another major highlight of the museum is the Glen Parva Lady. She was found in 1866 in a field known as Rye Hill near to Lutterworth Road, Glen Parva, by men digging gravel. They thought that she was a recent murder victim, so they collected up the bones and called the police. The bones were not seen in the ground by an archaeologist but the following details are now known about her: She was 20 years-old when she died, she was 5' 6" tall, she was fairly wealthy [determined from the many objects buried with her], she died around 500AD [shown by the style of the brooches found].

The two buildings house a rich collection and exhibits of domestic life. The ground floor even has a recreated Victorian street scene and a room setting of the 1600's. Items belonging to Daniel Lambert, Britain's largest man, can be seen in the museum. A visit is highly recommended. Behind the museum if part of the old Newarke Hall which had a number of holes knocked into it during the English Civil War so that guns could be fired. It is fortunate that they were never used because, in order to achieve an effective field of fire, the Newarke Houses would have been demolished. Adjacent to the Newarke Houses Museum is the Old Trinity Hospital. This was founded in 1331 by Henry, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester, as an almshouse to care for fifty senior citizens. The hospital was rebuilt in 1901 by Goodacre and Sons but much of the old chapel is original. Two of the windows of the chapel were taken from the church at Ashby Folville. A new hospital was built on the other side of the River Soar in 1995 and the old building was taken over by De Montfort University and renamed Trinity House. The area behind the Old Trinity Hospital along the Soar is called Riverside Park. Flood alleviation work to the river in the 19th century formed the 'Mile Straight' which is popular for rowing. Today's West Bridge was built in 1890 though there is an additional concrete monster next to it which was added in the 1970's. Next to the two bridges is the Terracotta Mermaids archway, saved when the city's wholesale vegetable market was demolished in 1968.

The motte was once much higher but was lowered towards the end of the 18th century to create a bowling green. Unfortunately, the original layout of the castle has been lost. It is known that both Henry IV and Richard III occasionally stayed in the castle. Founded in 1107 by Robert de Beaumont, the first Earl of Leicester, the church of Saint Mary de Castro was rebuilt in 1783 but is still famous for its surviving Norman features. It was probably built on site of Saxon church and has changed considerably over the centuries. For example, in 1160 the church was considerably enlarged with an extension to the chancel and an addition of the north aisle. More additions followed in the early 13th century and alterations were made in the 15th century. Interestingly, the churchyard is several feet higher than the surrounding ground, a result of centuries of burials. It is thought that Geoffrey Chaucer was married in the church and King Henry VI was knighted here in 1426. Next to the church of Saint Mary de Castro is the Castle Gate. This group of buildings comprises of two medieval timber-framed dwellings and a brick built house dating from the Georgian period. The Gateway would have houses the porter's lodge guarding the entrance to Castle Yard. The timbered posts of the gatehouse were probably built in 1445-47 when extensive reconstruction work took place after a fire. Sadly, the Castle Gate is not open to the public.

Erected in 1868, it was designed Joseph Goddard, a member of a famous local family of architects who designed many of the city’s important public buildings. The clock tower is one of the most ornate of its kind anywhere in the country. There are spiral mouldings around the square shaft which indicate that there is a staircase inside. On the lower stage there are statues of Simon de Montfort, William Wiggeston, Sir Thomas White and Alderman Gabriel Newton, the work of Samuel Bardfield. For more than a century arguments have raged whether the clock tower should be relocated but the people of Leicester relate to the structure's position to such a degree it is unlikely to be shifted. The Corn Exchange in the city's market square is quite spectacular. The stuccoed building was originally constructed in 1851 as a single storey Market House but the upper floor, designed by F.W.Ordish, was added four years later to serve the role of a corn exchange. This necessitated the addition of a staircase at the front of the building and the result is similar to that of a Venetian bridge. The Corn Exchange replaced an earlier building which served pretty much the role. A disastrous fire meant that the building lay empty for some years but it has returned to its former glory and is now a pub.

Halfway along New Walk is the remarkable building housing the city's Museum and Art Gallery. Designed by Joseph Aloysius Hansom, the man responsible for the lending library, it was built in 1836 as a non-conformist Proprietary School. Born in York in 1803, Hansom was also the inventor of the 'Patent Safety [Hansom] Cab' in 1834. He also designed Birmingham's Town Hall and the Roman Catholic cathedral at Plymouth. The Proprietary School was taken over as the Museum in 1849. In front of the museum there are a couple of Russian cannons which were captured by the Leicestershire Regiment during the Crimean War.