Highfields, Leicester

The neighbourhood is within walking distance of the city centre of Leicester and offers many amenities for religious, social, cultural and commercial activities.

The population is split between the Spinney Hills, Wycliffe and Stoneygate wards of the Leicester City Council.

[10] This area of farm land was reached by short lanes that led off of London Road.

Houses facing London Road were mainly built between the mid-1850s and the late 1860s and most still remain, although all have been converted to commercial uses.

The building was designed by the renowned architect George Edmund Street who was also responsible for the Courts of Justice in London.

However, the development of Stoneygate began to attract the middle classes away from Highfields and demand for larger houses declined.

Development was completed by the construction of smaller terraced houses on Churchill, Connaught and Hamilton Streets (1886–1888).

[14] In 1898, the respected local architect Arthur Wakerley designed the Highfield Street synagogue.

This place of worship served a newly established Jewish community that was beginning to settle in the area.

[19] It is recorded that one of the Luftwaffe's largest of bombs was dropped on Grove Road (the 1000 kg Parachute Mine), causing extensive damage to adjacent streets.

In 1999, a bank was built to replace a 1960s office block on the corner of Saxby Street and London Road.

After the war the area became less desirable as the trend towards suburban living encouraged many residents to move out to the outskirts of the city.

This first wave of South Asian migrants who came directly were Pakistani, Punjabi and Gujarati in response to the demand for unskilled labour during the post war economic boom.

[23] During the early 1970s and especially after 1972, a large number of the Asian community in East Africa began to move to the area following expulsion from Uganda by Idi Amin.

This group migrated in large numbers over a relatively short period of time and it quickly became apparent that Highfields was not going to be able to accommodate the entire East African Asian population.

In addition to their strong trading, business and professional backgrounds and good knowledge of English, the Asians settled in East Africa tended to arrive as complete families, including ageing parents and relatives.

Lord Scarman found the riots that took place across the country to be communal disorders with a racial dimension.