The City Rooms is located in the heart of the

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The building, which was designed by John Johnson in the

Greek Revival style Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, was completed in 1800.Simmons, Jack (1949)
Notes on a Leicester Architect: John Johnson (1732-1814)
, LAHS Transactions, Volume XXV, Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society, retrieved 2010-03-04 It was originally commissioned as Leicester's first hotel but the developer did have enough resources to complete it as such and, in 1799, sold it to a consortium led by the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

, who raised by public subscription the sum of £3,300 still needed to complete it. It opened as the Leicester Assembly Rooms on 17 September 1800 just in time to host the visitors to the Leicester Races held at Victoria Park. The design for the building involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing the corner of Hotel Street and Market Place South; the central bay featured a porch with paired

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but wit ...

columns supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

; there was a large rounded headed window on the first floor flanked by two

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development and growth *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ec ...

s containing female musicians carved by

John Charles Felix Rossi John Charles Felix Rossi (8 March 1762 – 21 February 1839), often simply known as Charles Rossi, was an English sculptor. Life Early life and education Rossi was born on 8 March 1762 at Nottingham, where his father Ananso, an Italian from Si ...

and two more large round headed windows beyond that. Internally, there was a large ballroom ( long, wide and high) on the first floor which was decorated with

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

paintings by

Ramsay Richard Reinagle Ramsay Richard Reinagle (19 March 1775 – 17 November 1862) was an English portrait, landscape, and animal painter, and son of Philip Reinagle. Biography Ramsay Richard Reinagle was a pupil of his father Philip Reinagle, whose style he fol ...

and with statues based on models by John Bacon. In 1817 the building was adapted to become the judges' lodgings; the conversion, which was undertaken by a local builder, Joshua Harrison, took two years to complete and once the building had passed into the ownership of the justices, it became known as the County Rooms. Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place of

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Leicester. The county coun ...

. The building was in high demand and it was even used as a training facility by B Squadron, the

Leicestershire Yeomanry The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two fie ...

at that time. After County Hall was completed in 1967, the county council had limited use for the building and, after it was sold to

Leicester City Council Leicester City Council is the local authority for the city of Leicester, in the ceremonial county of Leicestershire, England. Leicester has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1997 the council ...

in 1986, it became known as The City Rooms. In 1990 a statue of a

Seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notable d ...

, sculpted by James Butler, was unveiled outside the building: although not intended to represent any particular person, it served as a reminder of the importance that the

hosiery Hosiery, (, ) also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the foot, feet and human leg, legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also ...

industry once played in Leicester. After the city council decided to sell the building to a developer, an extensive programme of restoration works intended to convert the building into a hotel with highly decorated meeting rooms, a grand ballroom, a bar and four luxurious bedrooms, was completed in 2005. The

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

attended a reception in the building, held in support of the Midlands Chapter of the British Asian Trust, on 11 February 2020.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:City Rooms Grade I listed buildings in Leicestershire History of Leicester Hotels in Leicestershire Buildings and structures in Leicester Hotel buildings completed in 1800 1800 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1800

History

See also

References

External links