Leicester

After Foxton I went to Leicester from where I took the train to Barrow upon Soar where I wanted to rest for a day.

Southern gateway to the castle yard. The archway is part of the fortified gate, which had a turreted house above it, that formed the southern entrance to the castle enclosure. The complete gate and gate house were probably erected in the latter part of the 14th century.

Castle house and gateway. The castle house is made up of three seperate but now connected buildings. A timber framed gatehouse dating from 1446 which was joined to the church St Mary's until 1848, a second timber framed building previously built in the mid 16th century and a Georgian house.

St Mary de Castro was founded in 1107 by the first Earl of Leicester, Robert de Beaumont, as a collegiate church attached to his castle. In 1143 it was annexed to Leicester Abbey.
The church has been much altered but some early features have survived including the Norman doorways.

The Magazine Gateway was the main entrance into the Newarke precinct and was built in 1400. The name Newarke means "new work" and was once a quiet, religious precinct on the edge of medieval Leicester.
Founded by the Earls of Lancaster in the 14th century, the stone walls of the Newarke enclosed the church St Mary of the Annunciation, Trinity Hospital and several priest houses. The church was closed in 1548 and demolished soon afterwards.
The gateway appears to have been used as a prison in the 1560s and in the 1600s was used as an armoury or magazine, hence its name. During the Civil War of 1645, the Newarke was the scene of fierce fighting but the Magazine escaped serious damage.
The building continued to be used by the county militia and was much renovated in 1853. In the 1860s, a barracks and a drill hall were built alongside it. Between 1969 and 1996, the building housed the Museum of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment.