Leicester Cathedral Gardens - Designs by Gillespies unveiled

Exciting plans for new Gardens designed by Gillespies in the heart of Leicester have just been unveiled.   For the first time The Cathedral Gardens will provide Leicester's Cathedral with a beautiful and tranquil setting, creating a stunning new space for the enjoyment of everyone visiting or living in the city.  It will also be a venue for outdoor events, liturgy and performances for up to 800 people.  

The plans bring together the two previously separate spaces of the Cathedral Precincts and the grounds of the former grammar school, now St Martins House.   There will be a central lawn area with a lively water feature outside the Cathedral.  

On the east side the quieter Churchyard garden will provide a location for gravestones form the original precincts. To the west will be the new Wyggeston Garden, named after the original Wyggeston Hospital, the remains of which date from 1513 and lie just below the surface.   

Plans also include reintegrating the Guildhall into the area by the partial removal of a wall which blocks access to the Visitor Centre which can then re-open as a cafe serving the area.

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, said:

"We have long wanted to give the Cathedral its proper setting in the city and to make our spaces more attractive."

Cathedral Gardens is a project in its own right but also features within the wider Connecting Leicester vision for the City Centre and the proposed work to the highways forms part of that. 

Jon Akers Coyle, Associate Partner at Gillespies who led the design team said:

"Our design for Leicester Cathedral Gardens reinvests a sense of place and purpose in front of the Cathedral to once again become a gathering place for church and city within a pleasant garden space.

The new Gardens at the heart of the heritage quarter will complement the historic architecture of Leicester Cathedral and laneways with a rich tapestry of shapes and textures, open lawns and colourful seasonal planting palette.

We look forward to progressing these proposals and to continuing the cohesiveness of this scheme into the surrounding historic streets as part of the Connecting Leicester strategy."

City Mayor Peter Soulsby said:

"Cathedral Gardens is a very exciting proposal. It would provide a wonderful and fitting setting for our city's cathedral and is an excellent example of what could be achieved through a shared Connecting Leicester vision."

The proposals have just been submitted for planning and are now subject to planning consent from both church and secular authorities, and formal applications are being submitted to both.