MUNICIPAL ACTIVITIES OF LEICESTER 77 
an Arch of Remembrance, is situated, and the gates at the entrances to 
London Road and Lancaster Road, the generous gift of Sir Jonathan 
North, were also designed by the same architect. 
The Abbey Park, situated to the north-west of the city, embraces 
57 acres. This park was constructed upon land reclaimed after Leicester’s 
flood prevention scheme. Upon the opposite side of the stream stands 
Leicester Abbey, the gift to the city of Lord Dysart. Cardinal Wolsey 
was buried here, though the actual position is not known. 
The Western Park, situated as its name implies on the western side of 
the city, is the largest open space possessed by the city. One hundred 
acres are appropriated as a park and for recreation, cricket, football, and 
tennis, and 84sacres for the purpose of an 18-hole golf course. 
About a quarter of a mile away, another intersting addition to the 
Corporation’s parks and open spaces has recently been acquired. ‘The 
city purchased a few years ago a large estate of approximately 1,000 acres 
to enable them to proceed with their very extensive housing schemes. 
The park has been appropriated by the Corporation as an open space. 
There are numerous other recreation grounds and open spaces, and it 
would not do to leave this feature of our city without a reference to 
Bradgate Park, which consists of some 1,000 acres, once the home of 
Lady Jane Grey. It was purchased by the late Mr. Charles Bennion and 
presented to the city and county. The freehold is vested in the city and 
county jointly, and is managed by a trust, upon which the city and county 
are represented, together with three donor’s trustees. ‘The park is main- 
tained in its original condition, and forms one of the most attractive features 
of the county. 
Roapway DEVELOPMENT. 
Leicester, in common with all other of the old English towns, has had 
to consider and, at very serious expense, endeavour to adapt itself to 
modern requirements. Many improvements of purely local importance 
have been effected from time to time by our ancestors, but the exigencies 
of modern traffic have forced us to consider town development upon 
a greater and more far-reaching scale. 
Apart from an improvement in the High Street about thirty years ago, 
Leicester had made no serious attempt to widen her main thoroughfares 
until 1922, when a proposal was submitted for widening the main street 
from the Midland Station to the Clock Tower. This proposal, while 
relieving one of the most congested thoroughfares in the city, would 
have had to have been supplemented by some means by which the traffic 
could have passed on. It did not, however, gain local support and was 
abandoned. 
Later, a scheme was submitted by the Corporation of a somewhat 
Napoleonic character. This scheme, prepared with great care, would, 
in effect, have immensely improved the internal communications in 
Leicester in the course of time, in addition to providing better means for 
dealing with through traffic. The scheme would have involved a gross 
expenditure, according to the estimates submitted, of approximately 
£3,830,000, and would have dealt with traffic east and west as well as 
