The major thread to this site is the story of "Black Annis and King Richard's Bed" . You access that by pressing the second button down but some of you may prefer a short factual tour first of that part of Leicester where the major events of the story took place.

We start the tour from the Clock Tower outside the East Gates of the old Town,

Facing Eastgates closely-packed buildings on either side stand-in for the walls that once protected the town. There are no substitutes for the East Gates, however, so we gaze straight into the present High Street and will enter the old town unchallenged.

Before we do so let us have a quick look round at the other roads that meet here

Church Gate, Belgrave Gate, Humberstone Gate and Granby Street

'Gate', the Viking name for street, comes from the time when Leicester was inside the DaneLaw. The Herrick family, who are part of the story of "Black Annis and King Richard's Bed", were Danes who came over to Leicestershire in the tenth century CE from Sweden and settled in Houghton-on-the-Hill.

Granby Street, that runs to the south from the clock tower, is a younger road. Travelers tramped it out in time of Black Death (also part of the story), when they deviated from the great Roman road that passed through the centre of the town

We set off through the East Gates

A modern map of the area
we are about to explore