Best Hidden Gems in Leicestershire
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best hidden gems in Leicestershire are Abbey Pumping Station, Bradgate House, National Gas Museum, New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, St. Mary de Castro Church, Mini Statue of Liberty, Aylestone Meadows and Great Merrible Wood.
Leicestershire rewards the curious traveller with a surprising mix of industrial heritage, medieval history and quiet green spaces, much of it overlooked by visitors passing through. In and around the city of Leicester you can watch towering beam engines at the Abbey Pumping Station, trace the story of an industry at the National Gas Museum, and explore free galleries of mummies, dinosaurs and Expressionist art at the New Walk Museum.
History runs deep here, from the Norman carving inside St Mary de Castro to the roofless Tudor ruin of Bradgate House out in its ancient deer park. There are quirkier finds too, such as Leicester's own Mini Statue of Liberty on a riverside roundabout, and generous stretches of nature at Aylestone Meadows and Great Merrible Wood.
Some sites are free and always open, while others keep limited hours, so a little planning goes a long way. Each offers something genuinely worth the detour.
Here are eight of the best hidden gems to seek out in Leicestershire.
Abbey Pumping Station
Photo: Ashley Dace via Geograph.org.uk
Abbey Pumping Station is a Victorian sewage pumping station of 1891 on the River Soar in Leicester, next to the National Space Centre, now the city's museum of science and technology. Its centrepiece is four large beam engines, built by a local firm, that once pumped the city's sewage, with tall flywheels and heavy rocking beams.
Around them are displays on public health, a narrow-gauge railway and old buses and fire engines. Entry is free, and the beam engines are run under steam on special steaming days rather than every visit, so check the calendar if you hope to see them working.
Bradgate House
Photo: Nigel Cox via Geograph.org.uk
Bradgate House is the roofless red-brick ruin of an early Tudor mansion standing in the open deer park of Bradgate Park, near Newtown Linford. Built around 1520 by the Grey family, it was one of the earliest large unfortified brick houses in England, and is traditionally held to be the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen, though the exact place and date are not certain.
Visitors reach the ruins on foot across the park and see the brick walls, towers, service ranges and a chapel, the only roofed part, which holds a family memorial. A visitor centre nearby shows finds from recent excavations.
National Gas Museum
Photo: Richard Sutcliffe via Geograph.org.uk
National Gas Museum tells the story of the gas industry from the surviving gatehouse of the old Aylestone Road gasworks in Leicester, a listed building of 1878 beneath a clock tower. Most of the works has gone, but the museum keeps thousands of objects over two floors, from early cookers, heaters and irons to a gas-powered radio and a 1920s gas kitchen laid out as it would have looked.
It is run by a charitable trust and opens on limited days, so hours are worth checking before you make the trip.
New Walk Museum & Art Gallery
Photo: Dave Bevis via Geograph.org.uk
New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, also called Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, stands on New Walk, the Victorian tree-lined promenade that runs through the city, and is one of the oldest purpose-built museums in England, opened in 1849. Its galleries take in an Egyptian collection with mummies, dinosaurs including the locally found Rutland sauropod, and the largest collection of German Expressionist art in the country, along with natural history and Picasso ceramics.
Entry is free. The building sits a little way west of this map point, and is well worth an unhurried visit.
St. Mary de Castro Church
Photo: Ashley Dace via Geograph.org.uk
St. Mary de Castro Church is a medieval church within the precinct of Leicester Castle, in the old town, with fine Norman work surviving inside, including a richly carved set of sedilia often called the best Norman decoration in the county.
It was made a collegiate church in 1107 and heavily restored by George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s. Its tall spire developed cracks and was taken down in 2014, so the church now stands without one.
By tradition Geoffrey Chaucer married here in the 1360s, though there is no firm record of it. A quietly striking place to seek out.
Mini Statue of Liberty
Photo: Mat Fascione via Geograph.org.uk
Mini Statue of Liberty is Leicester's own replica of the New York statue, about nine tonnes, standing on a plinth on the Swan Gyratory roundabout by the River Soar near the King Power Stadium. It was made around 1919 by a local sculptor for the Lennards shoe firm, whose Liberty brand and factory it once crowned, sitting on the factory roof until the building was demolished in 2003.
The statue was restored and set up at ground level on the roundabout in 2008, which is where it stands today. A fun, unexpected landmark to spot from the roadside.
Aylestone Meadows
Photo: Mat Fascione via Geograph.org.uk
Aylestone Meadows is a large nature reserve of floodplain meadows, woodland and wetland along the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal, about a mile and a half south of the centre of Leicester, the biggest reserve in the city. Old ridge-and-furrow grassland, canal locks and towpath, boardwalks and a granite packhorse bridge lie within it, along with the surfaced Great Central Way on the line of a former railway.
People come to walk, cycle and watch birds. It is a local nature reserve, free and open, and easy to reach from the city.
Great Merrible Wood
Photo: Dave Thompson via Geograph.org.uk
Great Merrible Wood is a small ancient woodland in the Eye Brook valley near Stockerston, cared for as a nature reserve. Ash and oak stand over a shrub layer of hazel and field maple, with a floor that fills with bluebells in spring, along with rarer flowers such as herb Paris.
Badgers, deer and woodland birds live among the trees. It is a quiet, out-of-the-way reserve, reached on foot across fields, free and always open, and best enjoyed in the bluebell season.
FAQs
Which Leicestershire hidden gems are free to visit?
Several are free, including the Abbey Pumping Station and the New Walk Museum. Aylestone Meadows and Great Merrible Wood are free and open nature reserves. Facilities can vary, so it is worth checking current details before you visit.
Do any of these attractions have limited opening hours?
Yes. The National Gas Museum is run by a charitable trust and opens on limited days, so it is best to check hours in advance. At the Abbey Pumping Station, the beam engines run under steam only on special steaming days rather than every visit.
When is the best time to visit Great Merrible Wood?
Spring is the highlight, when the woodland floor fills with bluebells and rarer flowers such as herb Paris. The wood is reached on foot across fields and is free and always open. Sturdy footwear helps on the paths.
Conclusion
Leicestershire packs a broad variety into a compact county, from the hiss of steam at the Abbey Pumping Station to the bluebell floor of Great Merrible Wood. In the city you can wander free museums like the New Walk Museum, marvel at Norman carving in St Mary de Castro, and track down the curious Mini Statue of Liberty beside the River Soar.
Out in the countryside, the Tudor ruin of Bradgate House and the meadows and woodland of Aylestone Meadows offer space to roam. Several sites are free and open, while others, such as the National Gas Museum, keep limited hours, so it pays to check ahead and wear sturdy shoes for the parks and woods.
Whether your interest is industry, history or nature, these are the best hidden gems to seek out in Leicestershire.
