Portraits of Valour Guided Tours

Event Description

Step Back in Time: The Guildhall in the Trenches & Twenties

Discover the hidden history of Leicester’s most iconic medieval building—and the local heroes who stood in its courtyard.

To book this tour you must select Wednesday 9th or Wednesday 18th November from the calendar date picker - the other dates are for different guided tours.

Join us for an exclusive guided tour that transports you back to Leicester Guildhall during the turbulent 1910s and 1920s. Long before its modern restoration, this ancient structure was facing severe neglect and the threat of demolition, mirroring the fragile, changing world outside its walls.

Tour Highlights

• The Forgotten Years: Explore the silent, crumbling state of the Guildhall during the First World War.


• Stand in Their Footsteps: Visit the exact spot outside the Mayor’s Parlour where eight extraordinary working-class men from the Belgrave Institute stood for an iconic Leicester Chronicle photograph on.


• The Great Rescue: Discover how the community rallied to save and restore this medieval treasure, leading to its grand reopening as a museum in 1926.

This tour perfectly complements our poignant Portraits of Valour exhibition, hosted in partnership with the At-Risk War Memorials Project.

Experience local history on the very ground where it was made.

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