Jubilee - East Midlands Region

Nottingham Council House and Exchange Buildings

On 21 March 1997, the Queen visited the Council House Buildings to mark the granting of Nottingham’s ‘City Status’. 

The building was designed in 1927, in the ‘Neo-Baroque’ style by the famous Nottingham architect T Cecil Howitt, who also designed many of the city’s famous buildings. The building also incorporated a shopping arcade and office accommodation. 

It was officially opened in March 1929 by the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VIII.

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Mansfield Old Town Hall

The Queen and Prince Philip went on a walkabout along West Gate, stopping outside the Old Town Hall, on the occasion of her Silver Jubilee on 28 July 1977. Later she officially opened the new Mansfield Library.

The Old Town Hall was completed in 1836 and replaced the old Moot Hall. The building was visited by George V and Queen Mary in 1914 and again in 1928.

With the development of coal mining in the early 20th Century the town grew and the Town Hall became the headquarters of the new Borough Council. It was requisitioned in the Second World War by the War Office and became the seat to the District Council in 1974.

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University of Nottingham, Cripps Hall

The Queen originally visited the University Park Campus in July 1977. She visited the university again on 5 June 1981 to unveil a plaque to commemorate the foundation of University College and returned in 1999 to open the University Jubilee Campus.

The Cripps Hall of residence was built between1957-59. It was designed by Farquaharson, McMorran & Whitby and endowed by Cyril Thomas Cripps. Sir Cyril Thomas Cripps (1892-1979), established the family firm, Pianoforte Supplies Limited, in 1919. The firm made metal components for pianos, and subsequently grew into a major supplier of metal fittings for other trades, especially the motor industry.

The Cripps family established the Cripps Foundation in 1956. The charity has made many large gifts to universities, colleges, schools, churches, hospitals and museums, including the University of Nottingham.

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Derby Cathedral

The Queen visited Derby on 28 July 1977 during her Silver Jubilee Tour and presented Letters of Patent to Derby and the town became a city. She first visited Derby in 1949, when she was still a princess. 

The Church of All Saints was founded in 943 and became a Cathedral in 1927.  The tower was built early in the sixteenth century, although the body of the church is Georgian and was designed by James Gibbs in 1725.

The Cathedral has many interesting features: a tomb to Bess of Hardwick, a memorial to Florence Nightingale, a wrought iron screen by Robert Bakewell and the oldest ring of ten bells in the world, which ring as a carillion 3 times a day and has seven different tunes.

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The National Space Centre, Leicester

The Queen visited the newly opened National Space Centre during her Golden Jubilee year on 1 August 2002.

The building has a semi-transparent cladding and is the only place to house upright space rockets indoors.  The tower part of it is shaped like a 'rocket', and the flat roof of the other building is decorated to look like the 'swirl' of a galaxy.

As well as the Queen, the building has hosted many important visitors including the astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Tim Peake. The National Space Centre also hosts a space research project with the University of Leicester Space Research Centre. 

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St Martin's Cathedral, Leicester

The Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, visited Leicester Cathedral for the annual Royal Maundy Service on 13 April 2017, during which she gave Maundy Money to 91 men and 91 women – one for each of The Queen's 91 years of age.

The cathedral was originally the Parish Church of St Martin’s and is thought to be on the site of a Roman temple.  It was originally built by the Saxons in the twelfth century and rebuilt and enlarged through the thirteen the fifteenth century.  During this time, it was a ‘civic church’ popular with guilds and merchants and is adjacent to Leicester Guild Hall. 

It was substantially rebuilt by the Victorian architect Raphael Brandon. The church officially became a Leicester Cathedral in 1929 when Leicester achieved city status.

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Fielding Johnson Building, University of Leicester

The Queen originally visited the University of Leicester in 1958, a year after the University received the Royal Charter. On 4 December 2008 the Queen, accompanied by Prince Philip, returned to open the David Wilson Building, which adjoins the earlier Fielding Johnson Building.

The Fielding Johnson Building, built in 1837, was originally the Leicestershire County Lunatic Asylum, the first public provision of care for pauper ‘lunatics’ (an all-encompassing term used at the time for many mentally and physically debilitating illnesses).

The University was founded as Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland University College in 1921. The site was donated by a local businessman, Thomas Fielding Johnson, in order to create a living memorial for all local people who made sacrifices during the First World War. This is reflected in the University's motto Ut vitam habeant – 'so that they may have life'.

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Vernon Park, Nottingham

The Queen and the Duchess of Cambridge visited Vernon Park to see a children’s sports day during a Diamond Jubilee visit on 13 June 2012.

The park was originally in the grounds of Vernon House owned by Charles Cox, a local industrialist. In 1901 he sold the house and parkland to the Corporation of Nottingham, who open the whole estate as a public recreation ground. In 194 it was requisitioned by the War Department for defence purposes.

The park was awarded Fields in Trust status. The Queen Elizabeth Fields in Trust Charity exists to protect parks and green places for local communities. The charity was founded by the Duke of York, later King George VI, in 1925, who became the first President. This royal link continues today with Her Majesty the Queen as Patron since 1952.

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Leicester Station

The Queen, Prince Philip and the Duchess of Cambridge arrived at Leicester station for a visit to the city as part of the Diamond Jubilee Tour on 8 March 2012.

The present Leicester Station was opened in 1892 and completed in 1895. It was designed by the architect Charles Trubshaw. An earlier Midland Railway was first used on 4 May 1840, when a train of four first and six second-class carriages, pulled by the Leopard steam engine, arrived from Nottingham.

Leicester was one of the first cities to be served by a railway, when the Leicester and Swannington Railway built its terminus station at West Bridge on the western side of Leicester in 1832. The Leicester and Swannington Railway was later absorbed by the Midland Railway. Between 185 and 1950 Leicester had seven railway stations, the current Leicester Station is the only one still in use.

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The Curve Theatre, Leicester

The Queen and Prince Philip officially opened the Curve theatre during a visit to Leicester on 4 December 2008. She met the Mayor of Leicester Manjula Sood during a visit to the city's new Curve theatre.

The project started in 2005 and in 2008 it won the RIBA award for its innovative design.  A cornerstone for regeneration of the St George’s Conservation area, in the heart of Leicester’s Cultural Quarter, the £61 million project contains an auditorium with up to 800 seats and a studio which seats up to 400.

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National Cricket Academy

The Queen visited the English Cricket Board national Cricket Academy at the University of Loughborough on 14 November 2003.

The National Cricket Performance Centre first came into existence in the winter of 2001–200 and has been based at  Loughborough University since 2003. It consists of a state of the art £4.5 million indoor training complex.

Facilities include lanes enabling full runups for fast bowlers and wicket-keepers stood back, Hawk-Eye cameras and advanced biomechanics analysis equipment. In addition to the indoor complex the academy also provides top class outdoor training facilities.

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National Ice Centre

The Queen visited the National Ice Centre during her Golden Jubilee Tour on 31 July 2002 and met Olympic Gold Medallists Christopher Dean and Jayne Torville. 

The National Ice Centre was constructed on the site of the former Nottingham Ice Stadium, which opened in 1939, situated close to the Lace Market.  It was the first Olympic sized ice-rink in the UK.

During excavation for the new building in July 1998, a rare 1,100-year-old Saxon jug was found, which is on display at the Nottingham Castle Museum. A 19th-century graveyard was also found under the car park, from which the bodies were then exhumed. The NIC was opened in April 2001 by Jayne Torville.

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Market Place, Uppingham

The Queen met members of the Rutland Morris men, wearing their white costumes with colourful bells and sashes, after they’d danced ‘The Queens Delight’ in Uppingham Market Place on 28 June 2001.

Uppingham gained its Market Charter in 1281 and there has been one held here ever since, though it’s likely a market had existed long before it received the official charter.

In the centre of the Market Place is the Grade II listed Queen Victoria Jubilee Fountain. It has the inscription "This monument is erected by the inhabitants of Uppingham in loving and loyal commemoration of the fiftieth year of the reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria June 1887 Long Live the Queen."

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Rockingham Motor Speedway

The Queen looked at a NASCAR racing car during a visit to Rockingham Speedway on 23 June 2005.

The circuit was one of only two American style banked oval tracks in Europe. It was built on the site of a disused quarry from the former British Steelworks.

The steelworks in Corby expanded from the 1930s onwards, with the construction of the Stewarts and Lloyd’s. At one time the towns steelworks were the largest in Europe and dominated the industry of Corby until their closure in the 1970s.

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All Saints' Church, Lubenham

The Queen and Prince Philip, accompanied by Prince Charles and Princess Anne, attended a service at Lubenham parish church on 25 March 1956.

The current church dates to the late 12th century and is a rare example of a Norman church, hence it is a Grade I listed building. A church here is first mentioned in 1109, when Robert son of Vitalis, lord of Foxton, gave the church and tithes from his fee in Lubenham to St. Augustine's Priory, Daventry.

It has been adapted many times over the centuries. It was first restored in 1900 by Gotch and Saunders of Kettering, who unlike many restorers of the time, did it in a sympathetic manor keeping many of the Norman and Medieval features.

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Kettering Station

The Queen, walking with Earl Spencer, on her arrival at Kettering Railway Station at the start of her visit to Northamptonshire on 9 July 1965.

Kettering station was built in 1857 to the designs of C H Driver. It was built for Midland Railway company, one of the most important and ambitious companies of the era of railway development in England.

It was expanded in 1879 and the main station building was built in1895-8 by C Trubshaw, a significant railway architect responsible for other important railway buildings such as the Midland Hotel in Manchester. In 1999–2000 the station underwent a programme of refurbishment, including the erection of a new footbridge, to replace an earlier subway.

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Matlock Station

The Queen meets members of the crowd as she arrives at Matlock Station for an official visit to Derbyshire on 10 July 2014.

The station was opened by the Manchester, Buxton and Midlands Junction Railway in 1849 and was known as Matlock Bridge. The station buildings, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton who also designed the Crystal Palace in London, were opened in 1850. The importance of the line was increased in 1871 when it became part of a main line connecting London and Manchester.

The Station Master's house at Matlock Station was built in c1850. It is also attributed to Sir Joseph Paxton, for The Midland Railway Company. The house forms part of the station complex developed by the Midland Railway Company on the route between Derby and Buxton.

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Express (National) Lift Tower, Northampton

The Queen opened the Express Lift Tower at Northampton before travelling the 19 floors up to the top on 12 November 1982. The tower was dubbed 'Northampton's Lighthouse' by disc jockey Terry Wogan.

The lift testing tower was commissioned in 1978 and built 1980-2 by Stimpson and Walton for the Express Lift Company Limited. It’s made of concrete and is 127m tall. The highspeed lift shaft runs the full height of the tower and determined the tower's height. It is for testing lifts at speeds of up to 7 metres per second.

This is the only lift testing tower in Britain and one of only two in Europe. The building is important as a demonstration of the importance of the lift technology to all modern tall building construction. It is for these reasons that it is now a Grade II listed building.

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Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Leicester

The Queen, having removed her shoes, received a ceremonial sword (tulwar) as a gift, at the end of her visit to the Sikh Gurdhwara Temple on 1 August 2002. The sword is also known to Sikhs, renowned for their martial qualities, as a 'kirpan' or 'Siri-Sahib'.

Guru Nanak was the first Sikh Gurdwara in Leicester. It began in the 1960s then in 1989 it moved to its current site, a converted textiles factory close to the Roman Jewry Wall remains.

Alongside its prayer room the Gurdwara also has a fascinating museum. This gives information about the Sikh religion, as well as Indian history in general, with particular emphasis on India in Imperial Britain and Indian regiments of the British Army before and during both World Wars.

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Lincoln Cathedral

The Queen visited on 20 April 2000 to mark Maundy Thursday by distributing Maundy Money to pensioners at Lincoln Cathedral.

Lincoln Cathedral, famous for the Lincoln imp, sits high on a hill and dominates the city and surrounding fenland. Construction began in 1072 but was mostly destroyed by an earthquake in 1185. The different phases of rebuilding can be seen in the architectural styles throughout the cathedral. In 1311, it claimed to be the tallest building in the world on the completion of a 160m spire until this collapsed in 1548.

A centre for worship and pilgrimage, it was also a seat of power, hosting parliaments in the chapter house. Lincoln Cathedral holds one of the four remaining copies of the original Magna Carta.

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RAF College Cranwell

The Queen speaks with Sleaford and Grantham Air Cadets at RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire on 28 May 2009.

RAF College Cranwell was founded as a Royal Navy Training Establishment in 1916. It became the world’s first Air Academy to train RAF officers on the lines of Sandhurst or Dartmouth and today, it continues to select and train the next generation of officers and aircrew.  The motto, Altium Altrix, meaning "Nurture the highest" appears above the main doors.

The principal college building was built 1929-33, designed by Officer of Works architect J G West, FRIBA. Ingeniously planned around very complex requirements, the Cadet College uses first class materials both externally and within. The architecture was intended to reflect the importance of Britain's new independent air force.

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