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Kilby Lane, LE3 5FT

Black Friars is an area of the city of Leicester next to the River Soar, it is named after a former Dominican friary. The area is being redeveloped with a mixture of apartments and offices.

Part of the Waterside development of 288 homes and apartments, in the Black Friars area of Leicester.

The wall is a boundary wall of Travis Perkins' warehouse. There is an OS benchmark Image on the high section of the wall at its junction with the low part.

Off to the left, the River Soar flows over a weir. Ahead, the navigation continues along the Grand Union Canal, passing through two locks before rejoining the River Soar about a mile and a half away.

Black Friars is an area of the city of Leicester next to the River Soar, it is named after a former Dominican friary. The area is being redeveloped with a mixture of apartments and offices.

Ordnance Survey cut mark benchmark described on the Bench Mark Database at http://www.bench-marks.org.uk/bm57247

This image shows Soar Lane Bridge, No 4 across the Soar Navigation/Grand Union Canal near Black Friars in Leicester. Boats are made to use the western of the two arches. Jo Turner informs us that: Around the time of the construction of the Soar Navigation in 1790, a wooden bridge was constructed over the Soar to give access to the towpath from the end of Soar Lane. This accommodation bridge was just for pedestrians and horses. The Midland Railway built three bridges in the 1880’s when a Flood Scheme was implemented, realigning the river channels. Soar Lane now crossed both the navigation and the much deeper Soar. A railway lifting bridge had been in that position on the navigation since the 1830’s and its permanent height above the water of the navigation on the east side meant that no boats could pass under it and pilings and rails were installed to direct the boat traffic through the correct channel. Soar Lane road bridge from its construction has never been able to allow traffic through its east arch even after the railway bridge was removed. This is due to the foundations to the lifting platform’s frame being too extensive to allow economic removal.

This carries Soar Lane. The bridge is marked MR 1879 and was built by the Midland Railway as a road bridge, according to some research by Ashley Dace.

Viewed from the Soar Lane bridge. Part of the 'Transforming the Waterside' redevelopment of areas along the Grand Union Canal and River Soar in Leicester.