This extraordinarily grand house was the home of hosier, councillor, Mayor and Leicester M.P. John Biggs, one of the leading lights of the reform movement in Leicester who became closely identified with radical causes and Chartism.
Stoney Gate was built in the 1830s on land at the northern end of London Road and stood in several acres of grounds. A granddaughter who stayed there as a child recalled later that it stood ‘in the country, with fields stretching to the racecourse’, adding that ‘evergreens grew luxuriantly about the lawn, which was extensive enough to allow several games of bowls to be played at once’.
Biggs’ political ambitions seem to have both distracted him from his business and placed a heavy burden on his finances. Parts of the estate were sold off during the 1850s and finally the house and what remained of the land, used as security for a debt of £10,086, had to be sold in 1862.
It was subsequently demolished to allow the development of Knighton Park Road and St Marys Road.