Who remembers having a drink in Weavers? The historical row of cottages on King Street which went on to become Weavers Wine Bar in the mid-late 1990s, is now looking for new owners.
In 1995 this historic row of cottages underwent an imaginative conversion to turn them into a wine bar, with each room of the cottages forming a separate drinking area. A hugely popular spot in the late 90s and early 00s, the bar eventually closed in 2006.
Since then it has been home to The Cottages pre-school, but having closed the business post-Covid, they are now looking for new owners for the building.
But there’s quite a back story to this premises. Cramant Cottages date back to around 1820, and this row of historical weavers’ cottages are an important feature in the textile history of Leicester. 200 years ago, James Cramant and his wife, Hannah, along with their 5 children, lived in a house next to the entry on King Street. They planned the building of a row of six ‘one-up one-down back to back’ cottages, intended to house the families of frame knitters working from home and working at the new factories and mills being built on King Street. By 1841 there were 22 adults and children living in the row of cottages – quite a squeeze with only one outside toilet. With no rear exit to the houses the cottage were designated as slums in 1958, but Cramant Cottages managed to escape demolition. They are now some of the only surviving examples of this housing left in Leicester.
Since their conversion into a bar, the historical aspect has still been maintained, and with the later conversion to a pre-school the space has been modernised with kitchen facilities, new toilet facilities, new heating system, air conditioning, and more.
A unique space which holds a little pocket of Leicester’s textile and industrial history within in, and could make an ideal future hospitality or creative space.
Cramant Cottages can be found at 54 King Street, LE1 6RL. If you’d be interested in seeing the space or know anyone else who’d like to view it, please contact Nigel on [email protected].
