Cank Street | The Crystal Tome

EDIT: Leicester City Council Twitter (@Leicester_news) have replied, and are looking into the status of this. Please keep your powder dry while we await their response.

EDIT 2: The Leicester City Council Twitter team have assured me that the plaque is in safe storage, and will be replaced as soon the the renovation work is completed in the area.

In my previous post, I extolled the virtue of The Cank Street Well, and lauded the fact that Leicester remembers its past.

Close up view of Cank Well Plaque

So imagine my surprise when I found out that, after a period of renovation, the large brass plaque explaining the origins of Cank Street’s name has been removed!

The small brass tile still marks the original site (as best as we can tell) of the Cank Well, but there is nothing to tell people it is there, or what it was.

I foolishly thought that Leicester City Council’s Social Media Manager might be able to shed some light on this, but my request on their Facebook page has gone unanswered. Next will be a strongly-worded email, requesting not just an explanation for the missing plaque, but also for the ignoring of one of their Constituents! Such is the Wrath of a Wizard wronged!

As the next stage of my campaign, I am urging the good people of Leicester (and anyone else who wishes to get involved) to let LCC know that their negligence, whether through malice or ignorance, has not gone unnoticed, and request that you contact them with regards to replacing the plaque!

EDIT: Leicester City Council Twitter (@Leicester_news) have replied, and are looking into the status of this. Please keep your powder dry while we await their response.

EDIT 2: The Leicester City Council Twitter team have assured me that the plaque is in safe storage, and will be replaced as soon the the renovation work is completed in the area.

Link to Leicester City Council contact page: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/contact-us

Postal Address: Leicester City Council ,City Hall, 115 Charles Street, Leicester, LE1 1FZ

Please do what you can to get The Cank Street Well recognised!

Cank Street, Leicester, is a well-known thoroughfare near the Market, but do you know the origin of the name “Cank”?

Plaque explaining the origins of “The Cank”

According to a brass plaque near St Martin’s, the name refers to “The Cank”, a well first recorder in 1313 AD, and is thought to be a dialect word meaning “gossip”.

A small plaque is set into the road marking the original site of the well, now long gone. Such a tiny marker is easily lost amongst the manhole covers, hydrants and drains, but a careful search of the area will find it.

Plaque marking the site of The Cank

It seems a shame that The Cank is not better known, and despite St Martin’s being a popular area, most people will walk past the plaque, or even sit in the seating that it is mounted on the back of, without even noticing it.

From outside the Olde Sweet Shoppe, you can view both plaques, if you know where to look.

View of the two brass plaques

So next time you are out and about in Leicester, why not take time to walk along Cank Street (I suggest starting from the Clock Tower so that you can enjoy the newly re-opened Silver Arcade), and see if you can spot the site of The Cank? If you do, you can reward yourself with a relaxing drink at the nearby St Martin’s Coffee Emporium!

Close up view of Cank Well Plaque

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Tag Archives: Cank Street

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