The High Cross sits on the corner of High Street and Highcross Street in Leicester city centre. A small granite slab placed in the road outside the pub marks the original location of the High Cross, the centre point of the city, and the High Cross monument stands just across the road from it. It’s a bit of a mystery how they chose the name of the pub, isn’t it?
The pub is a very impressive and well-maintained three-storey building, with beautiful sash windows separated by elegant panelling. Ironically, long before it was serving cheap pints as a JD Wetherspoon, the pub was originally the High Cross Coffee House, built in 1895 at the height of the British temperance movement. In 1993 it received Grade II Listed status, which it quite rightfully deserves.
Despite the rather grand exterior of the pub, only the ground floor of the building is used as the bar area. It’s larger than it first seems, however, wrapping around to a secondary seating area well-lit by a wall of large glass windows. The fairly traditional décor gives it quite a warm and welcoming feel, though the carpet connoisseurs may be a tad disappointed by the fairly simplistic design here.
On the other side of those windows is a small enclosed beer garden. Being located in one of the older areas of Leicester’s city centre, the tall brick walls and the brick buildings surrounding it give it a cosy, almost alleyway-esque vibe.
The men’s toilets were rather dated and peculiar, with bright blue panelling and aging flooring. It seemed, however, that on our visit the toilets were in the middle of a refurbishment, as the women’s toilets were freshly decorated and modernised (albeit awaiting the installation of mirrors) which explains the disparity between our toilet scores.
Ratings (out of 5)
We both rate the pub based on three criteria; the building, the interior and the toilets. These scores are averaged out to give the pub its overall rating. You can read more about the rating system here.
Building: 4.0 & 3.5
Interior: 3.0 & 2.5
Toilets: 1.5 & 4.0
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