William Wyggeston was a wealthy 16th century wool merchant who twice became mayor of Leicester. Incredibly rich (allegedly paying 22% of all of Leicester’s tax in 1522) he donated significant sums towards opening hospitals and schools in the local area, earning him a statue on Leicester’s clock tower and – perhaps more importantly – The William Wigston Wetherspoon pub named after him.
The building was originally built in the late 90s as a Kwik Save, and the pub is now a fairly inconspicuous building with quite a traditional look to it. The narrow frontage conceals how deep the pub is and the hanging flowers and plants tot he front of the pub are a welcoming touch on an otherwise conservative building.
The interior of the pub is interestingly themed, harking back to the times of its namesake with stained glass separating the booths and small tapestries adorning the walls. It underwent a renovation in 2015 and whilst the neutral theming still feels fresh, the furnishings are beginning to feel dated. At the front it has a spacious bar area flanked by a raised seating area, with another to the rear, and with a few tables at the front of the pub. An application to the council to turn the rear car park into a beer garden was refused in 2018 which is unfortunate as this could’ve been a wonderful addition to the pub.
The staircase up to the toilets is decorated with a number of intriguing statuettes. Try as we might we couldn’t quite make the connection between these and the pub’s theming, but it’s certainly a nice touch that we appreciated.
At the base of the stairs is a large metal dragon statue; again we couldn’t find a connection between dragons and William Wyggeston, but do you really need an excuse to erect a large metal dragon?
The toilets were very typical of a recent renovation, decorated in a very neutral manner and still well kept. Perhaps slightly underwhelming after the interesting staircase leading to them, but perfectly average nonetheless.
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: 2.5 & 2.0
Interior: 3.0 & 3.0
Toilets: 2.5 & 2.5
Wetho Wanderers 