page_title: Loughborough
section_title: Arts and heritage
hierarchical_section_title: Loughborough / Arts and heritage
caption_attribution_description: English: All Saints Church, Loughborough taken by kev747
context_page_description: Loughborough is a town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, seat of Charnwood Borough Council, and home to Loughborough University. The town had a population of 57,600 in 2004, making it the second largest settlement in Leicestershire. It is close to the Nottinghamshire border and within short distances of Nottingham, East Midlands Airport and Derby. The town has the world's largest bell foundry – John Taylor Bellfounders – which made bells for the Carillon War Memorial, a landmark in the Queens Park in the town, of Great Paul for St Paul's Cathedral, and for York Minster.
context_section_description: Loughborough has five museums, the largest being the centrally located Charnwood Museum, which houses a range of exhibits reflecting the natural history, geology, industry and history of the area. Nearby in Queens Park is the Carillon and War Memorial, home to a small museum of military memorabilia from the First and Second World Wars. Loughborough Library is on Granby Street.
  Also to be found in the town centre, near the fine medieval All Saints parish church, is the Old Rectory. Dating back to 1288 the remaining portion of the Great Hall has been restored and houses a small museum run by the Loughborough and District Archaeological Society.
  Loughborough has for more than a century been the home of John Taylor & Co bell founders and the firm has a museum – the Bellfoundry Museum – located on two floors telling the story of bell making over the centuries. The recording of the tolling bell at the beginning of Hells Bells, the first track on AC/DC's 1980 album Back in Black was made on a quarter weight near replica of the Denison bell in the Carillon war memorial.
  There is a museum at the Great Central Railway station illustrating the history of the railway from its earliest days up to its present state as a double-track preserved heritage railway.
  Although it has no dedicated art gallery, fine pieces of sculpture can be found in the town's environs, including recently installed sculptures from a local artist in commemoration of the First World War Centenary outside of Charnwood Museum, and The Sockman, a bronze statue celebrating Loughborough's association with the hosiery industry. This can be found in the Market Place near the Loughborough Town Hall, which itself contains a number of art works.
  The Loughborough Town Hall is the venue for a range of events, including concerts, exhibitions, musicals, comedy shows and a Christmas pantomime. Groups make use of the town hall for their shows.
  Events are also organised by Charnwood Arts, a voluntary managed and professionally staffed body, which promotes a year-round programme of professional performances across the borough. The organisation is responsible for The Picnic In the Park event, which was inaugurated in 1980 and is held in Queens Park in May. Streets Alive, jointly organised by Charnwood Arts and Charnwood Borough Council takes place at a similar time of year.
  The Loughborough Canal Festival, which ran from 1997 to 2014, was an annual event in May centred on Chain Bridge.
  Great Central Railway is a heritage railway based at Loughborough Central Station, which is south of the town centre. It is operated largely by volunteers and trains run every weekend of the year and bank holidays, as well as daily during the summer.
  Every November, the street fair takes over the centre of the town, closing some roads. The fair runs from Wednesday afternoon until Saturday night. The fair has many rides, amusement arcades, food stands and games.
  The town has an Odeon cinema. This cinema was designed by Archibald Hurley Robinson. There are six screens in the theatre, which is built to an art deco style. The cinema was built in 1914 as the Empire Cinema, and was remodelled in 1936 by Archibald Hurley Robinson as the New Empire Cinema. Over the years it has been named the Palm Court and Ballroom, Empire, Essoldo, Classic, Curzon and Reel.
  The town has a Cineworld cinema with eight screens, which opened in 2016. The site of the former Loughborough General Hospital cinema was demolished in 2012.
caption: Loughborough parish church
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