﻿431 



LEICESTER. 



LEICESTERSHIRE. 



432 



N. l»t, 1° 8' W. long., distant 96 mUes N.N.W. from London by road, 

 and 102| miles by the North-Westem and South Midland railways. 

 The population of the municipal and parliamentary borough of 

 Leicester in 1851 was 60,584. The borough is governed by 14 alder- 

 men and 42 councillors, one of whom is mayor, and returns two 

 members to the Imperial Parliament. For sanitary purposes it is 

 under the management of a Local Board of Health. The livings are 

 in the archdeaconry of Leicester and diocese of Peterborough. 

 Leicester Poor-Law Union contains 8 parishes and townships, with an 

 area of 3960 acres, and a population in 1851 of 60,642. 



Leicester was known to the Romans by the name Rata, and was 

 then, as well as subsequently under the Saxons, a place of importance. 

 Some handsome tesselated pavements and other Roman remaius were 

 found here during 1851, and numerous vestiges of the Roman occu- 

 pation have been found at various times. The name Leicester is 

 derived from the river Leire, now Soar. It appears to have been the 

 seat of a bishop's see transferred hither from Sidnaceaster. It was 

 taken, and many of the inhabitants were massacred, by Ethilfrith, 

 king of Northumbria. It was also taken by the Danes, and was one 

 of the five Danish burghs. Being recovered it was repaired and 

 fortified anew and enlarged by Ethelflcda, daughter of Alfred the 

 Great, in the time of Edward I. (the elder). After the Conquest it 

 was added to the royal demesne, and a castle erected, or an older 

 fortress was enlarged and strengthened. In the civil wars of Henry II. 

 both town and castle were nearly destroyed. During the reigns of 

 the Lancasterian princes Leicester Castle was frequently a royal 

 residence, and parliaments were held in it. On the overthrow of that 

 dynasty it went to decay, and few remains now exist. During the 

 civil wars of Chariea L, Leicester, which was occupied by the Parlia- 

 mentarians, was taken by storm by the king on Hay Slst 1645, but was 

 lecoTered on the 18th of June in the same year by the Parliameut- 

 arians under Fairfax. 



Leicester had a mint, in which were produced a succession of coins 

 from the time of the Saxon AtheUtan to Henry II. There were 

 several religious houses or hospitals, among which the most important 

 was the abbey of St. Mary rri or De Pratis, founded for Black or 

 Augustinian canons by liobert Bossu, earl of Leicester, in 1143. Of 

 this great and wealthy establishment, to which, from its being the 

 scene of Cardinal Wolsey's death, considerable interest attaches, little 

 more than a mass of shapeless ruins remains. 



The town is irregularly laid out; the principal line of street 

 extends from north to south nearly a mile in length. It is well 

 supplied with water and lighted with gas. The houses are for the 

 moat part of red brick. St. Nicholas church is partly built of the 

 bricks from an adjacent Roman building, believed to have been a 

 temple, of which a fragment called the Jewry wall, containing several 

 arches, remains. The church, which consists of a nave, chancel, and 

 south aisle, has a square western tower between the nave and chancel, 

 and is chiefly of Norman architecture. St. Mary's church is a Urge 

 building, partly Norman, partly early English, and partly perpen- 

 dicular ; it has a western tow^ surmounted with a lofty spire rebuilt 

 in the last century. The church of St. Martin is a lai^ge cruciform 

 church, partly of early English and partly of perpendicular archi- 

 tecture : a tower, the lower part of which is Norman, rises from the 

 centre, surmounted with a crocketted spire, which, as well as the 

 upper part of the tower, is of later date. All Saints is a small 

 church chiefly in the early English style, with a modem chancel. 

 St. Margaret's is a handsome church, partly early English, with a 

 chancel and a lofty tower of perpendicular character. A district 

 church in St Margaret's parish, dedicated to St. George, was erected in 

 1826 in the perpendicular style. Trinity district church is a neat brick 

 building of recent erection. In 1851 there were 35 places of worship 

 in the borough, of which 9 belonged to the Establisbed Church, 10 to 

 Baptists, 8 tu Methodists, and 3 to Independents. The total number 

 of sittings provided was 25,008. A Free Qrammar school of ancient 

 foundation has a school-house and an endowment of 472. a year ; to 

 this the old corporation added a yearly sum of 752., but since 1 836 

 this has been discontinued, and there is now consequently neither 

 master nor scholar. A Proprietary school or college was established 

 in 1836 ; in 1853 it had 110 schoUrs. There are several National, 

 British, and Infant schools, and schools in connection with the 

 Wesleyan Methodists and Roman Catholics. In the Female Asylum, 

 in Newark liberty, from 10 to 16 girls between the ages of 13 and 16 

 •re receired for three years, clothed, maintained, and instructed. A 

 School of Design was established some years back by the town 

 oouDciL There are several hospitals or almshouses, especially Trinity 

 Hospital containing 90 inmates, and Wigston's Hospital containing 

 26 inmates ; an infirmary or county hospital ; a lunatic asylum ; and 

 other benevolent institutions. There are a mechanics institute, a 

 philosophical society, and a good museum and library. 



The guildhall is a commodious edifice ; the borough jail and house 

 of correction are modem buildings. A new county jaU and house of 

 Correction have been built on the south side of the town. Wigston's 

 hospital is an ancient building, with some good perpendicular work 

 both in stone and wood. There are a convenient theatre, and a 

 range of sssembly-rooms, which were originally built for an hotel : 

 the county assizes are held in them. The news-rooms form a hand- 

 some and convenient building. The Collegiate school is in the Tudor 



OJKXJ. DIV. VOL. Ill, 



collegiate style. There are excellent public bath& The New AValk 

 is a promenade on tte south-east side of the town, planted with trees 

 and commanding some pleasant prospects. There are four bridges 

 over the Soar. South of the town is an extensive area laid down as 

 a racecourse. 



Worsted and cotton hosiery is the staple manufacture of the town, 

 which is very largely carried on. There are very large spiuning-mills 

 in Leicester. Lace-making, wool-combing, and dyeing are carried on. 

 Numerous hands are employed iu the manufacture of the frames or 

 other machinery required by the stocking weavers. The town is also 

 the centre of a great agricultural and wool-raising district. The 

 general market is held on Saturday, a market for vegetables ia held on 

 Tuesday and Thursday, and one for cattle on Wednesday. Fairs are 

 held about 12 times in the year. The market-place is a larqe open 

 area, in which stands the Exchange, wherein the magistrates hold 

 their weekly meetings. 



The assizes and quarter-sessions for the county are held in Leicester. 

 Leicester has returned two members to Parliament since the time of 

 Edward I. The magistrates of the borough hold quarter-sessions ; 

 and a county court is held here. There is a savings bank. 



LEICESTERSHIRE, an English county, bounded N. by Notting- 

 hamshire, N.E. by Lincolnshire, E. by Rutlandshire, S.E. by North- 

 amptonshire, S.W. by Warwickshire, and N.W. by Derbyshire, is 

 included between 52" 24' and 52' 59' N. lat., 0° 39' and 1° 37' 

 W. long. The greatest length of the county is 44 miles ; its greatest 

 breadth 40 miles. The area is 803 square miles, or 514,lS4 statute 

 acres. The population in 1841 was 215,867 ; in 1851 it was 230,308. 

 A detached portion of Derbyshire near Ashby-de-Ia-Zouch is sur- 

 rounded on three sides by Leicestershire, and on the fourth side by 

 Warwickshire and Staffordshire. 



Surface, Hydrography, CommunicatioTW. — The surface of Leicester- 

 shire consists almost entirely of gently rising hills. The north- 

 eastern part is occupied by the southern extremity of the Kesteven 

 Clifie Row. These hills overlook the Vale of Belvoir, which is partly 

 in this county and partly in Nottinghamshire. The south-eastern 

 portion of the county from Ouston, south of Melton Mowbray, to 

 Lutterworth, is occupied by the hills which separate the basin of 

 the Soar from that of the Welland. The north-western portion, 

 between Mount Sorrel, Loughborough, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Market 

 Bosworth, and Leicester, constitutes the district which, though now 

 bare of wood, retains its ancient designation of Chamwood Forest. 

 This district is occupied by a group of hills of inconsiderable eleva- 

 tion, but of a rugged character, with distinct sharp prominences. 

 Bardon Hill, 853 feet high, between Leicester and Ashby, the most 

 elevated point of the group, commands a very wide extent of land- 

 scape, extending in one direction to Lincoln cathedral, distant 60 

 miles, and iu another direction, with a good telescope, to the 

 Dunstable Hills, distant nearly 80 miles. 



Leicestershire is chiefly included iu the basin of the Trent, which 

 just touches the county, and for a few miles divides it from Derby- 

 shire. The principal tributary of the Trent belonging to this county 

 is the Soar, which is formed by the junction of several small streams 

 that rise near the south-western border between Hinckley and 

 Lutterworth. In the lower part of its course the Soar forms the 

 boundary between Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire ; the upper 

 part belongs wholly to Leicestershire. It was anciently called Leire, 

 from which the town and county of Leicester derive their name. 

 This river has a gentle current ; it is navigable for about 7 miles 

 from its junction with the Trent below Kegworth to the neighbour- 

 hood of Loughborough ; a canal continues the navigation up to that 

 town. The length of the Soar is nearly 40 miles. 



The Wreak is a tributary of the Soar. Its true head is near 

 Oakham in Rutlandshire, whence it flows in a winding channel to 

 Melton, below which it receives the short stream from Ab Kettleby, 

 which ia the reputed head stream : before this junction it is called 

 Eye, or Eie. It then flows into the Soar near Mount Sorrel, after a 

 course of about 25 miles. Its channel, so far as it is navigable, forms 

 part of the Leicester and Melton Mowbray Navigation. The Anker 

 skirts the border of the county for 2 or 3 miles near Atheratone in 

 Warwickshire ; it joins the Tame, a feeder of the Trent, at Tamworth. 

 The Sence rises in Chamwood Forest, and flows south-west 14 miles 

 into the Anker near Atheratone. The Mease, a feeder of the Trent, 

 which rises just within the border of Derbyshire, has a small part of 

 its course in this county; it flows by Ashby, and in two places 

 separates Leicestershire from the detached part of Derbyshire. The 

 Devon, which joins the Trent at Newark, has its source iu Croxton 

 Park in this county ; the Smyte, or Smite, which waters the Vale of 

 Belvoir, rises just within the county, near Nether liroughton. These 

 are all the streams belonging to the system of the Trent which claim 

 notice. 



I'he Avon, a tributary of the Severn, forms the boundary of the 

 county for nearly 8 miles on the southern side, separating it from 

 Northamptonshire. The Swift, a small stream which flows by Lutter- 

 worth, falls into it. The Welland, which rises just within Northamp- 

 tonshire, forms, for 17 miles, the boimdary between that county and 

 Leicestershire. A small feeder of the Welland divides, for about 7 

 miles, the counties of Leicester and Rutland. 



Leicestershire has several canals. The Leicester Navigation, which 



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