LEICESTERSHIRE. GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY. THIS County is included in the Province of Canterbury and Diocese of Lincoln, is an inland County, and in the Midland Circuit. On the North it is bounded by Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire; on the East by Lincolnshire and Rutlandshire; on the South by Northamptonshire; and on the West by Warwickshire and Derbyshire. It must be regarded as an agricultural County, not having any very prominent manufactures, except of Stockings, of which article great quantities are fabricated. Its greatest length, from the south of Lutterworth to the north part of the Vale of Belvoir, is about forty-five miles; and its greatest breadth, from Netherseal in the West to Wymondham or Easton Magna in the East, is upwards of forty miles. It contains about 816 square miles, and 522,000 acres the number of persons to a square mile is 216. This County takes its name from its principal town, derived from the Saxon Leircesterschyre, the Shire of the Castle on the Leir, which was the ancient name of the river Soar. Previous to the Roman Invasion, this province was inhabited by the Coritani: under the Romans it was included in the district called by them Flavia Cæsariensis. Under the Saxon Heptarchy it formed part of the Mercian Kingdom. SOIL, CLIMATE, AGRICULTURE, &c. As there are neither lofty mountains nor marshy and unhealthy bogs in this county, the climate generally is mild and temperate the highest spots in the county are some of the peaks in Charnwood Forest; their elevation is not more than nine hundred feet above the level of the sea, yet they have a very wild appearance, projecting abruptly from the surface of the ground. The Soil of the district is divided into Clay Loam,Sandy and Gravelly Loam,-and Meadow Soil, a compost of Peat, the residuum of drainings long ago effected, and the sediment brought down from the uplands by the rivers and streams.. The general appearance is interesting and varied; the hills and vales connect with easy slopes, nearly the whole surface being practicable and useful. Wheat, Barley, and Oats, are grown to a considerable extent, and Beans in prodigious quantities; this has been from time immemorial, as may be judged by this circumstance, that there is a village in the County called Burtonin-the-Beans. The Leicestershire breed of cattle is the long-horned: to Mr. Bakewell of Dishley Farm, near Loughborough, the Agriculture of the Kingdom is greatly indebted for the astonishing improvements effected by him in this respect; some idea may be formed of the estimation of his stock by the circumstance of one of his Bulls selling for One Thousand Guineas. In fact, he produced a race, which is called, by way of distinction, the DISHLEY BREED. This breed, in addition to its other good qualities, is kept in good condition with a smaller quantity of feed than any other of equal weight. The famous new Leicester breed of sheep is hornless, broad, straight, and long-backed, square in the flank, shortlegged, and long-woolled; it is prized for its great aptitude to fatten in a short time, and for the superiority of its flesh. PRINCIPAL TOWNS. Leicester, the county town, 96 miles from London, is also the largest, best built, and most populous town in the province; and as to its traditional antiquity, its foundation goes far back into the ages of romance and fable; King Leir, from whom it may be supposed to derive one of its ancient names (Leir-caester), is said to have reigned eight hundred and fifty years before the common era: his history, and that of his daughters, Goneral, Regale, and Cordelle, form the groundwork of one of Shakspeare's most celebrated dramas. It certainly was built long before the arrival of the Romans: the principal variations of its name appear to have been Caer-Leir, or Caer-Lerion, Leir-caester, Lege Cestria, Leogora, Legeo-cestor, Ledecestre, Leger-ceaster, and Leicester. Camden affirms that the Romans also named it Ratæ. 1 Some writers state that there were anciently in Britain twenty-eight Flamens, under the control of three Arch Flamens, which were located in twenty-eight cities. These sacerdotal districts, it is said, were, on the intro duction of Christianity, constituted into Bishops' Sees; and Ninnius, the Monk of Bangor, who wrote in the Seventh Century, gave a particular account of these cities, one of which was Caer-Lerion. From the various remains of Roman Antiquities discovered here, there can be no doubt of its having been a considerable station, as is also proved by a milliarc, or ani cient mile-stone, reckoning the measurement of the road from this town; tesselated pavements also, and the founda tions of large buildings, have frequently been discovered. The houses of this town are principally disposed in three parallel streets, intersected by several small ones; at the time of the Norman Conquest there were six churches; in 1220 there were nine churches: at present there are only five; there are several chapels for different denominations of Dissenters; under which title we presume we must include that erected in 1808 for the society of "Episcopalian Baptists." There is also a Free School of great antiquity, a Green Coat School, St. Mary's School, St. Martin's School, and others. An Infirmary was built in 1771; an Asylum for Indigent Lunatics; a County Jail, a Tower Jail, a Marketplace, an Exchange, and other public Institutions. The Corporation of Leicester consists of a Mayor, Recorder, Stewards, Bailiff, twenty-four Aldermen, fortyeight Common Councilmen, a Town Clerk, and other officers: its free men are toll free in all Markets and Fairs in England. It sends two Members to Parliament, which privilege commenced 23rd Edward I. The Town is said to have been built 844 years before the Christian era: the Walls were built A. D. 914; the Abbey was founded' 1143; the Charter was granted 1207: the first Mayer was chosen 1258; and Parliaments were held here in 1400, 1421, and 1425. The combing and spinning of wool, and manufacturing it into stockings and other hosiery articles, is the chief business of Leicester and its neighbourhood. The goods are partly for home consumption, partly for direct export. The Canals which join the Trent to the canal navigation of Leicester, have furnished the benefit of communication to this town to the greatest advantage. Ashby-de-la-Zouch is a small market town, pleasantly situated in a fertile vale, on the borders of Derbyshire, on a small river called the Gilwiskaw. It consists principally of one street: is governed by a Constable and two Headboroughs; is famous for good ale; has a considerable mait ing trade, and a well-supplied market on Saturdays, and four annual fairs. Market Bosworth, 107 miles from London, a small town, pleasantly situated on an eminence. It had formerly a considerable market, as its name implies, but it is now greatly reduced. Belvoir Castle, three miles north of Croxton Kyriell, has been the splendid seat of the Manners family for several generations. It came into the Manners family by the mar About three miles south-east from this town is a large riage of Eleanor, eldest sister of Lord Ros, who died without plain, now enclosed, anciently called Redmore, but afterissue in 1508. It is built in a most romantic manner wards Bosworth Field. Here was fought the famous battle on the abrupt elevation of a kind of natural cliff. This between Richard III. and the Earl of Richmond, afterwards magnificent mansion is certainly situated on the site of a Henry VII., in which the former lost the battle, his crown, very ancient fortification. It has been repaired, or rather and his life. rebuilt, of late years, at a most enormous expense. The issue of this sanguinary engagement tended to unite Robert de Todenci, the first Norman lord, who died in the two rival families of York and Lancaster, afterwards 1088, was in possession of fourscore lordships, many of completed by marriage; those contentions had kept the which, by interrupted succession, continue to this day the property of the Duke of Rutland. Billesdon, 98 miles from London, is a small market town, with a market on Fridays. Hallaton, 91 miles from London, is a small market town with a large handsome Church; a Charity School was established here in 1707 by the benefaction of a lady: the Market is held on Thursdays. Hinckley is a considerable market town close to the borders of Warwickshire, from which it is separated by the Roman Watling-street road. Several tesselated pavements have been dug up here; and a wall called the Jury Wall, is supposed to have belonged to a temple of Janus. The Parish Church is supposed to date from the thirteenth century; there are several Chapels for Dissenters. The Civil Government is vested in a Mayor, Constables, and Headboroughs. The Market is held on Mondays. A larger quantity of Hose is supposed to have been made here than in any other town in England. nation in a continued succession of wars, hostilities, and personal bitter animosities, from the beginning of the reign of Henry VI. to the decease of Richard III. Market Harborough, 83 miles from London, is a respectable, well-built town, situated on the north bank of the Welland, at the southern extremity of the county. This town has a strong claim to Roman antiquity; near it is a Roman encampment, and Roman masonry and pottery have repeatedly been discovered in its vicinity. The market is on Tuesdays. The chapel is said to have been built by John of Gaunt: there are several MeetingHouses. This town is a very great thoroughfare, as the mail-road from London to Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Manchester, and other parts of the kingdom, passes through it. Melton-Mowbray is a small well-built market-town, 105 miles from London, situated in a vale, on the banks of the little river Eye. It has a large handsome church. The poor are benefited by many charitable bequests: there is a large free school for girls. Loughborough, 108 miles from London, may, from its extent and population, be regarded as the second town in Mount-Sorrel is a small market-town situated in the the county. In the times of the Saxons it was a royal vil-parishes of Barrow and Rothley. Its original name, aclage. The church is a noble pile of building. There is a cording to. Camden, was Mount Soar Hill, from its being Free Grammar School, and a Charity School for 80 boys built on a steep, craggy hill on the river Soar. and 20 girls. There are several Dissenting Chapels. The principal manufactures are, hosiery, wool-combing, and frame-work-knitting, and the town has been greatly advantaged by the navigable canal which communicates with the Union Canal and the Soar Navigation. Dishley, which is a small village about two miles from Loughborough, has been rendered celebrated in the annals of agricultural science by the successful experiments of Mr. Bakewell, (in the improving the breed of Horses, Cattle, and Sheep,) who devoted an active and industrious life to a laudable profession, which proved a source of great profit and pleasure to him: he died in 1795. Lutterworth, 89 miles from London, is a market town, on the banks of the Swift. The principal manufacture is Cotton goods and Stockings: the Market is on Thursdays. The Church is a large handsome building. The pulpit is preserved with great and praiseworthy veneration in memory of the illustrious WICKLIFFE, the day star of the REFORMATION, who was Rector of this place, and died here in 1387 of a palsy which seized him at mass, at the moment of the elevation of the Host. He was buried here: but his doctrines having been honoured by the condemnation of the Council of Constance, his bones were taken from the grave after forty years interment, and after being burnt, were thrown into the brook. WICKLIFFE was in Religion what ROGER BACON was in Science; the great detector of those arts and glosses which the crafty barbarism of ages had heaped together to obscure the mind of man, and to hinder its perception and reception of TRUTH. RIVERS AND CANALS. RIVERS.-Leicestershire is well watered by Rivers, Brooks, and Rivulets. The principal one is the Soar, which rises between Hinckley and Lutterworth, and passing by Leicester and Loughborough, falls into the Trent near Sawley in Derbyshire: it has been rendered navigable from its junction with that River to several miles above Leicester. The Swift rises in this county, and, passing by Lutterworth, soon leaves it, and flows into Warwickshire. The Avon divides the south-west part of the county from Northamptonshire. The Wreek rises in the eastern part of this county, and, passing by Melton-Mowbray, falls into the Soar near MountSorrel. The Anker rises near the source of the Soar, and running north-west near the confines of this county and Warwickshire, falls into the Avon. Besides these Rivers there are numerous Brooks and Rivulets, on whose banks, as well as on those of the Rivers, there are large breadths of meadow-land of exuberant fertility. CANALS.-The Ashby Canal is navigable from Ashby Wolds to the Coventry Canal; for nearly thirty miles it is without a single lock, being all on one continued level: reservoir of thirty-six acres has been formed on the Wolds; being filled by the winter rains and snows, it is gradually dealt out in summer. This canal, in all its branches, is fifty miles in extent, with 252 feet fall in the whole. Leicester Navigation, near the line of the Soar, and sometimes along its channel, passes from the countytown down the Soar Valley to the Trent, with a collateral branch to Loughborough, continued by Canal or Railway over part of Charnwood Forest, to Cole Orton Colliery, and the Cloud Hills Lime-works. THE CINQUE PORTS. As these towns are chiefly in Kent, they are described here, as most properly appertaining to the description of that County.* The Melton Canal, from the Leicester Soar Navigation, This expression, literally "THE FIVE HARBOURS," is a is carried along the valley of the Wreek to Melton-Mow-name bestowed collectively on the following Ports, namely, bray, and continued to Oakham : it is proposed to extend it Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, and Hythe (of these to Stafford. the last four are in Kent). These five towns were formerly of the greatest importance among those which lie opposite to the coast of France; for at a distant period their depth of water was certainly much greater than it now is, and as the Navy then consisted of ships of far less burden than those now built, they possessed a value which has long since departed. Rye and Winchelsea were subsequently added, but the appellation remained unaltered. Grantham Canal runs from the Trent along the Vale of Belvoir, to Grantham. This Canal is of great importance to that Vale, where the roads in winter are very bad. The necessity of protecting these shores from foreign invasion was acknowledged in early times, and the best and most efficacious method was soon found to be our maritime superiority. The Union Canal joins the Soar Navigation near Leicester, passes Ayleston, Glen Parva, Wigston, Newton, Harcourt, Wistow, and Saddington, where there is a Tunnel of forty chains; it then passes Foxton, where is another Tunnel of forty-eight chains, with a branch to Market Harborough: it then passes, over the Welland, by Marston, Trassel, Hothorp, East Farndon, and Oxendon Magna, where there is another Tunnel of eighteen chains, and also a reservoir for the summit level, supplied by the Oxendon The establishment of regular military stations on the Brook. It then passes Kelmarsh, with a Tunnel of forty- coast of Kent may be traced as far back as the time of the five chains; it finally joins the River Nen Navigation, Romans, who placed the whole under the superintendence of which communicates with the Grand Junction Canal, one principal officer; it is highly probable that they adopted completing a course of nearly forty-four miles, from Leices this arrangement from the example of the Ancient Britons, ter to Northampton, with 408 feet of lockage, and four whose prompt appearance on the coast, awaiting the arrival Tunnels. of the expected invaders, can only be attributed to some perThe Oakham Canal commences at the Melton Naviga-manent arrangement of pre-appointed signals. tion near Melton, and joins the town of Oakham, after a course of fifteen miles. REPRESENTATION OF LEICESTERSHIRE. Members. COUNTY-North Division, (Loughborough).. 2 South Division, (Leicester): Town-Leicester 2 2 Total 6 POPULATION OF LEICESTERSHIRE. Males. Females. Total. It is probable, therefore, that the incorporation of the CINQUE PORTS is derived, at least in principle, from the remotest antiquity: but the formation of this constitution was a work of slow progress; and antiquarians are not decided whether these Ports were first incorporated by Edward the Confessor or William the Conqueror. It is certain that they are not named in their collective arrangement in the Domesday Book; yet King John, in a Charter granted to them, expressly says that the "BARONS OF THE PORTS" had at that time in their possession Charters given them by most of the preceding Kings, as far back as Edward I. In return for many valuable privileges granted to the 8,659.. 17,197 CINQUE PORTS in the times of our early monarchs, they 8,728... 17,059 were required to render the important service of fitting out 9,427 18,770 fifty-seven ships, with a crew of twenty-one men and a boy 23,740 47,312 in each, with which they were to assist the State for fifteen 22,591 days at their own experse: if kept longer, they were paid 35,170 by the King. The size of the vessels may easily be inferred 38,909 from their complement of hands. Guthlaxton, Hundred.... 11,251 11,340 Leicester, Borough Total 97,556 99,447 It is true that although the changes which in lapse of time 197,003 have taken place in the naval force and arrangements of this nation, have now rendered the maritime services of the CINQUE PORTS of no importance, yef, during a long period, those services were of the most eminent utility. Manned by hardy seamen, well accustomed to the tides and currents and sands and peculiarities of both coasts, probably no equal number, either of vessels at that period in use, or of mariners, could cope with them. OPINION OF THE ORIENTALS AS TO WINE.- When Noah planted the first vine, and retired, Satan approached, and said, "I will nourish you, charming plant! He quickly brought three animals, a Lamb, a Lion, and a Hog, and killed them one after the other near the vine. The virtue of the blood of these animals penetrated it, and is still manifest in its growth. During many reigns, the fleets fitted out by the "PORTS" formed nearly the whole of the Royal Navy, and they were engaged in many splendid actions. By the assistance of the When a man drinks one goblet of wine, he is then agree-Ships and Mariners of these havens, John recovered his able, gentle, and friendly; that is the nature of the Lamb. When he drinks two he is as a Lion, and says, is like me?" he then talks of stupendous things. 'When he drinks more, his senses forsake him, and at length he wallows in the mire. "Who Need it be said that he then resembles the Hog?" kingdom after he had been obliged to fly to the Isle of Wight and soon after Robert de Burgh, with "fourty tal schippes" belonging to the CINQUE PORTS, defeated a This article was intended to follow the Description of the County of Kent.-See page 463. |