BIRSTALL, a chapelry in that part of the parish of BELGRAVE which is in the western division of the hundred of GOSCOTE, county of LEICESTER, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Leicester, containing 371 inhabitants. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, has lately been enlarged by the addition of one hundred and seventy- seven sittings, of which number, ninety-nine are free, and toward defraying the expense of which the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches granted £100. There is a communication with the Leicester and Melton-Mowbray navigation by means of the river Soar, which runs through the chapelry.