LEICESTER, a borough and market-town and county-town,
having separate jurisdiction, in the county of LEICESTER,
97 miles (N.N.W.) from London, containing, with the
extra-parochial liberties of Black Friars and White
Friars; and with the chapelry of Knightlow, in the
hundred of GUTHLAXTON, and Bishop's Fee, in the
hundred of GARTREE (both in the parish of St. Margaret);
and with the extraparochial district called New Works,
and a portion of the parish of St. Mary, called the South Fields, both in
the hundred of GUTHLAXTON, 30,508 inhabitants, according
to the census of 1821; between which period and the
year 1800, the population had nearly doubled, and, since
1821, it has increased to nearly 40,000. Leicester,
which had flourished from remote antiquity as the
principal town of the Coritani, was, upon the conquest
of Britain by the Romans, made one of their stipendiary
cities, and is clearly identified with the Rates of
Antoninus, and the Ratiscorion of Richard of Cireneester.
That it was a Roman station of considerable
importance is evident from the remains of a Roman
temple, supposed to have been dedicated to Janus, and
from numerous tesselated pavements and other relics of
Roman antiquity which have been discovered in the vicinity.
By the Saxons it was, from its situation on the
river Lear, now the Soar, called Legerceastre, of which
its present name is simply a contraction. Under the
Heptarchy, this place belonged to the kingdom of Mercia;
and it was for a short time the see of a bishop,
whose successors removed to Dorchester, and finally to
Lincoln. In 874, the Danes, having overrun this part of
the kingdom, seized upon Leicester, which they constituted
one of the five great cities of their empire in Britain,
and retained, till Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred,
and widow of Ethelred, Earl of Mercia, who, after hep
husband's death, continued to govern the province, rescued
it from their possession, after a successful encounter,
in which the Danes were defeated with considerable
slaughter. At the time of the Norman Conquest, the
castle, which had been nearly destroyed in the Danish
wars, was rebuilt, and entrusted to Hugo de Grentemaisnel,
on whom William bestowed the greater part of
the town; but in the disputed succession to the throne,
after the death of William, Hugo, embracing the cause
of Robert, Duke of Normandy, in opposition to William
Rufus, the castle was demolished by the partisans of
the latter, and remained for some time in ruins. In
the reign of Henry I., Robert de Mellent being created
Earl of Leicester, repaired, enlarged, and fortified the
castle, which he made his baronial residence; but his son,
Robert le Bossu, having taken part in the rebellion of
the young Prince Henry against his father, Henry II.,
Leicester was besieged by the king's forces under Richard
de Lucy, and, after an obstinate battle, in which
the earl was taken prisoner, fell into the hands of
the king. The king's forces having entered the town,
set fire to it in several places, razed the walls, and
destroyed the fortifications; and having ultimately reduced
the castle, which held out for a considerable time,
demolished it entirely. The earl afterwards recovering
his liberty, joined the Crusaders, and on his return from
Palestine founded, in expiation of his rebellious conduct,
the monastery of St. Mary de Pratis, near the town, in
which, having assumed the habit of a monk, he spent
the remainder of his life. A royal mint, which was
established at Leicester in the reign of Athelstan, and
situated near the North bridge, was maintained here till
the commencement of this reign. In the reign of John,
Robert Fitz-Parnel, Earl of Leicester, obtained from
that monarch a charter of incorporation and many privileges,
which were afterwards extended and confirmed
by Henry III., at the solicitation of Simon de Montfort,
then Earl of Leicester, who, rebelling against his sovereign,
and engaging in the baronial wars of that reign,
was slain at the battle of Evesham. After the death
of Montfort, Henry III. conferred the earldom of Leicester
on his second son, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster,
whose grandson Henry made this place his principal
residence, and under him and his two immediate successors,
the castle was restored to its former strength
and magnificence. After the accession of the house
of Lancaster to the throne, Leicester was frequently
visited by the sovereigns of that family. A parliament
was held here by Henry V., in 1414, and another by the
Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester, during the minority
of Henry VI., in 1425. In the conflict between the
houses of York and Lancaster, the castle is supposed
to have suffered severely, and in the reign of Richard III.
it had become so dilapidated, that when that monarch
was at Leicester, a few evenings prior to the battle of
Bosworth Field, he preferred to sleep at the Blue Boar
inn, in the town; the bedstead upon which he slept
is now in the possession of T. Babington, Esq., of
Rothley Temple. During the parliamentary war the
town suffered materially; it was taken by storm by
the royal army, in May 1645, but was retaken by the
parliamentary forces under Fairfax, in June following,
soon after which, orders were issued by the parliament
to pull down what remained of the castle, and to dispose
of the materials. The remains are intermixed with
the various buildings that have been erected on the site;
the most conspicuous portion of them is a beautiful
arched gateway tower, called the magazine, from its
having been purchased by the county as a depot for
tjie ammunition of the trained bands, in 1682.
The town is pleasantly situated nearly in the centre
of the county, and on the banks of the river Soar, over
which are four bridges, named respectively, North, West,
Branston, and Bow bridge; the first, a handsome structure
erected in 1792, the others, ancient buildings which
have been recently repaired: the principal street, extending
from south to north, is upwards of a mile in
length, and there are many other spacious streets; the
houses, which, within the last half century, have been
much improved, are chiefly built of brick, and roofed
with slate; the town is paved and watched by subscription,
lighted with gas by a company incorporated
in 1821, and supplied with water from a public conduit
in the market-place, and from wells in various
parts of the town. A promenade, called the New Walk,
which extends nearly three-quarters of a mile in length,
in a south-eastern direction from the town, was formed
about the year 1785; the ground was given by the
corporation, and laid out by subscription: it affords, in
many parts, some pleasing views of the town, and of
the hills of Charnwood Forest, which abound in beautiful
scenery. The town library, established by the
corporation in 1632, consists chiefly of Theological
works. The theatre, a neat building, is opened in September;
and assemblies are held, during the winter, in
a suite of rooms in a building originally erected for an
hotel, and purchased by the county for the accommodation
also of the judges of the assize, and for the meetings
of the county magistrates; the ball-room, seventyfive
feet long, and thirty-three feet wide, is elegantly
painted by Reinagle, and lighted oil assembly nights
by eight splendid lustres, and branches held by statues,
after designs by. Bacon. A musical festival first took
place here in 1827, which, from the patronage it received,
will be triennially repeated. Races are held in
September, on the south-east side of the town, where
a grand stand has been erected, and every means
adopted for the improvement of the course; and on the
north-east side of the town is an extensive enclosed
cricket-ground. An agricultural society, which has been
established for many years, holds its meetings here annually
in October. The staple manufacture of the town,
that of worsted and cotton hosiery, has been established
for more than two centuries; the number of frames
in the town and neighbouring villages is about seven
thousand, and the number of persons employed in the
frame-work knitting, worsted spinning, wool combing
and dyeing, is about twelve thousand. In addition to the
manufacture of hose, of which a great quantity is exported,
there are manufacturers of lace, cotton thread,
ropes and twine, stocking-frames, needles, and pipes, and
several woolstaplers. Situated on the great northern
road, Leicester has every facility of land carriage to
London, Manchester, Nottingham, Derby, and other
towns; and, in 1791, an act of parliament was obtained
for opening a communication with the Loughborough
canal, and through that with the various lines of navigation
connected with the Trent, the effect of which
has been to introduce the coal of Derbyshire by the
cheaper conveyance of water carriage. The act also
contained provisions for making an additional line of
navigation from Loughborough to the Leicestershire collieries
in Charnwood Forest, and although the expense
of cutting the canal was incurred, it has never been
brought into use. In the parliamentary session of 1830,
an act was obtained for constructing a rail-road, in a
direct line, from Leicester to Swannington, a district
abounding with coal. The market, which is on Saturday,
is particularly celebrated for the quality of the
butchers' meat: the fairs, principally for horses, cattle,
sheep, and cheese, are on January 4th, March 2nd, the
Saturday before Easter, May 12th, which lasts for three
days, June 1st, July 5th, August 1st, September 13th,
October 10th (for three days), November 2nd, and December
8th.
The government, by charter of King John, confirmed
and extended by succeeding sovereigns, and renewed,
with all former privileges and immunities, in the 41st of
Elizabeth, is vested in a mayor, recorder, high steward,
bailiff, twenty-four aldermen, and forty-eight common
council-men, assisted by a town clerk and subordinate
officers. The mayor and bailiff are annually elected in
September, by the whole corporation, from among the
aldermen; the mayor, recorder and the four aldermen
who have last past the chair, are justices of the peace
for the borough and liberties, over the latter of which
only the county magistrates have a concurrent jurisdiction.
The freedom is inherited by all the sons of a freeman,
and acquired by servitude, by purchase, or by gift:
among the privileges are, exemption from toll in all the
fairs of England, and the liberty of depasturing cattle
in the Abbey meadows and other grounds. The corporation
hold quarterly courts of session for offences
not capital; and a court of record, for the recovery
of debts to any amount, is held by prescription, confirmed
by charters of Elizabeth and James I., before the
mayor, recorder, and aldermen, or any three of them,
including the mayor; and there is also an officer called
the steward, who issues all writs, manages the business,
and presides in the absence of the recorder; he is appointed
pursuant to the charter, as also is a bailiff,
whose duties resemble those of a county sheriff. The
elective franchise was first exercised in the 23rd of
Edward I., since which time the borough has returned
two members to parliament: the right of election is
vested in the freemen generally not receiving alms, whether
resident or not, and in the resident householders
paying scot and lot, together about six thousand in
number: the mayor and bailiff are the returning officers.
This being the county town, the election of knights of the
shire, and the assizes and quarter sessions for the county,
are held in it. The guildhall is a neat and commodious
building, containing, among other portraits with which
the interior is decorated, one of Sir Thomas White,
lord mayor of London, and founder of St. John's
College, Oxford. The hall of the ancient castle has
been fitted up for holding the assizes and sessions
for the county, and, from the ample space which it
affords, the courts are so arranged as not to interfere
with each other. The borough gaol contains two wards
for male, and one for female, felons, and one ward for
debtors; and, on the completion of the new county gaol,
it will be converted into a house of correction. The old
common gaol for the county, now the town gaol, contains
four divisions, one work-room, four day-rooms, and
four airing-yards, for the classification of prisoners. A
new gaol and house of correction for the county has been
built at the south end of the town, comprising eight distinct
wards, ranged round the governor's house in the
centre (in the upper part of which is the chapel, communicating
by bridges with the upper stories of the several
wards), with work-rooms, day-rooms, and airingyards,
an infirmary, and other offices, the whole enclosed
within a stone wall, forming on the entrance side a
handsome castellated facade in the ancient style of
English architecture.
The borough comprises the parishes of All Saints,
St. Leonard, St. Martin, and St. Nicholas, and parts of
the parishes of St. Margaret and St. Mary, all, excepting
St. Margaret's, which is within the peculiar jurisdiction of
the Prebendary of that parish in the Cathedral Church of
Lincoln, in the archdeaconry of Leicester, and diocese of
Lincoln. The living of All Saints' is a discharged vicarage,
with those of St. Clement, St. Michael, and St. Peter united,
the churches of which are demolished, rated together in the
king's books at £ 6.13.5., (St. Clement's and St. Michael's
being not in charge,) endowed with £400 royal bounty,
and & 1400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage
of the Crown: the church is an ancient structure in
the early style of English architecture, with a tower on
the north side of the north aisle; the chancel is modern,
but in various parts of the church are some fine old
portions intermixed with later insertions; the interior
contains an early English font of curious device, and
some fine carving in wood. The living of St. Leonard's
is a vicarage, endowed with £200 royal bounty, and
united with that of St. Margaret, being rated together
in the king's books at £23. 8. 6., and in the patronage
of the Prebendary of St. Margaret's in the Cathedral
Church of Lincoln: the church of St. Leonard was
demolished during the parliamentary war, in 1645; that
of St. Margaret, erected about 1444, is a beautiful
structure, combining portions in the early, decorated, and
later styles of English architecture, with a tower of the
later style, of which character are also the chancel and
the clerestory of the nave: the interior contains some
wooden stalls and seats richly carved; and among the
monuments is an alabaster tomb of Bishop Penny,
previously abbot of the neighbouring monastery of St.
Mary de Pratis; in the church-yard is the tomb of
Andrew, Lord Hollo, decorated with military trophies.
The living of St. Martin's is a discharged vicarage, rated
in the king's books at £6. 13.4., endowed with £400
royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Crown; the
church is a venerable cruciform structure, partly in the
early, and partly in the later, style of English architecture,
with a tower rising from the centre, and supported
on four semicircular arches, opening into the nave, chancel,
and transepts, the lower part of which is in the
Norman style of architecture, surmounted by a spire of
later date; the interior was despoiled of its ornaments
by the parliamentary troops, who converted it into
barracks during their occupation of the town, but it has
been restored with due regard to its ancient character;
the chancel, which is in the later style, is decorated
with three stone stalls under the south-east window,
and it has a noble organ, built by Snetzler, and a fine
painting of the Ascension, by Francesco Vanni, presented
by Sir William Skeffington, Bart. The archdeacon of
Leicester holds his court in the south aisle, and the
Bishop of Lincoln confirms in the chancel, of this church,
at which the judges of assize attend divine service.
The living of St. Mary's is a discharged vicarage, rated
in the king's books at £8, endowed with £600 royal
bounty, and £ 1600 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage
of the Crown: the church is an ancient structure,
combining the Norman, and the early style of English,
architecture, with later insertions: the tower, which is surmounted
by a lofty spire, is situated at the west end of the
south aisle, and detached from the nave: the spire was
erected in 1783, at the expense of £300, in the place of a
former spire, destroyed by lightning. On the south side
of the chancel are three fine Norman stalls, with double
shafts and enriched mouldings; and on the south side
of the south aisle are three early English stalls, highly
ornamented; the font is of curious and beautiful design,
and the oak roofs, which are exquisitely carved, are in
some parts in tolerable preservation. The living of St.
Nicholas' is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's
books at £3. 11. 3., endowed with £800 royal bounty,
and £1000 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of
the Crown: the church is in the early style of Norman
architecture, with a tower between the nave and the
chancel, and is said to have been built with the materials
of a Roman temple, of which a considerable fragment
still remains in a wall adjoining the church-yard. The
society for the enlargement of churches and chapels
have granted £1500 in aid of a subscription among
the inhabitants for rebuilding this church. A very hand--
some district church, dedicated to St.George, and containing
one thousand eight hundred sittings, of which nine
hundred and ninety-nine are free, was erected in the
parish of St. Margaret, by grant from the parliamentary
commissioners, in 1826, at an expense of £14,964. 4. 8.;
it is a handsome edifice in the later style of English
architecture, with a tower surmounted by a spire; the
living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the
Vicar of St. Margaret's. There are seven places of
worship for Baptists, one for the Society of Friends,
one for Huntingtonians, three for Independents, one for
Wesleyan Methodists, two for Primitive Methodists, one
for Unitarians, and a Roman Catholic chapel: the last
is a handsome edifice in the ancient style of English
architecture, and the Wesleyan meeting-house is very
spacious.
The free grammar school is supposed to have been
originally founded by Thomas Wigston, a prebendary
of the collegiate church of St. Mary de Pratis; it was refounded,
and a new school-house erected, by the corporation
in 1575, and is partly supported from the funds of
Wigston hospital, and partly by the corporation, who
appoint the master; it is open to all the sons of burgesses,
for-classical and commercial instruction; there are two
exhibitions of £ 6 per annum to Lincoln College, Oxford,
founded by Mr. Thomas Hayne, at the disposal of the
corporation, for boys of this school, or, in failure of such,
for boys of Melton-Mowbray school; an annuity of £4
per annum to be paid to two poor boys so long as they
should continue in the school j and an exhibition of £ 6
per annum to Oxford or Cambridge, tenable for five
years, founded by Henry, Earl of Huntingdon; these
exhibitions, not having been claimed for many years,
are accumulating, and will be added by the corporation
to funds with which they intend to found exhibitions of
sufficient value to excite competition. The Green-coat
school was founded, in 1782, by Gabriel Newton, alderman,
for the clothing and education of thirty-five boys:
the school was rebuilt in 1808, and the funds having increased,
the number of scholars has also been increased
to eighty, each of whom, after remaining three years in
the school, receives an apprentice-fee of £5. St. Mary's
charity school, for clothing and instructing eighty boys
and forty girls, was established in 1785, and a schoolhouse
built by subscription, at an expense of £600.
St. Martin's school was built, in 1791, at an expense of
£950, and is supported by subscription; there are one
hundred and fifty boys and eighty-four girls instructed
and partly clothed in this institution. A National
school-room was erected, in 1814, by subscription, aided
by a grant of £300 from the National Society, on a site
bestowed by the Crown, as connecte'd with the duchy
of Lancaster; in this school from four hundred to
five hundred children are taught on the National plan;
and in St. Margaret's school, erected in 1807, seventythree
boys and forty-one girls are instructed on the
same plan, and annually clothed. The Old Trinity
hospital was founded, in 1330, by Henry, Earl of
Leicester and Lancaster, who endowed it originally for
fifty infirm and aged men, and five women to attend
on them; in 1354 the foundation was greatly augmented
by his son, Henry, Duke of Lancaster, who converted
the original esablishment into a college, called the New
Work, or Coilegium Novi Opens, and it was further
extended by Jtohn of Gaunt, son-in-law of Duke Henry.
The whole establishment consisted of a dean, twelve secular
canons, twelve vicars, three clerks, six choristers,
fifty poor men, fifty poor women, ten nurses, and other
attendants at the dissolution, its revenue was £800,
and the corporation, having purchased the site, refounded
on it the hospital for poor widows; there are at present in
this establishment about ninety men and women, who
receive each three shillings and eightpence per week,
and are nominated by the chancellor of the duchy of
Lancaster, or, on his failing to appoint within three
months, the vacancies are filled up by the corporation;
some of the men belonging to this hospital, clothed in
ancient armour, attend in the procession at the proclamation
of the fairs. An hospital for a master, confrater,
twelve aged men, and twelve aged women, all unmarried,
was founded, and dedicated to St. Ursula, in
the latter part of the fifteenth century, by William
Wigston, merchant-stapler, and mayor of Leicester;
the master, who has a salary of £160 per annum, and
the confrater, who has £70 per annum, are appointed
by the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, and appoint
the hospitallers, who receive four shillings and
teupence per week, with an allowance of coal and candles.
The hospital of St. John the Baptist, founded, in
1235, for a master, brethren, and sisters, was given by
Queen Elizabeth to the corporation, who converted it
into a hall for wool; but, in the reign of James I.,
they endowed it with £ 17 per annum, and placed in
it six poor widows, among whom that sum is distributed.
An hospital for four aged widows, who receive
four shillings per week, was founded, in 1703, by Mr.
Bent, alderman of this borough; and, in 1710 an hospital
was founded by Mr. Matthew Simson, who endowed
it for six aged widows, each of whom receives
£3 per annum, and five hundred weight of coal: these
premises were rebuilt by the trustees in 1807. The late
John Johnson, Esq. erected, in 1792, five neat dwellinghouses,
which he called the Consanguinitarium, and
intended as a residence for five of his needy relatives,
assigning for the support of the establishment an income
of more than £60 per annum. The female asylum, in
tiie New Works, was established, in 1800, by the exertions
of the late Rev. Thomas Robinson, for the maintenance,
clothing, and instructing in household business,
of sixteen poor orphan girls, who are admitted at the age
of thirteen, and remain for three years in the institution,
when they are placed out as servants in respectable
families. The infirmary, at the southern extremity
of the town, was erected in 1771, and is supported
by subscription; the building, which is plain, consists
of a centre and two wings, and contains accommodation
for eighty-four patients, who are admitted
without distinction from every part of the country;
attached to it is a house of recovery from fever, or
other contagious diseases, added in 1818. Adjoining the
infirmary is the lunatic asylum, towards the erection
and support of which, Mrs. Topp bequeathed £1000,
and Mrs. Ann Wigley £200. Sir Thomas White also
bequeathed £ 10,000 in trust to the corporation, to be
lent for nine years, without interest, in sums of £50,
which have been subsequently enlarged, to the freemen
of Leicester, and other towns in the county; and there
are charitable bequests, amounting to more than £ 800
per annum, at the disposal of the corporation, for distribution
among the poor; included in which is the produce
of a grant, by Charles I., of forty acres of land in the
forest of Leicester.
Among the monastic establishments anciently existing
here, was a collegiate church, founded long before the
Conquest, within the precincts of the castle, which was,
with the city and the castle, destroyed in the wars during
the reign of the Conqueror, and refounded, in 1107,
by Robert de Mellent, Earl of Leicester: the greater
portion of its revenue was transferred to the abbey of
St. Mary de Pratis, but it continued, under the designation
of St. Mary the Less, till the dissolution, when the
remaining part of it was valued at £24. 13. 11.: the
remains are only part of the crypt, still discernible in
the cellar of a house erected on its site. The abbey of
St. Mary de Pratis was founded, in 1143, by Robert le
Bossu, Earl of Leicester, for Black canons, and dedicated
to St. Mary, in which that earl ended his days;
it became possessed of great wealth, and was frequently
visited by several of the kings of England, and other
illustrious personages, among whom was Cardinal
Wolsey, who, lodging there on his route to London,
after his disgrace, died within its walls, and was buried
in the church: at the dissolution its revenue was
£1062. 0. 4.: the remains consist chiefly of the outer
walls, on which is an inscription curiously worked
in bricks of different colours. In the north part of the
town was an hospital for lepers, founded, in the reign
of Richard I., by William, son of Robert Blanchmains,
Earl of Leicester. In the north-western part was a
convent of Franciscan or Grey friars, founded, in 1265,
by Simon de Montfort, in the church of which was interred
the body of Richard III., after his death at the
battle of Bosworth Field: in an island in the Soar
was a house of Black friars, founded in the reign of
Henry III., and dedicated to St. Clement, by one of the
Earls of Leicester; and here was also a priory for canons
Regular of the order of St. Augustine, dedicated
to St. Catherine, which remained till the dissolution.
Of the Roman relics here, the most curious are, a tesselated
pavement, found in a cellar nearly opposite
the town prison, in 1675; and a milliary, or Roman
mile-stone, discovered, in 1771, on the side of the
Fosse-road leading to New Works, and about two miles
from the town. This stone, which has given rise to.
much archaiological research, was removed to the
town by the corporation, and is placed in Belgrave
Gate, on a square pedestal, with a column above it, surmounted
by a cross; and, from the inscription on it
(often published), it appears to have been erected in the
reign of the Emperor Hadrian, and is said to be the
oldest that has been discovered in this country. About
a quarter of a mile south of the infirmary are the ancient
artificial embankments, called the Rawdykes, supposed
also to be of Roman origin; and among smaller
remains are an abundance of coins, of which it is supposed
that a complete series might have been formed
from Nero to Valentinian. Dr. Richard Farmer, the
learned author of an essay on the learning and genius of
Shakspeare, was a native of this town, Leicester gives
the inferior title of earl to Marquis Townshend,