LEICESTERSHIRE, a county (inland), bounded on the north-west by that of Derby, on the north by that of Nottingham, on the east by those of Lincoln and Rutland, oil the south-east by that of Northampton, and on the south-west by that of Warwick: it lies between 52° 23' and 52° 58' (N. Lat.), and between 4° and 1° 38 (W. Lon.), and includes eight hundred and four square miles, or five hundred and fourteen thousand, five hundred and sixty statute acres. The population, according to the census of 1821, was 174,571. Leicestershire, so called from the name of its principal town, formed part of the territory of the Coritani, and, subsequently, of the Roman division of Britain named Flavia Cwsariensis. Under the Anglo-Saxons it was a central portion of the powerful kingdom of Mercia. It suffered most severely from the incursions of the Danes, who, landing on the eastern coast, laid waste the whole county as far as Leicester, which -town, having finally fallen into their possession, became, on their peaceable establishment in this part of the kingdom, one of their five principal cities in England. The first remarkable historical occurrence in this county, subsequently to the Norman Conquest, was the destruction, in 1173, of the town of Leicester, in consequence of its being the chief place of refuge, after their defeat at Bury, of the adherents of Prince Henry, in his rebellion against his father, Henry II. In 1217, in the reign of Henry III., the castle of Mount-Sorrel, being garrisoned by Saher de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, for Louis the Dauphin, was taken by the forces of the young king, under Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester, and razed to the ground. In the general demolition of the baronial castles which took place at a later period of the same reign, when the royal cause was triumphant, the fortresses in Leicestershire appear to have been unsparingly levelled with the ground) owing probably, in a great measure, to the very prominent part taken on the side of the barons by the celebrated Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and consequently by his dependents and retainers. It was in this county, by his preaching at Lutterworth, of which parish he was rector, that the doctrines of Wickliffe were first openly promulgated, towards the close of the fourteenth century; and at Leicester, in April 1414, was held the parliament which granted a subsidy of three hundred thousand marks to Henry V., to enable him to assert his title to the crown of France, and which ordained death to the maintainers of the doctrines of Wickliffe, and to the readers of the Scriptures in English. In 1485, this county was the scene of the memorable conflict of Bosworth Field, the last of thirteen pitched battles between the partisans of the houses of York and Lancaster; when, upon the defeat and death of Richard III., the Earl of Richmond was crowned upon the field, as Henry VII. In 1644, at the period when this county, amongst others, took a decided part against Charles I., in the great contest between him and the parliament, on this same celebrated spot a skirmish took place, on the 1st of July, between the royalists and a detachment of Lord Grey's horse, under Captain Babington, when the former were defeated. In 1645, the parliamentarian forces sustained two defeats within the limits of the county, from Sir Marmaduke Langdale $ one between Harborough and Leicester, in which the former lost one hundred men killed and two hundred and fifty prisoners; the other near Melton- Mowbray, under Colonel Rossiter, when they lost a hundred and seventy killed. It was on the 31st of May, in the same year, that Leicester was stormed and taken by Charles I. and Prince Rupert. Leicestershire is included in the diocese of Lincoln, and province of Canterbury, and forms an archdeaconry comprising the six deaneries of Akeley, Framland, Gartree, Goscote, Guthlaxton, and Sparkenhoe, and two hundred and thirteen parishes, of which one hundred and thirteen are rectories, eighty-two vicarages, and eighteen perpetual curacies. For civil purposes it is divided into the hundreds of Framland, Gartree, Goscote (East and West), Guthlaxton, and Sparkenhoe; in which are the borough and market-town of Leicester, and the market-towns of Ashby de la Zouch, Market- Bosworth, Market-Harborough, Hinckley, Loughborough, Lutterworth, Melton-Mowbray, and Mount- Sorrel. Two knights are returned for the shire, and two representatives for the borough of Leicester: the county members are elected at Leicester. This county is included in the midland circuit: the assizes are held at Leicester, as also are the quarter sessions, on January llth, April 19th, July 12th, and October 18th. The county gaol is at Leicester; there are fifty-two acting magistrates. The rates raised in the county, for the year ending March 25th, 1827, amounted to £138,182. 15., the expenditure to £138,904. 7., of which £117,962. 2. was applied to the relief of the poor. The general surface of the county consists of innumerable gently-rising hills, with few precipitous declivities, so that almost the whole is available for cultivation. The margins of the rivers and brooks are natural grass land; and the uplands partly arable and partly under grass. The modern enclosures are almost entirely devoid of trees, but the fences of the more ancient abound with timber. The highest grounds are, some of the summits of the Charnwood Forest hills, which consist of barren rocks, projecting abruptly above the surface, and composed of a kind of granite; the elevation of these peaks is not more than eight or nine hundred feet above the level of the sea, and is consequently within a temperate region of the atmosphere, yet the views from them are some of the most extensive and beautiful in the kingdom. Bardon hill, in particular, an isolated eminence, and the loftiest of the whole, is celebrated for the astonishingly expansive prospects which it commands; from this point the eye may range over the whole midland district of England; Lincoln catheLEI dral, the Dunstable hills, the Malvern hills, the Sugar Loaf in South Wales, the Wrekin, and other mountains in Shropshire and North Wales, and the Peak of Derbyshire, being all visible from it. The elevation of the meadows on the margins of the rivers is from one to two hundred feet above the level of the sea; and the climate of the whole county is mild and temperate. The soils are divisible into three classes, 1. Clay loam, having a considerable degree of tenacity, and being generally of a good depth, which latter circumstance, together with its friability and porous quality, is the chief cause of its fertility: this is unfit for turnips, but makes good corn and excellent grass land. 2. Sandy, or gravelly loam, which is more loose and friable than the last, generally of a good depth, adapted to the cultivation of turnips, and of every kind of grain, and excellent for grass, either natural or artificial. 3. The peaty meadow soil, which has been formed from the decomposition of vegetable matter, and the sediment brought down by the streams from the uplands; this is particularly adapted to grass, whether hay or pasture, but to grass only. The best soil is generally upon the hills, and the worst and coldest in the vallies. The soil of Chamwood Forest is for the most part a moist greyish-coloured loam, in want of drainage and improvement, and indeed the general characteristic of the upland soil of Leicestershire is a greyish or brownish friable loam, of greater or less depth, upon a substratum of clay, marl, gravel, or rock; the strongest and most tenacious is to be found in the vale of Belvoir. About two hundred and forty thousand acres of land in this county are under occasional tillage. The average produce of wheat is estimated at three quarters and a half, or twenty-eight bushels per acre; that of barley at rather less than five quarters; the last-mentioned is the favourite grain crop of the Leicestershire farmer, and a greater breadth of land is sown with it than with any other corn. Oats are grown to a great extent, on account of the number of horses bred and kept in the county; the average is about five quarters per acre. Peas are not extensively cultivated. Beans were formerly reckoned a staple growth, but their cultivation is now much less general. Rye is chiefly grown as early spring pasture for sheep j and vetches, though not extensively, as green food for horses. Common and Swedish turnips are cultivated to a great extent, being sown upon all soils that are not too strong and heavy. Cabbages are extensively cultivated; as are also carrots and potatoes; cole-seed or rape, red and white clover, trefoil, and ray-grass, are frequently sown. About half the enclosed land of the county consists of permanent grass. The natural meadows on the banks of the rivers and brooks are very numerous and extensive, and frequently of excellent quality. The pastures are for the most part grazed by a mixed stock of sheep, and of cattle. In various parts of the county are numerous good dairies, which produce large quantities of cheese; Stilton cheese, the richest and highestpriced thick cheese produced in Great Britain, is made in most of the villages about Melton-Mowbray; it obtained its name from the first maker of it, resident at Wymondham, near Melton-Mowbray, having supplied an inn at Stilton, where it first became generally known and esteemed. This county has long been distinguished for the judgment and perseverance which persons of abi- lity and consideration resident in it have displayed in improving every species of live stock, and bringing them to a high degree of perfection: among these, the late Robert Bakewell, Esq., of Dishley farm, near Loughborough, who died in 1795, stood pre-eminent. The breed of cattle now prevailing in Leicestershire is the long-horned, which is of handsome form, and greatly esteemed for the purpose of feeding; and there has been, besides, from time immemorial, and still continues to be, an influx of cattle to be fattened for the butcher, from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, Northumberland, and Lancashire. In the neighbourhoods of Hinckley, Bosworth, Appleby, and Snarestone, are many respectable dairies of long-horned cows, as well as in that part of the county bordering on Derbyshire and the Trent, and in the vale of Belvoir; but in this latter district the cows are in part of the short-horned Holderness breed,,: the stock of dairy cows is kept up chiefly by rearing in the county. The Leicestershire cattle, when full grown and fat, weigh, on an average, the cows from eight to ten score per quarter, the oxen from ten to fifteen score; the prevailing colour is red, or brindled, with streaks of white along the back and belly. The present stock of sheep consists of three varieties,-the Old Leicester, the New Leicester, and the Forest sheep. The Old Leicester sheep are supposed to be an improvement of the old stock of the common fields, by intermixture with the Lincolnshire breed and by better keeping: they are large and heavy, with much wool, but large in bone, rather coarse in the pelt, and take a considerable time to fatten. The New Leicester breed was formed chiefly by Mr. Bakewell: the offals of these sheep are small, Ğand their profitable parts large, their backs being broad and straight, their breasts full, their heads small, the flesh fine grained and well flavoured, and the wool fine of its kind; they are also capable of being fattened in a short time, on a small proportion of food, and to a great weight in proportion to their apparent size. The Forest sheep are for the most part confined to Charnwood; and they are all clothed with a coarse combing wool. Folding of sheep is hardly ever practised, except in the very few remaining common fields. The improvement of hogs has been attended to with the same care and success as that of other live stock. Leicestershire seems to have been always famous for a useful and beautiful breed of black horses, and from time immemorial more have been produced in the county than are required for its use. Many blood horses are also bred in this county; asses are used in many parts for carrying burdens, and have been lately introduced as farmers' stock; mules have long been in use here. Charnwood Forest is situated in the northern part of the county, though some miles from the border, and is wholly devoid of timber, and almost of underwood: its general face is, however, bold and romantic, having a great variety of hills, generally terminating in bare and rugged rocks, which have a very picturesque appearance to a considerable distance, and in all directions; the substance of these rocks is a soft primeval stone of the vitreous kind, and is conveyed to a considerable distance in every direction, for the purpose of mending the roads; this extensive tract, comprising from fifteen to sixteen thousand acres, has lately been enclosed. The Leicestershire and Rut- landshire Agricultural Society holds its annual meetings at Leicester: another agricultural society meets at Oakham in Rutlandshire, and at Melton-Mowbray, alternately. This county has long enjoyed pre-eminence in the annals of hunting; Melton-Mowbray is the residence of a large number of the nobility and gentry during the season; many houses being let furnished for their accommodation, and in the town there is stabling for several hundred horses. The mineral products of Leicestershire are iron-stone, lead, coal, slate, limestone, and freestone. Iron-stone is plentifully found upon Ashby Wolds, and has been smelted and cast into pigs and utensils for various purposes,, at the works by the side of the Ashby canal: the stone is found at from five to eight yards from the surface, mixed with twice its own quantity of a kind of blue marl rubbish. A rich lead-ore is found in the fissures of the limestone obtained at Staunton-Harold, and is smelted. There are coal mines at Cole-Orton, at the Lount, and Ashby Wolds; the works at the two former places are ancient; those at the latter were established, about the commencement of the present century, by the late Marquis of Hastings, at a great expense, the coal being raised from a depth of nearly two hundred yards; the stratum is nine feet in thickness and of good quality. At Swithland, to the east of Charnwood Forest, are raised large quantities of rather thick and heavy slate, which, however, is firm and durable, and is much used for roofing houses, and some of the thicker blocks for grave-stones and the purposes of building. The Bredon limestone quarries are excavated in an isolated rock of considerable extent, which has a slight covering of earth; there are lime-works very similarly situated at Cloud hill in the same neighbourhood. At Barrow upon Soar is dug the stone from which is burned the famous Barrow lime, which is in such high request, more especially as a cement in the construction -;of works under water, it being carried for that purpose to a very great distance; lime from these kilns was used in constructing the pier at Ramsgate, when other mortar had failed. Between the stratum of stone and the surface are three or four yards of waste, the expense of removing which increases the price of the lime; in the fissures of this limestone rock are found many curious fossil petrifactions. Freestone exists in most parts of the county, as does also clay suitable for brick. The red granite from the rocks at Mount Sorrel furnishes a valuable material for Macadamizing the roads. The principal manufactures are, woollen yarn, worsted, and stockings, which afford employment to many persons not only in Leicester, Hinckley, and other towns, but also in the principal villages throughout most parts of the county: indeed the number of persons employed in trade here is to those employed in agriculture nearly as seven to four, and of these a very large proportion is employed in the manufacture of wool into stockings, principally at Leicester, Hinckley, and Loughborough, both for the London market and exportation. At Loughborough, Hinckley, and Ashby, many hats are manufactured. The manufacture of machine lace has been established here of late years, and is carried on to a considerable extent, principally in the towns and neighbourhoods of Loughborough, Leicester, and Ashby. At Leicester and Loughborough are several malt-kilns. A large quan- tity of raw wool is sent into Yorkshire. Several persons are engaged in the making of malt at Leicester and Loughborough. Cheese is a considerable article of exportation, it being computed that not less than one thousand five hundred tons are annually conveyed down the Trent, for the use of the metropolis and the navy. Numerous cattle, fattened in this county, are sold for London, Birmingham, and the populous parts of Staffordshire: large quantities of sheep, bred here, are also fattened and sold to be forwarded to London or Birmingham; and others, not fully fattened, are sold to the farmers of the adjacent counties. The most important river in Leicestershire is the Soar, which rises between Hincldey and Lutterworth, and flows northward by the towns of Leicester, Mount- Sorrel, and Loughborough, receiving the waters of numerous smaller streams, the principal of which is the Wreke; passing near Dishley, during the latter part of its course, it forms the boundary between this county and Nottinghamshire for a distance of upwards of five miles, and at last falls into the Trent, near Sawley in Derbyshire. This river, with the aid of different artificial cuts, has been made navigable from the Trent up to severa1 miles above Leicester, a distance of upwards of twenty miles. The small river Wreke rises in the eastern part of the county, and passing by Melton- Mowbray, falls into the Soar above Mount-Sorrel. The river Trent bounds this county for the distance of between five and six miles at its north-western extremity, separating it from Derbyshire. The river Avon, for some distance near its source, forms the boundary between the southernmost point of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire; and these counties, further to the east, are separated by the Welland, which rises near Market-Harborough, by which town it passes, and quits the county near Rockingham. The little river Anker rises" in the western part of the county, which it soon quits for Warwickshire, as does also the Swift, which flows by Lutterworth. The Ashby canal was first designed to communicate with the navigable channel of the Trent, below Burton, and with that view was constructed so as to be capable of floating barges of sixty tons' burden, but the money which had been subscribed, amounting to £ 180,000, having been expended, the line from Ashby to the Trent, on which are a tunnel and several locks, was abandoned, and railways substituted upon the high grounds. This canal is navigable from Ashby Wolds to the Coventry canal, in which it terminates, being near thirty miles in length, and cut on a level, without any lockage; it is navigated by boats of from twenty to twenty-four tons' burden, being such only as can float on the Coventry canal; on Ashby Wolds is a reservoir that supplies it with water. The line of the Leicester navigation is down the valley of the Soar, to the Trent, being sometimes along the channel of the Soar, and at others carried from it, by means of locks, into a new channel: it is upwards of twenty miles in length, and is made so as to admit of being navigated by the Trent barges. There is a collateral branch to Loughborough, which is continued over a por- ,tion of Charnwood Forest, partly by canal and partly by railway, to Cole-Orton colliery and the Cloud-hill limeworks; this continuation, however, is now out of use, by reason of the coal from Derbyshire being obtained at a cheaper rate at the Leicester and Loughborough markets than that which was brought along this line. The Melton canal is carried from the Leicester Soar navigation, along the valley of the Wreke, to Melton- Mowbray, whence it has been continued to Oakham. The Grantham canal, from the Trent below Nottingham to Grantham, passes through the north-easternmost portion of this county, and is of great advantage to the vale of Belvoir, where there is a large reservoir for its supply. The Union canal, from the navigable channel of the Soar, near Leicester, was designed to pass by way of Harborough, and join the Nene at Northampton, and also to communicate with the Grand Junction canal: its progress towards completion was however arrested by untoward circumstances. The iron railways attached to the Ashby canal extend about twelve miles from that navigation, by the town of Ashby, to the Lount colliery, Cole-Orton, Ticknall, and the Cloud-hill lime-works. On these railways, the construction of which cost £30,000, are various embankments, and deep cuttings, for the purpose of preserving the level, or an uniform ascent or descent, besides a tunnel of about a quarter of a mile long. Pursuant to an act of parliament, obtained in 1830, a rail-road is about to be commenced, extending in a direct line from Leicester to Swannington, &e. The great road from London to Manchester enters this county, from Northamptonshire, about eighty-three miles from London, at the bridge on the Welland, and passing through Market-Harborough, Leicester, Mount- Sorrel, and Loughborough, quits the county for Derbyshire at Cavendish bridge, on the Trent. The great road from London to Nottingham, Sheffield, and Leeds, branches off from the former at Loughborough, and quits the county for Nottinghamshire at the distance of about five miles from that town. The Leeds mail road from London enters the county from Rutlandshire, about two miles south of Burton-Lazars, and passes through Melton-Mowbray to Nether Broughton, between which and Over Broughton it enters Nottinghamshire. The ancient Watling-street first touches Leicestershire at Dove bridge, on the Avon, whence it proceeds in a north-easterly direction to the Anker, near Mancetter, not far from Atherstone, where it wholly quits the county for Warwickshire, after having formed the south-western boundary of Leicestershire for a distance of upwards of twenty miles. The Fosse-road, from Lincolnshire, enters this county near the Roman station Vernometum, whence it proceeds by Segg's hill, over Thrussington Wolds, across the Wreke near Syston, and through Thurmaston to Leicester, whence it is continued over King Richard's bridge, having passed which, it turns to the left, over the second branch of the Soar, to the Narborough turnpike-road, along which it continues to the fourth milestone; then leaving it and the town and church of Narborough on the left, it continues to High Cross on the Watling-street. The Via Devana, from Colchester to Chester, enters this county near Cottiugham, and, crossing the Welland, passes Medbourne, near Slanston Mill, whence it is continued between the two Strettons to Leicester, where it joins the Fosse, which, however, it soon leaves to proceed to Grooby, whence it is carried by Ashby to Burton upon Trent. The Fosse-way may be distinctly traced, more particularly on the eastern side of the county, and near the village of Narborough. The Via Devana is visible on the hill between the parishes of Cranoe and Glooston, and in different other parts of its course. Another ancient road, which the Rev. T. Leman, in his account of the Roman roads and stations in Leicestershire, calls the "Salt-Way," and considers of British origin, entered this county from Lincolnshire, in its way to the great, saltworks at Droitwich; after passing by Croxton, on the north-eastern border of the county, it continued to Segg's hill, and crossing the Fosse, proceeded to Barrow, its course being afterwards seen in some places in Charnwood Forest. The Roman stations within the limits of this connty were, Ratce, or Ratiscorion, at Leicester; Vernometum, on the northern border, supposed to have been at Burrough hill, or near Willoughby; and Benonce, near High Cross; besides which there was the celebrated one of Manduessedum, now Mancetter, situated on the Watling-street, on the borders of this county and Warwickshire. The principal remains of Roman buildings have been found at Leicester; other miscellaneous Roman remains have been discovered at Rothley, Wanlip, Harborough, Burrough, and Calthorpe. The most remarkable ancient churches are, St. Mary's, Leicester, and those of Bottesford, Hinckley, and Melton-Mowbray, to which class of antiquities may be added, the chapel of Market-Harborough. The religious houses, considered with regard to the dimensions of the county, were very numerous; including three colleges, six hospitals, three preceptories of the Knights Hospitallers, and one Alien priory, they amounted to thirty-one; the remains of monastic buildings are few and small; the principal are those of the abbey of St. Mary de Pratis, near Leicester, those of Ulvescroft priory, and those of Grace Dieu nunnery. This county comprises but few remains of ancient castles: there are the picturesque ruins of the castellated mansion of Ashby, the most ancient portions of which are of the reign of Edward IV., and of Kirby castle. Among the numerous elegant seats which adorn the county the most magnificent are, Belvoir castle, the seat of the Duke of Rutland; and Donnington park, that of the Marquis of Hastings. There are medicinal springs at Ashby de la Zouch, Burton-Lazars, Dalby on the Wolds, Gumley, Neville-Holt, Leicester, and Sapcote; the baths at the first of these places constitute a fine Doric edifice, erected within the last six years; the water is strongly impregnated with muriate of soda, containing, by ten or twelve degrees, more salt than sea water, and serviceable in rheumatic complaints.