424 LEICESTER
miles. The available coal in the Moira district is esti mated at over 450,000,000 tons, and in the Coleorton district at over 380,000,000 tons. In 1870 the amount of coal produced was 599,450 tons, but for some years it has exceeded 1,000,000 tons, the number of collieries being about thirty. At a depth of 593 feet in the Moira coal field there is a spring of salt-water, the brine of which is brought to Ashby-de-la-Zouch for use in scorbutic and rheumatic affections. Limestone is worked in various portions of the county, freestone is plentiful, gypsum is found, and a kind of granite, which is extensively used for paving purposes, is obtained at Charn- wood forest, Mount-Sorrel, Sapcote, and Stoney-Stanton.
Agriculture. – The climate is mild, and, on account of the inland position of the county, and the absence of any very high elevations, the rainfall is very moderate. The soil is of a loamy character, the richest district being that to the east of the Soar, which is occupied by pasture, while the corn crops are grown chiefly on a lighter soil resting above the Red Sandstone formation. The following table gives a classification of holdings according to size, with the area under each class of holding: –
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50 Acres and under. From 50 to 100 Acres. From 100 to 300 Acres. From 300 to 500 Acres. From 500 to 1000 Acres. Above 1000 Acres. Total. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. 1875 1880 5,974 5,833 77,391 74,464 966 896 69,044 63,409 1,406 1,407 213,605 244,189 165 189 60,990 66,482 25 36 15,15 21,776 3 2 3,360 2,506 8,539 8,363 470,005 472,826
A large number of the holdings between 100 and 300 acres are possessed by owners who farm their own land. In 1881 the total area of arable land was 473,998 acres, of which 91,952 were under corn crop, 22,033 under green crop, 25,302 rotation grasses, 317,869 permanent pasture, and 16,842 fallow; 740 acres were under orchards, 345 market gardens, 125 nursery grounds, and 11,252 woods. It will be observed that the proportion of pasture is very great. The pasture land is especially rich along the banks of the rivers. Of earn crops 33,675 acres were under wheat, 27,724 barley, and 23,330 oats. The number of cows in 1881 was 33,863, the total number of cattle being 123,681, an average of 26 to every 100 acres under cul tivation, the average for England being 16 9. There are many dairy farms for the manufacture of cheese, the famous Stilton cheese being made near Melton Mowbray. Horses numbered 18,085, the number used for agricultural pur poses being 12,243. The breed was much improved by the importation by the well-known agriculturist Bakewell of mares from Flanders. As the county is famed for fox-hunting, there are many excellent riding horses. The number of sheep in 1881 was 263,383, an average of 51 to every 100 acres under cultivation, the average for England being 62 - 4. The famous New Leicesters, intro duced by Bakewell, are the most common, but the Old Leicesters are still bred, and there is also a race of sheep peculiar to Charnwood forest. Pigs in 1881 numbered 21,765. According to the return of 1874, the land in 1872-73 was divided among 13,848 proprietors, possessing 519,524 acres, with an annual rental of £1,493,378, 10s. Of the owners only 35 per cent. possessed more than 1 acre, and the average value per acre all over was £2, 16s. Among the principal proprietors are the duke of Rutland, possessing 30,109 acres; Lord Donington, 10,174; Earl Howe, 9755; the earl of Stamford and Warrington, 9012; and the earl of Dysart, 8420.
Manufactures. – The staple manufacture of the county is hosiery, for which the wool is obtained chiefly from home-bred sheep. Its principal seats are Leicester, Hinckley, and Loughborough. Cotton hose are likewise made, and the other industries include the manufacture of boots and shoes, elastic webbing, silk plush for hats and lace, agricultural implements, bricks and pottery, and artificial manures.
Administration and Population. – Leicestershire comprises six "hundreds," the municipal and parliamentary borough of Leicester (122,351), and five other towns with a population of over 5000, viz., Loughborough (14,733), Hinckley, partly in Warwickshire (7673), Ashby-de-la-Zouch (7465), Melton Mowbray (5766), and Market Harborough (5350). The population of the county, which in 1801 was only 130,030, was 215,867 in 1841, 269,311 in 1871, and 321,018 (155,429 males and 165,589 females) in 1881, the increase within the last ten years being 19.2 per cent.
The county returns six members to Parliament, – two for North and two for South Leicestershire, and two for the borough of Leicester. It has one court of quarter sessions, and is separated into nine petty sessional divisions, with which the police divisions are nearly identical. The borough of Leicester has a commission of the peace, a separate court of quarter sessions, and also its own police. The county is almost wholly in the diocese of Peterborough, and contains 331 civil parishes, townships, or places, as well as parts of other parishes. It is included in the Midland circuit, and assizes and quarter sessions are held at Leicester.
History and Antiquities. – Before the Roman invasion Leicester shire was inhabited by the Coritani, and under the Romans it formed part of the province of Flavia Cæsariensis. The principal Roman roads are the Watling Street, which forms for 20 miles the south-west boundary of the county from Dovebridge near the Avon to near Atherstone, where it enters Warwickshire; the Fosse road from Lincolnshire, which enters the county at Six Hills, and passes by Leicester to Watling Street; the Via Devana from Colchester, which enters the county near Medbourne, and joins the Fosse at Leicester on its way to Chester. The principal Roman stations were Ratæ (Leicester), Verometum (supposed to have been Borough Hill), Manduessedum (Mancetter), and Benones (Highcross). Roman coins, urns, tesselated pavements, military weapons, and domestic utensils and other remains have been found in several places, especially at Leicester, Rothley, Wanlip, Harby, Bottesford, Hinckley, Sapeote, and Melton Mowbray. Two miles from Leicester a Roman milestone of the time of the emperor Hadrian was discovered in 1771. Under the Heptarchy Leicester was included in the kingdom of Mercia. Afterwards it was overrun by the Danes, from whom it was recovered by Ethelfleda. The most noteworthy event connected with the county was the battle of Bosworth Field, where Richard III. was slain 22d August 1485; but it was frequently the scene of contests in the reigns of John and of Henry III. and during the Revolution period.
The principal monastic foundations in Leicester were priories of Black Canons at St Mary Pre near Leicester founded in 1143, and at Breedon founded in 1144, priories of Benedictines at Hinckley in 1173 and of Benedictine nuns at Langley near Breedon in the time of Henry I. , a collegiate church at Leicester founded in the reign of William I., a priory of canons of St Augustine at Launde in the reign of Henry I. (now changed into a museum), houses of the Knights Hospitallers at Dalby and Heather, a priory of St Austin at Bradley, a preceptory of Knights Templars at Rothley in 1230, a house of Franciscans at Leicester founded by Simon de Montfort, a friary of St Augustine called St Catherine s, also at Leicester, and a convent of canons regular of St Augustine at Kirk by, founded in 1359. The principal old castles are those of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Kirkby-Muxloe.
The principal histories of Leicestershire are those of Nichols, 1790, 4th edition 1795-1820, Throsby, 1790, and Curtis, 1831. See also Domesday Book of Leicester, 1862; Walcott, Chantries of Leicester, 1874; Hull, Geology of the Leicester Coalfield, 1860; Aveline, Geology of part of Leicester, 1860; Judd, Geology of part of Leicester, 1875; Harrison, Geology of Leicester and Rutland, 1876. For a fuller list see Anderson, Topography of the United Kingdom, 1881.
LEICESTER, a municipal and parliamentary borough and market-town of England, and the chief town of the county of Leicester, is situated at the intersection of several railway lines, in a gentle hollow on the river Soar, 97 miles north-north-west of London, and 27 south of Nottingham. The town is well built, the streets are spacious
