Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/576

Rh LEICESTER ABBEY. 568 LEIGH. an infirmary, and a union poorhouse. The following gentlemen's seats are in the vicinity of the town. Leices- ter Frith House ; Leicester Grange ; Evington Hall, H. Colmar, Esq. ; Braimston, C. Winstanley, Esq. ; and Westeotcs, T. Freer, Esq. The local history has teen published by Thursby, clerk of one of the parishes. The newspapers published are the Leicester Chronicle, the Leicester Journal, the Leicestershire Mercury, the Leicester Guardian, and Payne's Advertiser. Markets are held as follows : on Wednesday fat cattle and vegetables, Tues- day and Thursday vegetables, and on Saturday a general market. Fairs for horses, cattle, and sheep are held as follows : 4th January, 2nd March, the Saturdays before and after Easter, 12th to 15th May, 1st June (for wool), 5th July, 1st August, 13th September, 10th to 13th October (for cheese), and 8th December. The races are held in September, on an oval course of 1 mile 60 yards. LEICESTER ABBEY, an ext. par. place in the hund. of West Goscote, co. Leicester, 1 mile N. of Leicester. It is situated on the river Soar. LEICESTER-FOREST, an ext. par. place in the hund. of Sparkenhoe, co. Leicester, 2 miles N. of Leicester. LEICESTER FRITH, or SHERMAN'S GROUNDS, an fxt. par. place in tho hund. of West Goscote, co. Leicester, LEIGH, a chplry. in the par. and hund. of Yetmin- ster, Sherborne div. of co. Dorset, 6J miles S.W. of Sherborne, its post town. The inhabitants are wholly employed in agriculture. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Sarum, val. 61, in the patron, of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. The charities produce about 22 per annum. LEIGH, a par. in the hund. of Rochford, co. Essex, 5 miles S.W. of Rochford, its post town, and 4 W. of Southend. It is a station on tho London, Tilbury, and Southend railway, and has a small port on the Thames, opposite Canvey Point. The .par., which is traversed by the road from Southend to Tilbury, in- cludes an island called Leigh Marsh. About a mile from Crowstone, which marks the boundary of the port of London, is a small customhouse, and vessels of ISO tons come up with coal to the quay. Between Leigh Middle Ground and the Nore Sand, which is 2 miles in length, is Leigh Road, an anchorage with four fathoms water. The town of Leigh is situated on a creek which forms part of the river Thames at high tide. It consists chiefly of one street. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the coasting trade, and in the oyster and shrimp fisheries, which employ above 100 boats. The oysters are brought hero from distant coasts to improve, tho Leigh shore being admirably adapted for that purpose. Roman coins were found in a cliff near the town in 1861. A great portion of the land is marsh, the rest arable and pasture. The surface rises gradually from the river to a considerable elevation, commanding views of the sur- rounding country. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 284, in the patron, of the bishop. Tho church, dedicated to St. Clement, is situated on rising ground behind the town, and commands a view of the river Thames. It is of ancient construction, with a lofty ivy-covered tower containing eix bells. In the interior are two painted windows, numerous stalls of carved oak, and several brasses. Tho Wesleyans have a place of worship. There aro National and infant schools. A fair is held on tho second Tuesday in May. LEIGH, a par. and market town in the hund. of West Derby, co. Lancaster, 7 miles S. of Bolton, 15 from Manchester, and 193j from London. It has two stations one at Leigh, the other at Atherton, on the Bolton and Kenyon branch of the London and North-Western railway. The parish is situated in the S. parliamentary division of the county, and is intersected by the Wigau and Leigh branch of the Leeds and Bridgwater canal. It is of large extent, comprising the tnshps. of Astley, Atherton, Bedford, Pennington, and West Leigh, which two last form the town of Leigh. The growth of this town has been extremely rapid, the population having more than doubled in the decennial period from 1851 to 186 1 at the former census the inhabitants were returned at 5,206, and at tho latter at 10,621. The streets are regularly laid out, and most of the houses of recent erection. The town is well paved, and lighted with gas. The principal public institutions are the townhall, erected in 1840 ; union poorhouse; offices of the War- rington division of the county constabulary, which has its head-quarters here ; a mechanics' institute, with library containing 1,200 volumes, established in 1842; a branch bank ; market-place ; new cemetery, opened in October, 1856, for the rest of the parish, except tho township of Atherton, which has a cemetery of its own, formed in 1857. There arc also extensive silk and cotton factories, mailings, corn-mills, a brewery, and iron foundries ; and, in the adjoining township of Atherton, establishments for the manufacture of nails and bolts. One weekly newspaper, the Leigh Chronicle, is published in the town on Saturday. In the vicinity of the town aro collieries, stone quarries, and brickfields. The soil is clayey, on a subsoil of sandstone. The chief crops are wheat, oats, potatoes, and in tho township of Ather- ton grass and vegetables. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Manchester, val. 263. Tho parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient stone structure, with a tower and two mortuary chapels attached. There is also a chapel-of-easc at West Lt-igh, erected in 1855. There are district churches at Astley, Atherton, Bedford, and Pennington, the livings of all which are pei-pct. curs., varying in val. from 100 to 250. Tho church of St. Stephen, at Astley, is a brick building with a square embattled tower containing one bell, and was restored in 1852. The church of St. John, at Atherton, was erected in 1810, and has a tower contain- ing a clock and one bell. The church of .St. Thomas, ut Bedford, is a new brick building with a tower. The church called Christ Church, at Pennington, is of stone, erected in 1854. There are places of worship belonging to Wcslcyans, Primitive Methodists, Independents, Bap- tists, and Unitarians ; also a Roman Catholic church in tho suburban township of Bedford, erected in 1855 at tho cost of 4,000. The free grammar school is situated in the township of Astley. There arc besides several N:i- tional, Sunday, and infant schools, in connection with the several district churches. Leigh is the head of a Poor-law Union embracing the above-mentioned tnshj.s., with the tnshps. of Culchcth, Uolborne, Kenyon, anil Lawton, in tho adjoining par. of Winwick. Tho board of guardians meet every Thursday at tho ur,iu workhouse. It is also the head of superintendent regis- try and new County Court districts the latter is held monthly at tho townhall. Petty sessions are held on alternate Mondays at Leigh and Atherton, both in this parish. Lord Lilford is lord of the manors of Leii:h and Atherton; Malcolm Nugent Ross, Esq., 01 manor of Astley ; and the Earl of Ellcsmcre, of Bedford. Saturday is market day. Fairs arc held at Leigh on the 24th and 25th April for cattle and live stock, on (ho 7th and Sth December for pedlory and pleasure, and at Atherton on the last Thursday in March for cattle, and pleasure fairs on the 29th .Tune and 24th August. LEIGH, a par. in the lower divs. of the hunds. of Deerhurst and Westminster, co. Gloucester, 5 miles N.W. of Cheltenham, its post town, and 4^ S. of Tewkesbu It is a small agricultural vil., situated in the vale Gloucester, near the river Severn and the Comb canf The par. is intersected by the road leading from Glouces- ter to Tewkesbury. It comprises the hmlt. oi'Evin: The surface is level, and richly wooded with oak and elm. A considerable part of the land is in pasture am! mellow, and is occasionally inundated by the overflow of the i ; The soil is a blue clay, but very productive. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, 247, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. James, is a neat structure with ui tied tower containing five bells. The parochial ch> produce about 52 per annum, chiefly the produ the church lands, &c. There is a mixed school under the British and Foreign School Society. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster are lords of the manor. bury. ; ale of I canal, ouces- ;