Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/581

Rh LEITH. 573 LEITH. >bey. This monastery was founded in 1182 by .ulph de Glanville for Premonstratcnsian canons, had a revenue at the Dissolution of 181 17*. l^il. It was rebuilt in 1389 after a fire. Sizewell Gap, situated about 2 miles distant, is a fishery and coast- guard station. The appropriate tithes have been com- muted for a rent-charge of 435. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 376, in the patron, of Christ's Hospital and the Haberdashers' Company alternately. The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, was erected in 1853, and has a flint tower containing five bells. It stands about a quarter of a mile W. of the village. The register dates from 1538. The charities produce about 73 per annum, chiefly the produce of a farm bequeathed by Thomas Grimsby, Esq., in 1721. There arc parochial and infant schools for both sexes, supported by voluntary contributions, also a mechanics' institute. TheWesleyans and the Society of Friends have each a chapel. The principal residence is Leiston Abbey, which stands near the ruins of the old monastery. LEITH, a seaport town, and municipal and parlia- mentary burgh, in co. Edinburgh, Scotland. It was ually called Inverleith, and includes the parish of h Leith, nearly the whole of South Leith parish, i small part of the parish of St. Cuthbert, Edin- burgh. It is situated 2 miles N.N.E. of the cross of r.dinburgh (of which city it is the port), in 55 58' N. 3 9' W. long., on the S. shore of the Frith of Forth. The town is about 1 mile long, and measures about half a mile at its broadest point. It is irregularly built. In the ancient part the streets are narrow and inconvenient, and the houses old and closely built ; of years, however, some good streets and numerous dwelling-houses have been erected, particularly in the .ity of what is called the "Links," or downs, a open space on the S.E. side of the town. There is a good supply of water, and the town is lighted with gas. The principal thoroughfares are Leith-walk, Con- stitution-street, Kirkgate, Bernard-street, and Com- mercial-place. The Leith water intersects the town, is spanned by a stone bridge and two drawbridges ; the last mentioned were erected in place of a stone bridge built by Robert Ballendean, Abbot of Holyrood, as a means of access to a chapel erected by him in North Leith. That portion of the town situated on the N.W. side of the river is known as North Leith, and that on the opposite as South Leith ; the former, although y extensive, being little more than a suburb of the latter, where all the chief business of the town is trans- I, and where the offices and residences of the merchants chiully are. Among the public buildings worthy of mention arc, the townhall and courthouse, erected in 1828, in which are held tho burgh and sheriff courts ; tho exchange buildings, containing the post- office and assembly rooms ; tho Trinity House, or ii iV hospital, built in 1817 in place of a building 1 in 1555; the rustum-house, a Grecian edifice, d in 1812; the Female Asylum for Incurables, d by tlie late Sir John Gladstone, Bart., a native ith; Seafield baths, near the Links, erected in 1S13 ; the gaol, built in 1822, situated in Tolbooth- wynd, is now converted into dwelling-houses. Near the gaol, '>n tho site of the old custom-house and excise- . the market-places were erected in 1819. The ith Leith is in the prcsb. of Edinburgh and 1 of Lothian and Tweeddale, in the patron, of the heads of families : the minister's stipend is 285. The h church was built in 1816. There is a chapel-of- i ease at Newhaven, in the patron, of the trustees and iiolders above eighteen years of age. Here are three Free churches, one United Presbyterian, ne Baptist chapel. The par. of South Leith is in ime presb. and synod as that of North Leith, in tho patron, of the crown and the kirk session, &c. : the r's stipend is 396, and the second minister's 147. The parish church stands in Kirkgate, and is a ul commodious structure in a good state of r. St. Thomas's church was given by Sir John . ii. Gladstone, Bart., to the General Assembly. There is also an Established church at Restalrig. In this parish there are three United Presbyterian churches, three 1'ree churches, besides five chapels belonging respec- tively to tho Episcopalians, Independents, llorrisonians, Wesleyan Methodists, and Roman Catholics. Among the public educational establishments throughout the town are, the High School ; Dr. Bell's school, in which 700 children receive instruction on the Madras system ; and there are several parochial schools. There are numerous benevolent and charitable institutions which are well supported, as well as a public library, me- chanics' subscription library, and a savings-bank. The manufactories of Leith are considerable, they comprise colour and paint works, roperies, canvas, sail, and soap making, brewing and tanning, fish curing, and tho manufacture of glass the latter supposed to have been introduced by English settlers in the time of Cromwell. Ship-building is rather extensively can-fed on, and the yards hr-re have turned out a number of very fine steam and sailing vessels. It is, however, to its shipping business that Leith owes its importance. From tho year 1799 to the present period large sums of money (partly grants from government) have been expended in the construction of wet and dry docks, lengthening tho piers, and otherwise improving the harbour. Tho aggregate length of the quays is 8,400 feet, and they, together with the docks, have very extensive ware- houses and sheds, cranes of great strength and almost every modern improvement. A line of railway connects the quays with the Leith terminus of the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee lines, and also tho North British line. There are lighthouses on both the E. and AV. piers. Leith fort, overlooking the beach, is the head- quarters of the royal artillery of Scotland. The town has the advantage of several banks, viz. the Bank of Scotland, tho British Linen, the Clydesdale, the Com- mercial, the Union, and the Royal ; the last named was formerly known as the Leith Bank. The several incorporated trades are the Ship Masters (or Trinity House), combining a benefit society with a board for licensing pilots ; tho Traffickers, or Merchant Company ; and the Convenery of Trades, representing eight trades. The newspapers published hero are tho Leith Commercial List, on Tuesday and Friday, and the Leith Herald on Saturday. The coasting, foreign, and colonial trade of Leith is of vast extent. The foreign and colonial trade is carried on with Russia, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Levant, tho East and West Indies, America, China, and Australia. The shipping belong- ing to the port in 1G92 comprised 29 vessels of aggre- gately 1,702 tons, while in 1855 tho number amounted to 168 sailing vessels of an aggregate tonnage of 19,067, besides 25 steam vessels of an aggregate tonnage of 6,326. Tho customs revenue of tho port in 1859 amounted to i'572,872. The principal imports are grain, hemp, tallow, timber, hides, tobacco, and wine ; and the chief exports are iron, hardware, machinery, coals, cottons, linen, silks, woollens, haberdashery, &c. The number of ships entered inwards at the port of Leith in 1859 amounted to 1,539, of an aggregate tonnage of 216,356 ; while tho entries outwards amounted to 415 of an aggregate tonnage of 98,877. The total value of the exports of 1859 amounted to 872,673. The port enjoys frequent steamboat communication with London, Liverpool, Hull, Newcastle, Greenock, Glasgow, Aber- deen, and other ports of Great Britain, and likewise with St. Petersburgh, Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Ham- burgh, Dantzic, &c. The town is connected to Edin- burgh by a branch of the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee- line; there is also .a line for goods traffic in connection with the North British line. Omnibuses run to tho city. Leith, in conjunction with Portobello and Mussel- burgh, sends one member to parliament, and is governed by a provost, who bears the title of " Admiral of Leith," four bailies, a treasurer, and councillors. The courts held here by tho magistrates are known as the admiral and bailie courts of Leith, and a society of solicitors exists for practising in them. A sheriffs' small -debt 4 D