LEICESTERSHIRE, an English inland county. It is bounded on the north by Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, on the west by the latter county and Warwickshire, on the south by Northamptonshire, and on the east by Rutlandshire and Lincolnshire. It is of a triangular form, and few of its limits are marked by nature, as the rivers Soar and Trent form only a part of its northern boundary, and the river Anker a smaller portion of its western frontier. Its greatest length from north to south is forty-five miles, and its greatest breadth from east to west thirty-five miles. Its area contains 816 square miles. It is divided into six hundreds, in which are ten towns and 196 parishes. The population at the four decennial enumerations has been estimated as follows:—In 1801 it amounted to 130,081, in 1811 to 150,419, in 1821 to 174,571, and in 1831 to 197,000. The annual value of the real property, as assessed in the year 1815, was L.902,217. The burials, including both the registered and unregistered, in the period from 1821 to 1831, appear to have been only one in fifty-two of the whole number of inhabitants then living. The proportion of illegitimate to legitimate births was only one to twenty-eight, whereas, in the whole of England, it was one to twenty. The occupations of the inhabitants are thus shown by Mr Rickman.

Occupiers of land employing labourers 2,656

Occupiers of land not employing labourers 2,145

Labourers employed in agriculture 10,542

Ditto employed in manufacture 12,240

Employed in retail trade or handicraft 13,772

Capitalists, bankers, &c 1,421

Labourers not agricultural 3,701

Other males twenty years of age 2,509

Male servants 1,164

Female servants 5,994

The chief towns of the county, and their population in 1831, were,

Leicester 39,306

Loughborough 10,800

Hinckley 6,468

Ashby-de-la-Zouch 4,400

Melton-Mowbray 3,356

Donnington Castle 3,182

Market-Harborough 2,272

λVigston Magna 2,174

The county of Leicester may be described generally as a level district, the undulations of which are very gentle, and exhibit but few interesting prospects. The exceptions to this remark are the Charnwood Hills, on the northern part of the county, which rise in an insulated mass, and from the summit of which the rest of the county appears extended in a well-wooded but even surface under the feet. The most lofty eminence of this range of bills (commonly denominated the Forest i though it is destitute of trees) is Bardon Hill, the summit of which is 850 feet above the level of the sea. The Vale of Belvoir, in which the castle of the Duke of Rutland stands, displays much beauty, of a soft rather than a romantic or picturesque character.

None of the rivers of this county are considerable streams, nor are any of them calculated for the conveyance of commodities, except the Soar, for a short distance; but they are abundant, and contribute to increase the beauty and fertility of the district. Their names are, the Anker, Avon, Blackbrook, Deane, Eye, Scalford, Sence, Snite, Soar, Swift, Trent, Willand, and Wreke. The intercourse of the county, both in its own different districts, and with the surrounding parts of the kingdom, is amply provided for by several navigable canals. One of these connects the town of Leicester with the Grand Junction Canal, in Northamptonshire; another communicates by Loughborough with the river Trent; another from the coal-mines near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, passes by Hinckley, and proceeds into Warwickshire; and one is designed to connect Melton-Mowbray with the centre of Rutlandshire.

Though the soil is various, yet, in general, it may be classed under the denominations either of clay or of loam; for there are very feŵ portions of it that are calcareous, sandy, or gravelly. The best soil is on the hills, and generally the valleys consist of a cold clay, very wet in the winter, and with the turf so tender as scarcely to bear the treading of sheep in that season. The soil is naturally productive of the best and most abundant crops of grass, and is better fitted for feeding cattle than for arable culture. In consequence of this quality, a very small portion is under the plough; but that portion produces most excellent wheat, oats, and beans, which have acquired great celebrity. There are few open fields now remaining, and the quantity of waste land is very small. The principal productions of the county are sheep and cows. Mr Bakewell, whose fame in improving the breeds of all cattle is generally known, has been the means of stocking this county first, and afterwards many other parts of England, with a race of sheep produced by various crosses, which by many farmers is now preferred to every other, and universally known by the name of the new Leicesters. They unite perfect symmetry of shape with the smallest possible quantity of bone and offal, and their wool is both fine and abundant. The horned cattle were, in like manner, improved by the lessons of this skilful breeder; and no part of England exceeds Leicestershire either in its beef or in the produce of the dairy. The cheese commonly made is in great request throughout all the north of England; and the kind called Stilton, from having been first sold in that town, though made near Melton-Mowbray, is perhaps the richest in the world. The process of making it was long kept a secret in a few villages, but is now universally known. Its richness arises from one half the milk being skimmed, and the cream taken from that added to the other milk, so that the cheeses have double the usual quantity of cream in their composition. Bakewell improved also the breed of horses to a great extent. In this line there was less room for any extraordinary progress; but his black horses, of the cart kind, originating principally from mares which he brought from Flanders, enabled him to introduce the method of ploughing with two horses abreast, by which much labour in agriculture has been saved.

The manufacture of most consequence in this county is [7:13:210]that of hosiery, which gives employment, more or less constant, to two thirds of its inhabitants. The quantity of stockings made here is prodigious, and supplies the greater part of the British dominions, as well as many other parts of the world, with those of an inferior and middling quality. Stocking-frames were invented about 1590; but the first introduced in Leicestershire was used at Hinckley in 1640. Since that period many improvements in the machinery of them have been made. The chief seat of this manufacture is in the town of Leicester, in which there are 3400 manufacturers, of whom 3000 are stocking-makers. Loughborough has 900, Hinckley 700, Sheepshead 500, Wigston and Shilton 280 each; and in many of the smaller places there are to be found to the number of from 100 to 200 weavers of hosiery and gloves. About 700 men are employed in making lace, chiefly at Melton-Mowbray and Quornden. The makers of machinery are numerous, and in the county some linen is manufactured, and also some carpets. The making of stuffs at Harborough has nearly disappeared.

In the north-west part of the county there are extensive mines of valuable coal, which supply the inhabitants of the surrounding districts. With them terminate the mines in the direction of the German Ocean to the southward. At Bredon, on the confines, the singular rock called Bredon Hill is composed of a most valuable kind of limestone, which forms an excellent cement in water, and which was used for building the pier of Ramsgate.

The Roman roads are still visible in many parts of the county, though in many instances they have been covered by the more recent highways. The Watling-Street road, the Fossway, and the Via Davana, traversed the county, and have been traced with great accuracy by antiquaries. At Radcliffe, on the Wreke, is an ancient tumulus, generally attributed to the Celts, 350 feet in length, and 120 in breadth. At Leicester, which was a Roman station, are still visible the remains of the architecture of that people, in what is called the Jewny Wall, consisting of a mass of stones, brick-work, and dilapidated arches, built in alternate courses of brick in three layers, and of stone. Near the town is the vestige of a British Cursus, according to some antiquaries, or of a Roman camp, according to others. At different and distant periods a great number of coins have been discovered, with the names of Titus, Trajan, Diocletian, Constantine, Constantius, Hadrian, and other Roman emperors. Other Roman antiquities have been found at Rothley, at Wanlip, at Market-Harborough, at Burrow, and at Cathorpe. The Gothic remains are considerable; those of the Abbey of Leicester, of the Nunnery of Grace Dieu, Ulvestoft Priory, Laund Priory, the Castle of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, the churches of Hinckley and Melton-Mowbray, and the chapel of Market-Harborough, all reward the inspection of the antiquary.

In the church of Lutherworth, the pulpit and part of the vestments of the gneat reformer Wickliffe are still preserved. He was buried there in the year 1387; but in 1428, his bones were taken up and burnt, and the ashes thrown into the river, by order of the council of Sienna. Leicestershire has been the scene of two great military events, which have been the means of transferring the government of England; the first, the battle of Bosworth, which terminated the reign and life of Richard III. in 1485; and the other, the battle of Naseby in 1645, which led to the death of Charles I., and the subsequent elevation of Oliver Cromwell.

One of the chief distinctions of this county is its adaptation for fox-hunting, which has given rise to establishments for that purpose at the town of Melton-Mowbray, where, at the appropriate season, are collected the best horses, dogs, and riders that England produces, and where, also, may be seen some of the most wealthy and distinguished of the nobility and gentry.

By the reform bill this county received an addition of two members to the House of Commons; for which purpose it is divided into two parts, the northern and southern divisions. The polling-places for the former are Loughborough, Melton-Mowbray, and Ashby-de-la-Zouch; and for the latter, Leicester, Market-Harborough, and Hinckley. The town of Leicester, as before, returns two members.