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a WALK through LEICESTER; being A GUIDE TO STRANGERS, containing A DESCRIPTION of the TOWN AND ITS ENVIRONS, with remarks upon its HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
a WALK through LEICESTER; being A GUIDE TO STRANGERS, containing A DESCRIPTION of the TOWN AND ITS ENVIRONS, with remarks upon its HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES.
“Within this hour it will be dinner-time, Till that I’ll view the manners of the town, Peruse its traders, gaze upon its buildings, And then return and sleep within mine inn.” Shakespeare . LEICESTER, PRINTED BY T. COMBE, and sold by T. HURST, PATER-NOSTER-ROW, LONDON, 1804....
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ADDRESS.
ADDRESS.
The Editor of the following pages, while he has been solicitous to furnish those who travel with a POCKET CICERONE, feels at the same time a wish that it may not be unacceptable to those who are at home . The latter, though, in the subject of this survey, they trace an old, a familiar scene, will still feel that it possesses that interest which the native spot binds around the mind, and when they point out to their intelligent visitors and curious friends the most memorable objects of their ant
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GALLOWTREE-GATE,
GALLOWTREE-GATE,
(corruptly pronounced Goltre ), from its having formerly led to the place of execution, the left side of which is the scite of the antient city walls. At the bottom of this street, a building, formerly the assembly-room, but now converted to purposes of trade, with a piazza, under which is a machine for weighing coals, forms the centre of five considerable streets. The...
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HUMBERSTONE-GATE,
HUMBERSTONE-GATE,
on the right, leads to a range of new and handsome dwellings, called Spa-Place , from a chalybeate spring found there, which, though furnished by the proprietor with neat marble baths and every convenient appendage for bathing, has not been found sufficiently impregnated with mineral properties to bring it into use. The Humberstone-Gate is out of the local limits of the borough, and subject to the concurrent jurisdiction of the county and borough magistrates; though in the reigns of Edward VI.
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BELGRAVE-GATE,
BELGRAVE-GATE,
a street of considerable extent, in the broader part of which stands what may justly be deemed one of the most valuable curiosities of the place; it is a milliare , or Roman mile-stone, forming part of a small obelisk. This stone was discovered in 1771, by some workmen, digging to form a rampart for a new turnpike-road from Leicester to Melton, upon the foss road leading to Newark, and at the distance of two miles from Leicester. Antiquarians allow it to be the oldest milliare now extant in Br
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ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH.
ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH.
This structure is rendered venerable by its tower, whose pinnacles and trefoil-work, with the niche, or tabernacle, on the corner of the south wall of the church, would have even shown it, had not its date been confirmed by Bishop Alnwicke’s register, 1441, to have been the work of the era of the regular gothic. From this tower, a ring of ten bells, well known for their excellence, sound in frequent peals of harmony along the meadow and river below. This, when the other churches of Leicester we
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SANVY-GATE.
SANVY-GATE.
Here nothing can be traced worthy of observation, except the etymologist stops to glean the remark that Sanvy is derived from sancta via , the antient name of the street, so denominated from the solemn procession that passed through it on Whitsun Monday, in its way from St. Mary’s to St. Margaret’s. In this procession the image of the Virgin was carried under a canopy, with an attendant minstrel and harp, accompanied by representatives of the twelve apostles, each denoted by the name of the sac
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CHURCH-GATE,
CHURCH-GATE,
about the middle of which he will pass through an area of about an acre and a half, the property of Sir Nigel Gresley, Bart. now used as a wood yard; but formerly given by Queen Elizabeth to the freemen of Leicester, for the practice of public sports, and especially archery; whence, from the butts, or shooting marks erected in it, it is called Butt-close . There is good reason to believe that plots of ground were once destined to the like purposes in almost every village, and butts erected for t
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SWINE MARKET,
SWINE MARKET,
formerly Parchment Lane ; which may afford interest to the mind tho’ not to the eye; for the reflective Traveller will not regard as unimportant the humble dwellings of those Manufacturers whose industry supplies the commercial wealth of the nation. From this street we arrive at a spot still called the...
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EAST-GATES,
EAST-GATES,
tho the gates of the ancient town were, some years ago, taken down to render the passage more commodious. In the massy wood of these gates were found balls of a large size, which probably had lodged there ever since the assault made upon the town by king Charles’s forces in 1695, when according to a note in the pocket-book of one Simmonds, a quarter-master in the King’s army, which is now preserved in the Harleian library, “Col. Bard’s Tertia fell on with scaling ladders, some near a flanker, a
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HIGH-STREET,
HIGH-STREET,
observing on the right hand, about half way up, a lofty hexagon turret, whose top is glaz’d for the purpose of a prospect seat. It bears on the inside, marks of considerable antiquity, and is a remain of the mansion of Henry Earl of Huntingdon, called Lord’s Place . It has a winding stair-case of stone, with a small apartment on each story, and is now modernized with an outward coating of brick. From hence we enter a street, which was formerly upon the great north road; it leads to Ashby-de-la
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HIGH-CROSS-STREET,
HIGH-CROSS-STREET,
from a plain doric pillar bearing the name of High Cross, and which formed some years ago one of the supporters of a light temple looking building of the same name, that served as a shelter to the country people who here hold a small market on Wednesdays and Fridays for the sale of butter, eggs, &c. Here the members of parliament are proclaimed, and here also may be seen on Michaelmas day, the grotesque ceremony of the poor men of Trinity Hospital, arrayed like ancient Knights, having r
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NORTH-GATE STREET.
NORTH-GATE STREET.
and conducts us to a bridge over the Canal, beyond which is the North or St. Sunday’s Bridge . This is an elegant stone structure, erected in 1796 and when viewed from the Abbey meadow below, it forms with the trees and slopes beyond it a very pleasing scene. Its three arches are small segments of a large circle. At the foot of the bridge in an area enclosed by a low wall, and distinguished by a few scattered grave-stones, the church-yard of St. Leonard meets the eye. The church, of which no
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WOOD-GATE,
WOOD-GATE,
leading to the Ashby-de-la-Zouch road, and that on the right, the...
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ABBEY-GATE,
ABBEY-GATE,
conducting us to the Abbey. The name of Abbey , so dear to painting, poetry, and romance, naturally raises in the mind an idea of the picturesque and the aweful; but we are now approaching no gothic perspectives, no “long drawn aisles and fretted vaults,” and scarcely able to bring a single instance of assimilation, we visit indeed an Abbey only in name; yet we visit a spot well adapted to the purposes to which it was appropriated. Sequestered, surrounded by pleasing objects, and dignified by t
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HORSEPOOL-STREET,
HORSEPOOL-STREET,
At the end of this street, situated on a gentle eminence affording the desirable advantages of a dry soil and open air, we perceive one of those edifices which a country more than nominally christian must ever be careful to erect, a house of refuge for sick poverty. The Infirmary, which owes the origin of its institution to W. Watts, M. D. was built in 1771, nearly on the scite of the antient chapel of St. Sepulchre, and is a plain neat building with two wings, fronted by a garden, the entrance
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HOTEL,
HOTEL,
which name it bears, having been originally designed for that purpose, may from the grandeur of its windows, its statues, bassi relievi, and other decorations, be justly considered as the first modern architectural ornament of the town. Here a room, whose spacious dimensions, (being seventy-five feet by thirty-three,) and elegant decorations, adapt it in a distinguished manner for scenes of numerous and polished society, is appropriated to the use of the public balls. Its coved ceiling is enri
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ST. MARTIN’S CHURCH,
ST. MARTIN’S CHURCH,
At what period after the demolition of Leicester in the reign of Henry the second, the church of St. Martin, antiently St. Crosse, was rebuilt, cannot be accurately stated. The chancel, which is the property of the king, rented by the vicar, and was erected after the main fabrick, is ascertained to been have built in the reign of Henry the fifth, at the expense of 34l. And as the addition of spires to sacred edifices was not introduced into England from the east till the beginning of the reign
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MARKET-PLACE.
MARKET-PLACE.
In this spacious area, which is surrounded by handsome and well-furnished shops, and whose public ornaments are the plain but respectable building called the Exchange , built in 1747, where the town magistrates transact their weekly business, and a small octagon edifice enclosing a reservoir of pure water, the Conduit , erected in 1709, we must, having completed the circuit of the town, offer our farewell to our visitor. Here closing our little tour, which has engaged us in an imaginary acquaint
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MANUFACTORY OF THE TOWN.
MANUFACTORY OF THE TOWN.
The Manufactory of Stockings in this town and county, is the largest in the world; besides wove worsted hose, which are the staple article of the place, a great variety of cotton hose are now made, which from their cheapness, obtain a sale in this, and most other countries. The machine by which these hose are made, was first invented in the year 1590, by the Rev. W. Lee, of Calverton, in Nottinghamshire, who exhibited it before Queen Elizabeth, but not meeting with that encouragement he so justl
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ERRATUM.
ERRATUM.
The reader is requested to correct the account of St. Martin’s organ, as follows. Great organ, two open and a stop diapason, principal, 12th, 15th, ses-quialtia, cornet, clarion, trumpet. Choir organ, two diapasons, principal, 15th, flute, bassoon. Swell, two diapasons, principal, cornet, hautboy, trumpet. [Combe, Printer, Leicester.]...
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HOTEL LIBRARY.
HOTEL LIBRARY.
T. COMBE, bookseller , Has on Sale the best Literary Productions, in elegant and other Bindings, and every new Work of Merit may be seen at the Library as soon as published . Any quantity of Books purchased, or taken in exchange. Printing , Binding & all sorts of Stationary . Gold Paper, Ornaments and Borders—Coloured Papers and Pasteboards—Bristol and Ivory Boards—Whatman’s Drawing Papers—Newman’s Colours—Middletons Pencils—Varnish, Perfumery, Patent Medicines, and other Articles. A CIR
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