LEICESTERSHIRE is situated between 52^o 24' and 53^o north latitude, and between 0^o 35' and 1^o 32' west longitude : it is an inland county, and bounded in the north by Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire ; on the east by Lincolnshire and Rutlandshire ; on the south by Northamptonshire, from which it is divided by the river Welland; and on the south-west and west by Warwickshire, from which it is divided by the ancient Roman road of Watling street way, from near Atherstone in the south to Lutterworth, about 20 miles : it also just touches upon Staffordshire in one point between Warwickshire and Derbyshire. Its greatest length from the south of Lutterworth to the north part of the vale of Belvoir is 45 miles, and the greatest breadth from Netherseal in the west, to Wymondham or Easton Magna in the east, is upward of 40 miles ; its mean diameter is about 30 miles ; and it contains about 816 square miles, and 522,240 acres.

1. Political denominations and relations.- It is divided into 6 hundreds, containing 12 market towns, but some of the markets are but of small account : during the Roman government it was called Flavia Cæsariensis ; in the Saxon heptarchy it belonged to the kingdom of Mercia ; by William the Conqueror it was termed Ledecestershire, whence its present name : it is in the Midland circuit ; it sends only 4 members to parliament, viz. 2 for Leicester and 2 for the county.

2. Ecclesiastical connections and relations.- It is in the province of Canterbury, and diocese of Lincoln, and is divided into 200 parishes ; but upon enclosure, have very properly been exonerated from that mode of payment, by giving the rector a suitable allotment of land.

The climate is in general mild and temperate, as there are no mountains or bogs ; the highest ground in the county is, some of the peaks in the Charnwood Forest ; these have the true mountain appearance of bare and barren rocks, projecting abruptly from the surface ; and are composed, not of calcareous stone, or gritstone, but of true primeval stone, a kind of bastard granite, carried far and wide for repairing roads : the elevation of these peaks is not more than 8 or 900 feet above the level of the sea, and consequently within a temperate region of the atmosphere ; from thence the surface descends to the meadows on the margins of the different rivers and rivulets, at 100 or 200 feet elevation. The whole county may therefore, in point of climate, be pronounced mild and temperate.

No account that can be depended upon, came within my knowledge respecting prevalent winds, or quantity of rain. In a county so much within land, nor within the particular operation of any external affecting cause, it may be presumed the winds are subject to no fixed laws ; and respecting the rain, I believe the county to be not subject to excess of moisture ; if a conjecture can be allowed on the subject, in comparison with other neighbouring counties, I should estimate the average annual fall of rain at about 30 inches.

This county has no surface soil that can properly be denominated clay or sand ; it has no chalk ; and its peat bogs having been long since drained, are now become meadow soil, being a compost of peat and sediment ; the peat originally formed by aquatic vegetation, and the sediment brought down by streams and rain water from the upland.
The soil of the county may therefore be divided into three classes : 1. Clay loam, having a considerable degree of tenacity, and holding the rain as it falls, generally of a good depth, on which, and its friability and porous nature, its fertility in a great measure depends : this is generally unfit for turnips, but good for corn, and excellent for grass. 2. Sandy or gravelly loam, more loose, porous, and friable than the last, generally of a good depth, adapted to the cultivation of turnips, and of every kind of grain ; and excellent for pasture, natural or artificial. 3. The meadow soil, formed as above, particularly adapted to grass, and to grass only, both for hay and pasture.
Mr. Monk has expressed similar ideas : he says, the soil of the county varies from a light sandy or gravelly loam, to a stiff marly loam, including all the intermediate degrees possible between these extremes. The best soil is generally upon the hills, and the worst and coldest in the valleys. This I apprehend to be owing to the different states of drainage : the soil is generally deep, which makes it very proper for grass, deep soils not being very soon affected so as to burn up in dry weather.
The nature of the soil is very liable to vary much in short distances, respecting its strong or friable qualities : from Tamworth to Market Bosworth, I found light loam on gravel and sand, then strong loam on clay ; past Orton-on-the-Hill, soil thin, poor, harsh and cold, then a deeper but harsh clay loam ; Welsborough, high sound land ; Bosworth to Hinkley, various, generally sound and good ; about Hinkley, a good deep mixed soil, excellent for corn as well as grass ; to Lutterworth and Harborough, the soil generally strong enough to build mud walls, for which it is often used; yet in many places excellent for turnips and barley ; about Leicester, a light or mixed loam, generally on gravel ; poorer and thinner soil about Mountsorrel, and various to Charnwood Forest ; about Ashby, different varieties, sandy and gravelly loam to clay ; Asby Would, lately enclosed, in their natural state, harsh cold clay loam, but becoming more mild and friable by drainage, cultivation and using lime plentifully.
About Odston the soil is a deep gray loam, sometimes moist and springy till drained ; about Knighton it is a good deep gray loam ; Scraptoft towards Bilsdon a deep moist gray loam ; about Melton Mowbray, and to a great extent, rich sound pasture land abounds, but being heavy loam upon clay, mixed with small fragments of calcareous stone, it is very wet in winter, and liable to tread with heavy stock : Melton towards Grantham, strong clay loam, road repaired with limestone ; Waltham a sound gray loam ; Branston towards the vale of Belvoir, a deep red or snuff coloured loam to some extent ; Hathern, deep gray loam, roads heavy ; this is the general characteristic of soil in the vale of Belvoir.
Dishley Farm consists generally of a mild friable loam, of a good depth, on a clay or marl bottom : the meadow soil similar to that of the other low lands of the county.
Charnwood Forest is generally a moist grayish loam, and in want of drainage and improvement ; of which it is well worthy.
The general characteristic of the upland soil of Leicestershire is, therefore, a grayish or brownish friable loam, of a greater or less depth, upon a stratum of clay, marl, gravel, or rock, and may be divided as follows :

The common fields remaining, are so small a proportion of the county as not to be worth naming separately here : it must be clear from the nature of the subject, that perfect accuracy is not to be expected. The above is the result of a calculation made after several rather particular examinations of the county.
The general face and appearance of the county is marked with interest and variety ; the hills and vales are connected by easy slopes, and with a few abrupt precipices, so that almost he whole surface is practicable and useful. The modern enclosed lordships are generally almost void of timber trees, and the farmers crowded with all the other inhabitants in villages : this, in former times, when property was more exposed to open depredations, might afford additional security ; but, in the modern state of society and police, as the old buildings wear out, it will be found convenient and proper to remove them to the centre of the occupation ; and if the occupier pays a reasonable per centage upon the expense, he will find his account in it, by the increased facility of communication with his premises, either for the purpose of inspection, carrying out manure, bringing home crops, or connection of domestic cattle with their pasture. In the ancient enclosures many good farm houses have been established, under the denomination of halls, granges, lodges, &c. and the fences abound with timber.
Respecting a plan of the county, Prior's, as a general one, is sufficiently correct ; but to colour it, so as to distinguish the different soils with any accuracy, and so as to give any correct idea, is not easy, if it be at all possible. The change of soil is by imperceptible shades, and the distinction is less than in most counties, and the intermixture more varied with less distinctive difference ; there is nothing that approaches the sterility of sand, or the harshness of clay : the margins of the rivers, brooks, and rivulets are natural grass lands, and the upland is in some places gravelly, but generally loam more or less tenacious, the strongest of which is in the vale of Belvoir.

Leicestershire is not particularly famous for minerals ; it contains, however, mines of coal, limestone, lead, ironstone, slate and freestone.
There are coal mines at Cole Orton, and again at the Lount, and on Ashby Wolds ; the two former are ancient works, and have long been in use ; the latter has been lately established by the Earl of Moira, at a great expense, the coal being raised from a depth of near 200 yards, a three yard strata : it is of a good quality, and readily sold on the bank at 10s. per ton. The Ashby canal, which is close at hand, is ready to take off any quantity not wanted by the neighbourhood.
Bredon lime works are dug in an insulated rock of considerable extent, with a slight covering of earth ; on the summit of which is built the parish church : the kilns are in the form of an inverted segment of a cone, upon the perpetual kiln principle of laying in alternate layers of fuel and limestone at the top in constant succession, and drawing the burnt lime out at the bottom, through an arch constructed for that purpose. These lime-works being dug in the side of the hill are never incommoded by water, and the stone is conveyed down instead of up to the kilns. The Cloud Hill, a lime rock, in the same neighbourhood, is in a similar situation ; they are both the property of the Earl of Stamford ; the lime is sold at about 10s. per ton : this lime has been said to have peculiar qualities, and to prevent vegetation, if left to freely on the ground about where a heap of it has lain ; the farmers however, find it an excellent stimulating manure, especially on strong soils, but do not care to use above 4 tons per acre -See MANURES. Dr. Darwin says it contains 2 parts magnesian earth, and 3 calcareous, and attributes its peculiar properties to the former.
The strata of limestone at Barrow-upon-Soar, is dug from beneath the surface of the earth, being generally covered with 4 or 4 yards of spoil. On which account its price is enhanced : it was sold, 1807, at 2s. 6d. per quarter, 5 quarters weighing a ton ; it is in good repute as manure, and particularly famous for water-works, for which it is fetched far and wide.
Besides these, limestone of a good quality, is dug and burnt upon Earl Ferrer's estate of Stauton Harold ; and in the fissures of the limestone is found a good and rich lead ore, which is here smelted into metal.
Ironstone is found in great plenty upon Ashby Wolds, the property of the Earl of Moira. His lordship has erected an iron foundry at a great expense, by the side of the Ashby canal, where the ore has been smelted, and cast into pigs, as well as utensils for various purposes. The ironstone lays at from 5 to 8 yards from the surface, a three yard measure, but mixed with two-thirds of a rubbishy blue bind, or clay marl. I understand the coal is too valuable here to afford to make iron profitably, and the foundery at present, (Oct. 1807) stands still, but it is meant to make further trails. This tract of land (Ashby Wolds) of some thousand acres, has been lately allotted, enclosed and cultivated ; but the mines are reserved to Lord Moira, to whom the manor belongs : it is supposed to be rich in coal and iron ore, of which a small part has only been yet explored.
SLATE - Large quantities are raised at Swithland ( pronounced commonly Swedeland) to the east of Charnwood Forest ; it is rather a heavy thick slate, but firm and durable, and a good deal used in covering buildings, and some of the thick blocks also for gravestones, and building purposes.
Freestone and clay for brick and tile are to be found in most parts of the county. On Lord Moira's premises of Donnington Park, is an excellent freestone, of which his lordship has erected a very magnificent mansion, 1793
Mr. Monk has said "Gypsum is found in great quantities in many parts of the country," but this I believe to be erroneous. Gypsum is found in great plenty north of the Trent in Derbyshire, not far from the borders of this county.
In the fissures of the limestone at Barrow, are found many curious fossil petrefactions ; also, in the neighbourhood of Hinckley, fossil shells in gravel are frequently found.

This county is well watered by rivers, brooks and rivulets, but has no extensive natural lake ; but there are several artificial ponds or pools of considerable size, particularly one at Groby, which, according to Throsby, contains 80 acres. There are others attached to gentlemens seats, as fish-ponds, and also pools for the working of water-mills. The public spirit and enterprize of modern times, have also well supplied the county with artificial canals for navigation, and to some of them are attached reservoirs for affording them a supply of water.
The principal natural river is the Soar, as the Trent can hardly be said to belong to this county, though it touches upon it from Lord Moira's park for 5 or 6 miles north-easterly, dividing this county from Derbyshire. The Soar arises between Hinckley and Lutterworth, and passing by Leicester and Loughborough, falls into the Trent near Sawley in Derbyshire, after receiving the Wreke above Mount Sorrel, and passing near Dishley ; it divides this county from Nottinghamshire, for upwards of 5 miles ; it is made navigable for barges from its junction with the Trent to several miles above Leicester, a distance of 20 miles and upwards. The navigation is further projected to be continued by means of the Union canal to Harborough, and to the river Nen in Northamptonshire. - See CANALS.
The Swift arises in this county, and passing by Lutterworth, soon leaves it, and flows into Warwickshire.
The Avon only separates the south-west part of this county from Northamptonshire ; as the Welland, which rises near Harborough, after passing by that town, separates the south-east part of this, from that county.
The Wreke rises in the eastern part of the county, and passing by Melton Mowbray, falls into the Soar above Mount Sorrel.
The Anker rises near the source of the Soar, and running north-west near the confines of this county and Warwickshire, falls into the Avon. Besides these rivers, there are a number of brooks and rivulets, on the margins of whose banks, and on those of the rivers, are often large breadths of meadow land, equal in fertility and luxuriance of growth to any in the kingdom.
The artifical rivers, made for the purpose of navigation, will be further treated on under the article Canals.
The principal artificial pieces of water in the county, besides the pool at Groby, are the reservoirs to the Grantham, the Loughborough, and the Ashby Canals ; the first in the vale of Belvoir, the second on Charnwood Forest, and the third on Ashby Wolds. This latter occupies, when full, 36 acres, but is gradually drawn down through the summer and autumn to supply the canal ; and when at the lowest, after Michaelmas, is reduced to a few acres ; on the approach of winter it is soon refilled by rains or melted snow : these reservoirs were principally formed on land that had undergone no improvement.
Springs - Burton Lazars has a spring famous for curing scorbutic and scrophulous complaints ; and supposed to be peculiarly wholesome to cattle. In the murmins or contagious distempers of horned cattle that have affected this country, this place is said not only to have been exempt itself, but also to have afforded protection against the distemper to the cattle of infected parishes sent there. It was formerly much resorted to by the infected poor people, and was in some repute with those of higher rank ; some conveniences and accommodations were erected, but I understand this spring has latterly fallen into neglect and disuse ; though Throsby, in modern times says, "it will cure scorbutic complaints, king's evil, and leprosy."
At Nevil Holt, near Market Harborough, is also a cathartic water, which according to Berkenhout, is impregnated with a bitter purging salt, called calcareous Glaubers salt, or more properly magnesian Glaubers salt, or Epsom salt, composed of vitriolic acid and magnesia alba ; its analysis being a considerable proportion of Epsom salt, some calcareous earth, selenites, fixed air, vitriolic acid, iron, and possibly a little alum. - Short,Monro,Rutty.

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