A Walk Through Leicester Part 4

From the Newark, in a lane opposite to which called Mill-Stone lane, is a Meeting-House of the Methodists, we proceed along South gate or

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 inst.i.tution 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 to which is ornamented with a very handsome iron gate the gift of the late truly benevolent Shuckbrugh Ashby, Esq. of Quenby. The house is built upon a plan which for its convenience and utility received the approbation of the great Howard, whose experience and observation qualified him for a competent judge. It is calculated to admit, exclusive of the fever ward, 54 patients, without restriction to county or nation. Its funds, notwithstanding the exemplary liberality it has excited, are, owing to the pressure of the times, scarcely adequate to its support. Adjoining the Infirmary is an Asylum for the reception of indigent Lunatics.

At the distance of a quarter of a mile from the Infirmary, are some remains of a Roman labour, called the _Raw Dikes_, these banks of earth four yards in height, running parralel to each other in nearly a right line to the extent of 639 yards, the s.p.a.ce between them 13 yards, were some years ago levelled to the ground except the the length of about 150 yards at the end farthest from the town. It was a generally received opinion that they were the fortifications of a Roman camp, till the supposition of their having been a _cursus_ or race course, was started by Dr. Stukely. If it is to be admitted that they formed an area for horse races, of which the Romans are known to have been extravagantly fond, we may imagine that the sport here practiced consisted in horses running at liberty without riders between the banks; traces of such a race run in an enclosed s.p.a.ce may be found in the _Corso dei Barberi_, now practiced in the streets of Florence; {125} the Italians having in many instances preserved the original customs of the Romans. But the question must still hang in a balance whether the Raw d.y.k.es were the scene of Roman games, or

_The ma.s.sy mound, the rampart once_ _Of iron war in antient barbarous times_.

From the Infirmary, if the visitor wishes to close his walk, he may enter the town by the Hotel; if he feel inclined to extend it, he will find himself recompensed by the pleasure his eye may receive from a lengthened stroll up the public promenade, called the _New Walk_. This walk three quarters of a mile long, and twenty feet wide, was made by public subscription in 1785; the ground the gift of the corporation.

Following the ascent of the walk, we gain on the left a pleasing peep up a vale watered by the Soar, where the smooth green of the meadows is contrasted and broken by woody lines and formed into a picture by the church and village of Aylestone, and the distant tufted eminances decorated by the tower of Narborough. A little imagination might give the scene a trait of the picturesque, by placing among the meadows near Aylestone, the white tents and streaming banners of king Charles' camp, there pitched a few days before his attack on the garrison of Leicester; or it might advance the royal army a little nearer to its station in St.

Mary's field, from whence the batteries against the town were first opened. Still continuing to ascend, the walk affords along its curving line many stations from which the town with its churches appears in several pleasing points of view.

Returning by the London toll-gate if the traveller wishes to obtain a full view of a fine prospect, he will turn aside from the road, and mount the steps of one of the neighbouring mills. From such a station the cl.u.s.tered buildings of the town extend before the eye in full unbroken sweep; beyond it the grounds near Beaumont Leys varied in their tints by tufted hedge-rows, and streaky cultivated fields, blend into the grey softness overspreading those beautiful slopes of hill into which the eminences of Charnwood forest, Brown-rig, Hunter's hill, Bradgate park, Bardon and Markfield knoll, rise and fall. These hills, running from hence, in a northern direction compose the first part of the chain or ridge, that, from the easy irregularity and elegant line it here displays rises at length into the more grand and picturesque hills that form the peak of Derbys.h.i.+re. The abbey and the adjacent villages pleasingly vary the scene on the right, from whence it melts away into the blue distance of the neighbourhood of Melton, the north-east part of the county.

As we descend along the London road, watching the hills more and more hid by the town, the road bends into a curve, and here takes the name of Granby Street; many ranges of buildings having been here erected within the last fifteen years. Turning to the left, we again arrive at the town by the entrance into _Hotel Street_.

That ingenuity of improvement not only in the conveniences, but the recreations of life, which has lately advanced so rapidly as well in the provincial towns as in the capital, led the inhabitants of Leicester into a plan for the erection of new edifices appropriated to the purposes of public amus.e.m.e.nt. The considerable buildings, which in this place arrest the stranger's eye were accordingly erected by J. Johnson, Esq.

architect, on subscription shares.

The front of the

HOTEL,

which name it bears, having been originally designed for that purpose, may from the grandeur of its windows, its statues, ba.s.si relievi, and other decorations, be justly considered as the first modern architectural ornament of the town. Here a room, whose s.p.a.cious 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 b.a.l.l.s. Its coved ceiling is enriched with three circular paintings of Aurora, Urania, and Night, from the pencil of Reinagle, who has also graced the walls with paintings of dancing nymphs. Beside the eight beautiful l.u.s.tres, branches of lights are held by four statues from the designs of Bacon.

Uniting under the same roof, every convenience for the gratification of taste, and the amus.e.m.e.nt of the mind, a coffee room handsomely furnished and supplied with all the London papers, affords the gentlemen of the town and country as well as the stranger, to whom its door is open, an agreeable and commodious resort, while on the opposite side a s.p.a.cious bookseller's shop furnishes the literary enquirer with a series of all the new publications.

Adjoining the hotel, a small theatre built also by Mr. Johnson, neatly and commodiously fitted up, nearly on the plan of the London houses, furnishes the inhabitants of Leicester with a more complete display of the dramatic art than they had before enjoyed, and has been the means of gratifying them by the talents of several performers of the first rate excellence. The popular pieces of the London stage, are here every season represented in a manner pleasing to the town and honorable to the manager.

Proceeding thro' a street which now only nominally retains a trace of the monkish establishments that formerly occupied its ground, being called Friar Lane, we observe a charity school, for 35 boys and 30 girls, erected 1791, belonging to the parish of St. Martin. At the farther and less handsome end of this street is the Meeting House of the General Baptists. Pa.s.sing down the New Street, part of the scite of the monastery of the Grey Friars, we arrive at

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 of Henry the third, the date must be fixed between the two intervening centuries, and if the spire was built with the church not very early after the introduction of that ornament of our churches, as the handsome, solid form of St. Martin's bespeaks considerable practice and expertness in the art.

The church originally consisted only of a nave and two aisles; the south aisle, where the consistory court is held, which is formed by a range of gothic arches whose cl.u.s.tered columns unite strength with lightness, was added after the erection of the others. In contemplating the inside of this church, it is curious to draw a brief parallel between its present plain yet handsome appearance, and its catholic magnificence before the zeal of the reformation, justly excited, but intemperate in its direction, had, during its career against Romish absurdities destroyed almost every trace of ornament in our churches. And whilst we survey its present few decorations, its bra.s.s chandeliers depending from the elegant cieling of the nave, the beautiful oak corinthian pillars of its altar piece, which is ornamented with a picture of the ascension by Francesco Vanni, (the gift of Sir W. Skeffington Bart.) and its excellent organ, we can scarcely forbear lamenting the violence with which the magnificent range of steps was torn from its high altar, then hung with draperies of white damask and purple velvet.

Its two other altars, {135} its chapels of _our Lady_ and _St George_, one at the east, the other at the west end of the south broad aisle, were also destroyed; the sculptured figures that adorned the pulpit, the tabernacles, and brazen eagles demolished, and, as the parochial records testify, 20d. was paid for "cutting the images heads, and taking down the angels wings." In the succeeding century after this sacred structure had exhibited this scene of demolition, it became a theatre of war. Hither fled part of the Parliamentary garrison, after being driven by the royalists from their fortress in the Newark; making a citadel of a church, which, on the arrival of the enemy to storm the hold was polluted with the bleeding bodies of Englishmen slain by Englishmen, who pursued their victory by chacing the defeated into the Market-Place, where the stragglers were slaughtered.

From this anecdote of civil discord we are led to contemplate the more rationally excited bravery of the present times, by the sight of the old colours of the 17th or Leicesters.h.i.+re regiment of foot, which are suspended over the royal arms at the east end of nave. They were presented to the corporation by Lieut. Col. Stovin, of that regiment, and how much their intrepid defenders suffered in guarding them, may be known from their worn and tattered appearance.

As it is the most curious and useful branch of antiquarian research to read the manners and sentiments of an age in its public solemnities and pastimes, we will not leave the church without a wish for a better investigation of an obscure and singular custom, that antient carnival of Leicester, "_the riding the George_." The horse of this chivalrous saint, which, when the reformation had overthrown the monkish mummeries that so inconsistently blended religion with pastime, was sold for twelve pence, stood at the west end of the south aisle, harnessed in all the trappings of Romish splendor. Notice of the day appointed for this festivity was annually given by the master of St. George's Guild; sports of every variety animated the town, and that the jubilee, was, in the strictest sense _general_, is proved from the summons issued in the 17th of Edward the fourth, ordering _all_ the inhabitants to attend the mayor, to _ride the George_. Mention of the celebration is recorded so late as the 15th of Henry the eighth.

The stranger who is an admirer of sacred harmony will not pa.s.s without particular notice, the Organ of St. Martin's. A spirited subscription in 1774, furnished the church with this n.o.ble ornament. It was built by the celebrated Snetzler, and esteemed one of the best specimens of his art.

It has three sets of keys, from F in alt, to GG. The stops in the great organ are, the stopped diapason, two open diapasons, flute, and princ.i.p.al, trumpet and baffoon, all entire, the 12th, 15th, sesqui-altera, cornet and clarion. In the ch. organ, are two diapasons and princ.i.p.al. In the swell two diapasons, princ.i.p.al, hautboy and trumpet.

A range of antient stone building bounding the west side of the church yard is an hospital founded about the year 1516, by W. Wigston, Merchant of the staple at Calais, and mayor of Leicester, for 12 men and 12 women, their pay about 3s. weekly. It has a master and confrater. The Chapel has a large gothic window of painted gla.s.s.

On the north side of the hospital is a building called _the Town Library_, established 1632 by the corporation, at the motion of the then bishop of Lincoln. It consists of about 948 vols. chiefly the Latin cla.s.sics and historians, to which no modern additions whatever have been made.

The building adjoining the Library which is the hall formerly belonging to the guild or fraternity of St. George, which, together with the Corpus Chrisri guild, the princ.i.p.al establishment of that kind in the town, was founded in St. Martin's church, was purchased, on the dissolution of guilds and chantries by the corporation, and is the guild-hall of the borough. It is adorned with several portraits among which is that of Sir Thomas White, Kt. citizen and merchant Taylor of London, who among many magnificent charities, bequeathed 10,000l. in the trust of the corporation to be lent without interest in sums of 50l. and 40l. to every freeman of Leicester for the term of nine years; a charity of peculiar value as it affords a perpetual incitement to the exertions of rising industry.

The magistracy of Leicester is an inst.i.tution of great antiquity and respectability, being a corporation by prescription, dating its establishment from immemorial usage before its first charter in the reign of king John. It consists of 72 members; 24 aldermen, 48 common council men; the officers are a recorder, town-clerk, bailiff, and steward.

By forming cities and towns into corporations, and conferring on them the privileges of munic.i.p.al jurisdiction, the first check was given to the overwhelming evils of the feudal system; and under their influence freedom and independence began to peep forth from amid the rigours of slavery and the miseries of oppression.

To be free of any corporation was not then, as at present merely to enjoy some privileges in trade, or to exercise the right of voting on particular occasions, but it was to be exempt from the hards.h.i.+ps of feudal service; to have the right of disposing both of person and property, and to be governed by laws intended to promote the general good, and not to gratify the ambition and avarice of individuals. These laws, however rude and imperfect, tended to afford security to property and, encourage men to habits of industry. Thus commerce, with every ornamental and useful art, began first in corporate bodies, to animate society. But in those dark ages, force was necessary to defend the claims of industry; and such a force these munic.i.p.al societies possessed; for their towns were not only defended by walls and gates vigilantly guarded by the citizens, but oft-times at the head of their fellow freemen in arms, the mayor, aldermen, or other officers marched forth in firm array to a.s.sert their rights, defend their property and teach the proudest and most powerful baron that the humblest freeman was not to be injured with impunity. It was thus the commons learned and proved they were not objects of contempt; nay that they were beings of the same species as the greatest lords.

It is pleasingly curious to observe in these times the shadow of the semblance of this most useful military power preserved as at Leicester, in the array of a few of the poor men of Trinity hospital, clad in pieces of iron armour, attending the beadle while he proclaims a fair; nor is it less so to recollect that the feasts annually given by the mayor were once held in imitation of the rude hospitality of the Barons whose feasts not a little contributed to give a consequence to the commons of England, and to humanize the haughty chief by shewing him that respectability might belong to those who did not wield the sword, and that men might have dignity even tho' they had no pretensions to the glare of t.i.tles and the illusions of birth. Thus will the intelligent observer find, that corporate bodies were the true sources of law, liberty and civilization, and by rendering the occupation of trade respectable they may be deemed the first origin of that commerce which has rendered Great Britain the most powerful and most happy nation of the earth.

These few reflections we will suppose to have occupied the time during the short walk from St. Martin's church to the

MARKET-PLACE.

In this s.p.a.cious 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 acquaintance with the intelligent stranger, we beg he will accept a friendly adieu: and a wish, that as he quits the town thro' which we have conducted him, and which we have endeavoured to represent in a view not unworthy the attention of a mind that seeks for more than mere pa.s.sing ideas of amus.e.m.e.nt, he may not consider that time as prodigally spent which he has pa.s.sed in his WALK THROUGH LEICESTER.

APRIL, 1804

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 Nottinghams.h.i.+re, who exhibited it before Queen Elizabeth, but not meeting with that encouragement he so justly deserved, immediately left the country, and carried it to France, where he would have established it at Rouen, had it not been for the murder of the French king which prevented the execution of a grant of privilege and reward in favor of Mr. Lee and his art.

Soon after Mr. Lee died under great disappointment at Paris, and several of his workmen returning to London, laid the foundation of Stocking Weaving in this county. The manufactory has been gradually increasing, but within these last ten years has rapidly advanced to its present flouris.h.i.+ng state. The number of workmen employed in this branch is not less than 20,000 who produce from the raw material about 15,000 dozen per week.

* A full account of this manufactory, in all its branches, is preparing for the press, and will be published in the course of the summer.