THE PROVINCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
LXXXIV.—CENTRAL ENGLAND: RUTLAND, LEICESTERSTURE, AND NOTTINGHAMSHIRE :-TI1E TOWNS (Continued).
MELTON-MOWBRAY, the capital of the Hunting world, is a small market town, situated in a valley on the banks of the river Eye or Wreak, sixteen miles north-east from Leicester. In old writings it is called Medeltune. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, the lordship of Melton, originally of very great extent, was in the possession of Leuric, son of Lenin, and was the chief of twenty-seven lordships which, after the Norman Con- quest, were bestowed on Geoffrey de 1Virce. It had even then obtained the privilege of a market, whence accrued an annual revenue of 20s. De Wirce was succeeded by Nigel de Albini, whose son Roger (say the genealogists) took by order of Henry II. the name of Mowbray, his father having succeeded to the property of Robert de Mowbray, deprived Earl of Northumber- land. This family, from whatever source they sprang, distin- guished themselves in the wars against the Saracens ; and William de Mowbray, third baron of that name, was one of the twenty- five Barons appointed conservators of Magna Charts in the reign of John. The family ultimately rose, it is well known, to the ducal rank, and through their heiress lifted the Howards to the same elevation. The lordship of Melton long continued in the Mow- bray family, but in the beginning of the seventeenth century we find it in the possession of Robert Hudson, citizen of London, and a
great benefactor to his native town of Melton. From him it. passed to the families of Coke and Lamb. Near the town there was a severe engagement (February 25, 1645) between the Cavaliers under Sir Marmaduke Langdale and the Parliamentarians under Colonel Rossiter. The church is "a cathedral in miniature," with a great mixture of style. "The beautiful porch at the west end, with its doorway and eight niches, is of the reign of Edward II. The west front, the lower stage of the tower, the four central piers and arches, and some remains of capitals are of the early English date." "Hunting is the chief employment of Melton during the season, although it is celebrated in a minor degree for its Stilton cheese and pork pies, upwards of two tons a week being sent away by rail." The population in 1861 was 4,047, a decided decline from that of 1851, which was 4,391.
Ashby-de-la-Zoneh—in old times called Aseabi or Esseby—is a thriving town in the north-western extremity of the county, seven- teen miles west north-west from Leicester, on the little river Memo, a feeder of the Trent. The town was formerly almost environed by three parks, called respectively Prestop, The Great, and The Little. it was once a Danish town, as we know by the termina- tion by. It gained its second appellation from the family of La Zouche, one of whom, Alan la Zouche, a Breton baron (claiming descent from the Earls of Britanny), married in the reign of Henry II. or Richard I. the heiress of the manor. At the time of the Domesday Survey the manor was held by Ivo under Hugo de Greutemeisnil. Soon after the Conqueror's time it was held by Robert Beaumeis. This Beaumeis or Belmeis family produced several eminent Churchmen, one of whom, Richard de Belmeis (Bishop of London from 1152 to 1162), founded the Abbey of Chichester. Philip de Belmeis, the last male of that family, gave to the Abbey of Lilleshull four yard-lands in Ashby, with his demesne lands there called Suartcliffe, and the advowson of the church. This Philip left only one daughter (some say sister) and heiress, Alice, married, as we have seen, to Alan la Zouche, whose father, Geoffrey, is said to have come over into England in the reign of Henry II. Henceforth the La Zouches ruled Ashby till 1314, when the direct male line terminated in daughters, and the manor passed to a collateral female line. In 1261 a market at Ashby on Saturdays had been granted to the then Lord la Zouche. The new line (which took the name of La Zouche) again termi- nated in 1399, when the manor (then held by knight's service of the Lords Beaumont) went to a female cousin, Joyce, the wife of Sir Hugh Burnell, who obtained the manor in her right ; but dying (after his wife) in 1420, and leaving only granddaughters, the manor seems to have been lost to the family, for we find it in 1460 forming part of the property of James Butler, fifth Earl of Ormonde, attainted and beheaded as a Lancastrian in 1460. In 1461 Edward IV. granted the manor to his Chamberlain and favourite, William Hastings, whom he raised to the Baronage, and who was executed by Richard III. in 1483. Ile obtained licence from Edward in 1474 to impark 3,000 acres of land and wood in Ashby-de-la-Zouch ; 2,000 acres of land and wood in Bagworth and Thornton ; and 2,000 more in Kirby, with the liberty of free warren within them all. He was also licensed to erect houses of lime and stone in each of these places. This Lord Hastings accordingly built "the greater part of the castle, on the south side of the town, now preserved from further decay by repairs." The principal portions remaining are the tower (all but the south side), to the summit of which there is a winding stair- case ; the chapel ; an upper room, containing a grand mantelpiece ; the great hall, the masonry of part of which is supposed to date from the reign of King John ; the kitchen tower, with the fire- place and chimney. The great tower has a sculptured fireplace in the top storey, and on the outside a canopy, within which are the Hastings' arms. To the east of the tower is the courtyard. The chapel, now roofless, was lighted by four beautiful decorated windows on each side. To the east of the castle is a triangular building, called the Mount House, which was connected with the kitchen tower by a subterranean passage." "About a mile to the west of the town is a small plain, which is sup- posed to have been the scene of the 'gentle passage of arms '" described by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of Ivan- hoe. This was the scene of many tournaments in the time of the possessors of the earlier castle, the one which Sir Walter has made famous being the most remarkable. The castle, as rebuilt by William Hastings, continued for above two centuries to be the chief place of residence for the family, who became Earls of Huntingdon under the Tudor dynasty, and through marriage the representatives of George, Duke of Clarence (Edward IV.'s brother). The property, in the eighteenth century, together with the barony of Hastings, became separated from the earldom, and has con-
tinned vested in female representatives,—Rawdon-Hastings, Earls of Moira and Marquesses of Hastings. In the Civil War of Charles I. Ashby Castle was held for the King, and besieged by the Parliamentary forces. It at length capitulated and was dismantled.
In 1805 a saline spring was discovered in the Moira coal mines, about three miles from Ashby ; and in 1820 the then Marquis of Hastings erected an extensive bath-house, called the Ivanhoe Baths, on the south side of the town, with a pump-room, Sm., supplied from the mines, and on these mineral waters and on the neighbour- ing coal mines the present prosperity of Ashby de In Zouch is built. Its population in 1861 was 3,772, an increase of 70 in 10 years. The old church is in the perpendicular style, and contains some curious memorials of the Hastings family. A branch canal of 30 miles in length connects the town with the line of the Coventry Canal.
Lutterworth is a small market town, thirteen miles south by west from Leicester, on the banks of the little river Swift, which soon afterwards joins the Avon. Henry V., in the second year of his reign, granted it a weekly market, with an annual fair. Sir Thomas Cave supposes that it formerly contained more houses than it did in the last century, and particularly notices Ely Gate as standing in a place called the Ely Lane. In the reign of King John a hospital was founded here by Roise de Verdon and Nicholas, her son, for one priest and six poor men, and "to keep hospitality for poor men travelling that way ;" and statutes (still preserved) were drawn up for the regulation of this hospital in 1310. Here Wick- liffe was rector from 1375 to 1384; and on his condemnation as a heretic by the Council of Constance in 1414, his bones were dug up and burnt, and the ashes thrown into the river Swift. Leland, in the reign of Henry VIII., describes the town as "scant half so big as Lughborow." He speaks of the hospital founded by the " Verdounes, that were lords of ancient time of the town. A good part of the lands of Verdouues," he continues, "become in pro- cess unto the Lord Marquis of Dorset. And all the lands and manors that the Lord Marquis of Dorset hath in that egge of Leicestershire or Warwickshire were 'longing some time to the Verdounes and Astleis." For a considerable period the inhabit- ants of Lutterworth continued subject to a monopoly ; being obliged to grind their malt at one particular mill, and their corn at another. This was enforced by a special official order in the reign of Charles I., 1631, and this decree recites that the monopoly was granted by King James to Edward Ferrers and Francis Phillips, gentlemen, and their heirs and assigns. This arbitrary order caused much litigation, till at last a person named Bickley, with more courage and resolution than his neighbours, erected a mill in opposition to the old ones. Other persons followed his example, and the monopolists contesting the right at law, the suit was decided in favour of the inhabitants in 1758, and the monopoly ceased. In 1790, Basil, Earl of Denbigh and Desmond, was lord of the manor, and proprietor of a considerable part of 1,400 acres that were then enclosed by Act of Parliament. The church— said to date from the year 1100—was thoroughly renovated in 1740; the pulpit is said by tradition to have been that from which Wickliffe preached. The town now derives its support partly from the ribbon trade, and partly from hosiery. The population, which in 1851 was 2,446, had sunk in 1861 to 2,289.
Market-Hal-borough is a quiet little agricultural town, 15 miles south south-east from Leicester, on the left bank of the river Wel- land, which here divides the two counties of Leicester and North- ampton. It must represent very nearly the site of some Roman station and cemetery of importance. On the east side of the town are plain traces of an ancient encampment, which from its form may be Roman, and near which, both east and west, Roman urns and pottery have been discovered ; and in the street of the town itself an ancient drain of Roman masonry was discovered a few feet below the surface. The Saxon town was formerly called Herberburr and Haverburyh, —and some have derived the name from the word haver, for which Dr. Johnson gives the meaning "oats." The
town has no lands belonging to it, which has given rise to the sayings, "A goose will eat all the grass that grows in Harborough field," and (as a threat for children), "I'll throw you into Harborough field." In the time of Queen Elizabeth a large manufactory of shoes for foreign trade was established here, and in later times the making of tammies, shalloons, &c., afforded occupation to mAny persons. At present the chief occupation is the preparation of
wool for carpets. A market for cattle and corn is held once a week, and there are two fairs during the year. The church is "a
fine building of the fourteenth century, with a lofty tower, and very beautiful broach spire, built entirely on the pyramidal prin- ciple from the bottom to the open. It is dedicated to St. Dionysius the Areopagite, and is supposed to have been founded by John of
Gaunt, as part of the penance enjoined by the Pope for maintain- ing his liaison with Katherine Swynford," the ancestress of the Beauforts. Market-Harborough seems to have been the head- quarters of the Royal Army immediately before the battle- of Naseby. Its population in 1851 was 2,325; and in 1861, 2,302. There is a free school, as well as British and National schools.
Market-Bosworth, a little town 13 miles west from Leicester, is pleasantly situated on an eminence in the centre of a very fertile district. It is only remarkable in history for the decisive battle fought on a plain commencing about a mile south of the town, on the 22nd of August, 1485, the result of which placed the House of Tudor on the throne of England. On the slope of the hill near Stoke Golding, the victorious Richmond is said to have been crowned by Lord Stanley with the battered circlet of gold which Richard had worn. A well on the field of battle is called King Richard's Well, from a tradition that he refreshed himself there. There is also a spot known as Dickon's Nook, which has probably superior claims to historical association with King Richard. The town itself has been for a long time under the patronage of the Dixie family, whose seat is close by, and one of whom founded a free school here in 1536, in which the celebrated Greek scholar Richard Dawes, and Salt, the Abyssinian traveller, were educated, and where Dr. Johnson was an usher for a short time. The church is a handsome building of the fourteenth century, in the perpendicular style, and was restored in 1845. The town is occupied with the hosiery trade, and par- ticularly with that of worsted stockings. The Ashby Canal passes within a mile of the town. There is a weekly market, chiefly for corn, and two annual cattle fairs. The population of the township in 1851 was 1,058, and in 1861 it had sunk to 997.
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