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Harborough (Market) in Leicester County England History and GeographyHARBOROUGH (MARKET), a market town in the parish of BOWDEN-MAGNA, hundred of GARTREE, county of LEICESTER, 17 miles (N.) from Northampton, 15 (S.E. by S.) from Leicester, and 83 (N.W. by N.) from London, containing 1873 inhabitants. This town, in the ancient record called Testa de Nevil, is called Haverberg, from haver, a term still used in the northern counties to signify oats, and berg, a hill; which was afterwards converted into Haverbrowe, and Harborough. It is supposed to have been occupied by the Romans; a square intrenchment, probably the site of a camp, having formerly existed in a field called King's Head close, at a short distance from which Roman urns and other fragments of pottery have been discovered; and in one of the streets, a sewer, or drain, was found a few years ago, in which were traces of Roman masonry. During the civil war, this town was attached to the royal cause, and was the headquarters of the king's army prior to the memorable battle of Naseby, in Northamptonshire, in 1645. The royalists formed on the morning of battle on a hill north of the town; and Cromwell's letter to the Parliament, giving an account of the battle, is dated at Harborough. The town is situated on the southern border of the county, and on the northern bank of the river Welland, and consists of one principal street and several smaller. The buildings have been much improved of late years, and it is now well paved and lighted. In the principal street is a large town-hall, built in 1788, by the Earl of Harborough, for the use of the tammy dealers, but that branch of manufacture, as well as that of shalloons, &c., having become extinct, the under part has been converted into shops, and the upper is occupied by the magistrates for official purposes. The only remaining branch of manufacture is that of carpets. The market is on Thursday: fairs are held on January 6th, February 16th, April 29th, on the Tuesday after May 2nd, Tuesday after Mid-Lent Sunday, and July 31st, for cattle; on October 19th and eight following days, for cattle, cheese, leather, &c., on the Tuesday before November 22nd, and December 8th. The canal from Leicester passes by the town, near which it joins the Welland. The London road enters the town over a handsome stone bridge erected in 1814, at the joint expense of the counties of Leicester and Northampton. The petty sessions for the hundred of Gartree are held here occasionally; and a court leet and baron for the manor is also held, but at uncertain periods. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Leicester, and diocese of Lincoln, and in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ Church, Oxford. The church, which is dedicated to St. Dionysius, is a large, handsome, and uniform edifice, and ranks among the finest in the county: it consists of a nave, aisles, and a chancel, with two tiers of windows, two porches, and a tower, having an octangular crocketed spire: it is said to have been built by John of Gaunt, about the year 1370. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists. Here is a free grammar school, founded about 1614 by Robert Smith, a native of this place, and Chamberlain of London, who purchased of the lord mayor and commonalty an annuity of £ 10 per annum, to be paid to the master for teaching fifteen poor boys; and there is some additional endowment from subsequent benefactions, but the whole being insufficient for the support of a classical teacher, it has lately been converted into a National school, in which about one hundred boys are taught gratuitously. Harborough gives the titles of baron and earl to the family of Sherard. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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