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Loughborough in Leicester County England History and GeographyLOUGHBOROUGH, a market town and parish in the western division of the hundred of GOSCOTE, county of LEICESTER, comprising the townships of Knight-Thorpe and Wood-Thorpe, and containing 7494 inhabitants, of which number, 7365 are in the town of Loughborough, 11 miles (N.) from Leicester, and 109 (N.W.) from London. The name is probably derived from Lough, a lake, or a large extent of meadow occasionally overflowed. The noble family of Despenser, anciently possessors of the manor, obtained the grant of a market and fairs for the town. In 1564, the assizes for the county were held here, on account of the plague raging at Leicester at that time. From its size and population this may be considered the second town in the county, and it was so reckoned three centuries ago: it is a great thoroughfare, being situated on the high road from London to Manchester. The buildings in general are of brick, and a great proportion of the houses is modern: plaster, which is made of alabaster obtained from the quarries of Burton on the Wold, is mostly used for the floors of the lodging-rooms. The streets are paved and partially lighted by subscription, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. A neat theatre has been recently built: there is likewise a subscription library. The manufactures comprise hosiery of all kinds, cotton goods, and bobbin net-lace, for which last article a patent was obtained by the manufacturer, and the machinery is worked here under his license, giving employment to nearly five hundred persons: the manufacture of what is termed patent fleecy hosiery is confined entirely to this town. The Loughborough canal, which communicates with the Union canal, the Leicester navigation, the river Soar, and the lime-works at Barrow hill, has been very beneficial to the town, and abundantly profitable to the proprietors: the shares, which originally cost but £120 each, are now worth about £4000. There are some quarries of slate in the neighbourhood. The market is on Thursday; and fairs are held February 14th, March 28th, April 25th, Holy Thursday, August 12th, and November 13th, for horses, cows, and sheep; March 24th and September 25th, for cheese; and November 14th is a statute fair for hiring servants. An ancient cross and the old market-house having been removed, the market-place is now open. The town is under the superintendence of a constable, headborough, meadow-reeves, and street-masters, all of them chosen at the annual court leet of the lord of the manor. A court baron is held annually, and the petty sessions for the hundred are held here weekly. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Leicester, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £40. 16. 3., and in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Emanuel College, Cambridge. The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is a handsome edifice, in the later style of English architecture, and has a fine tower, which was built by subscription towards the close of the sixteenth century. There are places of worship for General and Particular Baptists, Independents, the Society of Friends, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. The free grammar school is endowed with rents arising from lands originally hequeathed by Thomas Burton, in 1495, for the maintenance of a chantry in the parish church, but appropriated, at the Reformation, to the endowment of a free grammar school, the repair of certain public bridges in the parish, and in aid of parochial rates; these estates are called 'Burton's Trust,' and their present rental is about £1500 per annum: as a principal object in the expenditure is the repair of the roads and bridges, an officer is annually elected, under the name of bridgemaster, to superintend its execution. The school is open to all the children residing in the parish: it is entirely under the direction of the trustees, and consists of three establishments, under separate masters; namely, a Latin school, in which there are from fifteen to twenty scholars; a school in which reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught to about twenty-five boys; and a National school for two bundred and fifty more: the surplus of the annual income is appropriated by the trustees to charitable uses. Two exhibitions, of £30 each, to Emannel College, Cambridge, are attached to this institution: the school-house is a bandsome new building, erected near the churchyard. A free school for twenty girls was founded, in 1683, by means of a bequest from Bartholomew Hickling, and endowed with land; and, in 1717, Joseph Clark bequeathed land, directing the proceeds to be applied for the instruction of children. Varions benefactions have been made, at different periods, for apprenticing poor children, and for annual distribution to the poor. A public dispensary is supported by voluntary contributions. Dr. Richard Pulteney, a distinguished physician and writer on botany, was born here in 1730. Loughborough conferred the title of baron on Alexander Wedderburn, an eminent lawyer, who held the office of Lord High Chancellor, and who was subsequently created Earl of Rosslyn. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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