Leicestershire ~ England

The county of Leicestershire is situated in the central midlands of England and is famous as the home of Stilton Cheese and Melton Mowbray Pies. It covers an area of almost 1000 square miles and has the City of Leicester as its county town. It was first recorded in the mid 11th century as Laegrecastrescir and the name is believed to stem from the Latin title 'Fort on the river Leire'. At the time of the Norman Conquest it was simply a combination of four smaller administrative areas Guthlaxton, Framland, Goscote and Gartree, known as 'hundreds'. It shares borders with the counties of Lincolnshire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire. Leicester has always been an agricultural area, famed for its pastureland and the quality of its pigs, sheep and horses. The lush grasslands have also produced some of the best fox hunting country in the United Kingdom and this fact has attracted many wealthy families to purchase estates in the area - more for the foxes than the farming, and to build some of the finest country houses to be seen anywhere. The county has had a somewhat torrid history; Simon de Montfort was the first Earl of Leicester and successfully defeated Henry III during an uprising in the 13th-century. Some other important battles have been fought within Leicestershire's boundaries during all of England's civil wars. A notable example is the site of the battle of Bosworth Field during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century when on 22 August 1485, King Richard III, the last of the Plantagenets was defeated and killed by the troops of Henry Tudor, later to become the first of the Tudor monarchs - King Henry VII. The county also contains some important buildings such as Belvoir Castle, traditional seat of the Dukes of Rutland.

Geography

Apart from Leicester, the other major towns in the county are Loughborough, Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough. The rivers Soar and Wreake are its major waterways and the county is traversed by the (now somewhat derelict) Ashby Canal, and the Grand Union Canal to the south, built for the transportation of coal mined from the extensive coalfields under the Vale of Belvoir in the North West around the town of Coalville. This area now also forms part of the new national forest. As may be expected from such an important agricultural area, the county landscape is dominated by rich pastureland and small attractive towns built around the farming communities. Charnwood Forest and the massive Rutland Water resevoir are two other major natural features within the county.

Industry

Historically, Leicestershire has been noted for its hosiery industry following the introduction of framework knitting from nearby Nottingham in the 16th century. This is still of importance, although changes in global trade has seen major declines. Likewise the production of coal - once a major factor in the economy of the county, has become of lesser importance since the closures of the 1980s. Today Leicestershire relies heavily on its agricultural especially its dairy produce and pork, and its service industry of which Leicester is the main centre. Tourism also plays an increasingly vital part in the county.

Cities, towns and villages within Leicestershire