Leicestershire

Leicestershire is an East Midlands ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in England. North Nottinghamshire, North Lincolnshire, East Rutland, South Northamptonshire, West Warwickshire, West Staffordshire, and North West Derbyshire are its neighbors. Watling Street, now known as the A5, serves as a de facto border with much of the county of Warwickshire.

Leicester is the county seat of Leicestershire, however the city of Leicester is officially considered to be part of the county itself. More over half of the ceremonial county's population (2016) lives in the Leicester Urban Area, despite the fact that the non-metropolitan county alone only has a little over a million residents.

History

The county of Leicestershire is divided into four wapentakes in the Domesday Book: Guthlaxton, Framland, Goscote, and Gartree. In time, these dozens grew into hundreds when Goscote was split into West and East Goscote, and the Sparkenhoe hundred was established. It was as Laegrecastrescir in 1087 when the name was first used in writing.

Since the Domesday Survey, there has been very little alteration to Leicestershire's frontiers. Little Bowden, formerly in Northamptonshire, has been annexed by Market Harborough due to urban expansion, and the Measham-Donisthorpe exclave of Derbyshire has been swapped for the Netherseal region.

Leicester city and neighboring Rutland lost their status as county boroughs and counties, respectively, under the Local Government Act of 1972, becoming instead administrative districts of Leicestershire. On April 1, 1997, the county of Rutland and the city of Leicester reverted back to a single administrative unit

Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Leicester City Football Club both use the fox as their mascot. Fox hunting as we know it now is thought to have originated in Leicestershire. Hugo Meynell, a native of Quorn, is widely regarded as the sport's founding father. Historically, fox hunting has been popular in the areas surrounding Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough in Leicestershire and the neighboring county of Rutland.

In July of 2021, Leicestershire became the last of England's historic counties to get a flag officially registered. There are two emblems of Leicestershire, the fox and the cinquefoil, on the new flag.

Geography

Although the River Avon and River Welland through Harborough and along the county's southern limits are significant, the River Soar and its tributaries and canalisations make up the major river basin of the county. The Soar begins its journey in the south of the county at the Warwickshire boundary between Hinckley and Lutterworth. It then runs north through "Greater" Leicester and finally exits the county to the east of Loughborough. About 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) further north, it joins the River Trent at the tripoint of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire, marking the boundary with Nottinghamshire in the Borough of Rushcliffe.

You can find the exact geographic center of England at the southwest corner of Leicestershire, in the town of Fenny Drayton. Although Meriden, located about 10 miles (16 km) to the southwest, has been considered the traditional center for more than 500 years, the Ordnance Survey determined in 2013 that the point was on land at Lindley Hall Farm.

Much of the county's northwestern corner, around Coalville, has just been incorporated into the new National Forest area that spans neighboring counties of Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Bardon Hill, the county's highest point at 278 m (912 ft),[4] is also a Marilyn; further hilly/upland areas of c. 150–200 m (490–660 ft) and higher can be found in the surrounding Charnwood Forest, as well as in the east of the county around Launde Abbey. The northernmost point of the county lies in Bottesford, where the River Devon flows out of Leicestershire into neighboring Nottinghamshire through the Vale of Belvoir at an elevation of roughly 20 meters (66 feet) above sea level. As a result, the average elevation is 148.75 meters and the altitude difference, A|vertical, is about 257.5 meters (845 feet) (488.0 ft).

Economy

Leicestershire's economy has traditionally relied heavily on the engineering industry. The work of John Taylor Bellfounders carries on a tradition that dates back to the 14th century in Loughborough. "Great Paul," the largest bell ever made in Britain, was cast by John Taylors in 1881 for London's St. Paul's Cathedral. Since 1825, Norman & Underwood has been producing sand cast sheet lead roofing and stained glass for many of England's most important cathedrals and historic structures, such as Salisbury Cathedral, Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court Palace, and Chatsworth House. From the 1820s to the 1980s, three coal mines provided employment in the town of Coalville. The Abbey Pumping Station is home to four massive steam driven beam engines that were manufactured in Leicester in the 1890s at the Vulcan factory owned by Josiah Gimson, whose son Ernest Gimson was a prominent furniture designer and architect of the English arts and crafts movement.

Metalfacture Ltd (sheet metal work), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment), Trelleborg Industrial AVS in Beaumont Leys (industrial suspension components), Parker Plant (quarrying equipment), and Jones & Shipman (machine tools) are just a few of the modern engineering companies in the area. Apprenticeship programs with local businesses and academic-industrial ties to the engineering departments at Leicester University, De Montfort University, and Loughborough University all contribute to the region's dedication to training the next generation of British engineers.

At Loughborough University, you'll find both the Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies and the Systems Engineering Innovation Centre. Companies like PERA, a technology consultancy near Melton Mowbray, and MIRA, an automotive R&D center on the outskirts of Hinckley, are examples of private sector R&D organizations. Mallory Park and Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and proving ground are used by automotive and aerospace professionals for testing purposes. After 10 years of rehabilitation at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome by aerospace experts from the Vulcan Operating Company, the final airworthy Avro Vulcan was flown on October 18, 2007.

Farming

Livestock farming has a long and storied history in Leicestershire, and it still thrives today. Dishley, England's Robert Bakewell (1725-1795) was a pioneer in the art of selective breeding. Farmers all around the British Empire cherished Bakewell's Leicester Longwool sheep, and today, the breed is revered as a historic treasure. A number of commercial and uncommon sheep breeds can trace their ancestry back to Bakewell's sheep, including the English Leicester, Border Leicester, Bluefaced Leicester, Scotch mule, and Welsh halfbreed.

Leicestershire's annual county show features livestock competitions, commercial exhibits, and show jumping on the first May bank holiday weekend. The Melton Mowbray Market is a significant hub for livestock traders in the surrounding area.

Leicestershire is home to many stables, kennels, and gunsmiths since field sports are vital to the county's rural economy.

Clothing

The sheep on the county of Leicester and Leicestershire's coat of arms is a nod to the longstanding knitwear, hosiery, and footwear industries that have thrived there. The local manufacturing industry, which began with hand knitting in the Middle Ages and was fully industrialized by the end of the 19th century, survived until the end of the 20th century thanks to retailers buying UK-sourced products and government measures like the protection of the Multi Fibre Arrangement, which ended in 2004. Much of the inexpensive clothes manufacturing industry was put out of business by a combination of increased worldwide competition and the 1999 decline in the UK fashion retail sector. Leicestershire businesses now specialize in producing high-end apparel and niche textiles. Pantherella is one such company; they produce socks in their Hallaton Street facility just off Saffron Lane, and then sell them to upscale retailers like Harrods, Selfridges, John Lewis, and Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively.