LEICESTER  , a municipal

county and parliamentary borough, and the county town of Leicestershire, England; on the river Soar, a southern tributary of the Trent . Pop . (1891) 174,624, (1901) 211,579 . It is 99 M . N.N.W. from London by the Midland railway, and is served by the Great Central and branches of the Great Northern and London and North-Western railways, and by the Leicester canal . This was the Roman Ratae (Ratae Coritanorum), and Roman remains of high interest are preserved . They include a portion of Roman masonry known as the Jewry Wall; several pavements have been unearthed; and in the museum, among other remains, is a milestone from the Fosse Way, marking a distance of 2 M. from Ratae . St Nicholas church is a good example of early Norman work, in the building of which Roman bricks are used . St Mary de Castro church, with Norman remains, including sedilia, shows rich Early English work in the tower and elsewhere, and has a Decorated spire and later additions . All Saints church has Norman remains . St Martin's is mainly Early English, a fine cruciform structure . St Margaret's, with Early English nave, has extensive additions of beautiful Perpendicular workmanship .

North of the town are slight remains of an

abbey of Black Canons founded in 1143 . There are a number of modern churches . Of the Castle there are parts of the Norman hall, modernized, two gateways and other remains, together with the artificial Mount on which the keep stood . The following public buildings and institutions may be mentioned—municipal buildings (1876), old town hall, formerly the gild-hall of Corpus Christi; market house, free library, opera house and other theatres and museum . The free library has several branches; there are also a valuable old library founded in the 17th century, a permanent library and a literary and philosophical society . Among several hospitals are Trinity hospital, founded in 1331 by Henry Plantagenet, earl of Lancaster and of Leicester, and Wyggeston's hospital (1513) . The Wyggeston schools and Queen Elizabeth's grammar school are amalgamated, and include high schools for boys and girls; there are also Newton's greencoat school for boys, and municipal technical and art schools . A memorial clock tower was erected in 1868 to Simon de Montfort and other historical figures connected with the town . The Abbey Park is a beautiful pleasure ground; there are also Victoria Park, St Margaret's Pasture and other grounds . The staple trade is hosiery, an old-established industry; there are also manufactures of elastic webbing, cotton and lace, iron-works, maltings and brick-works . Leicester became a county borough in 1888. and the bounds were extended and constituted one civil parish in 1892 . It is a suffragan bishopric in the diocese of Peterborough .

The parliamentary borough returns two members .

Area, 8586 acres . The Romano-British town of Ratae Coritanorum, on the Fosse Way, was a municipality in A.O . 120-121 . Its importance, both commercial and military, was considerable, as is attested by the many remains found here . Leicester (Ledecestre, Legecestria, Leyrcestria) was called a " burh " in 918, and a city in Domesday . Until 874 it was the seat of a bishopric . In ro86 both the king and 'Hugh de Grantmesnil had much land in Leicester; by 1101 the latter's share had passed to Robert of Meulan, to whom the rest of the town belonged before his death . Leicester thus became the largest mesne borough . Between 1103 and 1118 Robert granted his first charter to the burgesses, confirming their merchant gild . The portmanmote was confirmed by his son . In the 13th century the town developed its own form of government by a mayor and 24 jurats .

In 1464

Edward IV. made the mayor and 4 of the council justices of the peace . In 1489 Henry VII. added 48 burgesses to the council for certain purposes, and made it a close body; he granted another charter in 1505 . In 1589 Elizabeth incorporated the town, and gave another charter in 1599 . James I. granted charters in 16o5 and 161o; and Charles I. in 163o . In 1684 the charterswere surrendered; a new one granted by James II. was rescinded by proclamation in 1688 . Leicester has been represented in parliament by two members since 1295 . It has had a prescriptive market since the 13th century, now held on Wednesday and Saturday . Before 1228-1229 the burgesses had a fair from July 31 to August 14; changes were made in its date, which was fixed in 1360 at September 26 to October 2 . It is now held on the second Thursday in October and three following days . In 1473 another fair was granted on April 27 to May 4 . It is now held on the second Thursday in May and the three following days . Henry VIII. granted two three-day fairs beginning on December 8 and June 26; the first is now held on the second Friday in December; the second was held in 1888 on the last Tuesday in June .

In 1307 Edward III. granted a fair for seventeen days after the feast of the

Holy Trinity . This would fall in May or June, and may have merged in other fairs . In 1794 the corporation sanctioned fairs on January 4, June 1, August 1, September 13 and November 2 . Other fairs are now held on the second Fridays in March and July and the Saturdays next before Easter and in Easter week . Leicester has been a centre for brewing and the manufacture of woollen goods since the 13th century . Knitting frames for hosiery were introduced about 1680 . Boot manufacture became important in the 19th century . See Victoria County History, Leicester; M . Bateson, Records of Borough of Leicester (Cambridge, 1899) .