Leigh in 1817

Description from A Topographical History of Staffordshire by William Pitt (1817)

LEIGH.

Leigh is an extensive parish, containing five villages and hamlets. In the year 1811, this parish contained 181 houses, 184 families, 471 males, 466 females; total of inhabitants 937: and since that period there has not been a great increase of the population. The parish of Leigh is situated about four miles westward of Uttoxeter; the soil a good loam, and very fertile. The river Blithe, which passes through this parish, contributes much to its fertility. Lord Bagot is possessed of a considerable estate here, and Mr. Evans, of Derby, has a pleasant rural mansion and a considerable estate, with a plantation of fir trees. But the principal part of the land in this parish belongs to several independent free-holders, who have their farms in the highest state of cultivation.

Church Leigh, as the principal village is called by way of pre-eminence, contains several good houses, particularly the residence of the curate.

The Church is a very beautiful specimen of Gothic architecture, built of stone raised from a quarry in the neighbourhood. It is built in the form of a cross; the arched roof of the nave is supported by ten lofty arches, and massy columns, each indented in four divisions. The square tower, which rises in the centre of the edifice, is supported by four noble Gothic arches, twenty feet high. This has a very fine effect, which is much heightened by the admission of light from the two principal windows of the north and south aisles, through the body of the church. The chancel is large, with three windows on each side, and a large square window at the east end, adorned with paintings on glass. All the windows in the chancel are embellished with figures painted on glass, representing Apostles, Martyrs, and Bishops. There are no ornaments in the chancel: the communion table is of oak and plain, surrounded by a screen of carved wood.

The south aisle contains three monuments of the Ashenhurst family, and a very ancient altar tomb, with two figures in alabaster as large as life; one of a knight in armour, with his head resting on a helmet, and his, feet on a lion. His hands are raised in supplication. A female figure lies by his side, in a long robe; her head rests upon a pillow, and her hands are also raised as in prayer. This aisle, which is called Ashenhurst's aisle or chapel, is much disfigured by mortar, and pieces of broken forms and pews, insomuch that it is like a lumber-room.

The north aisle, which is called Wood's aisle, contains the tombs of the Woods, of Fole-hall, in this parish. Here is also a neat mural monument of white marble, in memory of William Harrison, of Over Tean, who died in the 84th year of his age.

A small board fastened to the wall, contains the following record, in black letter:
"In this church lieth the body of Thomas Harvie, late of Withington, who died and was buried the 28th of June, Anno Domini 1630. Who gave, by his will, 160 pounds to buy land, and the rent thereof to buy Medley cloth for ye poor of ye parish of Leigh yearly forever, with and for such uses as are more at large expressed in his will. Which was performed and done by his executors."

Another benefaction to the same purport, dated in 1641, provides 24 yards of Medley cloth yearly, to be given alternately, one year to six men to make coats, and another year to six women to make gowns. This Medley cloth, as it is called, was striped, and seems to have been fashionable in England in the time of Shakspeare for Jaques, in "As you Like it," exclaims, "Medley's the only wear." The benefaction of clothing is given yearly, but in plain cloth. Among other charitable legacies, is that of John Blurton, who, in 1743, bequeathed £6. 4s. to be given to the poor of the parish of Leigh, to purchase shoes at the rate of 3s. 9d. a-pair; and that sum is now given in money to each individual entitled to it. Mrs. Elizabeth Whitehall gave ten pounds per annum to the parish of Leigh for ever, "to set out two poor children apprentice."

The following curious caution to ringers is painted on a board, and attached to one of the columns in the church:
"If that to ring you do come here,
You must ring well with hand and ear
And if a bell you overthrow,
Fourpence is due before you go
And if you ring in spur or hat,
Two pots of ale are due for that;
And for a pledge to make it sure
Your hat shall be the forfeiture
Our laws are old, they are not new,
Therefore the clerk must have his due."

The Church is dedicated to All Saints, and is a rectory, under the patronage of Lord Bagot, whose brother, the Hon. and Rev. Richard Bagot is the present rector, and the Rev. Henry Thomas, curate. This benefice was formerly estimated at £300, but it is now, from the improved state of the parish, worth £700 a-year.

The parish of Leigh is extensive, and contains Church Leigh, the principal village; another hamlet called Lower Leigh, on the banks of the Blithe; Upper Leigh, which contains several farmhouses, and Park Hall, a mansion belonging to Walter Evans, Esq. of Derby; Dodsley, a hamlet of this parish, south of the Blythe; and Field, a village containing nine houses.

Church Leigh contains a handsome and commodious schoolhouse, originally founded and endowed by a Mr. Allen, for the instruction of boys who are the sons of parishioners. About 70 boys are instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic. They are admitted at eight or nine years of age, and continued till they are fit to be put apprentice to some trade, or to return home and assist their parents in the farm. The funds of this institution are now sufficiently ample, amounting to about £100 a-year. The old school-house was taken down, and the present enlarged building erected, in 1806.

Another free-school was founded by the beneficence of Mr. Walter Evans, of Derby, on his own estate here, for the instruction of 60 boys and girls or upwards, who are not the children of parishioners, yet reside in the parish of Leigh: and thus ample means for the education of the children of the poor are provided by the philanthropy of two individuals. The Hon. and Rev. Richard Bagot, the rector, supplies this latter free-school with books, paper, pens, etc.: and a Sunday-school for all the neighbouring children, is also opened weekly, at this institution; where from 80 to 100 children receive the benefit of sabbathical instruction.

As a proof of the fertility of the soil in this parish, it is recorded that in the year 1680, an elm was felled on the estate of Sir Harvey Bagot, near the village of Field, which produced the following quantity of timber: it contained 96 tons of solid timber, and 61 loads of firewood. Two able and experienced woodmen were employed five days in felling it. The height of this tree was 120 feet, and it was 25 1/2 feet in circumference in the middle. The workmen were obliged to put two saws together, and place three men at each end to cross-cut this tree, and the size seemed so incredibly enormous, that it was thought necessary to attest the particulars by the signature of Sir Harvey Bagot, the proprietor, and all the other persons who were eye-witnesses of the fact. Perhaps there would be little difficulty in finding even a larger tree in the vast wilds of America, but we have no record of any elm of equal growth being felled in Europe.