and amenable to no court. A constable does all the offices of the place. Part of the manor here formerly belonged to the Earl of Radnor, in right of his Lady; and his lordship presented to the church of NETHER BROUGHTON, an adjoining rectory, "a patten and chalice of silver, of exquisite taste and design*.”

At FRISBY, a village, nearly in the middle of this hundred, is an ancient Stone Cross, with ornamental mouldings on the shaft, standing on three steps: and at a small distance from the town, at a place called Frisby Hags, is another shaft, on four circular steps, and known by the name of Stump Cross.

QUENBY, or Quenby-Hall, about seven miles north-east of Leicester, has been for many generations in the family of Ashby. Mr. Arthur Young gives the following account of this place, in his Eastern Tour:-" Quenby Hall is an old house; but what is very extraordinary, is an admirable structure, being on a very high eminence, finely wooded, that commands all the county: it was formerly the taste to place their seats in the lowest and most unpleasant situations of a whole estate. Mr. Shukbrugh Ashby, when he came to the estate, found the house a mere shell, much out of repair, and the offices in ruin. He has, in a few years, brought the whole into complete order; fitted up all the rooms in a style of great propriety; his furniture rich, and some of it magnificent -and his collection of prints an excellent one. His library superbly filled with the best and most expensive books, in several languages. Around the house is a new terrace, which commands a great variety of prospect; on one side very extensíve, over a distant hilly country, and even to the mountains of the Peak. On the other side a beautiful landscape of hanging hills, with scattered wood, shelving into a winding valley, so low that you look down upon it in a very picturesque manner; the sides of the hills all cut into rich inclosures."

* Nichols's History of Leicestershire, Vol. III. p. 256, where is an engraved representation of these two articles,

Quenby-Hall is a substantial, large, commodious, and venerable building, and consists of a centre, with a large lofty hall, and two side wings projecting from each front. The windows are large, and divided into several lights by perpendicular and horizontal stone mullions. The house and estate now belong to Mrs. Latham, relict of the late William Latham, Esq. F. R. S. and one of the coheiresses of the before-mentioned Mr. Shrukbrugh Ashby.

At LAUND, Launde, or Launde, a sequestered spot on the borders of Rutlandshire, was a Priory, founded in the reign of Henry the First, by Richard Basset, and Maud his wife, for black canons of the order of St. Augustin. This religious house was liberally endowed with several churches, and parcels of land, all which were confirmed to it by Henry the First; also again by his successor, and other monarchs. The site of the priory, with the manor, buildings, and lands, thereto belonging, were conveyed, after the dissolution, to Thomas Cromwell, whom Fuller quaintly calls" the scout master-general" in the act of dissolving the monasteries. This gentleman was created, by Henry the Eighth, Earl of Essex, and Lord High Chamberlain of England, and was particularly active in promoting the overthrow of the monks. In advising the king to marry Anne, daughter of the Duke of Cleves, and by zealously accelerating that union, he excited the enmity of the lustful, cruel monarch, who, in spite of the artfully bypocritical letter of Cromwell, ordered him to be beheaded on TowerHill, the 28th of July, 1540.

Though Cromwell and his emissaries, the commissioners, were very strict in securing the property and effects of the monasteries, yet they were often deceived and cheated, by the superior cunning and contrivances of the monks. This is particularly exemplified in the case of Laund Priory, as appears from the following letter, addressed by Mr. Smyth, owner of a neighbouring lordship, to his friend Francis Cave, dated Dec. 22, 1538.

My heartie commendacons to you premysed, this is to ad

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vertise you, that uppon Wenyday last I recevyd your letter; and syns the recypt thereof I have indevored myself to the best of my power according to theffecte therof. And as concerning the priory of Lawnd, I have caused too honest persons to viewe the demeynes of the same. And wheras the said demeynes, with Whatboro felde, were wont and accustemyd to kepe this tyme of the yere too thousand sheepe, or very nere, ther be at this daye scant fyve hundrede sheepe; of the wyche I suppose the one half of them be not the prior's. And wheras the said prior was accustymed to keppe uppon his comyues in Loddyngton feld fyve hundred sheepe, there is at this daye not one sheepe. And wheras the said prior was accustymed to have uppon his comyns in Frysby feld a flocke of sheepe, there is at this day none. And as concerning beyves, all fate beyves, except a very fewe for the house, be sold; and much of the stuf of household is conveyed away (wiche sheepe, beyves, and howshold stuf, was sold and conveyed before the last going of the prior to London, and in the tyme of his beyng ther): but syns hys comyng home I cannot lerne that he hath made aweye any catall, except certayn of the best milche kye he hade, and one bull, wiche I am informyd he cawsed to be conveyed, the first nyght that he came from London, to Loddington. And as concernyng the plate, the prior told me that he hade made hit away a good whyll agoo, to the intent to have redemyd his howse if it wold have been, except the juells, and plate of chirche, wiche I am informyd remayns styll. And as for his horses, he told me that he had gyven to dyvers of hys servaunts every of them a geldyng, so that I thinke there remayne but a fewe good. And as concerning lecis, I thyncke there be none letten out of the demeynes, except hit be tythes, wich I thyncke were grauntyd but upon condicons; as I suppose the partyes, if they be well examyned, will confesse. And as concerning Loddington, I understand there be dyvers lecis granted of certain clouses and of the mylls ther, wiche I thinck were lykewyse letten but upon condicons, wiche leases were grauntyd before the prior's going to London; but, as I am informyd, thei were not all delyvered tyll the prior's

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prior's comyng whom agayne. Syns the prior's return from London, I thyncke, ther were no leycis sealed. Notwithstanding I have perfect knowledge that the prior hathe bene sore in hand with his brether, syns his comyng whom, to have a leace sealyd of all his purchesed land in Alstyd and other townes adjoining for on of his kynnesmen; wherunto his brether wyll not agree as yet, becawse hit is unresonable as his brether report. This is all that I can seye at this tyme; but as I here, so shall I certyfy you. I trust I shall learn more agaynst the kyng's commyssioners com yng. As knowethe the Lorde, who kepe you. From Withcoke, the xxii day of December, by your loving brother, JOHN SMYTHE."

The house and estate at Laund belong to John Finch Simpson, Esq. just nominated sheriff of Leicestershire for the year 1808, who has made considerable alterations in the former, and in the adjoining plantations. The house has gables, with large bay windows, and attached to it is a small chapel. The lordship contains about 1400 acres, much of which is well wooded; and portions are let off to grazing and dairy farms. In this district a large quantity of Stilton cheese is annually made.

In the chapel at Laund are two distinct vaults, in one of which are deposited the body of Gregory Lord Cromwell, to whose memory there is a mural monument, stating, that he died the 4th day of July, 1551. The original burial-ground is still preserved, planted with trees, as an ornamental shrubbery, and is occasionally used for the interment of tenants of the lordship, and domestics belonging to the manor-house.

In LODINGTON, a small village adjoining Laund, is LODINGTON HALL, the seat of Campbell Morris, Esq. who inherits it from his father. The house is modern, and seated in a fine part of the county. Mr. Nichols describes Lodington as "one of the finest lordships of old inclosure in Leicestershire, and contains about 2000 acres; and a famous wood, called Reddish Wood. In the north-east corner of the lordship, in a field about a mile from the mansion

mansion house, (called the Conduit Close) is a remarkable buildding, consisting of a stone roof, which covers two wells, one a square, and the other round; the water stands about two feet deep in each, and is remarkably clear and pure. Hence the water was conveyed to the priory at Laund by leaden pipes, at the distance of a mile, through woodlands. It is situate about two miles from Houback, or Honbank Hill, in Tilton lordship, a place where there is supposed to have been a Roman station; several entrenchments being still perfectly visible to the south," &c. Part of the conduit has been removed. Near the church is a spring, the water of which possesses a strong petrifying quality.

In the large parish of Prestwould, is PRESTWOULD-HALL, the seat of Charles James Packe, Esq. It is a large modern mansion, standing in a fine park, and contains several good family portraits, by Vandyck, Sir P. Lely, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and Dahl. Among these are the following Portraits: Jane Shore, a good picture, and believed to be an original.-The Right Hon. Sir Christopher Packe, Lord Mayor of London, 1655; he is represented in the scarlet gown, black hood, gold chain, &c. of an Alderman.-Sir Gervase Clifton, of Clifton, Bart. He had seven wives, and died in 1668. Sir James Houblon, Knight, by Sir Godfrey Kneller. In the church at Prestwould is a monument of alabaster and touch, erected to the memory of Sir William Skipwith, of Cotes, Knight, and Lady Jane, his second wife. He died on the 3d of May, 1610. The above named Sir Christopher Packe, and several others of the family, were interred here, where their titles, ages, virtues, &c. are fully set forth in monumental inscriptions.

RADCLIFFE ON THE WREKE, is a village seated on the river Wreke, near the place where the ancient foss-road crossed it; and within the parish is a large tumulus, or mound of earth, measuring about 350 feet long by 120 feet broad, and forty feet in height. It is called Shipley Hill, and Dr. Stukeley attributes it to a Celtic origin, whilst Mr. Carte thinks it was raised as a mo

nument