Landlords, legends, census records, and lost taverns.
LEIGHS (GREAT)
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales...., by John Marius Wilson. circa 1866
LEIGHS (GREAT), a village and a parish in Chelmsford district, Essex. The village stands on the river Ter, 6¼ miles NE by N of Chelmsford r. station; and has a post-office under Chelmsford. The parish contains also the hamlet of Chatley, and comprises 3,125 acres. Rated property, £3,353. Pop., 909. Houses, 189. The property is much subdivided. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £878. Patron, Lincoln College, Oxford. The church is very ancient, in tolerable condition; and has a Norman door and window, and a round tower of stone and flint. There are an Independent chapel, a national school, a British school, and charities £30.
LEIGHS (LITTLE), a parish in Chelmsford district, Essex; on the river Ter, 5 miles SW of Braintree r. station, and 7 NNE of Chelmsford. Post-town, Great Leighs, under Chelmsford. Acres, 1080. Real property, £2,156. Pop., 171. Houses, 33. The property is divided among a few. A priory of Black canons was founded here in the time of Henry III., by Ralph de Gernon; was given, at the dissolution, to Sir Richard Rich; was converted by him into a splendid mansion; passed to the Duke of Buckingham; belongs now to Guy's hospital; and has left extensive and interesting remains. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £400 Patron, the Rev. John C. Green. The church is a small building with a wooden spire.
Transcribed by Noel Clark