THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE LIBRARY: BEING A CLASSIFIED COLLECTION OF THE CHIEF CONTENTS OF THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE FROM 1731 TO 1868. EDITED BY GEORGE LAURENCE GOMME, F.S.A. ENGLISH TOPOGRAPHY, PART VII. (LEICESTERSHIRE-MONMOUTHSHIRE.) EDITED BY F. A. MILNE, M.A. LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1896. PREFACE. THIS HIS volume carries the topographical collections to Monmouthshire. The first county dealt with, Leicestershire, is rich in historical associations, but the notes therefrom which appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine were not so numerous as in the case of other counties. The civil wars of York and Lancaster, and of Charles I. and the Parliament, have left memorials in the county in the shape of battle-sites, and there seems no doubt that the relics found near Bosworth, at Husbands Bosworth, Sapcote and Enderby, are derived from one or other of these struggles. This county is the home of two ancient and powerful families, the Hastings and the Manners, and their influence and presence appear at different places. The notes on family history are, however, interesting rather than important. The occupation of the land before the great era of enclosures is illustrated in two different places, Sharnford and Stony Stanton, where, it appears, yeomen and little freeholders were the principal owners. The customs at Hinckley and at Radcliffe-upon-the-Wreke are additions to our information on this branch of history, the Easter Monday customs of the latter place being particularly interesting, equating more with Celtic than with typical English customs. Lincolnshire is more fully represented. The papers on the coatsof-arms in the churches of Stamford and its neighbourhood (pp. 81-86), and on the public buildings of Stamford (pp. 160-164), are valuable contributions to heraldry noted down in 1862-1864. It is a pity that such church records as these should not be systematically and carefully examined by local archæological societies and the chief particulars published for the use of students. It has often been pointed out, too, that much really important historical work could be accom |