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Charley, or Chorley

CHARLEY, or Chorley, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Loughborough, hundred of West Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 4¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Loughborough; containing 53 inhabitants. The ancient forest of Charley, or Charnwood, twenty miles in circuit, was disafforested soon after the Conquest; its privileges were restored by Henry II., but finally abolished by Henry III. The liberty lies in the heart of the forest, and chiefly in the romantic vale of a rivulet: the area is about 500 acres; the soil on the south side is light, in the middle rather stiff, but, all considered, good useful land. The Hall is a plain brick building, with pleasant grounds. A society of eremites, of the order of St. Augustine, settled here in the reign of Henry II., by the favour of Robert Blanchmains, Earl of Leicester; but in the time of Edward II. it was united to one at Ulverscroft, where a priory of Regular canons, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, continued until the Dissolution, when its revenue was estimated at £101. 3. 10.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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