HINCKLEY, is a town of England, in Leicestershire, situated near the borders of Warwickshire. The town is divided into the Borough and the Bond without the liber ties. The limits of the borough were formerly those of the town, which has been extended by the successive addi tion of four streets, the Bond End, the Castle End, the Stocken Head, and the Duck Puddle. The parish church is a neat large structure, with a modern built spire, erected in 1788, on the old tower. The body of the church seems to have been built about the I Sth century. Its lens7th, from the chancel to the west door, is 66 feet, and its width near the chancel about 80 feet. There arc three other places of worship, and a Roman Catholic chapel. The town-hall, school-house, and ball-house, are very curious, but in a ruinous state.
Hinckley was once of much greater extent, and was encircled with a wall and deep ditch, traces of which are still to be seen. The part called the Jewry-wall is said to have been part of the temple of Janus. There is near the river a mount, supposed to have been a Roman fortifica tion ; and near the church are the ruins of a bath, with three mineral springs. Tesselatcd pavements, and other
Roman antiquities, have been discovered here. This town is said to form the middle of the highest ground of Eng land, and commands a view of no fewer than fifty churches. Its principal manufacture is that of coarse stockings of cotton, thread, and worsted. A larger quantity of stock ings is supposed to be made here than in any town in Eng land. The number of frames in the town and neighbour hood is computed at 1200, which give employment to nearly 3000 persons. The town is likewise noted for the goodness of its ale.
In 1811, the parish of Hinckley, including Dadlington and Stoke Golding, contained Inhabited houses 1097 Families .• • 1224 Do. employed in trade and manufactures . 1010 Males 2872 Females . 3186 Total population 6058 See Nichol's History of Hinckley ; and the Beauties of England and Wales, vol. ix. p. 473.