Leigh, Essex

Description
Leigh, a small sea-port town and a parish in Essex. The town stands on a creek of the Thames, at the skirt of a bold steep hill, adjacent to the London, Tilbury, and Southend railway, on which it has a station, opposite Canvey Island, 3 miles W of Southend, and 5 SW by S of Rochford. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office (S.O.) Acreage of parish, 1547; population, 210 8. Leigh is an ancient place, mentioned in Domesday book; consists chiefly of one street, carries on a small coasting trade, and an important oyster, shrimp, mussel, and periwinkle fishery, and has a coastguard station, a church, and a Wesleyan chapel. The oyster fishery is conducted chiefly by the collecting of oysters on distant coasts, particularly the N coast of France, and by laying them down to grow and fatten on the sea-ground of the Leigh shore. The church stands on the hill behind the town, commands an extensive view of the Thames estuary, dates from the 14th century, is a building of Kentish ragstone in the Perpendicular style; consists of large nave, N aisle, and handsome chancel, with an ivy-clad tower, and has carved oak stalls, some brasses, and many interesting tombs and monuments both in the church and churchyard. Roman coins have been found. A stone obelisk known as " Crow Stone," about U mile E of the town, marks the limits of the jurisdiction of the conservators of the Thames. An anchorage, called The Ray, with 5 fathoms of water, lies off the town. The living is a rectory in the diocese of St Albans; gross value, £400, in the gift of the Bishop of St Albans. Bishop Eden was rector.