Leece
{{Short description|Village in Cumbria, England}}
{{Distinguish|Lecce}}
{{about|the village|people|Leece (surname)|the museum in Peel, Isle of Man|Leece Museum}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| static_image_name = Moss House - geograph.org.uk - 210578.jpg
| static_image_width = 240
| static_image_caption = Moss House
| official_name = Leece
| country = England
| region = North West England
| os_grid_reference = SD242693
| coordinates = {{coord|54.114|-3.159|display=inline,title}}
| post_town = ULVERSTON
| postcode_area = LA
| postcode_district = LA12
| dial_code = 01229
| constituency_westminster = Barrow and Furness
| civil_parish = Aldingham
|unitary_england= Westmorland and Furness
|lieutenancy_england= Cumbria
| pushpin_map = United Kingdom South Lakeland
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in South Lakeland
}}
Leece is a village on the Furness peninsula in Cumbria, England, between the towns of Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness.
Amenities
The village{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/content/articles/2005/05/10/telling_lives_alison_bolt_the_end.shtml|title= The End|accessdate=2007-03-03 |last= Bolt|first= Alison|date= 2006-04-25|publisher= BBC}}{{cite book |last= Swain|first= Robert|title= Furness and Cartmel Peninsulas Photographic Memories|accessdate= 2007-03-19|publisher= The Francis Frith Collection|isbn= 1-85937-816-1|url=http://www.francisfrith.com/search/england/cumbria/leece/leece.htm}}. is built around a tarn and a village green, and Henry Armer & Son, a smithy established in 1914 that has since become an agricultural engineering business.{{cite web |url= http://www.henryarmer.co.uk/index.htm|title= Henry Armer and Son|publisher= Henry Armer & Son|accessdate=2007-03-03 }}
For parish council purposes, Leece belongs to Aldingham Parish Council.{{cite web|url=http://aldingham.org.uk/|title=Aldingham Parish Council}}
History
Historically part of Lancashire, the name Leece is probably from the Old English leah, which means 'woodland clearing', and the plural of which is Leas. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Lies, in the Manor of Hougun held by Earl Tostig.[http://www.explorelowfurness.co.uk/gleaston.htm Explore Low Furness] It appears later in 1269 as Lees.{{cite book |last= Mills|first= David|title= The Place Names of Lancashire|year= 1976|publisher= B. T Batsford|isbn= 0-7134-3248-9}}
Leece used to contain the United Methodist Free Church. It was founded in 1881, but closed in 1912. The building, which was taken down in the late 1920s, can still be seen on some photographs from the period. The church did not have a cemetery.{{cite web |url= http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Aldingham/LeeceUnitedMethodistFreeChurch.shtml
|title= United Methodist Free Church, Leece|accessdate=2007-05-22 |last= Stringer|first= Phil|date= 2007-02-14|publisher= GENUKI}} St. Matthew's Church, in the village of Dendron, built in 1642, also served the village, as both a church and a school. It was funded by Robert Dickinson, a citizen of London, who had formerly lived in Leece.{{cite web |url= http://www.explorelowfurness.co.uk/stmatthew.htm|title= St. Matthews Church, Dendron|accessdate=2007-05-22 |publisher= Explore Low Furness}}
In the 1990s and 2000s, Leece played a part in the Lady in the Lake murder trial. Gordon Park, a resident of Leece, bludgeoned his 30-year-old wife Carol to death with an ice axe, then dumped her body in Coniston Water, telling police investigating her disappearance that she had left their home for another man.{{cite news|first=Russell |last=Jackson |title=Justice for the Lady in the Lake as husband gets life for murder |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=110122005 |work=The Scotsman |date=2005-01-29 |accessdate=2007-01-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050428112620/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=110122005 |archivedate=2005-04-28 }}
Gallery
File:Leece postcard 1904.jpg|A postcard showing Leece, dated 1904. The tarn can be seen in the foreground, and the old Methodist church on the far right.
File:LeeceDuckPond.jpg|The Leece tarn in 2008.
See also
{{portal|Cumbria}}
Sources
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category|Leece}}
- [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/aldingham Cumbria County History Trust: Aldingham] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
- {{OpenDomesday|SD2469|another-leece|Leece}}
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