Great Leighs the nearby Leez Priory, and Great Leigh's church. At The Castle, various references can be read on the walls that tell more of the history. Local folklore also tells that the inn is haunted by the troubled spirit of a witch burned at the stake and buried beneath a stone at the nearby crossroads. In December 2009, a £730,000 project to renovate the Village Hall was completed. It was aided by money associated with a new housing development within the village, extensive fund raising and help from funding bodies and Essex County Council. The incumbent priest during the First World
Hawthorne Race Course Hawthorne Race Course Hawthorne Race Course is a racetrack for horse racing in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago. The oldest continually run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America. Of the top ten, Hawthorne was ranked No. 8. In 1890, Edward Corrigan, a Chicago businessman who owned the 1890 Kentucky Derby winner, Riley (by Longfellow), bought of land in Cicero and started constructing a grandstand for a new racecourse. His track opened in 1891 with a five-race card including the featured Chicago Derby. In