•  Laxey, the Isle of Man

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Laxey like this:

LAXEY, a village, a bay, a headland, a rivulet, and a vale in Kirk-Lonan parish, Isle of Man. The village stands at the mouth of the rivulet and the vale, on the N horn of the bay, 7½ miles NE by N of Douglas; and has a post office ‡ under Douglas, Isle of Man, . a church, and a good inn. ...

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The church is served by a p. curate, appointed by the bishop of Sodor and Man, and receiving £90 of salary. The bay measures fully 2 miles across the entrance, but less than 1 from the entrance line to the head; and lies all exposed to the E. The headland screens the N side of the bay, and terminates a descent of about a mile south-eastward from the summit of Slieu-Ree, which has an altitude of 840 feet. The rivulet rises in two headstreams on Slieu-Choar and Snae-Fell; runs about 4 miles south-eastward to the bay at the village; abounded formerly with salmon; but since about 1810 has suffered great damage to its fishery by washings into it from lead and copper mines. The vale, traversed by the rivulet, is very beautiful, and forms a favourable specimen of Manx scenery The mines are situated on the left side of the vale, about a mile N of the village; have been worked upwards of 300 years; have reached a depth of more than 200 fathoms; employ about 300 hands; and produce about 80 tons of lead ore, 115 lbs. of silver, 30 tons of copper, and upwards of 200 tons of blende, per month. A cairn, called King Orry's Grave, and traditionally said to contain the remains of the reputed royal founder of the House of Keys, is on a hill side a little N of the village; and an old cross is about ¾ of a mile up the vale, at the opening of Glen Roy.

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