Leigh's
Norman church (St. Edburga's) was built in 1100 by
Benedictine monks from
Pershore Abbey. It is listed by English heritage as a Grade I listed building.
Leigh Court Barn is the largest and one of the oldest
cruck framed barns in Britain. A mile to the south at Castle Green are the earthwork and buried remains of a medieval
motte and bailey castle. Enclosures of common lands caused riots at Leigh in 1778, where anti-enclosure rioters attacked the physical enclosure: Leigh was an
ancient parish in the
Pershore hundred of Worcestershire. The parish historically included Bransford, which was a
chapelry, having its own
chapel of ease. Parish functions under the
poor laws from the 17th century onwards were exercised separately for the chapelry of Bransford and the rest of Leigh parish. As such, Bransford became a separate civil parish in 1866 when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws. It remained a chapelry of Leigh parish for ecclesiastical purposes. From 1836, both Leigh and Bransford formed part of the
Martley Poor Law Union, created under the
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 to collectively deliver certain aspects of the poor laws, including the provision of a
workhouse to serve the area at
Martley. A local legend says the area is reputedly haunted by the ghost of a robber named Edmund Colles, who is said to appear in a
coach drawn by four fire-breathing horses. ==Governance==