120-527: Gonerby Hill Foot is a suburb of Grantham in South Kesteven in Lincolnshire , England. It is directly to the northwest of Grantham and near the border with Great Gonerby . It was first recorded in 1703, when it was initially nothing more than a hill between Grantham and Great Gonerby with mounting blocks for travelers between the two settlements. It later grew into a suburb of the town with
240-527: A Beaker pot, Beaker pottery sherds, cinerary urns and a food vessel, and a later cemetery at Belton Lane, but there is little direct evidence of Bronze Age settlement in the area of the modern town. Little is known about it in the Iron Age , though ditched enclosures and a field system of this date are known to lie off Gorse Lane. Various Romano-British coins and pottery finds have emerged in Grantham;
360-461: A Royal Flying Corps establishment. It was the first military airfield in Lincolnshire. It has never been an operational fighter or bomber base; although it did see operational service during the 1943 invasion of Europe as a base for American and Polish gliders and parachutists. It officially closed in 1974. The Women's Royal Air Force had been there from 1960 until closure. (as RAF Wilmslow
480-500: A caterpillar track for a machine using Hornsby's oil engines ; these engines were developed by Yorkshireman Herbert Akroyd Stuart , from which compression-ignition principle the diesel engine evolved, being manufactured in Grantham from 8 July 1892. Although such engines were not wholly compression-ignition derived, in 1892 a prototype high-pressure version was built at Hornsby's, developed by Thomas Henry Barton OBE – later to found Nottingham's Barton Transport – whereby ignition
600-464: A th phoneme). This was already becoming common in 1920, and the later pronunciation is now the norm. Grantham is a town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire , a non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands of England. Until 1974 it was a borough , but it is now unparished and bounded by the civil parishes of Great Gonerby to the north-west, Belton and Manthorpe to
720-567: A 21-year lease on the theatre in 1800. Westgate Hall , which was commissioned as the local corn exchange , was completed in 1852. The town developed when the railway came. The Nottingham Line ( LNER ) arrived first in 1850, then the London line ( GNR ) – the Towns Line from Peterborough to Retford – arrived in 1852. The Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway arrived in 1857. Gas lighting appeared in 1833. The corporation became
840-451: A 21st-century estate centred on Hudson Way, post-war social housing at Walton Gardens, post-war housing Denton Avenue, and late-20th-century developments at Harris Way. The British Isles experience a temperate, maritime climate with warm summers and cool winters. Data from the weather station nearest to Grantham, at Cranwell, 10 miles (16 km) away, shows an average daily mean temperature of 9.8 °C (49.6 °F) fluctuates from
960-427: A 7-mile (11 km) new cut to eliminate the "prodigious meandering course" of the channel above Boston. Although the estimated cost of £16,200 dissuaded the landowners from taking action at the time, the report formed the basis for improvements in the 1760s. Following meetings of Landowners held in 1752 and 1753, they asked John Grundy Jr, as his father had died in 1748, to re-evaluate his plans from 1744 and consider
1080-484: A borough council in 1835. Little Gonerby and Spittlegate were added to the borough in 1879. The town had been in the wapentake of Loveden and included three townships of Manthorpe with Little Gonerby, Harrowby and Spittlegate with Houghton and Walton. Grantham Golf Club, now defunct, was founded in 1894 and continued until the onset of the Second World War. Until the 1970s, the housing estates west of
1200-572: A burial and pottery from the 2nd century AD were uncovered off Trent Road in 1981. Small settlements or farmsteads from the period have been discerned on the hills overlooking Grantham from the east, and another has been found in Barrowby. There were probably Romano-British farmsteads on the site of the modern town, but the wet soils round the Mowbeck and flooding by the Witham probably made it hard for
1320-645: A centre for the collection of business taxes, but this came at the cost of maintaining the waterways, and having finally decided it was too large a cost, James I presented the Fossdyke to the City of Lincoln . The Witham originally flowed into The Wash at Bicker Haven , where the port of Drayton was established in the Welland estuary, and it was only as a result of massive flooding in 1014 that it diverted itself to flow into The Haven at Boston . This gave rise to
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#17328019954361440-533: A combination of two rivers, with the upper river originally emptying into Brayford Mere, to the west of Lincoln, and draining along the course of the Fossdyke , while the Langworth River emptied into another mere to the east of Lincoln, located between Washingborough and Chapel Hill. From there, the water flowed along a tidal creek to reach the sea. There was a ridge of high ground between the two meres, and
1560-606: A dominant aspect of the town's economy. Other industries also existed during the Middle Ages; there is evidence of wine trading, brewing , parchment making, weaving and other trades and crafts. The bridging of the River Trent at Newark by the late 12th century realigned the Great North Road so that it passed through Grantham, bringing traffic to the town as an important stopping place and leading to
1680-606: A fixed income for the proprietors. They would then merge with the London and York Railway. Both proposals had been absorbed into the Great Northern Railway (GNR) by the time an Act of Parliament was obtained, but the original agreement was retained, and the GNR leased the Witham for 999 years for a payment of £10,545 per year to the proprietors. This figure represented the average profits for the previous three years, plus five per cent. The railway company also agreed to pay
1800-527: A former site of Hornsbys, naming it the Invicta works, from the motto on the coat of arms of Kent , which translates as "unconquered"; all Aveling & Porter machinery was brought from Kent by rail. During the 1970s Barford's was the town's largest employer, with around 2,000 employees. It initially prospered, but declined with the sinking market for large dumper trucks and road rollers . In 1947, its agricultural division, Barfords of Belton , developed
1920-481: A halfpenny per mile, in 1850, and by 1863, the steam packet boats had ceased operation. Freight traffic also declined, with coal passing through the Grand Sluice dropping from 19,535 tons in 1847 to 3,780 tons in 1857. Nevertheless, the railway company had to maintain the river, and in 1871, spent £5,000 on making Bardney lock deeper by 5 feet (1.5 m) at the request of the drainage commissioners. The GNR leased
2040-462: A larger settlement to grow there. Three kilometres to the south of the modern town, an important Roman site has been found at Saltersford , a crossing of the River Witham near Little Ponton. Extensive finds and evidence of a significant Romano-British occupation have emerged in the vicinity since the 19th century; it has been tentatively identified by some scholars as Causennae , mentioned in
2160-725: A lock drops down into the Witham Navigable Drains , a system of drainage ditches which are used to prevent flooding of the fens to the north of Boston. Since November 2008 there has been an active campaign by the Billinghay Skirth Regeneration Society to restore navigation on the River Skirth, and the project has won the support of Billinghay and other parish councils, the Inland Waterways Association ,
2280-543: A new type of paddlewheel, which resulted in the boats travelling faster, and in 1836, wooden vessels were superseded by iron packet boats. Railways reached Lincoln in August 1848, 15 years after the first proposal. The Wakefield, Lincoln and Boston Railway hoped to build railways in the area, and negotiated with the proprietors and those of the Fosdyke. Under the arrangement, they would take over both navigations, and guarantee
2400-668: A peak of 16.9 °C (62.4 °F) in July to 3.9 °C (39.0 °F) in January. The average high temperature is 13.7 °C (56.7 °F), though monthly averages vary from 6.7 °C (44.1 °F) in January and December to 21.8 °C (71.2 °F) in July; the average low is 5.9 °C (42.6 °F), reaching lowest in February at 0.8 °C (33.4 °F) and highest in July and August at 12.0 °C (53.6 °F). Much of Grantham's early archaeology lies buried beneath
2520-443: A plan for a "Grand Sluice" that had been produced by Daniel Coppin in 1745. Grundy suggested that the 1744 cut should be extended by a further 2 miles (3.2 km) into Boston, and that the sluice could then be built on the extension. The landowners moved the location of the sluice nearer to Boston, but otherwise approved his report, although no action was taken. John Grundy was again consulted in 1757, and Langley Edwards of King's Lynn
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#17328019954362640-471: A town council were approved meaning the area will be parished. The town lies in the valley of the River Witham , its core at the Witham's confluence with the Mowbeck (or Mow Beck). The Witham flows south–north through Grantham. The Mowbeck, which rises from springs at Harlaxton about 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south-west of the town, is culverted behind Westgate and Brook Street until it joins
2760-526: A vehicle test centre was built on the outfield; this closed in 2011. The large mast on the base was part of the BT microwave network . The Queen's Royal Lancers (part of the Royal Armoured Corps ) have their RHQ on the base. The RAF Regiment was formed north-east of the town in parts of Londonthorpe and Harrowby Without during December 1941 with its headquarters at RAF Belton Park , which
2880-699: Is bounded by Westgate, Brook Street and Castlegate, and includes the High Street down to St Peter's Hill. This is the town's main retail and commercial area. It includes many historic buildings. Between Westgate and the A52 to the west are postwar retail buildings and blocks of flats . North of it is 18th, 19th and 20th-century suburban housing focused on North Parade, which include villas and terraced housing. Further north, off Gonerby Road and Manthorpe Road ( A607 ), these give way to large, low-density, suburban, privately owned housing on estates mostly built in
3000-611: Is navigable from Brayford Wharf in Lincoln to Boston. There are two locks between Boston and Lincoln – one at Bardney and the other in Lincoln itself, the Stamp End Lock which is unusually a guillotine lock. The main obstruction to navigation is the High Bridge or Glory Hole in Lincoln, a medieval structure which is only about 15 feet (4.6 m) wide and 8.5 feet (2.6 m) high at normal river levels. In times of flood it
3120-725: Is now known as Invictas Engineering. A trailer company, Crane-Fruehauf, moved into part of the factory from its former home at Dereham , when it went into receivership in early 2005. British Manufacture and Research Company (British Marc Ltd or BMARC ), in Springfield Road, made munitions, notably the Hispano cannon for the Spitfire and Hurricane from 1937 onwards. It was owned by the Swiss Oerlikon from 1971 until 1988, becoming part of Astra Holdings plc. The firm
3240-555: Is obscure and debated. The medievalist Sir Frank Stenton argued that Grantham probably emerged as an "important estate centre" before the Viking invasions in the 9th century and then functioned as a "minor local capital" in the Danelaw . By contrast, the historian David Roffe has argued that the town and its outlying soke were established in the 1040s or 1050s by Queen Edith and Leofric, Earl of Mercia , to strengthen their hands in
3360-553: Is recognised as its birthplace. The Belton Park estate had been a training centre for the Machine Gun Corps from November 1915. The RAF Regiment reached in excess of 66,000 personnel and during training was housed at RAF Belton Park , the Regiment's first depot, RAF Folkingham and RAF North Witham . Grantham was first after London to recruit and train women police officers. It was the first provincial force to ask
3480-644: Is uncertain, although one possibility is Wye-om , meaning river plain , and the river has been known as the Witham since Saxon times. However, it was known as the Grant Avon in Ancient British times, meaning divine stream , and the fact that the main town on the upper river was Grant-ham may support this. John Leland writing in the 16th century noted that it was also called the Lindis, and others referred to it by that name. The present course may be
3600-439: Is unnavigable. The bridge spans the river for 87 feet (27 m), and consists of an arch built in c1160, with extensions added in 1235, 1540 to 1550 and 1762/3. It is the only British bridge which still has secular medieval buildings standing on it, and is believed to be the second oldest masonry arch bridge in the country. It is currently a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade I Listed Building . There are traffic lights on
3720-645: The Antonine Itinerary , and sat at the place where River Witham was crossed by the Salter's Way , a trade route connecting the salt-producing coastal and marshland regions with the Midlands. Salter's Way may also have crossed Ermine Street (now B6403) at Cold Harbour , 4 km south-east of Grantham. Saltersford may have been a small town with a market for local farmsteads and smaller settlements. The local historian Michael Honeybone has "no doubt that
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3840-610: The Cherry Orchard Estate appeared in the immediate postwar period in medium density, on a layout inspired by the Garden City movement . South of Londonthorpe Lane and north-east of the other estates are medium and high-density housing areas dating largely from the 1970s to the early 21st century; The northernmost, known as The Spinney or Sunningdale , adjoins the post-war Alma Park industrial estate off Londonthorpe Lane. The town's western fringe sits between
3960-615: The Environment Agency , Lincolnshire County Council and the Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership. The Environment Agency measure the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at
4080-548: The Lincoln Cliff that marks the edge of the urban area and start of the Lincoln Heath and Kesteven Uplands, which are capped by Jurassic Oolitic Limestone , mostly overlain by shallow, free-draining, lime -rich soils. To the west, the town is near the edge of the low-lying Vale of Belvoir but fringed by an escarpment rising in places to over 100 m to form the hills on which sit Barrowby, Great Gonerby,
4200-539: The Matilda at the Grantham factory. Ruston and Hornsby left in 1963 and most of the factory was taken over by a subsidiary, Alfred Wiseman Gears, which itself left in 1968. The agricultural engine and steamroller manufacturer Aveling and Porter of Rochester , Kent, merged with Barford & Perkins of Peterborough as Aveling-Barford Ltd in 1934, largely with financial help from Ruston & Hornsby, as both firms had entered into administration. The new company took
4320-663: The RAF Bomber Command 's No. 5 Group and operation HQ were in St Vincents , a building later owned by Aveling-Barford and housing a district council planning department. It was built by Richard Hornsby in 1865 and lived in by his son. It is now a private house. In 1944 (including D-Day ), it was the headquarters for the USAAF 's Ninth Air Force 's IX Troop Carrier Command , known as Grantham Lodge. RAF Spitalgate trained pilots during both world wars, initially as
4440-605: The 1970s and 1980s. Those at the base of Gonerby Hill are known as Gonerby Hill Foot and lie west of the railway line, to the east of which developments are contiguous with the historical core of Manthorpe village. South of the town centre, suburban housing takes the form of late- Victorian and Edwardian brick, terraced and villa houses in grid-plan layouts, initially built for industrial workers and now largely owned or let privately. Alongside some housing in Harlaxton Road (A607), most of these streets cluster round
4560-696: The 7th earl for life with reversion to the crown. William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton was granted the reversion in 1337 and took seisin ten years later. After his death, it reverted again to the Crown and in 1363 Edward II granted it to his son Edmund of Langley, Duke of York , through whose heirs it passed to Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York , a major figure in the Wars of the Roses and rival of Henry VI . After Richard's death in 1460, Henry's Queen Margaret of Anjou attacked Grantham in 1461, but later that year
4680-514: The Grand Sluice would be as suggested by Edwards in 1760. Grundy produced another engraved map, and parliamentary approval for the works was obtained in June 1762. Once the Act of Parliament was obtained, Edwards became the engineer for the project, and drew up the detailed plans, which Grundy and Smeaton checked and altered slightly, after which they had no further involvement with the scheme. Construction
4800-670: The Grand/Great Sluice. Passage through the latter is restricted typically to 4-hour intervals during daylight when the tidal levels are suitable. The river provides access for boaters to the Witham Navigable Drains , to the north of Boston, and to the South Forty-Foot Drain to the south, which was reopened as part of the Fens Waterways Link , a project to link the river to the Nene flowing through
4920-496: The Great Sluice, which was constructed in 1766. It maintained river levels above Boston, and helped to scour the channel below it. The land through which the lower river runs has been the subject of much land drainage, and many drains are connected to the Witham by flood doors, which block them off if river levels rise rapidly. The river is navigable from Brayford Pool in Lincoln to Boston. Its locks are at Lincoln, Bardney and
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5040-698: The Green Hill and Earlesfield suburban areas and the business parks off Trent Road. These hills are of siltstone and mudstone of the Jurassic Dyrham Formation , which line the edges of the Witham and Mowbeck valleys and the shallow valley of Barrowby Stream . At its highest the scarp is capped by Jurassic ferruginous sandstone and ironstone rocks of the Marlstone formation. There are some head deposits and pleistocene glaciofluvial deposits of sand and gravel east of Barrowby. The soil in
5160-583: The Lincoln Gap. This section has also been suggested as a lower course of the Trent during and before periods of glaciation. From Dogdyke near Coningsby to Boston, the north bank of the river was used by a section of the Great Northern Railway from Lincoln to Boston. A long-distance footpath, the Water Rail Way, follows the course of the river from Lincoln to Boston. The path uses sections of
5280-543: The River Witham and that are protected by flood doors. These consist of a single pair of mitre gates that are designed to close if the level in the river rises above the level in the drain. Several of these are navigable to the more adventurous boater. The river is also joined by the Kyme Eau, which connects to the Sleaford Navigation on which navigation will eventually be restored to Sleaford. At Antons Gowt,
5400-673: The Romans constructed the Fossdyke from Lincoln to Torksey on the River Trent , improved the River Witham from Lincoln to The Wash , and built the Car Dyke from Lincoln to the River Cam near Cambridge . The Witham thus gave Lincoln access to the east coast, while the Fossdyke gave access to the Trent and further on to the Humber . There have been claims that the Witham was originally tidal up to Lincoln, but that seems unlikely. Prior to
5520-721: The Romans cut a channel through it as part of some drainage works. Archaeological evidence points to river navigation as far back as the Iron Age. Artefacts such as the Iron Age Witham Shield , found in the river near Washingborough in 1826, and the Fiskerton Boat, a log boat found near Fiskerton during flood defence work in 2001 have been recovered and are on display at the British Museum in London or The Collection in Lincoln. The Witham
5640-591: The Witham First , Third and Fourth District Internal Drainage Boards and Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board. These four internal drainage boards reduce the flood risk to the surrounding properties, land and environment. In 1791, as part of the campaign to promote the construction of the Horncastle Canal , the Commissioners of the River Witham asked the engineer William Jessop to assess
5760-607: The Witham at White Bridge. The floor of the Witham valley – 50–60 m above sea level in the town centre – is underlain by mudstone of the Charmouth formation of the Lower Jurassic period (199–183 million years ago). This formation is overlain by Belton sand and gravel laid down in estuaries and rivers in the Quaternary period up to 3 million years ago. The river courses are overlain by Quaternary alluvium and to
5880-408: The area between the Witham, Belton Lane, Londonthorpe Lane and the Lincoln Cliff has suburban housing, mostly privately owned with some let by housing associations . It includes part of the Harrowby Estate , begun in 1928 as council housing ). The part round Belton Lane and Harrowby Lane is a low-density mix of pre- First World War , interwar and postwar houses; the remainder of the large estate and
6000-485: The channel for land drainage, and run-off from agricultural and rural land. Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and mercury compounds, none of which had previously been included in the assessment. In March 2018, the river suffered the worst incidence of pollution ever recorded in Lincolnshire, when Omex Agriculture released ammonia into
6120-424: The city of Peterborough . From Brayford Pool the Fossdyke Navigation links to the Trent. The Witham's course, which flows to the north and then to the south-east may be the result of glaciation (and possibly isostatic rebound ) redirecting older rivers. The source of the river is on high ground near South Witham , Lincolnshire, at around 340 feet (100 m) above ordnance datum (AOD). After briefly flowing to
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#17328019954366240-470: The collection of tolls at the bridge, but the amount they received from traffic passing through the locks increased as the volume of traffic grew in response to the easier passage through the bridge. When completed in 1766, Edwards' Grand Sluice consisted of three channels each 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, fitted with pointed gates on both sides, and a lock adjacent to the north bank, which could be used as an additional flood relief channel if required. The lock
6360-403: The construction of the Grand Sluice, the lower river was affected by tides, but the highest they normally reached was Dogdyke or Chapel Hill, and Lincoln is considerably higher than these locations, by some 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2.1 m). Wheeler argues that it "would not have been possible for the tide to flow up to Lincoln," given the present geological conditions. Trading continued throughout
6480-409: The county at the expense of Siward, Earl of Northumbria . They may have also created St Wulfram's Church either as a new place of worship or as one revived from a possible earlier cell of Crowland Abbey . Roffe argues that Siward's death in 1055 made Grantham's new role less important; as such, its soke only grew to its full extent after the Norman Conquest of England, when the king merged it with
6600-518: The county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at SK8818 , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riverside Walk through Wyndham Park and Queen Elizabeth Park), passes Lincoln at SK9771 and at Boston , TF3244 , flows into The Haven , a tidal arm of The Wash , near RSPB Frampton Marsh . The name "Witham" seems to be extremely old and of unknown origin. Archaeological and documentary evidence shows
6720-491: The demonstration, a British transport officer suggested putting armour plating and a gun on a Hornsby tractor, so creating some sort of self-propelled gun. David Roberts, managing director of Hornsby, did not pursue the idea, but later expressed regret at not having done so. Four years later, Hornsby sold the patent for its caterpillar track to the Holt Manufacturing Company of California, USA, for $ 8,000, having itself sold only one caterpillar tractor commercially. The Holt system
6840-419: The development of inns such as The George and The Angel . By the 16th century, the economy was diverse. The largest sector was the leather trade, employing a quarter of the known workforce; distribution, food, drink and agricultural trades were also important. By that time, clothing and textiles each accounted for less than 10 per cent of the town's workers. The Lincoln Theatre Company of actors took
6960-443: The east to reach South Witham, it flows generally north, passing through Colsterworth where it is crossed by the A1 road , which largely follows the line of the river to Newark on Trent . At Great Ponton , it is joined by the Cringle Brook on its left bank, and continues through Grantham , where it has already descended to 170 feet (52 m) AOD. After Barkston it turns to the west to pass through Marston . Foston Beck joins on
7080-414: The edge of the town's urban area. Further east, off the A52, are the Prince William of Gloucester Barracks . The north-east fringe of the urban area is marked by 20th-century development. An exception is a piece of land east of the Witham and north of Stonebridge Road that includes schools and colleges and portions of a 19th-century barracks complex south of greenspace, including Wyndham Park . Otherwise
7200-535: The first policewoman in Britain with full powers of arrest. Richard Hornsby and Richard Seaman founded Seaman & Hornsby, Iron Founders and Millwrights, at Spittlegate in Grantham in 1810. The company was renamed Richard Hornsby & Sons when Seaman retired in 1828. Products included ploughs and seed drills. From 1840 until 1906 the company built steam engines. Thereafter production shifted to oil, petrol and gas engines. It employed 378 men in 1878 and 3,500 in 1914. In 1905 Richard Hornsby & Sons invented
7320-421: The first tractor in 1896. Thomas Paine worked there as an excise officer in the 1760s. The villages of Manthorpe , Great Gonerby , Barrowby , Londonthorpe and Harlaxton form outlying suburbs of the town. Grantham's name is first attested in the Domesday Book (1086); its origin is not known with certainty. The ending -hām is Old English and means "homestead". The first part of the name may either be
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#17328019954367440-403: The gap is limited in times of flood. This is alleviated by the Sincil Dyke, which leaves the main channel at Bargate Weir and runs for 1.5 miles (2.4 km) through the industrial areas to the south of the main city centre. It used to rejoin the main channel at Stamp End, but was re-routed into the South Delph, a drainage ditch constructed by John Rennie in the early 19th century that joins
7560-437: The growth of Boston as a port in the 12th and 13th centuries, exporting wool and salt to the Hanseatic League , though Boston only received its charter in 1545. The river was affected by silting which restricted trade despite the construction of various sluices and barriers from 1142 onwards, when the first sluice was built below Boston. Other sluices were erected at Boston in 1500 and at Langrick in 1543, but navigation
7680-401: The importance of the Witham as a navigable river from the Iron Age onwards. From Roman times it was navigable to Lincoln, from where the Fossdyke was constructed to link it to the River Trent . The mouth of the river moved in 1014 following severe flooding, and Boston became important as a port. From 1142 onwards, sluices were constructed to prevent flooding by the sea, and this culminated in
7800-452: The interest on mortgages amounting to £24,692 which the proprietors held, but had redeemed them by 1857. The railway from Lincoln to Boston ran along the eastern bank of the river, and opened on 17 October 1848. Most of the stations were located near to the landing stages which the steam packets used, and the railway did all it could to draw passengers away from the river. This included the provision of fourth-class carriages, with fares set at
7920-413: The king granted it to his ally William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey . It was held as a life interest and reverted to the Crown on his widow's death in 1249, but regranted to his son the 6th earl in 1266. On his death in 1304 it reverted to the crown and was soon granted to Aymer de Valence , but had been regranted to Warenne's grandson, the 7th earl , by 1312. Four years later it was resettled on
8040-432: The king had the manor; there were four mills and eight acres of meadow, but no arable land. The demesne appears to have been land now known as Earlesfield in Great Gonerby. There were 111 burgesses and 72 bordars , possibly labourers or craftsmen, indicating that Grantham was both a manor and a borough where the lord retained exclusive rights. It was a valuable asset, used by the king to reward loyal followers. By 1129,
8160-410: The king. The wool trade boomed in the early 14th century; the town's merchants traded at least 980 sacks of wool at Boston during Edward II 's reign, half from the de Chesterton family. In 1312, the earl granted the burgesses various freedoms and the right to elect a leader (the Alderman ), codifying a longstanding informal arrangement. Later in the century the king sought to raise revenues by taxing
8280-409: The large 1980s and 1990s estate to its north. Most of this is privately owned, but some is let by housing associations. The canal basin is lined with industrial, warehouse , retail and office buildings that continue up to Dysart Road. South of them are Harlaxton Road (A607) and Springfield Road, round which separate residential developments have been built, including inter-war homes in Huntingtower Road,
8400-619: The left bank, and at Long Bennington it resumes its northerly course. Beyond Claypole and near Barnby in the Willows it forms the border between Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire for about 3 miles (4.8 km), before passing through an Army training area near Beckingham . The River Brant joins on the right bank, before it passes through North Hykeham to reach Lincoln , where it is only 16 feet (4.9 m) AOD. The upper waters are important for agricultural water extraction, and for coarse fish such as roach, common bream and pike; small mammals like water voles, and native crayfish. A gap in
8520-412: The limestone scarp (see Lincolnshire Wolds ) near Ancaster may represent an earlier course of the River Trent towards Boston, but is now occupied by the River Slea . In Lincoln, the river flows into Brayford Pool and exits along a narrow channel that passes under the medieval High Bridge . The bridge not only restricts navigation due to its small size, but the volume of water that can pass through
8640-459: The lock at the Grand Sluice into the Witham. Although the lock is only 41 feet (12 m) long, it is possible for longer boats to pass through it at certain states of the tide. Unlike many such sea locks, the reverse-facing gates close on every tide, as the normal high tide water level is higher than the level of the river, while at low tides there is insufficient water in the Haven to allow exit from
8760-593: The lock. Passage is therefore restricted to a brief period approximately two hours before or after high water. It is still possible to navigate many of the drains in small vessels, and a new lock, completed in December 2008, provides entry to the South Forty-Foot Drain from below the Grand Sluice so that vessels will be able to reach the Fens without venturing out to the Wash, as part of the Fens Waterways Link . The Witham
8880-399: The locks at Kirkstead and Barlings should be removed, and replaced by one near Washingborough church. The Commissioners petitioned parliament in 1808, and a new Act of Parliament authorised the work, to be carried out by a company of proprietors. They could borrow £30,000 for the drainage element of the scheme and £70,000 for the navigation element. Two new locks were built, one at Stamp End and
9000-538: The lower areas is slowly permeable , seasonally wet and slightly acidic, though base-rich . On higher ground it tends to be slightly acidic and base-rich, but freely draining and highly fertile. Grantham Canal , which opened in 1797, closely follows the route of the Mowbeck from Echo Farm into the town. West of there it cuts through a valley north of Harlaxton into the Vale of Belvoir, eventually reaching West Bridgford near Nottingham . The historical core of Grantham
9120-416: The main aim of allowing more capital to be raised. Tolls on the Witham had gradually risen as improvements had been made. £263 was raised in 1763–4, and had reached £898 by 1790. In 1819, income exceeded £4,100 for the six months from March to September, and a five per cent dividend was paid in the following year. By 1826, over £180,000 had been spent on improvements, and another £40,000 was needed. However,
9240-483: The main channel below Bardney lock. The origins of the Sincil Dyke are unknown, but it is known to have been used as a drainage channel in the mid-13th century and is thought to be pre-medieval or even Roman. Parts of it were culverted in 1847 to allow the construction of Lincoln Central railway station . From Lincoln, the river again turns first east, then south, making a cut through a belt of upland known as
9360-527: The manor and soke had been granted to Rabel de Tancarville , the king's chamberlain in Normandy . He sided against King Stephen during The Anarchy (1135–1154) and his lands were probably forfeited on his death in 1140, although restored to his son William and confirmed in the early 1180s. The king retook the manor after William's heir Ralph de Tancarville failed to support him in Normandy. In 1205,
9480-402: The medieval period evidenced by the importance of Torksey, which was then a flourishing town, now only a small village. However, the Fossdyke needed much maintenance to keep it clear of silt. Henry I had overseen the scouring of its channel, and there were inquiries in 1335, 1365 and 1518 to consider the state of the Fossdyke and to compel the inhabitants of the region to maintain it. Lincoln was
9600-478: The modern town, making it "difficult to unravel". Early prehistoric hunter-gatherers visited the area. Scattered Stone Age tools have been found, the earliest being a Palaeolithic axe on the Cherry Orchard Estate, dating between 40,000 and 150,000 years ago. The next earliest material consist of Mesolithic flints crafted 4,000 to 8,000 years ago and found round Gonerby Hill and the riverside in
9720-580: The nationalisation of the waterways following the Second World War , the navigation eventually became the responsibility of British Waterways as a result of the Transport Act 1962 , and since 2 July 2012 has been managed by the Canal & River Trust . Today, commercial traffic, apart from tour boats, has ceased above the port of Boston (The Haven) and only pleasure craft carry on through
9840-732: The navigation to the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Committee in 1882, and in 1897, by which time the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway had become the Great Central Railway , they built a large warehouse beside Brayford Pool, with a transhipment dock next to it. Total traffic on the river had fallen to 18,548 tons in 1905, and averaged 5,870 tons during the years of the First World War , mainly general merchandise and agricultural produce. With
9960-580: The newly formed Corps of Women's Police Volunteers to supply them with occasional policewomen, recognising them as useful for dealing with women and juveniles. In December 1914 Miss Damer Dawson, the Chief of the Corps, came to Grantham to supervise the preliminary work of the women police. Officers stationed there were Miss Allen and Miss Harburn. In 1915, Grantham magistrates swore in Edith Smith , making her
10080-418: The north by river terrace deposits. The soil around the route of the Witham is wet, acidic, sandy and loamy; its fertility is poor. As the ground rises on the town's eastern and southern fringes, it is underlain by Jurassic Marlstone rocks of ferruginous sandstone and ironstone formed 190–174 million years ago, and then by Whitby Mudstone of 174–183 million years ago. The land rises sharply to form
10200-542: The north, Londonthorpe and Harrowby Without to the north-east and east, Little Ponton and Stroxton to the south, Harlaxton to the south-west, and Barrowby to the west. Its urban area is almost entirely within the unparished area, though The Spinney housing estate , Alma Park industrial estate and part of the Bridge End Road housing estate are in Londonthorpe and Harrowby Without. In 2023 plans for
10320-565: The opening of a school and later residential and commercial developments. This Lincolnshire location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Grantham Grantham ( / ˈ ɡ r æ n θ əm / ) is a market town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire , England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies 23 miles (37 km) south of Lincoln and 22 miles (35 km) east of Nottingham . The population in 2016
10440-557: The other at Bardney, which replaced the original locks. A new channel was cut near Fiskerton , upstream of Bardney, and the plan for a lock at Washingborough was dropped. While Stamp End lock was being rebuilt, an alternative route was provided, utilising the Sincil Dyke and the South Delph. Rennie recorded that Branston Delph, Carlton Dike, Nocton Delph and Timberland Dike were navigable at the time. The proprietors obtained three more Acts of Parliament, in 1812, 1826 and 1829, all with
10560-481: The personal name Granta or derive from the Old English word Grand ( gravel ), implying either "Granta's homestead" or "homestead by gravel". In the early 20th century, the town's name was still pronounced Grant-m or Grahnt-m ; but as people moved more frequently and became more literate, they began to derive the place name from its spelling and the pronunciation shifted to Granthum (the t and h becoming
10680-548: The proprietors were still optimistic, and commissioned Sir John Rennie to investigate an extension to link the Witham to the River Ancholme , but although he made two proposals, neither was implemented. Most traffic was carried by sailing vessels or in barges hauled by horses, but in March 1816, the first steam packet boat arrived on the river. It was named Witham and had been built by Shuttleworth and Robinson, whose yard
10800-402: The quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. The water quality of the River Witham system was as follows in 2019. The reasons for the quality being less than good include sewage discharge affecting most of the river, physical modification of
10920-623: The railway line, the A1 bypass and the Kesteven Uplands. North of the canal are large, varied developments mostly from the 20th century, including the Earlesfield estate, begun as a council estate in the 1920s and expanded in the postwar period, industrial estates, and a leisure centre complex, all south of Barrowby Stream, by the expansive 1980s estate on Green Hill , the Edwardian and Victorian villas lining Barrowby Road, and
11040-521: The railway station and nearby retail and industrial units in an area known as Spittlegate (also spelled Spitalgate or Spittalgate), the town cemetery – an area called New Somerby in older maps – and the Wharf Road, London Road and Bridge End Road stretches of the A52. Further south-east, low-density, mostly privately owned, suburban housing estates of the 1970s and 1980s cluster round the A52, marking
11160-728: The river towpath and abandoned railway tracks, and has been opened in stages, with the final 2 miles (3.2 km) being completed in September 2008. The path is now part of Route 1 of the National Cycle Network and features a number of sculptures along its length, each commissioned from local artists. They include Lincoln longwool sheep at Stixwould, Lincoln Red cows at Washingborough, and Lincoln curly pigs , which became extinct in 1972, at Southrey. The name "Witham" seems to be extremely old, apparently predating Anglo-Saxon, Roman, and even Celtic influence. The meaning
11280-415: The short section between Brayford Pool and Stamp End Lock, which are used to indicate the state of the river in times of flood. Green indicates that flows are low or normal, and boats can proceed along this stretch. Red indicates that flows are high and that great care is required. Flashing red indicates that flows are very high and boats must not use the section. There are a number of drains that connect to
11400-483: The soke of Great Ponton. Whatever its origins, by the time of the Domesday Book (1086, the earliest documentary evidence for the settlement), Grantham was a town and royal manor ; under its jurisdiction fell soke comprising lands in 16 villages. St Wulfram's served this extended parish area. Grantham's Domesday entries show it as an estate centre, where Queen Edith had a hall before 1066. Twenty years later,
11520-555: The south of the town. Neolithic people probably settled in the Grantham area for its proximity to the rivers and its fertile soils; material suggesting settlement in this period has been found at Great Ponton . Other scattered finds have been unearthed around the town. Remains of a Neolithic ritual site on the parish boundary between Harlaxton and Grantham are known from aerial photography . Bronze Age artefacts include pottery vessels, with human remains found in Little Gonerby,
11640-548: The state of the Fossdyke Navigation and the Witham, with particular reference to the problems of navigating through Lincoln, where the channel was restricted by a medieval bridge. He proposed two solutions; the first avoided the route through the city entirely, by utilising the course of the Sincil Dyke to the south, while the second involved lowering the bottom of the channel through the Glory Hole bridge, which
11760-748: The town centre were green fields. Green Hill, on the A52, was literally a green hill. In July 1975 the National Association of Ratepayers' Action Groups (NARAG) was formed in Grantham by John Wilks, its chairman, as a forerunner of the TaxPayers' Alliance . The town has a long military history since the completion of the Old Barracks in 1858. During the Dambuster Raids Royal Air Force missions in May 1943,
11880-465: The town in the late 13th century (foremost being was Roger de Belvoir, who contributed over £296 to the Wool Prize of 1297). By this time merchants from Italy , Saint-Omer and Amiens were active in the town. In 1269, the earl granted the town free tronage – the right to weigh wool without paying a toll . Less than 30 years later, its merchants were asked to send a representative to counsel
12000-639: The town of Grantham was established during [Anglo-]Saxon times"; its name suggests it emerged in the earliest phase of Anglo-Saxon settlement, probably by the 7th century. The archaeological evidence for this is limited to finds indicating cemeteries at the sites of the Central School in Manthorpe and the junction of Bridge End Road and London Road in the town, and to small quantities of pottery sherds found on London Road, Belton Lane, Saltersford, New Somerby and Barrowby. The town's Saxon-period history
12120-496: The water. It resulted in over 100,000 fish dying between Bardney and the Wash, for which the company was given a remediation notice as defined by the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015. They must carry out a range of improvements to the river to ensure that its habitat is restored. Once the ammonia had been flushed out, 1.5 million fish larvae and 70,000 roach and bream were released into
12240-525: The wool trade; some Grantham merchants, including the wealthy Roger de Wollesthorpe, acted as creditors to the king. England's falling population, continued taxation of wool exports and the growth of cloth exports and monopolisation led to the wool trade declining by the mid-15th century. Cloth exports became more important nationally. Grantham had a small cloth industry, but it could not compete with new fulling mills , which required fast-flowing water. Its merchants continued to trade in wool and it remained
12360-471: The world's smallest tractor, the Barford Atom, weighing 177 pounds (80 kilograms). Now Barford Construction Equipment, it makes dumpers for construction sites, being owned by Wordsworth Holdings PLC , owned in turn by the entrepreneur Duncan Wordsworth until it went into administration in March 2010. A restructuring package resulted in ownership transferring to Bowdon Investment Group in May 2010. It
12480-596: Was achieved solely through compression; it ran continuously for six hours as the first known diesel engine. In the town, Hornsby's built Elsham House, whose grounds became Grantham College ) and the Shirley Croft. Its site in Houghton Road was bought from Lord Dysart. In 1910 Hornsby presented its chain-track vehicle to the British Army, which then bought four caterpillar tractors to tow artillery. At
12600-459: Was again difficult on both the river and the Fossdyke by 1660. In 1671 an Act of Parliament was obtained for the improvement of the Navigation. In 1743, John Grundy, Sr. and his son John Grundy, Jr. were commissioned to produce a detailed survey of the river. They produced an engraved map in 1743 and a printed report, running to 48 pages, in the following year. The main recommendation was
12720-603: Was an "important market town". The wool trade prospered, benefiting from its proximity to grazing lands on the Lincoln Heath. This wealth contributed towards the building of St Wulfram's Church . Wool shops were in Grantham in 1218 and Walkergate (now Watergate) was recorded in 1257, indicating the presence of fullers (walkers), who played a role in processing wool. Cloth manufacture declined around this time, but wool continued to be produced for trading, primarily for export from Boston . Wool merchants are recorded from
12840-525: Was an important navigation in Roman times. Lincoln ( Lindum )—the meeting point of Ermine Street , joining London to York , and Fosse Way , leading to Leicester and Bath —was an important Roman fort that became one of only four colonia in Britain. Most important Roman cities were situated near navigable water, which enabled goods to be transported in bulk, but Lincoln did not possess this advantage, and so
12960-445: Was asked to review the positioning of the sluice in 1760. The landowners then asked John Smeaton to liaise with Grundy and Edwards, and the three engineers produced a joint report in 1761, with estimates of £38,000 for drainage works and £7,400 for improvements to navigation. The report was approved, although a meeting held in January 1762 decided that the new cut should revert to the alignment suggested by Grundy in 1753. The location of
13080-538: Was bought by British Aerospace in 1992, which then closed the site. It has now been developed as a housing estate. The site's former offices are now business units for the Springfield Business Centre. Grantham's register office moved there in 2007. In 1968 Reads of Liverpool built a canning factory in Springfield Road to serve Melton Mowbray, becoming American Can , then Pechiney (French) in 1988, then Impress (Dutch). It closed in 2006 and
13200-528: Was closing due to the imminent ending of National Service ), and moved to RAF Hereford (now the home of SAS ). After closure, RAF Spitalgate became the Royal Corps of Transport, later Royal Logistic Corps barracks: Prince William of Gloucester Barracks , named after Prince William of Gloucester . Grantham College used the site's two football pitches for their South Lincolnshire Football Development Centre (from September 2004). After closure in 1975
13320-643: Was completed in 1766 and was effective in scouring the Haven below it and increasing silting of the river above it. The 1762 act created the Witham Navigation Commissioners and the Witham Drainage General Commissioners, who continued to promote drainage schemes actively, creating a drainage network known as the Witham Navigable Drains that transformed much of northern Lincolnshire from fen to farming land. Today many of these channels are managed by
13440-527: Was defeated by Richard's son Edward, who took the throne as Edward IV . Two years later, Grantham was rewarded for loyalty to the Yorkist cause when the king granted the borough a charter of incorporation , as a self-governing council – the Corporation of Grantham headed by an Alderman – with various freedoms. Its lords encouraged Grantham to expand as a commercial centre. By the late 11th century it
13560-408: Was demolished in 2007 to make way for a housing estate. Ransome & Marles Bearing had a ball bearing factory in the town until 1957, when production was moved to Newark. Mowbray and Co Ltd, a brewery, was bought by J. W. Green of Luton. It was founded in September 1828 and became a public company in 1880. It closed in 1967. River Witham The River Witham is a river almost entirely in
13680-502: Was in danger of collapse. He recommended that it be demolished and rebuilt elsewhere, and also suggested that access to Boston should be through the Witham Navigable Drains, rather than the Grand Sluice, or that a new cut should be built to the south of the sluice, to rejoin the river at Boston Harbour. In 1803, he suggested that High Bridge at Lincoln should be demolished and rebuilt. Four years later, he suggested that
13800-404: Was on Sincil Dyke. Despite a boiler explosion in March 1817, fortunately without causing injury to any of the crew or the 30 passengers, a second steam packet was operating by July 1817, and they soon displaced the sailing packet boats. During a flood in 1828, one of them lost power when a floating hedge became jammed in the paddle wheels. In the following year, a Lincoln man, William Pool invented
13920-435: Was only 18 inches (46 cm) deep at normal water levels. The Commissioners had imposed a toll on all traffic passing under the bridge, but decided that a channel bypassing the city would have grave financial consequences. They opted for improving the existing channel and the work to remove the wooden floor, to lower the river bed under the bridge and to underpin its foundations was completed in 1795. The Commissioners dropped
14040-465: Was originally very small, but was lengthened to its current 41 by 12 feet (12.5 by 3.7 m) in 1881. The pointed doors on the non-tidal side of the sluice were replaced by steel guillotine gates between 1979 and 1982. The state of the Witham had deteriorated by 1802, and the Commissioners asked John Rennie for advice. He stated that the Kirkstead lock was badly placed, and the associated staunch
14160-678: Was put at 44,580. The town is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the South Kesteven District. Grantham was the birthplace of the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . Isaac Newton was educated at the King's School . The town was the workplace of the UK's first warranted female police officer, Edith Smith in 1914. The UK's first running diesel engine was made there in 1892 and
14280-540: Was started in April 1763, and the drainage element of the project, which included the sluice, was finished in 1768, having cost £42,000. Work on three locks and other work connected with navigation cost £6,000 and continued until 1771. The locks were located at Stamp End, Kirkstead and Barlings. The Grand Sluice was a major construction which maintained the height of water above Boston to near normal high tide level and had massive flood gates to cope with any tides above this. It
14400-476: Was superior to Hornsby's, but the Hornsby transmission was what Holt really wanted. Thanks in part to this acquisition, Holt eventually became the successful Caterpillar Inc. Tractor Company. In 1918, Hornsby's amalgamated with Rustons as Ruston & Hornsby . In the 1920s the company had its own orchestra in the town; the site was a diesel engine plant. During the Second World War, the company made tanks such as
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