93-604: The Wollaton Wagonway (or Waggonway ), built between October 1603 and 1604 in the East Midlands of England by Huntingdon Beaumont in partnership with Sir Percival Willoughby , has sometimes been credited as the world's first overground wagonway and therefore regarded as a significant step in the development of railways . Its primacy has been recently questioned because of a wagonway built at Prescot , near Liverpool , sometime around 1600 and possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, this line carried coal from
186-595: A dynamometer car . The national electric-train speed record (pre- High Speed 1 ) of 162 mph (261 km/h) was set on the same stretch as the Mallard record, on 17 September 1989 by Class 91 91010. There were plans to bring a new high-speed rail line through the East Midlands as part of the High Speed 2 project, of which Phase 2 would have brought a new line connecting Birmingham to Leeds , with
279-529: A centre of intellectual influence from the Continent, including the teachings of John Calvin that became known as Calvinism . This, in turn, revolutionised the Christian beliefs and practices of many Bostonians and residents of the neighbouring shires of England. In 1607, a group of pilgrims from Nottinghamshire led by William Brewster and William Bradford attempted to escape pressure to conform with
372-663: A church parish and an electoral ward . The order of importance was the other way round, when the Boston quarter of Skirbeck developed at the head of the Haven , which lies under the present Market Place. At that stage, The Haven was the tidal part of the stream, now represented by the Stone Bridge Drain ( map ), which carried the water from the East and West Fens. The line of the road through Wide Bargate, to A52 and A16 ,
465-402: A county level. As a region today, there is no overriding body with significant financial or planning powers for the East Midlands. The East Midlands Combined Authority will be established in 2024. The East Midlands region contains many urban areas which include: Major towns and cities in the East Midlands region include: 9% of all jobs in the region are in logistics . Traffic in
558-660: A hotbed of religious dissent. In 1612, John Cotton became the Vicar of St Botolph's and, although viewed askance by the Church of England for his nonconformist preaching, became responsible for a large increase in Church attendance. He encouraged those who disliked the lack of religious freedom in England to join the Massachusetts Bay Company , and later helped to found the city of Boston, Massachusetts, which he
651-627: A joint LTP in collaboration with their respective local county councils. A historical basis for such a region exists in the territory of the Corieltauvi tribe. When the Romans took control, they made Leicester ( Ratae Corieltauvorum ) one of their main forts. The main town in the region in Roman times was Lincoln , at the confluence of the Fosse Way and Ermine Street . After the withdrawal of
744-412: A notable town and port. In 1204, King John vested sole control over the town in his bailiff . That year or the next, he levied a "fifteenth" tax ( quinzieme ) of 6.67% on the moveable goods of merchants in the ports of England: the merchants of Boston paid £780, the highest in the kingdom after London's £836. Thus, by the opening of the 13th century, Boston was already significant in trade with
837-544: A pit near Prescot Hall to a terminus about half a mile away. Also, a wagonway at Broseley in Shropshire was probably earlier. The wagonway was the earliest form of railway . Although modern historians are uncertain as to whether it evolved gradually or was invented at a particular time, it is known that, between the Autumn of 1603 and 1 October 1604, a wagonway had been built near Nottingham , by Huntingdon Beaumont who
930-500: A population of 45,339 at the 2021 census, while the borough had an estimated population of 66,900 at the ONS mid-2015 estimates. Boston's most notable landmark is St Botolph's Church , colloquially referred to as 'The Stump', the largest parish church in England, which is visible from miles away across the flat lands of Lincolnshire. Residents of Boston are known as Bostonians. Emigrants from Boston named several other settlements around
1023-773: A proposed station in Toton known as the East Midlands Hub It would also have served the region via "classic-compatible" tracks serving Chesterfield and Sheffield , the latter of which is just outside the region in Yorkshire & the Humber . The Trent is a navigable river used to transport goods to the Humber , as well as passing by many power stations. The Trent is the only river in England able to supply cooling water for power stations for most of its length; it has
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#17327759853951116-500: A radio receiver installed in a van at Litchborough (just off the A5 about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Daventry) to receive signals bounced off a metal-clad Handley Page Heyford bomber flying across the radio transmissions. The interference picked up from the aircraft allowed its approximate navigational position to be estimated, and therefore proved that it was possible to detect the position of aircraft using radio waves. The success of
1209-481: A revival when the Fens began to be effectively drained. The Act of Parliament permitting the embanking and straightening of the fenland Witham was dated 1762. A sluice, called for in the act, was designed to help scour out The Haven. The land proved to be fertile, and Boston began exporting cereals to London. In 1774, the first financial bank was opened, and in 1776, an act of Parliament allowed watchmen to begin patrolling
1302-478: Is BBC Radio Sheffield . In 2016 Bassetlaw District Council voted to become part of the Sheffield City Region because of the strong local ties. Boston, England Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire , England. Boston is the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Boston local government district. The town had
1395-749: Is Kinder Scout , in the Peak District of the southern Pennines in northwest Derbyshire near Glossop . Other hilly areas of 95 to 280 m (312 to 919 ft) in altitude, together with lakes and reservoirs, rise in and around the Charnwood Forest north of Peterborough , Leicester , and in the Lincolnshire Wolds . The region's major rivers, the Nene , the Soar , the Trent , and
1488-404: Is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. Areas of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and south-east Staffordshire covering around 200 square miles (520 km ; 52,000 ha) are being planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodland with new plantings. It stretches from the western outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west, and
1581-481: Is in the Lincolnshire Standard newspaper, January 1918. During the war the port was used by hospital ships and some 4,000 sick or wounded troops passed through Boston. The town was bombed by a Zeppelin on 2 September 1916, injuring three adults and killing a child. The first cinema opened in 1910, and in 1913, a new town bridge was constructed. Central Park was purchased in 1919, and is now one of
1674-470: Is known for Simpson's rule . Roger Cotes invented the concept of the radian in 1714, but the term was not so-named until 1873. Henry Cavendish , loosely connected with Derbyshire, discovered hydrogen in 1766 (although the element's name came from Antoine Lavoisier ), and Cavendish was the first to estimate an accurate mass of the Earth in 1798 in his Cavendish experiment . The Cavendish Laboratory at
1767-453: Is known locally as Boston Stump and is renowned for its size and its dominant appearance in the surrounding countryside. The Great Sluice is disguised by railway and road bridges, but it is there, keeping the tide out of the Fens and twice a day, allowing the water from the upland to scour the Haven. Not far away, in the opposite direction, was the boyhood home of John Foxe , the author of Foxe's Book of Martyrs . The Town Bridge maintains
1860-462: Is likely to have developed on its marine silt levees. It led, as it does now, to the relatively high ground at Sibsey ( map ), and thence to Lindsey . The reason for the original development of the town, away from the centre of Skirbeck, was that Boston lay on the point where navigable tidal water was alongside the land route, which used the Devensian terminal moraine ridge at Sibsey, between
1953-582: Is located). This is likely to be where the Scrooby Pilgrims were imprisoned in 1607. There is a statue of Herbert Ingram , founder of The Illustrated London News , in front of the Stump. The statue was designed by Alexander Munro and was unveiled in October 1862. The allegorical figure at the base of the monument is a reference to Ingram's efforts to bring the first piped water to the town. He
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#17327759853952046-603: Is planned to link the ancient forests of Needwood and Charnwood. Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire attracts many visitors, and is perhaps best known for its ties with the legend of Robin Hood . Regional financial funding decisions for the East Midlands are taken by East Midlands Councils , based in Melton Mowbray . East Midlands Councils is an unelected body made up of representatives of local government in
2139-601: Is the main route carrier at EMA by far with 20 flights per night, UPS have 6, and TNT have 2 (Belfast and Liège); for hubs in Europe, DHL flies to Leipzig , UPS to Cologne , and TNT at Liège . Smaller airports in the region include Retford Gamston Airport , Nottingham Airport , Leicester Airport , Hucknall Airfield , Sywell Aerodrome , Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and Humberside Airport . Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield lies just outside
2232-448: Is the region's biggest public airport, used by over 4 million passengers annually. Rivalry between the region's three biggest cities has led to a long-running discussion about the identity of both the airport, and region, with the East Midlands rarely found on any non-political map of the UK. The name was at one point changed to Nottingham East Midlands Airport so as to include the name of
2325-661: Is the second-largest freight airport in the UK after Heathrow , but most freight from EMA is carried on dedicated planes, whereas most freight from Heathrow is carried on passenger planes (bellyhold). Royal Mail have their main airport hubs at Heathrow and EMA, as EMA is conveniently near the M1 , A42 and A50 . Heathrow takes some 60 per cent of UK air freight, and EMA some 10 per cent, with Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick next. Air freight has grown at EMA from 1994 to 2004 from about 10,000 to over 250,000 tonnes. The main hours of cargo flying are from 20:00–05:00; domestic cargo flies into
2418-405: The 2021 Census , the population of Boston is around 70,500. This is 9.1% higher than the 64,600 reported in the 2011 Census . This was a higher percentage of growth than the 6.6% national average for England during the same period. Much of this population growth is due to high levels of immigration to the town, especially from eastern Europe. The 2021 Census states that 23.6% of Boston's population
2511-772: The East Lincolnshire Railway from Grimsby to Boston and the simultaneous building of the Lincolnshire Loop Line by the Great Northern Railway , which ran between Peterborough and York , via Boston, Lincoln and Doncaster . This line was built before the East Coast Main Line and, for a short while, put Boston on the map as the GNR's main locomotive works before it was relocated to Doncaster in 1852. Boston
2604-713: The English Civil War were the Battle of Naseby in northern Northamptonshire on 14 June 1645, and the Battle of Winceby on 11 October 1643 in eastern Lincolnshire. Isaac Newton , born in Grantham in 1642, is perhaps the most prolific scientist. His accomplishments include calculus , Newton's laws of motion , and Newton's law of universal gravitation , among many others. There is a shopping centre named in his honour in Grantham. Thomas Simpson from Leicestershire
2697-656: The English Reformation , Boston's Dominican , Franciscan , Carmelite , and Augustinian friaries—erected during the boom years of the 13th and 14th centuries—were all expropriated. The refectory of the Dominican friary was eventually converted into a theatre in 1965 and now houses the Blackfriars Arts Centre . Henry VIII granted the town its charter in 1545 and Boston had two Members of Parliament from 1552. The staple trade made Boston
2790-497: The Fosse Way , which has linked the south-western and north-eastern parts of England since Roman times. The A43 dual carriageway connects the East Midlands via the M40 motorway corridor with the university city of Oxford , as well as South of England and Solent ports further afield. The historically important A5 runs along the south-west Leicestershire boundary to the south of Lutterworth and Hinckley . The A14 runs through
2883-455: The Midlands . It consists of Derbyshire , Leicestershire , Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire ), Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire , and Rutland . The region has a land area of 15,624 km (6,032 sq mi), with an estimated population 4,934,939 in 2022. With a sufficiency-level world city ranking, Nottingham is the only settlement in
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2976-747: The National Inventors Hall of Fame . Don Grierson at the University of Nottingham was the first to produce a Genetically modified tomato , which became the first GM food on sale in the UK and in the United States. Louis Essen , a Nottingham physicist, made advances in the quartz clock in the 1930s at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, to produce the quartz ring clock in 1938, and
3069-589: The North Midlands has been proposed, but this has not taken off. In Bassetlaw , the most northern local authority in the East Midlands area, many of the shared services such as NHS are with South Yorkshire, not with other Midlands areas. The television signal comes mainly from the Emley Moor transmitting station , which broadcasts local news from BBC Look North and Calendar News. And its officially designated BBC Local Radio station in terms of radio coverage
3162-611: The Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line . England's primary south-west to north-east Cross Country Route runs through Derby and Chesterfield. Worksop , Mansfield , Lincoln , Matlock , Melton Mowbray , Skegness , Boston , Spalding and Oakham are served by regional services The Chiltern Main Line also serves the western fringe of the region, at Kings's Sutton . A land speed record for trains
3255-631: The University of Cambridge is named after a relative . Herbert Spencer coined the term " survival of the fittest " in 1864, which was once strongly linked with social Darwinism . Sir John Flamsteed was the first Astronomer Royal of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in 1675. Robert Bakewell , of Dishley in Leicestershire and known for his English Leicester sheep , arrived at selective breeding ; his English Longhorn were
3348-874: The Welland , flow in a northeasterly direction towards the Humber and the Wash . The Derwent , conversely, rises in the High Peak before flowing south to join the Trent some 2 miles (3 km) before its conflux with the Soar, and the Witham flows in an arch, first north to Lincoln before heading south to the Wash. The centre of the East Midlands area lies roughly between Bingham , Nottinghamshire and Bottesford , Leicestershire. The geographical centre of England lies in Higham on
3441-473: The caesium-133 atom. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), in Paris, takes the average of 300 atomic clocks around the world. On the early morning of Tuesday 26 February 1935 the radio transmitter at Daventry was used for what became known as the " Daventry Experiment " which involved the first-ever practical demonstration of radar , by its inventor Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Frederic Wilkins . They used
3534-468: The hydrogen-bonding mechanism between DNA bases , allowing the structure of DNA to be discovered. Nottinghamshire's Ken Richardson was in charge of the team at Pfizer in Sandwich, Kent that in 1981 discovered Fluconazole (Diflucan), the world's leading antifungal medication , especially useful for those with weakened immune systems . It has few side effects. Richardson is now one of the few Britons in
3627-660: The 32 council seats, losing all but four of them in the subsequent election in 2011. Boston received its charter in 1546. It is the main settlement in the Boston local government district of Lincolnshire, which includes the unparished town of Boston and 18 other civil parishes . The borough council is based in the Municipal Buildings in West Street. As of 2015, Boston Borough council consisted of 30 members: In 2017, six county council divisions existed for
3720-680: The Borough of Boston, each of which returned one member to Lincolnshire County Council: The town is part of the Boston and Skegness parliamentary constituency , currently represented by Reform UK chairman, Richard Tice . Prior to the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union , Boston was part of the East Midlands European Parliament constituency , which elected five members. According to
3813-813: The East Midlands in South Yorkshire . Three of the United Kingdom's mainline railways serve the region: the Midland Main Line , the East Coast Main Line , and the West Coast Main Line ( Northampton Loop ) providing services terminating at London St Pancras , London King's Cross and London Euston respectively. The three lines provide regular high-speed services to London , at up to 125 mph (200 km/h), serving Wellingborough , Kettering , Corby , Market Harborough , Leicester , Loughborough , Derby , East Midlands Parkway , Nottingham , Chesterfield , Grantham , Newark North Gate and Retford . Northampton and Long Buckby are served by
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3906-497: The East Midlands tend to identify themselves either on a county or town basis, regarding the East Midlands as simply a bureaucratic area that lumps together dissimilar places. In the North of the region, in areas such as North Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire, people culturally identify as Northerners. For example, a study by YouGov in 2018 found that a quarter of the inhabitants of the region identified as Northerners. A new area of
3999-576: The Hill in west Leicestershire , close to the boundary between the Leicestershire and Warwickshire. Some 88 per cent of the land is rural in character, although agriculture accounts for less than three per cent of the region's jobs. Church Flatts Farm in Coton in the Elms , South Derbyshire, is the furthest place from the sea in the UK (70 miles; 110 km). In April 1936 the first Ordnance Survey trig point
4092-649: The Romans, the area was settled by Angles , a Germanic people who gave the East Midlands most of the place-names it has today. They eventually founded the Kingdom of Mercia, meaning "borderlands," as it borders the Welsh people to the west. The region also corresponds to the later Five Boroughs of the Danelaw , the area that Vikings from Denmark controlled. In about 917 the region was subdivided between Danelaw (Vikings) to
4185-524: The Strelley coal pits. They worked the Strelley mines in an equal partnership. Comparatively little is known of the wagonway. It cost £172 (equivalent to £51,299 in 2023), and ended at Wollaton Lane End, from where most of the coal was taken onwards by road to Trent Bridge and then downstream on the River Trent by barge. The wagons or carriages were drawn by horses on wooden rails. The Strelley mines were worked only until about 1620, by which time all readily recoverable coal had probably been mined. The wagonway
4278-399: The UK's cement is manufactured in the region, at three sites in Hope and Tunstead in Derbyshire, and Ketton Cement Works in Rutland . Of the aggregates produced in the region, 25 per cent are from Derbyshire and four per cent from Leicestershire. Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire each produce around 30 per cent of the region's sand and gravel output. Barwell in Leicestershire
4371-409: The Witham did not flow near the site of Boston. Botolph's establishment is most likely to have been in Suffolk . However, he was a popular missionary and saint to whom many churches between Yorkshire and Sussex are dedicated. The 1086 Domesday Book does not mention Boston by name, but nearby settlements of the tenant-in-chief Count Alan Rufus of Brittany are covered. Its present territory
4464-452: The airport in the evening, then from 23:30 to 01:30 cargo flies to European capitals and from 03:00–05:00 from Europe to EMA. It is the UK's twelfth-largest passenger airport; the runway is the UK's sixth-longest at 2,900 metres (9,500 ft). Royal Mail flights from EMA go to Belfast , Edinburgh , Inverness , Aberdeen , Newcastle , Exeter and Bournemouth , and it is the largest UK Royal Mail air hub, with eleven flights per night. DHL
4557-428: The beginning of the First World War , a number of the town's trawlermen, together with some from Grimsby , were taken prisoner after their ships were sunk by German raiders in the North Sea. Their families did not know what had happened to them until late September 1914. The men were taken to Sennelager camp, then on to Ruhleben POW camp , where most remained until repatriated in 1918. A full report of their homecoming
4650-413: The beginnings of Received Pronunciation and southern England accents. However, spoken dialect and accent in the northern area of the East Midlands is far more similar to Northern English. Identity There is no modern Midlander, or East Midlander, identity. As Robert Shore wrote: "no one is more sceptical about the existence of an overarching Midland identity than Midlanders themselves." Inhabitants of
4743-399: The caesium clock, known as the atomic clock , in 1955. During the war he invented the cavity resonance wavemeter to find the first accurate value of the speed of light. The atomic clock works on differences in magnetic spin . Before Essen's invention, the second was defined in terms of the orbit of the Earth round the Sun ; he changed it in 1967 to be based on the hyperfine structure of
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#17327759853954836-460: The city that is supposedly most internationally recognisable. However, the airport has a Derby phone number and postcode, and is in Leicestershire, but is officially assigned to Nottingham by IATA . As a result of the dispute, the name change reverted. Three of the world's four main international air-freight companies (integrators) have their UK operations at EMA: DHL , UPS and TNT Express (TNT bought by UPS); FedEx have theirs at Stansted . It
4929-426: The continent of Europe and ranked as a port of the Hanseatic League . In the thirteenth century it was said to be the second port in the country. Edward III named it a staple port for the wool trade in 1369. Apart from wool, Boston also exported salt , produced locally on the Holland coast, grain , produced up-river, and lead, produced in Derbyshire and brought via Lincoln , up-river. A quarrel between
5022-399: The current one, costing £35 million and doubling the current department in size. Boston railway station is a stop on the Poacher Line ; East Midlands Railway operates a generally hourly service between Nottingham , Grantham and Skegness . These services are run by the Class 170, 158 or the older Class 156 trains. The railways came to Boston in 1848, following the building of
5115-422: The east of the Maud Foster Drain. The railway reached the town in 1848, and it was briefly on the main line from London to the north. The area between the Black Sluice and the railway station was mainly railway yard and the railway company's main depot. The latter facility moved to Doncaster when the modern main line was opened. Boston remained something of a local railway hub well into the 20th century, moving
5208-401: The experiment persuaded the British government to fund the development of a network of full scale radar stations on the south coast of England, which became known as Chain Home , which provided a decisive advantage to the RAF in the Battle of Britain in 1940. Language and dialect Parts of the East Midlands use a distinctive form of spoken dialect and accent. It also has some history in
5301-424: The feathery aspect of this was still reflected in the presence of the local bedding company named Fogarty. ) This and the religious friction put Boston into the parliamentarian camp in the Civil War , which in England began in 1642. The chief backer of the drainage locally, Lord Lindsey , was shot in the first battle and the fens returned to their accustomed dampness until after 1750. The later 18th century saw
5394-434: The first ever cattle bred for beef . George Boole , pioneer of Boolean logic (upon which all digital electronics and computers depend), was born in Lincoln in 1815. The application of Boole's theory to digital circuit design would come in 1937 by Claude Shannon . Boole's grandson, the physicist G. I. Taylor , made significant experimental contributions to quantum mechanics . The first practical demonstration of radar
5487-436: The focal points of the town. Electricity came to Boston during the early part of the century, and electrical street lighting was provided from 1924. During the Second World War , 17 residents of the borough were killed by enemy air raids. A memorial in Boston Cemetery commemorates them. The Haven Bridge, which now carries the two trunk roads over the river, was opened in 1966, and a new dual carriageway, John Adams Way,
5580-436: The heading of Drayton, so Boston's name is not mentioned. The Town Bridge still maintains the preflood route, along the old Haven bank. After the Norman conquest , Ralph the Staller's property was taken over by Count Alan . It subsequently came to be attached to the Earldom of Richmond, North Yorkshire , and known as the Richmond Fee. It lay on the left bank of The Haven. During the 11th and 12th centuries, Boston grew into
5673-402: The highest such vote in the country. In the 2019 Borough elections, the Conservatives were confirmed as the majority party on Boston Borough Council with 16 of the 30 seats, followed by independents with 11. In May 2007, a single-issue political party, the Boston Bypass Independents campaigning for a bypass to be built around the town, took control of the council when they won 25 of
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#17327759853955766-401: The largest water capacity in England, although it is not the longest. Several rivers in the region gave their name to early Rolls-Royce jet engines, namely the Nene , the Welland , and the Soar . Nottingham is the only city in the region served by a light railway system, operated by Nottingham Express Transit . As part of the transport planning system, the now defunct Regional Assembly
5859-403: The late 1980s and became a working mill again. It stands next to the drain after which it is named, and is unusual in having an odd number (five) of sails. The Guildhall in which the Pilgrim Fathers were tried was converted into a museum in 1929. The cells in which the pilgrims are said to have been held at the time of their trial are on the ground floor. After a major refurbishment during which
5952-408: The line of the road to Lindsey and from its western end, looking at the river side of the Exchange Building to the right, it is possible to see how the two ends of the building, founded on the natural levees of The Haven, have stood firm while the middle has sunk into the infill of the former river. From 1552, Bostonians used to have their jail near the Stump (about where the red car in the photograph
6045-422: The local and foreign merchants led to the withdrawal of the Hansards around 1470. Around the same time, the decline of the local guilds and shift towards domestic weaving of English wool (conducted in other areas of the country) led to a near-complete collapse of the town's foreign trade. The silting of the Haven only furthered the town's decline. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII during
6138-439: The museum was closed for several years, it reopened in 2008. The Pilgrim Fathers Memorial is located on the north bank of The Haven a few miles outside the town. Here at Scotia Creek, the pilgrims made their first attempt to leave for the Dutch Republic in 1607. The ruined Hussey Tower is all that remains of a medieval brick-fortified house, built in 1450, and occupied by John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford until he
6231-415: The nationally designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are: Several towns in the southern part of the region, including Market Harborough, Desborough, Rothwell, Corby, Kettering, Thrapston, Oundle and Stamford, lie within the boundaries of what was once Rockingham Forest – designated a royal forest by William the Conqueror and was long hunted by English kings and queens. The National Forest
6324-551: The north of Northamptonshire , serving the settlements of Kettering and Corby alongside surrounding areas, and is a major route between the region and the East of England , including the university city of Cambridge , and the major port of Felixstowe . East Midlands Airport in North West Leicestershire is situated in proximity to the region's largest cities; some 14 miles from the centres of Derby and Nottingham , with central Leicester being some 21 miles away and Lincoln further north east being 43 miles away. The airport
6417-408: The north, and Mercia (Anglo-Saxons) to the south. By 920 this border had moved north to the River Humber . Evidence of the Danelaw can be seen in place-name endings of the region's villages, particularly towards the east. The Danes under Canute recaptured the area between about 1016 and 1035, but it came back under English control after Canute's death that same year. The region's two main battles in
6510-399: The practicalities of horse haulage, suggest a gauge close to that dimension is plausible. alonge the passage now laide with railes, and with suche or the lyke Carriages as are now in use for the purpose. The above is from Sir Percival Willoughby's agreement with Huntingdon Beaumont dated 1 October 1604. Sir Percival was Lord of the Manor of Wollaton and Huntingdon Beaumont was the lessee of
6603-413: The produce of the district and the trade of the dock, plus the excursion trade to Skegness . Boston once again became a significant port in trade and fishing in 1884, when the new dock with its associated wharves on The Haven were constructed. It continued as a working port, exporting grain, fertiliser, and importing timber, although much of the fishing trade was moved out in the interwar period. At
6696-529: The region is growing at 2% per year – the highest growth rate of all UK regions. It is estimated that about 140,000 heavy goods vehicle journeys are made inside the region each day. The M1 (part of the E13 European route) serves the four largest urban areas in the region and affords a motorway link between London , Yorkshire , and North East England . Additionally, the M6 begins on the south-western edge of
6789-609: The region to be classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . The region is primarily served by East Midlands Airport , which lies between Derby, Leicester and Nottingham. The main cities in the region are Derby , Leicester , Lincoln and Nottingham . The largest towns in these counties are Boston , Chesterfield , Coalville , Corby , Glossop , Grantham , Kettering , Loughborough , Northampton , Mansfield , Oakham , Swadlincote and Wellingborough . The highest point at 636 m (2,087 ft)
6882-604: The region, providing links to the West Midlands and North West England . Both connect to other major routes providing further links to other parts of the UK. To the east of the largest cities lies the A1 (part of the European route E15 ), which is important for journeys to and from ports on England's north-east coast and the capital, and is a major artery for the United Kingdom's agricultural industry. The A46 largely follows
6975-601: The region. The defunct East Midlands Development Agency was headquartered next to the BBC 's East Midlands office in Nottingham and made financial decisions regarding economic development in the region. Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government launched its austerity programme after the 2010 general election , regional bodies such as those have been devolved to smaller groups now on
7068-553: The streets at night. In the 19th century, the names of Howden, a firm located near the Grand Sluice, and Tuxford, near the Maud Foster Sluice, were respected among engineers for their steam road locomotives, threshing engines, and the like. Howden developed his business from making steam engines for river boats, while Tuxford began as a miller and millwright. His mill was once prominent near Skirbeck Church, just to
7161-705: The teaching of the English church by going to the Netherlands from Boston. At that time, unsanctioned emigration was illegal, and they were brought before the court in the Guildhall . Most of the pilgrims were released fairly soon, and the following year, set sail for the Netherlands, settling in Leiden . In 1620, several of these were among the group who moved to New England in the Mayflower . Boston remained
7254-532: The upland of East Lindsey and the three routes to the south of Boston: The River Witham seems to have joined The Haven after the flood of September 1014, having abandoned the port of Drayton, on what subsequently became known as Bicker Haven. The predecessor of Ralph the Staller owned most of both Skirbeck and Drayton, so it was a relatively simple task to transfer his business from Drayton, but Domesday Book in 1086 still records his source of income in Boston under
7347-484: The world after the town, most notably Boston , Massachusetts, then a colony and now part of the United States. The name Boston is said to be a contraction of " Saint Botolph 's town", "stone" or " tun " ( Old English , Old Norse and modern Norwegian for a hamlet or farm ; hence the Latin villa Sancti Botulfi "St. Botulf's village"). The name Botulfeston appears in 1460, with an alias "Boston". The town
7440-402: Was also instrumental in bringing the railways to Boston. Born in nearby Paddock Grove, son of a butcher, he was also MP for Boston , from 1856 until his death in 1860, in a shipping accident on Lake Michigan . The seven-storeyed Maud Foster Tower Windmill , completed in 1819 by millwrights Norman and Smithson of Kingston upon Hull for Issac and Thomas Reckitt, was extensively restored in
7533-590: Was born outside of the UK. 5.6% of the population of Boston was born in Lithuania and 5.4% was born in Poland . This is the highest proportion of Lithuanians anywhere in the UK and the second highest number of Poles, behind Slough, Berkshire . Polish is the main language of 5.68% of the inhabitants. Boston has historically had strong cultural connections to the Netherlands , and Dutch influence can be found in its architecture . The parish church of Saint Botolph
7626-606: Was broken in the region. Although the record was set in 1938, the current world speed record for steam trains is held by 4468 Mallard , which clocked 126 mph (203 km/h) between Grantham and Peterborough , pulling six coaches on the East Coast Main Line near Little Bytham in Lincolnshire, on 3 July 1938. The Mallard record was unbroken by any British rail train until 6 June 1973, when an InterCity 125 between Northallerton and Thirsk reached 131 mph (211 km/h). Mallard in 1938 had six carriages and
7719-549: Was built in 1976–8 to take traffic away from the town centre. A shopping centre, named the Pescod Centre, opened in 2004, bringing many new shops into the town. Boston Cottage Hospital opened in 1871, was rebuilt in the 1960s, and is now called the Pilgrim Hospital , having been officially opened by Princess Anne on 23 June 1977. The hospital is currently building a new Emergency Department extension next to
7812-476: Was instrumental in naming. Unable to tolerate the religious situation any longer, he eventually emigrated himself in 1633. At the same time, work on draining the fens to the west of Boston was begun, a scheme which displeased many whose livelihoods were at risk. (One of the sources of livelihood obtained from the fen was fowling, supplying ducks and geese for meat and in addition the processing of their feathers and down for use in mattresses and pillows. Until 2018,
7905-610: Was near Daventry in 1935. Robert Robinson , of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, invented the circular symbol in 1925 for the pi bonds of the benzene ring, as found on all structural diagrams of aromatic compounds . Nicola Pellow , a maths undergraduate at Leicester Polytechnic, whilst at CERN in November 1990, wrote the world's second web browser. Silicone was discovered in 1899 by Prof Frederic Kipping at University College, Nottingham. Michael Creeth of Northampton discovered
7998-570: Was once said to have been a Roman settlement, but no evidence shows this to be the case. Similarly, it is often linked to the monastery established by the Saxon monk Botolph at "Icanhoe" on the Witham in AD ;654 and destroyed by the Vikings in 870, but this is doubted by modern historians. The early medieval geography of The Fens was much more fluid than it is today, and at that time,
8091-551: Was presumably then abandoned. The success of the Wollaton Wagonway led to Huntingdon Beaumont building other wagonways for his other mining leases near Blyth in Northumberland . A continuous evolution of railways can be traced back to the Wollaton Wagonway. East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England . It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as
8184-462: Was probably then part of the grant of Skirbeck , part of the very wealthy manor of Drayton, which before 1066 had been owned by Ralph the Staller , Edward the Confessor 's Earl of East Anglia . Skirbeck had two churches and one is likely to have been that dedicated to St Botolph, in what was consequently Botolph's town. Skirbeck ( map ) is now considered part of Boston, but the name remains, as
8277-705: Was sited at Cold Ashby in Northamptonshire . The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and The Wildlife Trusts are based next to the River Trent and Newark Castle railway station. The National Centre for Earth Observation is at the University of Leicester. The region is home to large quantities of limestone , and the East Midlands Oil Province . Charnwood Forest is noted for its abundant levels of volcanic rock, estimated to be approximately 600 million years old. A quarter of
8370-436: Was the partner of Sir Percival Willoughby , the local land-owner and owner of Wollaton Hall . It ran for approximately two miles (3 km) from Strelley to Wollaton to assist the haulage of coal . The actual track gauge is unknown but some websites state it was 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ). No documentary evidence exists to support such statements although Lewis' work (1970) on early wooden railways, and
8463-517: Was the site of Britain's largest meteorite (7 kg; 15 lb) on 24 December 1965. The 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake was 5.2 in magnitude . Areas of the East Midlands designated by the East Midlands Biodiversity Partnership as Biodiversity Conservation Areas include: Areas of the East Midlands designated by the East Midlands Biodiversity Partnership as Biodiversity Enhancement Areas include: Two of
8556-563: Was the southern terminus of the East Lincolnshire Line to Louth and Grimsby, until its closure in 1970. Bus services in the area are operated predominantly by Stagecoach East , Stagecoach East Midlands and Brylaine Travel. Key routes link the town with Lincoln, Skegness and Spalding. Boston residents voted strongly (75.6%) in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership ,
8649-742: Was under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This involved region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the Highways Agency and Network Rail . Local transport authorities in the region carry out planning through a Local Transport Plan (LTP) . The most recent LTPs are for the period 2006–11. The following East Midland transport authorities published an LTP online: Derbyshire , Leicestershire . Lincolnshire , Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire and Rutland U.A. The unitary authorities of Derby , Leicester and Nottingham They have each written
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