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Grantham
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Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It stands athwart the East Coast Main Line railway (London-Edinburgh), the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham, 24 miles (39 km) south-southwest of the city of Lincoln. The resident population is 34,592 in around 18,000 households, including the village of Great Gonerby.
The town is best known as the birthplace of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the place where Isaac Newton went to school.
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Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It stands athwart the East Coast Main Line railway (London-Edinburgh), the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham, 24 miles (39 km) south-southwest of the city of Lincoln. The resident population is 34,592 in around 18,000 households, including the village of Great Gonerby.
The town is best known as the birthplace of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the place where Isaac Newton went to school. It is within short walking distance of an ancient Roman road, and was the scene of Oliver Cromwell's first advantage over Royalists during the English Civil War at Gonerby Moor. Grantham is also notable for having the first female police officers in the United Kingdom, in 1914.
History
Toponymy
The origin of the name "Grantham" is uncertain, though is said to probably be Old English language "Granta+ham", meaning "Granta's village", and appeared as early as 1086 in the Domesday Book in its present form of Grantham.
Prehistory
Late neolithic vessels from a burial were found at Little Gonerby, in the north of the town, in 1875.
Military history
During the famous Dams Raids Royal Air Force (RAF) mission in May 1943, the RAF Bomber Command's No. 5 Group and the operation HQ, as Barnes Wallis nervously learnt the grim news, was in , a building which later housed a district council planning department. It was built by Richard Hornsby in 1865, lived in by Richard Hornsby's son, and is now a private . In 1944 (including D-Day), this was the headquarters for the USAAF's Ninth Air Force's IX Troop Carrier Command, being known as Grantham Lodge. RAF Spitalgate trained pilots in the war, and was not an operational base. RAF Spitalgate is now a Territorial Army (RLC) barracks called Prince William of Gloucester Barracks. Grantham College use the site for football development. The large mast on the base was part of the BT microwave network.
Industrial history
In 1905 Richard Hornsby (1790-1864) & Sons of Grantham (founded 1815) invented the revolutionary caterpillar track, for use with 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 these engines were not wholly compression-ignition derived, later in 1892 a prototype high-pressure version was built at Hornsbys whereby ignition was achieved solely (100%) through compression; it ran continuously for six hours, being the first known diesel engine.
In 1909, Hornsbys showed the British Army their invention, who were bemused, but took the idea no further than that, although they subsequently bought four caterpillar tractors in 1910 to tow artillery. A short time later, Hornsbys sold the patent for the caterpillar track in 1914 to The Holt Manufacturing Company of California, USA for $8,000, having only sold one caterpillar tractor commercially. Hornsby's design was far ahead of anything else around at the time. Thanks to the ownership of the patent, this company would become the world-dominating Caterpillar Inc. Tractor Company. Benjamin Holt even claimed to be the real inventor. In December 1914 the British Army's Colonel Ernest Swinton saw one of Holt's caterpillar tractors towing a piece of artillery, and realised its ground-breaking potential as an attack vehicle. One year later the tank was born (using Hornsby's initial designs), being made in nearby Lincoln by William Foster. It first saw action at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15 September 1916. In 1918 Hornsbys amalgamated with Rustons and the company became Ruston and Hornsby. Later during World War II, the company would make tanks such as the Matilda at the Grantham factory.
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Aveling & Porter of Rochester, Kent, would join with Barford & Perkins of Peterborough to become Aveling-Barford Ltd in 1934, largely due to financial help from Ruston & Hornsby. The new company took a former site of Hornsbys, naming it the 'Invicta' works, from the motto on the coat of arms of Kent, and translates as 'unconquered'. It initially prospered but with the sinking market for large dumper trucks and road rollers declined and now, as Barford Construction Equipment, it makes dumpers for construction sites, being owned by Wordsworth Holdings PLC, owned in turn by the entrepreneur Duncan Wordsworth. A trailer company, Crane-Fruehauf, has moved into part of the factory, from its former home of Dereham, when it went into receivership in early 2005.
British Manufacture and Research Company (or BMARC), on Springfield Road, made munitions notably the Hispano cannon for the Spitfire and Hurricane from 1937 onwards. It was owned by the Swiss company Oerlikon from 1971 until 1988, becoming part of Astra Holdings plc then being bought by British Aerospace in 1992, who 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 was moved there in 2007, due to the catering service being up to wedding reception standard.
Traditions
Many traditions have taken place over the years, many of which have been forgotten. There is the Gratham parade and the Grantham Festival both of which take place every year. There used to be an annual pig drive through the centre of the town until 1962, when it was deemed too dangerous; this tradition dated back to 1755, when pig farmers from the area used to move pigs to greener pastures.
Local companies
The food-processing industry is currently the largest employer of Grantham's population, including Fenland Foods (part of Northern Foods) on the Earlesfield Industrial Estate, which was mothballed in September 2008 following the loss of business with Marks and Spencer, their sole customer; Moypark (formerly Padleys) in Gonerby Hill Foot; and a large frozen vegetable factory (PAS) near Easton. The Woodland Trust is based on Dysart Road. There is a small FM radio transmitter near the town's bypass on Gorse Lane from which Radio Lincolnshire is broadcast on 104.7 and Lincs FM on 96.7, and national radio. The transmitter has five staff permanently on site.
Governance
Grantham once lay within the ancient Winnibriggs and Threo wapentake in the Soke of Grantham in the Parts of Kesteven.
Politically the town is part of the Grantham and Stamford constituency and is represented in Parliament by Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) Quentin Davies. Davies had been elected to the seat as a member of the Conservative Party before crossing the floor to join Labour; the constituency has a long history of electing Conservative members of Parliament.
The local authority - South Kesteven District Council - is currently Conservative-led, with the current political makeup being 35 Conservative, 15 Independent, 2 Labour and 6 Liberal Democrat councillors.
Education
The town is home to Grantham College, a further education college for the district, for those not attending school sixth forms. Since September 2008 the Walton Girls High School on Harlaxton Road has offered post-16 courses as Grantham's only sixth form college. Two notable schools in the district are Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and The Kings Grammar School. Both have large sixth forms and are best known for their past students. Britain's first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, attended Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, and Isaac Newton famously attended The Kings School. Both achieve high examination results and are highly placed in the county's league tables. Up to 16, both schools are single-sex. KGGS has secured the second-best GCSE results for a secondary modern school in Lincolnshire, few comprehensive schools in the county achieving better results. All four secondary schools are on the outskirts of the town, with the other notable school of this type being the a co-educational school in Manthorpe. Of the six secondary schools, only three areco-educational. For the Grantham area of South Kesteven, around 60% of those at 16 achieve five GCSEs at grades A*-C. This compares to 40% for those in Melton and under 30% for those in Newark.
Landmarks
The main local landmark is the parish church of St Wulfram's, which has the sixth highest spire (282 ft) among English churches. It is the second tallest church in Lincolnshire after St James Church in Louth, and is also home to the country's first public library. In 1598, Francis Trigge, rector of Welbourn, gave £100 for a small library of books for the clergy and literate laity of Grantham. Two hundred and fifty of the original volumes remain and are kept in the parish church. The Bishop of Grantham is currently Tim Ellis.
Grantham is home to the country's only 'living' pub sign: a beehive of South African bees located outside since 1830.
Edith Smith Way is the name of the road beside the , on 'St Peter's Hill'; it is named after England's first policewoman. Miss Mary Allen and Miss E.F. Harburn reported for duty on the 'beat' on November 27 1914, during the First World War. Mary Allen was a former suffragette and had been previously arrested outside the House of Commons and later went on to be the commandant of the UK's women's police force from the 1920s up to 1940. She helped to set up women's police forces in other countries, including Germany. Edith Smith became the first female with powers of arrest in August 1915.
The Angel & Royal Hotel is one of Britain's oldest inns, dating from about 1200. King John held court there in 1213, when the site was a hostel run by the Knights Templar. The George Hotel nearby (known as St Peter's Place, now the George Shopping Centre) was mentioned in Charles Dickens's novel Nicholas Nickleby. Also in the town is the Blue Pig, one of many Blue pubs. Much of the town's property and industrial estates have been owned by Buckminster Trust Estates since the time of the Earl of Dysart.
To the west of the town near the A607 is the building of maltings (formerly owned by Moray Firth until 1999). Other maltings in the town have been converted for residential use such as near the river and formerly owned by Lee & Grinling’s.
Nearby are many historic houses including 17th-century Belton House, early 19th-century Harlaxton Manor, Stoke Rochford Hall (the training centre of the NUT), and the 11th-century Belvoir Castle (in Leicestershire).
Transport
Rail
Grantham railway station is served by the London-Edinburgh East Coast Main Line (between the stops for Peterborough and Newark Northgate), and the Nottingham to Skegness Line. Liverpool-Norwich trains also call at Grantham. The good transport links to Nottingham and Peterborough attract people to live in Grantham yet work in a larger city. The town's grammar schools also attract pupils from Bingham, Newark and even Retford via the train.
In 1906, a rail accident killed 14 people.
Road
The town has the A1 main road from London to Edinburgh running past it (the town was bypassed in 1962). The main shopping High Street, until recently, was part of the busy A52 (which runs to nearby Nottingham), and Wharf Road and London Road (next to Sainsbury's) still are, meeting the A607 (for Lincoln) at a busy junction. There is a motorway-style Grantham North Services at the north end of the bypass, on the [ new junction] which has recently replaced a roundabout in May 2008. It is east-west traffic on the A52 that causes Grantham the most problems, not least to two of its frequently-hit railway bridges.
Waterways
Grantham was once linked to Nottingham by the Grantham-Nottingham canal. Currently the canal is in a state of disrepair, but some sections are undergoing restoration.
Sport
Grantham Town Football Club is the local football team, currently playing in the Unibond League Division One South. The major claim to fame of Grantham Town Football Club (nicknamed 'The Gingerbreads') is that Martin O'Neill started his management path from there. The club was founded in 1874 and currently plays in the 7,500-capacity (covered 1,950, seats 750) South Kesteven Sports Stadium (although average attendances are well below capacity). The ground also doubles as the town's athletics stadium (one of only three in Lincolnshire), next to the Grantham Meres Leisure Centre on Trent Road.
Nature
Grantham and the surrounding area is home to the Peregrine Falcons which roost in the belltower of St Wulframs Church, and the "Grantham Gobbler", a Heron. Unfortunately both of these birds are voracious predators, which has upset pigeon fanciers and fish lovers.
Grantham is surrounded by rolling countryside and woodland, suitable for country walks with views of the Lincolnshire farmland and woodland.
The Grantham Journal
Grantham has a newspaper, The Grantham Journal, which first went on sale in 1854 under the name The Grantham Journal of Useful, Instructive and Entertaining Knowledge and Monthly Advertiser, which was shortened to its current name a few years later.
Twin town
- Sankt Augustin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (near Bonn, 57,000 population) since 1980. The A52 relief road is named Sankt Augustin Way. Sankt Augustin has its Grantham-Allee.
Notable people
- In the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror, Grantham is first mentioned as "Grant ham".Its name is much older and could be derived from the Anglo-Saxon for the settlement on the gravel or sand bank.
- Two world-famous people associated with the town are:
- William Stukeley (1687-1765), archaeologist, was a doctor in Grantham 1726-30.
- Thomas Paine, influentional in the French revolution and American independence, was resident from 1762-64.
- Eric Chappell, writer of many 1970s and 80s television sitcoms, including Rising Damp, Only When I Laugh and Duty Free, comes from Grantham and still lives in a village two miles outside the town.
- Graham Fellows of The Shuttleworths lives nearby, having previously lived near Louth.
- Des Lynam lived there with his partner, Harriet Hopkins, from 2005 until 2006.
- Johnny Downes DFC (1920-2004) - BBC producer who created the first live children's TV programme, Crackerjack, in 1955 and also The Basil Brush Show in 1968.
- Richard Todd, retired actor famous for the film Dambusters, lives in the hamlet of Little Humby, about 7 miles from the town.
- Geoff Capes, former World's Strongest Man lives in Stoke Rochford, three miles south of Grantham.
Others:
Bibliography
- The Royal Charters of Grantham 1463-1688 Edited by G.H. Martin - Limited to 400 copies and contains list of Charters and index.
External links
- - published by Kesteven District Council
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