Spilsby is a
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and civil parish in
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. England. The town is situated adjacent to the main A16 Trunk Road at the southern edge of the
Lincolnshire WoldsThe Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
north of
the FenlandsThe Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
, 33 miles (53.1 km) east of the
county townA county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of
LincolnLincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
, 17 miles (27.4 km) north east of Boston and 13 miles (20.9 km) north west from
SkegnessSkegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
.
The town has been a rural market town for more than 700 years. It has changed little in size since the beginning of the 19th century. The town centre features a range of small supermarkets, banks, traditional newsagents, baker, butchers, jewellers and clothing stores; together with pubs, cafes and ethnic fast-food takeaways.
At the centre of town is an open square or traditional market place, from which the four main town streets radiate. Markets take place on a Monday. As Spilsby is located within a predominantly agricultural area, much of the market produce consists of locally grown vegetables and meat.
The population of the town was 2,336 in the 2001 census.
Early history and a medieval market town
The area has been occupied by humans since pre-historic times. Evidence for this can be found at nearby West Keal, where an
Iron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
hill fortA hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
and defensive terraced
earthworksIn archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...
were built at the tip of the Wolds promontory, overlooking the present village.
The Spilby area was visited and occupied by the
RomansAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
during the 1st century until the 4th century AD. During the 1960s, an archaeological dig and field walk at nearby
Keal CotesKeal Cotes, forming part of West Keal parish, is a small linear village in the English county of Lincolnshire located on the A16 road one mile south of West Keal and one mile north of Stickford...
, in a large field south of the village (where the A16 meets Hagnaby Lane), discovered many
tessellatedA tessellation or tiling of the plane is a pattern of plane figures that fills the plane with no overlaps and no gaps. One may also speak of tessellations of parts of the plane or of other surfaces. Generalizations to higher dimensions are also possible. Tessellations frequently appeared in the art...
mosaicMosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
floor tiles and roof tiles. These indicated that a substantial
Roman villaAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
or high-status Romano-British farmhouse once stood on the site. The recorded finds from the site are stored at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life in
LincolnLincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
. In 1849, six Roman funeral urns were dug up in nearby
FulletbyFulletby is a village and a civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies in the Lincolnshire Wolds, northeast of Horncastle, south of Louth and northwest of Spilsby. The parish covers about .- History :...
.
Spilsby was probably named before or no later than the 9th century
Dane rule periodThe Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...
. It literally translates from the phrase
Spila's-by, where
by is old
NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
for "place of dwelling". Hence, it meant "Spila's village" or, more accurately, "Spila lives here"; Spila being the local
VikingThe term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
warlord or chieftain, who acted as head of the immediate area. The town was recorded in the
Domesday bookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as
Spilesbei. In 1082 it was not much more than a large farmstead and few surrounding crofts under the squireship of the Bishop of Durham.
According to
historianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Graham Platts, a charter was granted to a John de Beke (or John Beck) in 1255 to hold a weekly market in Spilsby each Monday and a three-day annual fair in July. Four years later, in 1259, the same John de Beke was granted a further charter to hold a three-day Christmas fair from 5–8 December. The next recorded charter to hold a weekly Monday market in the town and an annual fair in July was granted in 1302 to the
Lord of the ManorThe Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
,
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
noble Robert de Willoughby. A copy of this charter is displayed in the parish church.
At the east end of the town centre’s market place stands a medieval
ButtercrossA buttercross, also known as butter cross, is a type of market cross associated with English market towns and dating from medieval times. Its name originates from the fact that they were located at the market place, where people from neighbouring villages would gather to buy locally produced...
monument. The historian
Nikolaus PevsnerSir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
suggests that the Spilsby Buttercross dates from as early as the 14th century and certainly no later than the 16th century. The stepped bases of these monuments were used by early traders on market day to display their goods: usually milk, cheeses and, of course, butter.
Standing in the centre of the market place is the building originally known as the town hall, later called the Old Town Hall. More recently, it has been known as
The Archways store and petrol station. In the 18th century the town civic offices, a small courtroom and the town gaol were in the upstairs level supported by the arches. The ground level was an open covered space used as the local
corn exchangeA corn exchange or grain exchange was a building where farmers and merchants traded cereal grains. Such trade was common in towns and cities across Great Britain and Ireland until the 19th century, but as the trade became centralised in the 20th century many such buildings were used for other...
and for stalls by market traders to protect them from the rain.
The Manor of Eresby
The Manor of Eresby, including the lands and parish of Spilsby, was awarded to Baron Walter de Beke in 1083 by William the Conqueror. It was held by his family for over two hundred years. In the 1290s the male line of the de Beke family died out and the manor passed to Robert de Willoughby by marriage. The Willoughy family originated in nearby
Willoughby in the MarshWilloughby is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds. It lies within the civil parish of Willoughby with Sloothby, and south of the town of Alford...
. In 1313 Robert was appointed
1st Baron Robert Willoughby de EresbyBaron Willoughby de Eresby is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ in 1313 for Robert de Willoughby of Eresby Manor, near Spilsby, Lincolnshire. The fourteenth Baron was created Earl of Lindsey in 1626. His great-grandson, the fourth Earl and seventeenth Baron, was created...
, a family line that continues to the
28th BaronessNancy Jane Marie Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby PC is the daughter of the late Gilbert James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster and Nancy née Astor....
.
The original manor house from the 14th century stood near to the site of the later mansion. It would have been demolished when the new manor was built. During excavations in the mid 1960s, fragments of the earlier dwelling were discovered. Many examples of medieval and post-medieval pottery shards were recovered from the site of the Eresby Manor’s moat by archeologist E. H. Rudkin in 1966.
The new Eresby manor house was built by
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and was slain by Richard III in person at...
in 1535 after he married his ward, the fifteen-year-old
Lady Catherine WilloughbyCatherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby , was an English noblewoman living at the royal courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and later, Queen Elizabeth I...
, daughter and heiress to the
11th Baron Willoughby de EresbyWilliam Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby was an English baron and the largest landowner in Lincolnshire. He was the son of Sir Christopher Willoughby William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1482–1526) was an English baron and the largest landowner in Lincolnshire. He was...
. In 1769 the manor was destroyed by fire during the stewardship of the
19th BaronGeneral Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, 3rd Marquess of Lindsey, 6th Earl of Lindsey, 19th Baron Willoughby de Eresby PC was the son of Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven....
. It is believed that a carpenter accidentally started a fire with his candle while he was working in the roof space. A 1771 plan shows that the house was built in the basic ‘H’ shape. The plan also shows details of the grounds, which included an
orangeryAn orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
, cherry orchard, bowling green, dove cote and an ash grove, which were all near to the house. The manor had been originally moated, but by 1771 the moat had been adapted as an ornamental fishing lake.
The Anglican parish church of St James is built of the local Spilsby green
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. It probably dates from the late 14th century, although it has been much added to and amended over the centuries. The church has notable funerary monuments. The greenstone is a soft and porous stone that absorbs water. The church was recased in Lancaster stone at some stage in the past. It can seat a congregation of around 750. The parish churchyard was closed to further burials when it ran out of available space in 1884.
To mark his inheritance of the title in 1349, the 3rd Baron, Sir John de Willoughby, built a private chapel on his estate. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity, it was endowed with collegiate status for a master and up to twelve priests. When the family founded the
King Edward VI Grammar SchoolKing Edward VI Humanities College, is a coeducational bi-lateral secondary school, sixth form college and specialist Humanities College located in Spilsby, Lincolnshire for children between the ages of eleven and eighteen....
in 1550, the school initially had no school building. The twenty or so children were taught in the Eresby chapel building for the next sixty years. A
school houseA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
was provided in 1611, by converting an agricultural building on the edge of the estate. In 1839 the 1611 school was replaced by a new school building that was constructed on its current site, with funds provided by the
25th BaronSir Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 6th Baronet, 1st Earl of Ancaster PC , known as 2nd Baron Aveland from 1867 to 1888 and as 25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby from 1888 to 1892, was a British Liberal politician and court official.Born Gilbert Henry Heathcote, he was the son of Gilbert...
.
Bolingbroke Castle
Bolingbroke CastleBolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in Bolingbroke Lincolnshire, England.-Construction:Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that proved to be porous, prone to rapid deterioration when exposed to weather and a...
was built in the parish of Spilsby around 1220 by Ranulph de Blondeville, Earl of Chester and Earl of Lincoln. Much damaged during the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, after the nearby
Battle of WincebyThe Battle of Winceby took place on 11 October 1643 during the English Civil War near the village of Winceby, Lincolnshire about 4 miles east of Horncastle.-Prelude:...
in October 1643, only the lower sections of the outer walls remain. The last standing section of the castle, the gatehouse, finally collapsed in 1815. Henry de Bolingbroke, later to become King Henry IV of England at the age of thirty two, was born at Bolingbroke Castle in 1366.
Bolingbroke's original walls, also constructed of Spilsby greenstone, were in an irregular hexagon, with round towers on five of the corners. The gatehouse consists of two towers built about 3 yards apart. Leading to a
portcullisA portcullis is a latticed grille made of wood, metal, fibreglass or a combination of the three. Portcullises fortified the entrances to many medieval castles, acting as a last line of defence during time of attack or siege...
further inside was a drawbridge that spanned the moat. The moat encircled an area about 87 yards in diameter. The six walls were 6½ feet wide and varied in length from 16 to 32 feet (9.8 m) long. There was a small 'priest' door in the rear wall just above the moat water line. The castle garrison was supported and supplied by a small settlement outside the castle walls, including several small farms, a friary and salmon lakes.
Gunby Hall
According to the dated keystone on the west doorway,
Gunby HallGunby Hall is a country house in Gunby, near Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, England, reached by a half mile long private drive. The Estate comprises the 42 room Gunby Hall, listed Grade I, a fine Clocktower, listed Grade II* and a Carriage House and Stable Block which are listed Grade II...
was built in 1700 by Sir Henry Massingberd. The mansion still stands in several acres of landscaped and wooded parkland. There is a blue gazebo amid well-kept gardens.
Locally bornSomersby is a village in the parish of Greetham with Somersby in the Lincolnshire Wolds, northwest of Spilsby and eastnortheast of Horncastle. The parish covers about .- History :...
Poet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
Alfred, Lord TennysonAlfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
described it as "an English home... all things in order stored and a haunt of peace". The original words, written in his own hand, are framed and preserved in the Hall's library.
During the Second World War, the
Air MinistryThe Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
attempted to build an airfield at Gunby that would have covered the estate and necessitated demolishing the mansion. The then-owner,
Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-MassingberdField Marshal Sir Archibald Armar Montgomery-Massingberd GCB, GCVO, KCMG was a Chief of the Imperial General Staff.-Name and personal life:...
, personally appealed to King George VI. The Air Ministry relented, redrawing the plans that resulted in building
RAF Spilsby-Units and aircraft based at Spilsby:-References:*Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 -External links:*...
two miles (3 km) further south at Great Steeping. The runway eventually ended only a few yards short of the Gunby estate boundary hedge.
Gunby Hall was one of the first major British mansion houses and estates to be presented to the
National TrustThe National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in 1944. It is open to the public on a few limited days of the week during the summer, while remaining a private family residence for the remainder of the year.
Hundleby
Hundleby was an ancient parish that fell within Spilsby. It has not changed greatly in size or layout for the past two hundred years. The village population in 1801 was 218, and in 1901 it reached a peak of 528, mostly agricultural farm workers and their families. By 1971 the population had fallen to 439. It has remained fairly stable ever since with only minor fluctuations.
Hundleby’s Anglican St Mary’s parish church was rebuilt between 1853 and 1855, and seated around two hundred parishioners. The parish had a long-standing right to send three children to the Raithby parish free school. Hundleby’s elementary school was built around 1860 and was enlarged in 1884 to accommodate up to 120 children.
The
Grace Swan Memorial Cottage HospitalThe original concept of a cottage hospital was a small rural hospital having up to 25 beds. One advantage of such a hospital in villages was the familiarity the local physician might have with their patient that may affect their treatment...
was built in Hundleby during the late 19th century as a 25-bed in-patient facility. It was split between charity and private fee-paying wards, with its own operating theatre, maternity unit and resident surgeon. Closed by the local health authority as part of a rationalisation programme during the 1990s, the building is now a local health centre.
The Spilsby
Poor Law UnionA Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
group of parishes had a
workhouseIn England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
located in Hundleby and built in 1838. The workhouse was recorded in 1870 as having 280 residents. The workhouse was later converted into Spilsby's
Gables Hospital, demolished in recent years for the building of new housing.
Spilsby in the 19th century
In 1833 a new cemetery of approximately one acre was established on Boston Road. White's 1842 Directory described Spilsby as being "a small, but thriving and well-built market town, pleasantly seated on an eminence, which overlooks an extensive tract of marshes and
fenA fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...
s. Eresby is a small hamlet just south of town."
In 1839 the King Edward VI Grammar School had moved from its original 17th century school building to a new school built on its current site in Spilsby. The grammar school building was abandoned during the 1990s after the two Spilsby
secondary schoolSecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s had amalgamated as Spilsby High School.
In the mid-19th century, several chapels for nonconformist Methodism were built in the town, including
Wesleyan MethodistThe Wesleyan Methodist Church was the name used by the major Methodist movement in Great Britain following its split from the Church of England after the death of John Wesley and the appearance of parallel Methodist movements...
, Primitive Methodist and Independent Methodists. When the Independents built a new chapel in 1866, they converted their original chapel into a
Sunday schoolSunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
. The Wesleyans built a chapel opposite the Buttercross, in Market Place, during 1878.
A prison for the area was built in Spilsby between 1824–26. It occupied a site where Spence Street and West End now stand. The prison covered just over 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) surrounded by a high brick wall and fronted by a
courthouseA courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
. It was enlarged in 1869 to provide 85 single cells. The prison was demolished in 1876, except for the small front area. This contained the sessions house with a Greek Doric-pillared portico, police station and town lockup. The Sessions House of 1826, where court quarter sessions for the district of
LindseyLindsey was a unit of local government until 1974 in Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it...
were held until 1878, is now home to the Spilsby Theatre and Arts Centre.
The town's gasworks were constructed in 1853, opening in 1854 on Ashby Road, bringing street and house lighting to the town for the first time. In 1908 the North East Lincolnshire Water Company opened a pumping station in Hundleby, with a 75,000-gallon reservoir on Raithby Hill. It brought tap water to homes in Spilsby for the first time.
In 1892 Spilsby Pavilion opened, with a further room opened in 1896, each room accommodating 300 to 400 people. At the time, the Pavilion was advertised as providing accommodation for "dancing parties and smoking concerts". The
Masonic LodgeThis article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
and Hall opened on Halton Road in 1913.
The parish had 22 acres (89,030.9 m²) set aside as "poor land", owning many tenements and the Red Lion public house. Annual rental revenue from these properties, £76-5s-0d (£76.25) in 1842, was distributed half-yearly among any poor in the parish who did not receive any other financial aid from the town’s poor rates. As a result of the
1834 Poor Law Amendment ActThe Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, sometimes abbreviated to PLAA, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Lord Melbourne that reformed the country's poverty relief system . It was an Amendment Act that completely replaced earlier legislation based on the...
, the parish became part of the Spilsby
Poor Law UnionA Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
, which covered 33 local parishes.
Railway connections
A small local railway company built a branch line from
Firsby junctionFirsby is a small rural linear village and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England, 36 miles east from the county town of Lincoln, 4 miles south east of the nearest market town of Spilsby and 8 miles inland from the holiday resort town of Skegness.The village lies on the northern side of the...
to Spilsby, which opened on 1 May 1868. The branch was just over 4 miles (6 km) long and connected Spilsby to the King's Cross, London to
CleethorpesCleethorpes is a town and unparished area in North East Lincolnshire, England, situated on the estuary of the Humber. It has a population of 31,853 and is a seaside resort.- History :...
main line. The only other railway station on the branch line was Halton Holegate Halt. The necessary parliamentary permission had been obtained by an Act in July 1865 which incorporated the Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company with an authorised capital of £20,000 and loans of £8,333 for the construction of the 4 mile (6 km) long, single-track branch.
Construction of the railway began in March 1867. Ceremonial cutting of the first turf was performed by local rector, the Reverend Rawnsley, who was standing in for the railway company's chairman Lord Willoughby de Eresby the
25th BaronSir Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 6th Baronet, 1st Earl of Ancaster PC , known as 2nd Baron Aveland from 1867 to 1888 and as 25th Baron Willoughby de Eresby from 1888 to 1892, was a British Liberal politician and court official.Born Gilbert Henry Heathcote, he was the son of Gilbert...
. The railway was expected to be opened quickly but disputes with the contractors arose over the quality of their work, and several lengths of track had to be replaced. The
Great Northern RailwayThe Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
bought out the Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company for £20,000 through an Act of Parliament on 25 July 1890.
Passenger services were suspended in 1939. A goods service for grain, potatoes, livestock and other agricultural products continued for nearly 20 years. Goods including petrol,
paraffinIn chemistry, paraffin is a term that can be used synonymously with "alkane", indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2. Paraffin wax refers to a mixture of alkanes that falls within the 20 ≤ n ≤ 40 range; they are found in the solid state at room temperature and begin to enter the...
and coal continued to come into Spilsby via the rail link up to its final closure on 30 November 1958. The main station building was demolished in 1965. The engine shed has been used by agricultural suppliers as a shop and store with new sections added. The original trackbed within the town has been built on, with most of it covered by the Vale Industrial Estate. Outside of the town, most of the old track route to
FirsbyFirsby is a small rural linear village and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England, 36 miles east from the county town of Lincoln, 4 miles south east of the nearest market town of Spilsby and 8 miles inland from the holiday resort town of Skegness.The village lies on the northern side of the...
can still be seen in aerial photographs, marked by the avenue of trees and bushes.
The town’s army connections
The
British ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
’s "Seventh Spilsby Rifle Volunteer Corps’’, an early part-time army detachment, was formed in the town during 1860. At its height, the corps contained about 100 members. In 1872, Captain J. W. Preston was the officer in charge, supported by Lt George Walker, Ensign Robert MacKinder and drill master Sergeant Thomas Ward.
In 1889, the Rifle Volunteer Corps, renamed as F Company of the First Volunteer Battalion, was based in Spilsby. Its commandant was the now-promoted Major George Walker. He was aided by Lt G. B. Walker and Lt W. Hoff, Acting Surgeon Lieutenant Francis John Walker and the acting chaplain Rev. Pownoll Kendall.
In 1899, Spilsby’s Territorial Force Drill Hall was completed in Halton Road, built of solid red brick. The site also contained housing and quarters for the resident professional army sergeant instructors.
In 1912, C Company of the 5th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment (Territorial Force) was formed in the town. The company’s commandant was Captain H. S. Scorer (
killed in actionKilled in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
at
Hohenzollern RedoubtThe Hohenzollern Redoubt, near to Auchy-les-Mines in France, was a German fortification on the Western Front in World War I.-Introduction:The British first attacked the Redoubt on September 25, 1915, the first day of the Battle of Loos...
on 13 October 1915), Surgeon Colonel Francis John Walker was the chief medical officer, and the regular army drill instructor was Colour Sergeant Wallace Cowling.
The Royal Air Force in Spilsby
During the Second World War,
RAF Spilsby-Units and aircraft based at Spilsby:-References:*Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 -External links:*...
, a bomber airfield designed for
Lancaster bombersThe Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
, was built at Great Steeping. It opened for operations on 20 September 1943. Later used by the
United States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
as a strategic bomber base until 1958, the airfield was finally demolished in the late 1970s. The runways and perimeter track were torn up, with most of the crushed aggregate being used in the construction of the new
Humber BridgeThe Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220 m single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is the fifth-largest of its type in the world...
.
RAF Spilsby is commemorated by an airfield memorial standing just outside Great Steeping and by plaques in All Saints' Church, Great Steeping. The ghost cropmarks showing the airfield's runway layout are still visible in aerial photographs.
The Spilsby
Air Training CorpsThe Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
formed in 1950 initially as a detached flight of the established
SkegnessSkegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
squadron, becoming the 2266 Spilsby Squadron ATC in 1952. Falling membership resulted in the squadron's disbandment in 2005. Several members of the squadron have now formed
2266 Spilsby Venture Scout GroupVenture Scouting is a section of the Scout Movement, mostly in countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, for young people roughly in the 14 – 20 age range.-Australia:...
and meet on a weekly basis in the town.
Historical governance
Spilsby parish was traditionally in the East division of the ancient Bolingbroke Wapentake in the
East LindseyEast Lindsey is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Manby near Louth, and other major settlements in the district include Alford, Spilsby, Mablethorpe, Skegness, Horncastle and Chapel St Leonards....
district in the parts of
LindseyLindsey was a unit of local government until 1974 in Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it...
.
The parish was also in the
Bolingbroke SokeThe term soke ), at the time of the Norman Conquest of England generally denoted "jurisdiction", but due to vague usage probably lacks a single precise definition....
. Kelly's 1913 Directory of Lincolnshire places the parish in the South Lindsey division of the county.
Today
Spilsby falls under the
Louth and HorncastleLouth and Horncastle is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
Westminster parliamentary constituency. The sitting MP is Sir Peter Tapsell.
Spilsby is governed locally by Spilsby Town Council. Spilsby is within East Lindsey District Council at
ManbyManby is a village in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Situated approximately five miles east of Louth, the village had a population of 833 at the 2001 Census....
.
The area’s European MEPs are: Derek Clark, Bill Newton Dunn, Chris Heaton-Harris, Roger Helmer, Robert Kilroy-Silk and Glenys Wilmott.
Geography
The town is situated upon slightly elevated ground at the southwestern rim of the
Lincolnshire WoldsThe Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
. Spilsby has an extensive south-east view of a tract of marsh and fen land, bounded by Boston Deeps and the
North SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. It is within 12 miles (19 km) inland from Skegness.
The Wolds comprise a series of low hills and steep valleys, underlain by calcareous
chalkChalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
,
green limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
rock, laid down in the
CretaceousThe Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
period under a shallow warm sea. The characteristic open valleys of the Wolds were created during the last
ice ageAn ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
through the action of
glaciation and meltwaterA glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
.
Geographically, the
Lincolnshire WoldsThe Lincolnshire Wolds is a range of hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty , and the highest area of land in eastern England between Yorkshire and Kent...
are a continuation of the
Yorkshire WoldsThe Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in northeastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie....
, which run up through the
East Riding of YorkshireThe East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...
. The Wolds as a whole were bisected by the erosion of the waters of the River Humber. The fenlands, which stretch down as far as
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, are former wetlands, consisting both of peat bogs and
tidal silt marshesA tidal marsh is a type of marsh that is found along coasts and estuaries of which the flooding characteristics are determined by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean . According to the salinity of the flooding water, freshwater, brackish and saline tidal marshes are...
. They were nearly all drained by the end of the 19th century, when Spilsby had its longest period of
VictorianThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
expansion.
The drainage was organised into river drainage, the passing of upland water through the region, and internal drainage of the land between the rivers. The internal drainage was designed to be organised by levels or districts, each of which includes the fen parts of one or several parishes. Spilsby falls within the Witham Fourth District: East, West and Wildmore Fens; and the Townland, from Boston to
WainfleetWainfleet All Saints is an ancient port and market town on the east coast of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the B1195 between Spilsby and Boston. The town stands on the small rivers Steeping and Limb that form Wainfleet Haven. The town is close to Skegness, Boston, Spilsby, the Lincolnshire...
.
Previous population counts
Historical population sizes for the town include:
- 1801 – 932
- 1821 – 1,234
- 1841 – 1,434
- 1861 – 1,467
- 1881 – 1,423
- 1911 – 1,464
- 1931 – 1,654
Recent demography
The latest figures are drawn from the 2001 census:
Population in 2001: 2,336
- 47.3% male and 52.7% female
- 26.3% single and never married, 47.8% married, the remainder split between separated, divorced and widowed
- 98.6% White with 0.4% spread between Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, British AsianBritish Asian is a term used to describe British citizens who descended from mainly South Asia, also known as South Asians in the United Kingdom...
, Indian and Chinese
- 81.4% Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, with 11% indicating no religion, and the remainder split between other religions
- 56.1% employed, 20.3% retired and 3% unemployed, remainder in full-time education
- 60.1% of households were owner occupied, significantly below the national average
Landmarks and attractions
- Spilsby Theatre and Arts Centre
- Bolingbroke Castle
Bolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in Bolingbroke Lincolnshire, England.-Construction:Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that proved to be porous, prone to rapid deterioration when exposed to weather and a...
- Gunby Hall, a national trust property open on selected days during summer months
- Battle of Britain Memorial Flight
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is a Royal Air Force flight which provides an aerial display group comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane...
at nearby RAF ConingsbyRAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England. It has been commanded by Group Captain Martin Sampson since 10 December 2010.-Operational units:...
contains a flying collection, with a Lancaster bomber plus five Spitfire and two Hurricane fighters, plus a DC47 Dakota transport and two Chipmunk trainers.
- The Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre
Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, England, was founded in 1988 by Lincolnshire farmers Fred and Harold Panton, as a memorial to their brother Pilot Officer Christopher Panton, who along with 55,000 other aircrew of RAF Bomber Command lost his life during World War II...
is in East KirkbyEast Kirkby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the A155 south-east of Horncastle....
, Spilsby on the site of RAF East KirkbyRAF East Kirkby is a former Royal Air Force base near the village of East Kirkby, south of Horncastle in Lincolnshire, just off the A155. The Greenwich meridian through the base.-History:...
. The museum, which is open daily except Sundays, commemorates the RAFThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
's presence in LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
during the Second World War, with airfields such as RAF ScamptonScampton is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Included in the parish is RAF Scampton. It is north of Lincoln just off the A15...
being located in the flat Lincolnshire countryside. The museum contains one of the world's three remaining Lancaster bombers still capable of flying, although it does not currently fly. Plans were announced in March 2008 to raise the funds necessary to get the Lancaster into the air again.
- The Spilsby Show takes place on the town playing fields on Ancaster Avenue, off Boston Road. The event is held every July and proceeds support several local charities.
- Northcote Heavy Horse Centre
- Snipedales Nature Reserve and Country Park next to the historic Civil War battlefield at nearby Winceby
Winceby is a village in the civil parish of Lusby with Winceby in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, located in the Wolds, about from Horncastle and the same from Spilsby....
Rural pre school
- Bright Sparks Kindergarten – Fen Road, Spilsby
- Nestlings Nursery – Rookery Farm, Little Steeping
- Skendleby Play School – Gunby
Urban pre school
- Spilsby and Skegness Portage – Eresby Avenue, Spilsby
- Spilsby Playgroup – Woodlands Road, Spilsby
- Totschool Playgroup – Halton Road, Spilsby
Rural primary school
- Great Steeping Primary School- mixed sex; approx 115 pupils (67 boys & 48 girls)
- Halton Holegate C of E Primary School - mixed sex; approx 56 pupils (24 boys & 32 girls)
- Partney C of E Primary School - mixed sex; approx 83 pupils (46 boys & 37 girls)
- Toynton All Saints' Primary School - mixed sex; approx 92 pupils (42 boys & 50 girls)
Urban primary school
- Spilsby Primary School - mixed sex; approx 254 pupils (132 boys & 122 girls)
Secondary education
King Edward VI Humanities CollegeKing Edward VI Humanities College, is a coeducational bi-lateral secondary school, sixth form college and specialist Humanities College located in Spilsby, Lincolnshire for children between the ages of eleven and eighteen....
, is a coeducational
bi-lateral secondary schoolIn England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997....
and
specialist Humanities CollegeThe specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
for children between the ages of 11 and 18. The bilateral status is unusual, with less than five similar arrangements in the whole of
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
, permitting those who have passed the 11+ examination and those that fail the exam to study separately but under the same roof.
- The school is an amalagamation of two separate institutions, the King Edward VI Grammar School opened in 1550 and the Sir John Franklin Secondary Modern School, which opened in 1954. These schools were originally combined in 1991 as Spilsby High School, initially retaining both sites and renaming twice. In September 2008 a sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
was established that provides education for over-16s, with provision for study towards a BTec National Diploma Studies in Business Studies.
- The original 1837 grammar school building was abandoned and stood empty for several years, but could not be demolished due to its Grade II Listing status. In 2007 the front portion of the old school was adapted as a community facility providing meeting rooms and access to IT use. The rear of the school was demolished and will soon be developed for new residential housing.
Special schools
- Eresby School - Eresby Avenue, Spilsby. A special school for children aged between 2 and 19
- The Jane, Lady Franklin School - Spilsby. A mixed sex urban community special school for 11 - 16 year olds. Currently 45 pupils on roll
Religious sites
- St James' Church – Church of England – Church Street & Boston Road
- Church of Our Lady & the English Martyrs – Catholic – Church Road opposite Spilsby Theatre
- Spilsby Methodist Church – opposite the Buttercross
- All Saints' Church – Christian Fellowship
- Spilsby Christian Fellowship – Halton Road
Sports and recreation
- Spilsby Town F.C. is a football club that was formed in 1881. The first team currently play in the Boston Cropleys Suzuki Premier Division. The Reserve team play in the first division. The league is not officially a member of the English football league system but clubs have in recent years moved up to the Lincolnshire Football League and then the Central Midlands League or United Counties League (the 12th level of the football league pyramid).
Spilsby Town are 3 times winners of the
Lincolnshire Senior CupThe Lincolnshire Senior County Cup is a football competition for senior football clubs in Lincolnshire organised by the Lincolnshire FA....
in 1881-82, 1882–83 and 1883-84. The 1881-82 team consited of: John Southby, C. Miller, H. R. Bellamy, John Searby, R. Driffield, H. Shaw, J. H. Barrat (captain), H. Robinson, B. Robinson, H. Allington, H. S. Mawer.
Between 1880 and 1885 Spilsby Town would enter the
FA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
each year yet they were never able to progress beyond the first round.
- Spilsby Sports Pavilion and Playing Fields Ancaster Avenue, Spilsby.
- Spilsby Juniors Football Club Spilsby Juniors was started during the summer of 1998 when the Mid-Lincolnshire youth football league accepted an application to enter a single Under-12 team in that years Division C. The club expanded and now runs four teams from Under-9s to Under-14s.
Library
The town’s library at West End Villas opens on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday mornings.
Bus services
Various bus services to
LincolnLincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
,
BostonBoston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...
,
SkegnessSkegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
,
HorncastleHorncastle is a market town of some 6,090 residents in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, 22 miles east of Lincoln.-Geography:...
,
Alford-Places:Australia*Alford, South AustraliaCanada*Alford, SaskatchewanEngland*Alford, Lincolnshire**Alford Manor House**Alford Windmill**Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford*Alford, Somerset*Alford CrosswaysScotland*Alford, Scotland...
and
Spalding-Places:Australia* Spalding, South Australia, a town north of the Clare Valley* Spalding, Western Australia, a suburb of GeraldtonCanada* Spalding, Saskatchewan, a village* Spalding No...
with onward connections to more distant locations are provided by:
- Lincs Roadcar
- Brylaine
- Translinc
- Hunt's Coaches
- Stagecoach
Public houses
- The White Hart Inn - Market Square, Spilsby
- The King's Head - Gunby
- The Bell Inn - Spilsby Road, Halton Holegate
- The Red Lion - 16 Market Street, Spilsby
- The Nelson Butt Inn - 10 Market Street, Spilsby
- The Hundleby Inn - Main Road, Hundleby
Notable people
- Sir John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
, the sea captain, governor of TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, and explorer was born in Spilsby. He died during an expedition to the Canadian ArcticThe Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, while attempting to chart the Northwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. Although he did not succeed, a statue of John Franklin in Spilsby erroneously bears the inscription 'Sir John Franklin - Discoverer of the North West Passage'. There is also a monument in the church and a plaque on the wall of the Franklin baker's shop in High Street, marking Franklin's birthplace.
- Born on 16 April 1786, the 4th son of 9 children and educated at Louth
Louth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds", it is situated where the ancient trackway Barton Street crosses the River Lud, and has a total resident population of 15,930.The Greenwich...
, he experienced his first taste of the sea aged 12 when he visited SaltfleetSaltfleet is a coastal village in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Situated approximately north of Mablethorpe and east of Louth. The village is part of the civil parish of Skidbrooke with Saltfleet Haven, which had a population of 523 at the 2001 Census.Saltfleet has a 19th century...
. He joined the NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
at the age of 14 and fought in two of the greatest sea battles: Copenhagen in 1801 and TrafalgarThe Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
in 1805. He served as midshipmanA midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
to another Lincolnshire explorer, his cousin Matthew FlindersCaptain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
. Being shipwrecked off AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
did not deter the young John Franklin who later took part in exploration to the Arctic. He is often referred to as 'The man who ate his boots' as in 1819, while commanding his first expedition to the Arctic, he and his companions suffered incredible hardship and survived by eating lichen and leather from their boots.
- In 1829, he was awarded the Geographic Society Gold Medal and was knighted by King George IV, he was also presented with a silver plate by the people of Spilsby. In 1836 he was appointed Governor of Tasmania. At the age of 59, he made his last voyage to seek the Northwest Passage between Canada and the Arctic. Sadly, the entire expedition disappeared and it was 12 years before their fate was known. During these years, his widow, Lady Franklin, spent all her money organising ships to search for the missing party. Finally, she received confirmation that her husband had died on Beechy Island in July 1847. It was assumed he died from natural causes and the rest of the party by disease and starvation. Several suggestions have been put forward and one theory is that the probable cause was lead poisoning from faulty cans.
External links