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 About SLHA Publications Local History Archaeology Industrial Archaeology Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology |
News from around the County: 20102010 NEWS Outings & Events
Lectures & Conferences:
Site Visits and Surveys Personalities: Obituaries: Other news:
Website development: 2008 News Archive - 2009 News Archive PUBLISHING AWARD CEREMONY At the annual conference of the Association for Industrial Archaeology held in Cornwall in early September Stewart Squires and Ken Hollamby were presented with the 2010 AIA Occasional Publication award for their book "Building a Railway: Bourne to Saxby". (The announcement of the award was made in July and has already been noted in these pages along with details of the book and other AIA awards recently made for SLHA publications.) ROMAN VILLA and CANAL MUSEUM SLHA at Piddington Roman Villa  The Canal Basin at Stoke Bruerne An SLHA group enjoyed a day trip by coach to Northamptonshire on 21 August. First stop was the Roman Villa at Piddington 6 miles SE of Northampton. Excavation continues on this large site. A museum displays some of the more important finds, including an unusual soldier's clasp knife. OUTING TO ALFORDOn Sunday 15th August a group of some 18 members enjoyed a guided tour of Alford which was organised and led by Jean Howard. The visit started with an in-depth tour of Alford Manor House given by Janett Thornalley. The house, built in 1611, is considered to be the largest thatched manor house in the country and is absolutely resplendent thanks to an extensive renovation programme. Also visited was the Hackett Barn which stands in the manor grounds and contains an Aladdin’s Cave of local artefacts depicting life in Alford in times gone by. After lunch Jean led a walking tour to see the principal buildings in the town and other sites of interest. Alas, the town is suffering from economic decline and many empty buildings were noted. However, this did not detract from the enjoyment of seeing so many fine buildings and learning their stories. The tour included St Wilfrid's Church, a C16 church which was extensively, but very sensitively, altered in 1867 by Sir G. G. Scott. The last major landmark visited was Alford Windmill where Catherine Wilson gave a brief explanation after a satisfying tea and then the party returned to the Manor House pausing for more of Jean’s encyclopaedic knowledge en route.  In the Manor House  The Methodist Church, 1864  Site of Thomas Paine's 1764 Customs Office
August 2010 THREAT TO LINCOLNSHIRE MUSEUMSSLHA is very concerned about the County Council's current intention to close its museums in Grantham, Stamford and Skegness (Church Farm). The lack of consultation and failure to consider any alternatives to closure such as the extended use of volunteers is very disappointing. The SLHA Chairman has made strong representations in a letter to the LCC Chairman. Local MPs have also been notified of our concern. STAMFORD CANALA small group of society members followed the route of the Stamford Canal from Deeping St James to Stamford on Saturday 24 July. Completed in c1670, this is probably the earliest post-Roman canal in the country. It was abandoned in the 1870s. The remnants of a small number of locks and other structures survive and, where the canal took a separate line from the nearby river Welland, parallel ridges in the pastureland mark its former course for considerable stretches. (Other sections of the canal were created by making the Welland navigable.) It is intended to publish an account of the canal's history in due course. Read more about Stamford Canal.  Bridge at Deeping St James  Canal near Market Deeping  Lock at West Deeping  Bridge at Uffington
August 2010 EMERGENCY RAILWAY CONTROL BUILDING Railway control building, Metheringham Alongside Metheringham station is a small brick building with the remnants of heavy steel shutters around its windows. It was built during World War II as an emergency railway control building. If the control office at Lincoln station ten miles away had been knocked out by enemy bombing then the trains and traffic would have been controlled from here. It was one of 20 such buildings in the country and is a rare survivor, having been used as a railway store for almost 70 years. Unfortunately English Heritage will not support the listing - and hence protection - of the building, and its future therefore remains uncertain. PROFESSOR DAVID STOCKERWe are delighted to announce that Society Trustee, Dr David Stocker, has been appointed an Honorary Visiting Professor at the Institute of Medieval Studies, University of Leeds. A LONG WEEKEND IN LANCASTER Mill at Saltaire  Worth Valley Railway  Dalton Square, Lancaster  Lancaster Castle
A small group of SLHA members enjoyed a study tour organised by Pearl Wheatley and based at the University of Cumbria, Lancaster Campus, over the weekend 16 to 19 July. The outward journey from Lincolnshire included a guided tour at Saltaire, West Yorkshire, and a steam-hauled ride along the Worth Valley Railway near Keighley. Saturday was spent in Lancaster: first an excellent tour of the city led by a local blue badge guide and then the opportunity to visit the excellent museums (especially the Maritime Museum, the City Museum and the Gillow Museum in the Judges' Lodgings). Those with more energy were able to follow the tow-path of the Lancaster Canal to the north where a fine aqueduct takes it over the River Lune. An evening visit was made to St Patrick's Chapel, an atmospheric ruin with Saxon origins on a grassy headland overlooking Morecambe Bay.  Aqueduct on Lancaster Canal  St Patrick's Chapel, Heysham  View from Blackpool Tower  Glasson Dock marina
Blackpool was the destination for the second full day in Lancashire. The local Civic Society were generous hosts, providing first a visit to the long-established Pleasure Beach complex of rides and other entertainment and second an extended view of the world-renowned attractions of the historic Blackpool Tower (aquarium, circus, ballroom and tower top viewpoint). At both locations senior staff gave the SLHA group privileged treatment - behind the scenes views and no queueing! Late in the day a trip was made to Glasson Dock at the mouth of the Lune. Once a busy port serving Lancaster, it has retained some historic features and is still a port for small scale trading. The return journey home was broken at Whalley, near Clitheroe, notable for its partly ruined Cistercian abbey. It is also the location of one of the country's most massive railway viaducts. A short stop to view the exterior of Gawthorpe Hall (National Trust, but closed on Mondays) was followed by an informative guided tour to the Weavers' Triangle at Burnley. Impressive mills and warehouses of many dates and in varied condition cluster along a stretch of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal.  Whalley Abbey  Whalley railway viaduct  Gawthorpe Hall  Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Burnley
July 2010 LIVING HISTORY? EPWORTH IN THE SPOTLIGHT Raithby Chapel The Annual Brackenbury Lecture at Raithby Methodist Church, arranged this year by the Lincolnshire Methodist History Society, was given by Revd Dr Claire Potter on 10 July. Dr Potter, as the Development Manager at Epworth Old Rectory (boyhood home of one of Lincolnshire's most famous sons, John Wesley), is the key figure in the major improvements being planned for this tourist attraction and place of Methodist pilgrimage. As far as possible the building, its fittings and furnishings will be restored to the way they were in the early eighteenth century and more emphasis will be placed on the experience of boyhood within the rectory family. A separate visitor reception and education building is to be provided. PRESTIGIOUS PUBLISHING AWARD FOR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS The SLHA has won the Association for Industrial Archaeology’s 2010 Occasional Publications Award for the book Building a Railway: Bourne to Saxby, by Stewart Squires and Ken Hollamby. Buy the book and read reviews. The book, published jointly with Lincoln Record Society, was particularly commended for the well-researched narrative and excellent maps. This is the third time in the past six years that the AIA has awarded this prize to an SLHA publication. Previous winners were Neil Wright’s Lincolnshire’s Industrial Heritage - A Guide and Ken Redmore’s Ploughs, Chaff Cutters and Steam Engines: Lincolnshire’s Agricultural Implement Makers. LIAISON WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN Andrew Walker & Cairo Hickman Ever since the University arrived in Lincoln the SLHA has benefited from links with it and these links have flourished in recent years through the efforts of Dr Andrew Walker, Head of the Lincoln School of Humanities and Performing Arts. He has involved himself with many of the Society’s activities including membership of the Executive and Publications Committees in addition to being the principal point of contact for us. Alas, he is leaving the area and he recently called at Jews' Court to introduce his successor, Dr Cairo Hickman, who has agreed to act in this liaison capacity. Dr Hickman is a Lecturer in History and her research interests include medieval and other pre-modern cultural history and historical anthropology. She met members and staff of the Society at Jews' Court and enjoyed a tour of the building. We would like to extend a very warm welcome to her and we look forward to working with her. This is also an opportunity to thank Andrew for the enormous contribution which he has made to the SLHA and to the understanding of history in Lincolnshire and we wish him well in the future. A DAY IN CAISTORThe 2010 AGM of the Society was held in Caistor on Saturday 5 June. Catherine Wilson stepped down as President after five years service and Dr Mick Jones was elected in her place. Neil Wright continues as SLHA Chairman, with Stewart Squires and Chris Lester as Vice-Chairmen. An encouraging, active and profitable year was reported.  Market Place, Caistor  Butter Market, Caistor  Congregational Church  Wesleyan Methodist Church
After an excellent lunch Ken Michel gave a brief introduction to the history and development of Caistor. Members of the Caistor Society then led an informative tour of the town, thoroughly enjoyed by society members in the warm sunshine. Read more about Caistor. CANWICK HALL SEWAGE WORKS Inside the Sewage Works, Canwick Hall  Digestion tanks & filter bed Members of the Industrial Archaeology Team supported by the landowner and two other enthusiasts have been recording and interpreting the Victorian sewage works which served Canwick Hall. The site, which lies on land owned by SLHA member Eric Hair, appears to have been designed and built by W E Farrer, who was well-known for such country house installations. It comprises a pair of sealed septic digestion tanks and a patented design of filter bed together with a soakaway. The illustration depicts the interior of one of the tanks which, fortunately for the recording team, has been out of use for many years. TWENTIETH CENTURY LOCAL HISTORYSLHA joined the British Association for Local History for a weekend conference in Lincoln from 23 to 25 April, an event organised by BALH with the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University College. The speakers (Kate Tiller, David Stocker, Andrew Walker, Abigail Hunt, Andrew Jackson, Claire Hall, Shirley Brook and John Makin) dealt with a variety of topics relating to 20th Century Local History as follows: the East Midlands region; Lincoln's rural hinterland - shows, markets and fairs; oral history and female agricultural workers in Lincolnshire; the community history of the Ermine Estate in Lincoln in the 1950s and 1960s; twentieth century prisoners of war in Lincolnshire; farm buildings in the Lincolnshire fens and marsh; and conscientious objectors in mid-Lincolnshire in WW2. Field visits to sites in and around Lincoln were also organised over the weekend. CASTLE BYTHAM LIME KILN Castle Bytham lime kiln, 2010 The Society has acted to try to secure the future of a small piece of Lincolnshire’s industrial history. The lime kiln in the quarry at Castle Bytham is a very rare survival of a type of structure that was once quite common throughout much of the County. Because of this the Society has made a case to English Heritage for it to be protected as a Listed Building. Castle Bytham quarry opened in about 1894 and the existing kiln was one of the first to be built. There were a total of ten kilns here at one time. It was last used in the 1960s and the quarry closed in 1985. Stewart Squires, the Chairman of Industrial Archaeology for the Society, said "We are losing good examples of our industrial heritage all of the time. With smaller structures such as this kiln it would be so easy to for it be lost until one day we realise there are no more left. We think it is very important to try to ensure that evidence of past industrial activity is conserved. In this case the kiln is an important part of Castle Bytham’s history as well as that of the County." RIFLEMEN, CARTHUSIANS & MINERSMembers were treated to three short illustrated lectures at Jews' Court on Sunday 28 March. Catherine Wilson recounted the history of the Rifle Volunteers which were established in Market Rasen in 1860 and received strong support for upwards of 30 years from the local gentry. The profile of their rifle range can still be detected in the Linwood Warren Nature Reserve, south-east of the town. John Wilford described in general the life of Carthusian monks and focussed on Lincolnshire's one monastery of this order, Axholme Priory, which is located between Epworth and Owston Ferry. Unfortunately the empty, featureless site has never been fully investigated. A delapidated farm building still displays the coat of arms surviving from the Tudor house which replaced the priory buildings. The ironstone mines at Santon and Dragonby, which at one time fed the Scunthorpe steelworks, were the subject of Stewart Squires's talk. Together with two other SLHA members he had recently enjoyed a short conducted underground tour and this enabled him to understand better the operation of the mine in its heyday.
A DAY'S OUTING TO SOUTH HOLLAND Entrance to ROC bunker  Emerging from the bunker  Moulton Mill machinery Moulton Mill (right) 
 Bulb Museum display  Bettinson bulb planter  Bulb sterilising tank  Spalding market sale ring roof structure
END OF THE ROMANS IN LINCOLNSHIRE (CDX) A day conference, arranged jointly by SLHA and RESCUE (The British Archaeological Trust), at the Riseholme Campus of the University of Lincoln on Saturday 20 March focused on the end of Roman Lincolnshire in c410 AD (CDX). Over 130 delegates heard about Lincoln and other Roman settlements and how material evidence shapes our views about the transition in culture and society during the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries. Abstracts of the nine lectures can be read here.
LINCOLN IRONSTONE MINEThe line of the proposed eastern bypass of Lincoln runs over the former ironstone mine off Greetwell Road. SLHA IA team Chairman Stewart Squires has contacted the planning authority to point out the significance of the site and the Lincolnshire Echo has reported on the issue. WEBSITE GALLERYWe are pleased to have the new Gallery on this website up and running. We are especially keen to present images that cannot be found elsewhere and which are of real value and interest. For this reason we are also trying to ensure that each photograph and drawing has a worthwhile explanatory caption. Our hope is that anyone with interesting material will feel able to contribute to the Gallery, whether it's a single image or a collection, old or new. CHANGING CHILDHOOD Horncastle College The 2010 Local History weekend conference at Horncastle College from 19 to 21 February centred around the theme of childhood. Speakers were: Victoria Preece (Children in the Southwell Workhouse); Terry Ransome (Hitchen Boys' British School); Lesley Law (NT Museum of Childhood, Sudbury Hall); John French (Barton National Schools and Samuel Wilderspin); Tim Lomas (Attitudes to Education in Lincolnshire). Snowy weather prevented Abi Hunt attending to give her lecture (Child Labour on Lincolnshire Farms).  Old Grammar School  Watson's Infant School Lesley Law also conducted a practical session exploring childhood games and a brief tour of several former school sites in Horncastle was led by Pearl Wheatley. RECORDING A PUMPING STATION  The large pumping station at Wiggenhall St Germans will be demolished and replaced very shortly by a new electrically powered station. The old pumping station, built in 1934, is situated 6 miles south of Kings Lynn where the Middle Level drain meets the River Ouse. It is a fine concrete building with Art Deco features. Inside are four huge Gwynnes pumps (built in Lincoln), two driven by diesel engines and two electrically powered. GEORGIAN THEATRES IN LINCOLNSHIREAn illustrated lecture by Neil Wright at Jews' Court on 31 January described the earliest theatres in Lincolnshire, opened in the mid-18th century: St Mary Street, Stamford, and Drury Lane, Lincoln. Each had a distinctive layout with pit, boxes and gallery - much like today's well known Georgian theatre in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Later in the century similiar theatres were built in Boston, Spalding, Grantham, Gainsborough, Sleaford and Horncastle. Travelling groups of actors followed a circuit of theatres and offered a wide variety of dramatic and musical entertainment. Contemporary reports indicate that they were received with rowdy appreciation. Read more about Stamford Theatre. MICHAEL JONES Dr Mick Jones, Archaeologist for the City of Lincoln since 2000 and former director of the Lincoln Archaeological Trust, has received the Chancellor's Medal at the University of Lincoln. This prestigious award - here awarded only for the second time - recognises the large contribution made by Mick to our understanding of the city's past, especially its Roman origins. Over many years he has played a leading role in the success of FLARE, now part of SLHA. WEBSITE NEWS: NEW DOWNLOADS AREA This website now includes an area where publications can be made available for downloading free of charge. Typically, these publications are ones which are out of print or not available for other reasons. Click here for Downloads or use the “Downloads” bar in the index on the left of the screen to visit this area. AIA CONFERENCE AWARDS photo - Mark Sissons (AIA) On Monday the 25th of January the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society was the venue for the presentation of two awards by the Association for Industrial Archaeology to two Lincolnshire organisations which had taken part in last year’s national conference, which was hosted by the SLHA. The Lincolnshire Film Archive was awarded the President’s Initiative Award for tackling the challenging task of preserving historic Lincolnshire films and the Dogdyke Pumping Station Preservation Trust received the award for the best site visited by the conference delegates. The awards were presented by Prof Angus Buchanan, President of the AIA, in the presence of SLHA President Catherine Wilson and Chairman Neil Wright together with other members and friends of all the organisations involved. The photograph shows (L to R) Prof Buchanan, Les Mitchell (DPSPT), Peter Ryde (LFA) and Tony Crosby (AIA Chairman). ELEANOR BENNETTEleanor Bennett, a long-standing and faithful supporter of SLHA, died in October 2009 at the age of 85. Her married life was spent at Brackenborough Hall close to Louth where her husband, Ralph, one time Chairman of Lincolnshire County Council (d. 1985), farmed. As a widow she made a detailed study of Brackenborough, site of one of the best deserted medieval villages in the county, and subsequently published a very fine book: Brackenborough: The Story of a Manor. Read more about Brackenborough. |