Lincoln Joins the Railway Age

Lincoln was one of the last major towns or cities to be linked by rail, a line from London to Cambridge had been proposed in 1825 and would have extended to York via Lincoln, this route was abandoned. In the event, the London to York line followed a route to the west of the River Trent mainly due to the lobbying of Doncaster’s MP, who believed that a line running through Lincoln would be detrimental to his town. 

Railway promoters became active again in 1833 when three routes were proposed through Lincoln. In March 1835 a Lincoln committee under the chairmanship of Thomas Norton, the City’s mayor, reported on the alternative routes. Again, nothing came of this move to bring the railway to Lincoln.

In 1845 a meeting of 6,000 people at the Beast Market ended in a free fight when the chairman, the Lincoln mayor, announced that the London to York line had won the right to serve Lincoln. Opponents complained that labourers had been brought at 2/- (10p) a piece to vote for the London to York project. George Hudson, “The Railway King“, had spent a lot of money opposing the line in favour of his Midland Railway. His boast was that he would bring a railway to Lincolnshire while the rest were still talking about it!

Hudson’s boast came true when the Midland Railway brought the first route into Lincoln from Nottingham. The line opened on 3rd August 1846, the first train left Nottingham at 9 am, stopping off at the various villages en route to pick up those invited to celebrate the new enterprise, and arriving at Lincoln at 11 am.

It was an important day for the city: the buildings and streets were decorated, the bells of the Cathedral and churches ringing peals at intervals, the band of the 4th Irish Dragoons played the “Railway Waltz” as two trains left the Midland Station, carrying local dignitaries and cannon were fired. The journey to Nottingham took almost 2 hours. The return journey was in heavy rain. A banquet was held in the National School in Silver Street.

Unfortunately there was a casualty of all the merriment: a man called Paul Harden has his leg shattered by the bursting of a cannon in the station yard. He was taken to the County Hospital where his leg was amputated.

The Great Northern Railway opened in 1848, this line was routed from Peterborough through rural Lincolnshire, via Sleaford. Lincoln now had two railways crossing the High Street. The town clerk was sent to London to enquire whether both lines could be routed through one crossing, but he was assured that the crossings would not have a detrimental affect on the flow of the road traffic using the High Street.

The Elegant Entrance Portico of the Midland Railway Station,
now part of St Mark's Shopping Centre

The coming of the railways completely transformed Lincoln’s communications with other parts of the country. The produce of Lincolnshire’s farms and factories could be easily transported and in return coal for homes and industry could be brought into the county. Travelling by mail coach to London took 13 hours whereas by train it would take a mere 4 hours: a businessman could leave Lincoln early in the morning transact his business in London and return home in the evening to sleep in his own bed. In less than 5 years railway lines radiated from Lincoln in all directions.

Prince Albert passed through Lincoln in 1849 to lay the foundation stone of the Grimsby docks.

On the 27th August 1851 Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales had a brief stop at Lincoln, en route for Balmoral. An address was read by the Mayor and he presented the keys of the city, following Her Majesty’s reply some grapes That had been grown by Richard Ellison of Sudbrooke Holm. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, was a regular visitor to the city by train, mainly for the horse racing, as a guest of Henry Chaplin of Blankney Hall.

The Midland Station, otherwise known as St Mark’s Station, closed 11 May 1985, the Great Northern Station, now known as the Central Station continues to operate from St Mary’s Street.


First published on Wordpress 10th October 2013

Lincoln Markets

In this age of online and supermarket shopping, it is hard to think of a time before national retail chains when the Lincoln shopper had a wide choice of small businesses from which to buy their food. Street markets are one the oldest forms of retailing and Lincoln had a good choice of such markets.  

The Meat Market was on the High Street, it stretched from Dernstall Lock to St. Lawrence's Lane, near the King's Arms Yard.  This market moved in 1774 across Clasketgate (then known as Butchery Street) to an area called the Butchery; next to the earlier Crown Inn.  The Butchery had shops on its periphery with stalls in the centre, it also had its own slaughterhouse.  A cloth market, the Drapery, had existed on St Martin's Lane since the 13th century, it was then known as the Parmentaria.

Newland, the location of the Butter Cross

On Newland stood the Butter Cross, where other products such as milk and egg were sold. John Lobsey, Mayor of Lincoln in 1736, proposed that the Corporation suspend their Civic Banquet for 10 years in order to cover the cost of building a Butter Market that would offer protection from the elements. The Butter Market was built to the north of St Peter at Arches church, which stood on the corner of High Street and Silver Street. Before the building of the Buttermarket, the Skin Market or Peltry occupied part of the site.

If our Lincoln ancestors wanted to buy fish for their Friday dinner they would head for the fish market at Fish Hill (now Michaelgate), the market stood on the grounds of the present Chad Varah House, formerly the County Hospital. The fish market later amalgamated with the meat market at The Butchery. The Poultry Market was on the lower part of Steep Hill.

The 1847 Corn Exchange

Bread made from wheat was too expensive for the ordinary people, they would buy their bread ingredients from the oat market at the junction of High Street and St Mary's Lane (now Street). Unsurprisingly the corn market was on the site of the present Cornhill. This is where farmers would trade their produce.  In 1847 the first Corn Exchange was built on the Cornhill, this building included space on the ground floor for market stalls, relieving the congestion caused by stalls along the High Street from the Cornhill to the Butter Market.  A new building was erected to replace the Corn Exchange and market in 1879.  The Butter Market was demolished in 1938 and the front facade was incorporated into the New Market, where it still stands today.

The South Common, Lincoln's Southern Entrance

Lincoln Cathedral from the top of the South Common

Common Lands are a survival of the medieval age, commons were an essential part of the manorial estate, tenants of the lord of the manor would be allotted a part of the common.  Most of today's common lands are solely for grazing, but previously the land would have had many uses, ie, rights to take wood, graze pigs in the autumn, take sods for fuel.  Much of the common land of this country was lost at the enclosures, it was seen as an opportunity for landowners to claim common land for themselves.  The total common land today in this country totals no more than 4% of the total land area.

The South Common is one of three surviving common lands in Lincoln, the others are the West Common and the Cow Paddle.  The Lincoln commons are "owned by the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of Lincoln".  Until 150 years ago there were two other commons, Monks Leys Common, the bulk of which was sold for housing and the remainder was used for the Arboretum; Holmes Common, this was sold to The Great Northern Railway.

Any householder living south of High Bridge had a right to graze cattle on the South Common, although Freemen had rights to graze a greater number.  The area of the common is approximately 180 acres, although may have been reduced because of the recent modifications on the hill section of Canwick Road.

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The Promenade

In 1843 iron fencing was used to surround the South Common and at about the same time a new pathway was established which ran across the crest of the hill and was called the "Promenade", the picture to the right is a postcard that was posted in July 1909

At a location near the top of the common stood a cross, it was here that the mayor, sheriff and other civic dignitaries would greet important visitors to the City.  By 1600 the cross had been removed by "some evil disposed person", the corporation ordered that a stone be placed at the spot as a marker, this too has been lost.

At the south east corner of the South Common once stood the city gallows.

The first Roman legion is believed to have erected a fort on the South Common, it would have been a wooden palisade structure.  Ermine Street crossed the A15 just below Cross O' Cliff Close, running down the common, crossing South Park west of Queen's Park.  Ermine Street divided at the top of the common, a direct route so that troops could be moved quickly to any troublespot, and an easier route for carts, etc.

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First published 17th May 2015

Where was the Bail Gate?

See revised blog at  https://itsaboutlincoln.blogspot.com/2020/02/did-bail-gate-stand-here.html Read more about Lincoln's Gates