What’s this Lincolnshire Stuff?

Posted on August 10, 2013

Lincolnshire Longwool Sheep

Lincolnshire Longwool was once one of the most important breeds of sheep in this country. These sheep made the fortunes of many families in Lincolnshire: the wool from the sheep was exported to Europe and the sheep were walked to London and killed for their mutton and lanolin.

By the late 18th century sales of Lincolnshire wool had been in decline for many years. The Revd Gideon Bouyer was Rector of Theddlethorpe St Helen and of Willoughby from 1771 to 1810, noticing the poverty and lack of work available in the area, founded a village school, set children spinning and started the Stuff Ball.

The first Stuff Ball was held at the Windmill Inn, Alford in 1785. Lincolnshire Stuff was the wool from the Lincolnshire Longwool, in the early days ladies would be given free admittance to the ball if they were wearing a dress made of Lincolnshire Stuff and the same for men if they were not wearing silk or linen; a different colour for the Stuff was chosen for each year to ensure the ladies always wore new dresses, the colour for the first ball was orange.

By 1789 the ball had become so popular it was moved to the County Assembly Rooms in Lincoln. The ball had been previously held in November but was moved to January.

Woollen dresses can be very warm during dancing and in 1803 the rule for free admittance was changed: the ladies were admitted free if they took six yards of the better stuff or 10 yards of the plainer material.

The Stuff Ball continued until 1929 but was revived in 1938, finally ending in 1947 when the Patroness, Lady Worsley, chose mauve and silver as the stuff colours.

The Lincoln Stuff factory was on the corner of the High Street and what is now Robey Street, becoming a boarding house after the Stuff trade declined and then subdivided in private houses.

Link: http://www.lincolnlongwools.co.uk/

Bread and Cheese Hall

Bread and Cheese Hall

by itsaboutlincoln

In 1889 Ruston, Proctor & Co accountants certified that over the previous 7 years the company had made an average profit of £50,000 per year.  The same year Joseph Ruston converted Ruston, Proctor & Company into a public company, for this he received £465,000 and he rewarded his most senior employees with shares to the value of £10,000.

The following year demand was made by his workers for a pay rise, he refused the request with the reply:

“I hope you’ll let me get bread and cheese out of my business!”  After this Joseph Ruston was nicknamed ‘Mr Bread and Cheese'.

 In the same year, he paid for a new Drill Hall for the First Lincoln Volunteer Company to be built at Broadgate, on the site of Newsum's fire-damaged woodyard. Inevitably the new building became known as ‘Bread and Cheese Hall’.  He could afford the cost as in 1890 the business made a profit of £96,000!  

The Drill Hall was opened by Edward Stanhope, Secretary of State for War on 24th May

1890.  The building was designed by Major F H Goddard of Goddard and Son, Lincoln.  Built by H S & W Close of Lincoln of brick and Ancaster stone, with embattlements and watchtower, it provided a military aspect to its 55 ft frontage.

The gateway is 10 ft wide with the Royal Arms carved out of stone above.  On the right was the officers’ room with an apartment 24 ft by 18 ft, to the left was the Adjutant’s apartment of the same dimensions with an office for the Sergeant Major.  The hall beyond was 140 ft long by 50 ft wide.  The floor of the hall was specially constructed to deaden the noise of drilling men, made of blocks 10in by 2.5 in by 1.5 in, laid in pitch on a solid concrete foundation.

There was also a soup kitchen with coppers and appliances of every type for use at times of need, no doubt it came in useful for the typhoid epidemic of 1904/5.

Above the hall was a balcony for 150 people and a recreation room.

There was an armoury of sufficient size to store the arms of the whole battalion.  On the north side of the hall was a 50 ft by 50 ft gymnasium.

It had been suggested that Ruston knew that to give his employees an increase in wages to his employees would probably put other local engineering companies out of business!   But is that too kind to an entrepreneur who was well known for his hard business head and tough negotiating style?  

A Lonely Marshland Church

It's hard to believe that St Botolph's church, Skidbrooke was once at the centre of a large populated farming community and a thriving port. Botolph was a Christian Saxon nobleman who built a monastery at what is now Boston (Botolph's Town). St Botolph became the patron saint of wayfarers and travellers.

1855 entry in the Post Office directory

SKIDBROOK, with SALTFLEET.

Skidbrook is a scattered village and parish, on the sea coast, in the Marsh division of the Hundred of Louth Eske, Louth Union, and diocese of Lincoln, 10 miles east-northeast from Louth station, and containing, with Saltfleet, in 1851, 404 inhabitants, and about 2,400 acres of land, of which 300 acres is an unenclosed marsh. The living is a vicarage, of the annual value of £271, having a yearly rent-charge of £337, in lieu of tithes, and in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. John Michael Phillips, M. A. The Church of St. Botolph is an old building, with a nave, chancel, and tower. Lord Willoughby d'Eresby is lord of the manor.

Skidbrooke is known as Shitebroc in the Domesday Book, the name means 'dirty brook'

The church is built in Ancaster stone, unusual for this part of Lincolnshire and dates from the early 13th century, with additions in the 15th century, alterations in 1854 (slate roof) and 1871, and during the 20th century, the tower was built in the mid 14th century.  The church was declared redundant in November 1973 and is now in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust, a charity that looks after redundant, historic churches.

In 1978 the church was stripped of all its fittings, windows and doors, and now it is a shelter for wildlife during the cold and windy nights of the flat, open countryside.  

St Botolph's church has stood here through wind and storm for over 800 years, and served the local community until it was declared redundant.  The Saxon settlement was west and north of the church.

The approach in Winter

St Botolph's Bells

At Saltfleetby All Saints

© Copyright Richard Croft and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Merchant Navy War Graves

Sleaford Castle

The Lincquest team recently joined a Heritage Open Day talk at the site of Sleaford Castle. Following the talk we dowsed the site.

The history of the Castle.

When William I moved the Cathedral of the See from Dorchester-on-Thames to Lincoln he gifted several manors and farms to Lincoln cathedral, Sleaford was one of those manors and it is believed

it was sited here.

Sleaford Castle was built about 1130 by Bishop Alexander of Lincoln, AKA Alexander the Magnificent1. Alexander was also responsible for the building of castles at Newark and Banbury; Banbury’s fate is even worse than that of Sleaford, it has a shopping centre built on it!

Click here to read more 

West Rasen and the Packhorse Bridge

Packhorses were the main form of transport for carrying goods in the middle ages.  Most roads were little more than tracks, even the Roman roads were in poor condition, so carts were unsuitable during winter and wet weather. Packhorse bridges were built wide enough to carry horses in single file, the parapets are low so as not to interfere with the panniers carried by the horses

The Packhorse Bridge

The Packhorse bridge at West Rasen dates from 1310 and was built by Bishop John Dalderby, he held lands at Bishop Norton to the north of West Rasen.  The bridge has three elliptical double-chamfered ribbed arches.  Wool was an important source of income for the church, therefore they needed a way of moving it to market quickly and easily.

On early 20th century OS maps there is evidence of a track running across the fields to the bridge and continuing north-west to join with another track from Middle Rasen.

The Packhorse Bridge

West Rasen is a "blink and you've missed it" village, progress along the A631 is slowed by a 90-degree bend and a roundabout.  Despite this West Rasen has a charm and is worth stopping at to view the things it has to offer.

A small village, without the church, it would be a hamlet, but it has a high proportion of Grade I, II* and II Listed structures, seven in number.

All Saints Church stands on raised ground north-east of the village, and is believe to date from the 11th century with extensive re-modelling over the centuries.  Built of coursed ironstone rubble with ashlar dressings.  It was partly rebuilt in 1829 under the supervision of E J Willson, architect, of Lincoln. Evidence of a north chancel can be seen in the blocked arches of the north wall.

West Rasen Views

Medieval base with 19th century cross probably 
replaced during the church renovations.

Church Interior

Murder in the Wilderness

Stennet Jeffrey worked for a Mr Warrener who farmed near the Tower on the Moor, Woodhall Spa. Stennet visited Horncastle market on Saturday 21st June 1822 and, after enjoying alcoholic beverages at some Horncastle pubs he set off for home at 2 a.m. Sunday morning.  The distance was about 5 miles, not a great distance for a 22-year-old farmworker of the early 19th century.

Stennet Jeffrey was murdered near this location.

The story goes that as he was passing along the footpath through a part of Whitehall Wood, called "the Wilderness, " he was attacked by two men against whom he had given information of their poaching.  They were accompanied by a female named Sophia Motley, a big, masculine woman. His throat was cut and his body was thrown in a ditch.’They stole his watch, which he had bought at Horncastle the previous day and 20 shillings in silver.

Stennet’s murderers were thought to be from Coningsby Moor and was confirmed when it was discovered that the men stopped at a small public house at Fulsby kept by a Mrs Copping, Fulsby is between The Wilderness and Coningsby Moor. Some bloodstained clothes were found concealed in a hedge near Fulsby.

A £100 reward was offered for the apprehension of the killers. One of the men was drinking in a small public house when he got into conversation with the landlord and another person, there was some disagreement about the facts of the murder, the man stated that he should know more than they as he was the last person in his company.  The constable was sent for and the man was arrested and taken to Lincoln. Along with another man he was convicted and transported for life. Motley was arrested as a suspect but there was insufficient evidence to convict her. Many years later a man named Paul Tomline confessed on his deathbed that he had been an accomplice in the murder of Jeffrey, he held Jeffrey down while his throat was cut.  

Stennett Jeffrey was buried at the church of St Lawrence, Revesby, on 25th June 1822.

The murder of Stennet Jeffrey was true and reported in the next issue of the Stamford Mercury, but there are a few inconsistencies in this story; the first is that, along with many other crimes, murder and highway robbery were capital offences at that time, so why were the murderers transported?  Were they from a wealthy family? What were their names?

Sources:  Records of Woodhall Spa & Neighbourhood - J. Conway Walter

Stamford Mercury 28 June 1822

The Bridge of Sighs

James Mayfield was a boot and shoe dealer at 19 Waterside North (a little west of the present Mayfield Bridge), he was born in Louth in 1805. 

James noticed that the shops in the Sincil Street area south of the river were much busier than his was. The nearest crossings of the river were at High Bridge and Magpies Bridge, he had little passing trade from the Sincil Street area. In November 1867 he asked the Corporation to contact the Great Northern Railway (the lessees of the river Witham) to get permission to build a bridge over the river at the north end of Sincil Street.

“The Mayor remarked that there was already an order on the books for the erection of a bridge on the site Mr Mayfield mentioned, and when the funds of the Corporation admitted of it, no doubt the bridge would be erected. (Laughter)” - Lincolnshire Chronicle 23/11/1867.

The original bridge, photograph taken in the 1930s prior to the slum clearance on Waterside North. The 'Sackville' lanterns have been replaced by more conventional lamps 

The Corporation asked for tenders for the manufacture and erection of the bridge, the following quotations were received: M Penistan, Lincoln, £147; D Barnes, Lincoln, £160; F Binns, Lincoln, £170 6s; C de Berne and Co., Manchester, £185; J T B Porter and Co., Lincoln, £216 3s.

The Corporation had received about £65 from public subscriptions and agreed that the lowest quotation would be accepted providing the promoters of the bridge (headed by James Mayfield) provide £70 within 14 days of the meeting. “Mr Brogden said the thanks of the public were due to Mr Mayfield for the energy and perseverance he had displayed in promoting the movement, and he would suggest that the structure should be named ‘The Mayfield Bridge’.” (Laughter)

The bridge was completed in April 1869 at a total cost of £154 2s (£154.10) and designed by Drury and Mortimer of Lincoln. ‘Sackville’ gas lanterns were fitted at each end of the bridge; patented by Gregg and Son of Dublin they were circular in plan and free from sidebars which would otherwise cast broad shadows, a reflector in the top enhanced the light from the lantern.

The 1869 bridge, the New Bridge Inn on the left and Savoy cinema on the right. 

Penney and Porter Ltd surveyed the bridge in 1923, in their opinion the bridge was unsafe and submitted a quotation for the supply and erection of the ironwork for a new bridge. The bridge was periodically repaired but no major restoration works were completed.

The condition of the bridge was next raised at a Corporation meeting in March 1940. It was at this meeting that the nickname for the bridge was coined: ‘The Bridge of Sighs’ due its poor condition. There were concerns about movement of “people from places of entertainment in the case of an air raid”, due to its condition and lack of width. The bridge was further discussed in September of the same year and it was agreed that due to the war it would be difficult to find sufficient materials to restore or replace the bridge. 

The original bridge was eventually replaced in 1958, this bridge was replaced in 1991 and again in 2001.



The 1869 bridge and the 1958 bridge shortly before the removal of the earlier bridge. Note the wooden planks used to support the side of the 1869 bridge.


The 1958 Bridge

​What of James Mayfield? James sold his boot and shoe business to Thomas Mawby in 1874 and became licensee of the Globe Inn on Waterside South, moving to Edmonton, London in 1881 to open a boot and shoe shop; he died there in 1887.


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