Lincoln's Industrial Revolution

In The Decline and Rise of Lincoln I wrote about how Lincoln fell from its position as one of the most important cities in England to a rural backwater hardly able to support itself. Now I will cover the times when Lincoln grew in prosperity again but never regained it’s former importance. In 1821 Lincoln’s population was 11,776, while Boston’s, which gained the Staple from Lincoln in 1369, stood at 10,373.

Lincoln was about to go through immense change, Richard Ellison had purchased a 999 year lease on the Fosdyke Canal in 1740 and set about improving navigation on the canal and the river Witham east of Lincoln. Farm produce and others goods could be sent from Lincoln by barge to other parts of the country and coal and lime could be brought in. Lincoln, surrounded by agriculture, was late in embracing the Industrial Revolution.

It was the 1840s when the Industrial Revolution arrived in Lincoln.  These people made a massive contribution to the growth of prosperity of Lincoln, click on the links to learn about their companies
William Rainforth
Nathaniel Clayton and Joseph Shuttleworth
Richard Duckering
Robert Robey
William Foster
Joseph Ruston
John Cooke

... and many more here

Lincoln's Waterside Industrial Area Today 

Lincoln was one of the last major centres of population in England connected to the railway, the Midland Railway arrived in Lincoln in 1846 and the Great Northern in 1848, bringing with them traffic delays on Lincoln’s High Street.

In the period 1841 to 1861 Lincoln’s population grew by over 50% to almost 21,000, the population of St Swithin’s and St Peter at Gowts parishes, where most of the engineering firms were based, almost doubled.  At the end of the 19th century the population of Lincoln was 48,784 more than three times that of Boston.

Clayton & Shuttleworth's Iron Works in 1869

The Decline and Rise of Lincoln

Arms of the city of Lincoln 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lincoln is one of nine cities and nine towns in England that were given the status “County of the City of …”, such places are called County Corporate.

Counties Corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties of no prescribed size but usually including some surrounding countryside and villages. They usually covered towns or cities which were deemed to be important enough to be independent from their county. Each town or city’s charter was drafted according to its needs, in some cases there was a security issue which brought about the status, i.e. Poole was plagued by pirates so became County of the Town of Poole.

Lincoln's Stonebow,
Meetings of the Corporation/Council have been held here for five centuries  

While they were administratively distinct counties, with their own sheriffs, most of the counties corporate remained part of the “county at large” for purposes such as the county assize courts. From the 17th century the separate jurisdictions of the counties corporate were increasingly merged with that of the surrounding county, so that by the late 19th century the title was mostly a ceremonial one.

Lincoln’s County Corporate status was made by a Royal Charter dated 21st November 1409. The main points of the charter were:

• The election of two sheriffs instead of bailiffs.
• The city to be called the County and City of Lincoln.
• The Mayor to be the King’s Escheator¹.
• The power to render accounts to the King’s Exchequer by attorney.
• The Mayor and Sheriffs with four others to be justices of the peace, with defined jurisdiction.
• A yearly fair beginning fifteen days before the feast of the deposition of St. Hugh (17 November) and continuing for fifteen days after.
• The receipt in aid of the payment of the city rent of £180 of the annual rent of £6 paid to the Crown by the weavers of Lincoln; strictly and fully reserving the exemption from the jurisdiction of the City of the Cathedral Church, the Close, and the Dean and Chapter.

The Charter was witnessed at Westminster by the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the bishops of London, Durham, and Bath and Wells, Edward duke of York, John earl of Somerset, chamberlain, John Typtot, treasurer, master John Prophete keeper of the Privy Seal, and John Stanley, steward of the household..

By the 15th century Lincoln’s fortunes were on the wane, it’s Jewish community, the second largest in he country after London, had been expelled 100 years before and in 1369 the Wool Staple² was moved to Boston: the population of Lincoln had fallen to its lowest level because of these reasons and the Black Death which ravaged most of England at this time. Buildings were demolished and the land was turned back to farming, even within the city walls. Lincoln’s population at this time was in the region of about 2,000, drastically down from its 6,000 at the time of the Conquest. Many churches were closed, some were demolished, there being parishes that were uninhabited.

Lincoln started to revive in the 18th century due to many factors, the main one being Richard Ellisons leasing and making navigable again the Fosdyke. The population grew and at the 1801 census there were over 7,200 people in Lincoln, and by 1901 the population had grown to nearly 49,000. The Industrial Revolution had arrived!

In 1466 a Charter was granted by Edward IV “to the Mayor Thomas Grantham and the citizens, in relief of the desolation and ruin which had come upon the city, that the villages of Braunstone, Wadyugtone, Bracebrigge and Canwik should be separated from the county and annexed to the county of the city, with the transfer of all jurisdiction of sheriffs etc., that all their inhabitants should contribute to "scot and lot" and all the charges of the city, and none be allowed to dwell within the liberties of the city who should refuse so to do… “

County Corporates were abolished through Government Acts in the 19th century, notably the Militia Act 1882 and Local Government Act 1888, Lincoln becoming part of Lincolnshire County Council but retaining it’s City Council status.

The list of Counties Corporate and when created

1. County of the City of …

• Canterbury (1471)
• Coventry (1451, abolished 1842)
• Exeter (1537)
• Lichfield (1556)
• Lincoln (1409)
• London (1132 until 1965)
• Norwich (1404)
• Worcestor (1622)
• York (1396)

2. County of the Town of

• Bristol (1373, City since 1542)
• Chester (1238/1239, City since 1541)
• Gloucester (1483, City since 1541)
• Newcastle upon Tyne (1400)
• Nottingham (1448)
• Poole (1571)
• Southampton (1447)

3. Borough and Town of …

• Berwick upon Tweed (1551)

4. Kingston upon Hull became County of Hullshire by charter of 1440, restricted to Town and County Kingston upon Hull in 1835

1 A person appointed to receive property of a person who died intestate.

2 Lincoln was originally granted the Wool Staple in 1313 due to the importance of its Cloth industry, its loss was a blow the Lincoln didn’t recover from for a very long time.

First published on Wordpress 1st May 2013

Click here to read the next part of this story

These Water Carriers Never Made It To Mesopotamia

I am sure most Lincolnians would understand the relevance of the title of this blogpost.

By Christmas 1914 the opposing armies of the First World War became bogged down in the mud and reached a stalemate: each dug trenches in the battlefields of France and Belgium to consolidate their positions.  

In 1915 the Admiralty Landship Committee, through the sponsorship of Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, was formed with the task of developing 'a machine, strongly armoured, carrying guns, capable of negotiating obstacles in the battle area and crossing opposing trenches'.

Major Walter Gordon Wilson of the Naval Air Service and William Tritton of William Foster & Co. Ltd., were commissioned by the Landship Committee to produce the first landship in secrecy.  

Fosters were an agricultural machinery manufacturer in Lincoln, their Traction Engines and threshing machines were world-renowned and had worked with Hornsby's of Grantham on the development of tracked vehicles.  Foster’s heavy Daimler tractors were already being used to move howitzer guns and other heavy equipment to and on the battlefield.

The main driving force behind the development of the landship was Colonel Swinton, he had witnessed tests of tracked vehicles for military use soon after the start of the war and saw their effectiveness in penetrating enemy positions.

Swinton laid down certain key criteria that were to be part of the finished design:  the landship must attain a minimum speed of 4 mph, be able to climb a five-foot-high obstacle, successfully span a five-foot trench, and be immune to the effects of small-arms fire.  Furthermore, it should possess two machine guns, have a range of twenty miles and be maintained by a crew of ten men.

To keep the development secret the team met in a room at the White Hart Hotel, Lincoln, which later became known as The Tank Room, and Fosters workers were told they were making ‘water-carriers for Mesopotamia’, which they shortened to ‘tank’.

Little Willie

It took just 37 days to produce a prototype, which was given the name 'Little Willie' (named after William Tritton.  Little Willie was tested on land adjoining Fosters Wellington works.  The tracks kept coming off so it was redesigned with tracks around the body and the profile was curved to assist with turning. this tank was called  'Big Willie', later renamed 'Mother'.

The Lincoln number 1 - This machine was developed in August 1915 and known as "Little Willie" after Sir William Tritton.

Mother - Officially named "His Majesty's Landship Centipede".  It first ran on 12th January 1916, it was tested at Burton Park near Lincoln and Hatfield, Hertfordshire.  It is the predecessor of all British heavy tanks.

Tanks were in full production in Lincoln by 1916, the original designs being improved as expertise and experience of using them grew, much of the production was outsourced to other engineering companies who had greater capacity, although Fosters were called upon to build tanks in World War II.

Mark I - The War Office placed an order for one hundred tanks in February 1916, 25 were built in Lincoln and 75 in Wednesbury.  First used at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (Battle of the Somme) in September 1916, but they were limited in number and not used effectively, they suffered reliability problems.  The Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 saw the first use of tanks on a large scale when an advance of 5 miles was made.  The tank had changed the face of warfare.

Mark II & III - Sir Douglas Haig, the British Commander in Chief, placed an order for 1,000 tanks.  These were delivered between January and March 1917.

Mk IV Tank

Mark IV - The main improvements were in armour, the re-siting of the fuel tank and ease of transport. A total of 1,220 Mk IV were built: 420 "Males", 595 "Females" and 205 Tank Tenders (unarmed vehicles used to carry supplies), which made it the most numerous British tank of the war. The Mark IV was first used in mid-1917 at the Battle of Messines Ridge. It remained in British service until the end of the war, and a small number served briefly with other combatants afterwards. 100 were produced in Lincoln.

Tanks fitted with machine guns were known as "female", those armed with six-pounder guns "males"

At the end of the war, Fosters returned to agricultural engineering work.  In 1927 a new company was formed, Gwynne's Pumps, to acquire the Hammersmith Ironworks of Gwynne's Engineering Co which was in liquidation.  The manufacturing was later moved to Lincoln.  W Foster & Co and Gwynne's Pumps were acquired by W H Allen Sons & Co in 1961 and the Waterloo Street Foundry later demolished, but the road which runs through the tank testing site has been named Tritton Road in honour of Sir William Tritton.

Each town or city that raised money through War Bonds was offered a de-commissioned tank for display.  Lincoln's tank was sited at Wickham Gardens but eventually sold for scrap

The Museum of  Lincolnshire Life displays a Mark IV tank, known as Daphne built at Foster's in 1917 it saw action at the Battle of Cambrai.  At the end of the war it was one of the tanks sent to the Bovington Training Camp.  In the early 1980s the Bovington Tank Museum released Daphne on permanent loan to Lincoln City Council on condition it was restored.  The restoration by apprentices from Ruston Gas Turbines (Now known as Siemens) was completed in about 2 years.

Daphne at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life

10th May 2015 - A memorial to the designers and all those involved in the building of the Lincoln tank was unveiled.

Article originally posted on Wordpress 15-08-2013

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!

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