Lincoln's Lost Cinemas
The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Boultham Hall
The landed families and entrepreneurs of Lincoln seemed to have a need to show their wealth and success by building grand houses. Most of the houses lasted for less than 100 years. There are several reasons for this:
- The improved standard of living of the working class caused by improved wages in the factories and foundries, until the mid 19th century most of the jobs for men were on the land, and for women in service, most of these houses had many live-in servants.
- "The flower of British manhood" was decimated during World War One, many of the men who were destined to take over the grand city and country houses were lost.
- Many of the houses were of an age where maintenance costs were spiraling. The introduction of Death Duties in 1894 and increases in income tax in the early 20th century, by 1918 the rate stood at 30%, meant these houses were becoming millstones.
- There was a severe shortage of building materials after World War One, building materials (e.g. stone, brick, wood, wood panelling and fittings) were more valuable than the standing buildings.
High Street Lodge, architect William Mortimer |
A parallel route to Boultham Hall was opened in 1883, between Peel Street and Dixon Street with a lodge house at its head.
Lt Colonel Ellison was the last resident of the hall. On his death in 1908 it passed to Richard Todd Ellison who sold the Hall and grounds in 1913 to a Nottingham company. The contents of the Hall were auctioned over 5 days in 1913.
Boultham Park Lake in 1933 |
Lincoln Companies - Lincoln Gas, Light and Coke Co.
History
Other Suppliers
It wasn't viable for the company to lay pipes outside of Lincoln, companies like Porter & Co of Lincoln, supplied complete gas plants to large country houses and some villages so that gas could be produced locally. Hartsholme Hall had its own gas plant, probably supplied by Porters.
Bracebridge Gasworks
The owners of the gasworks had tried for several years to sell it. In 1885 agreement was made with Lincoln Corporation to buy the gasworks.
1885 Statistics
163,000,000 cubic feet produced
5,789 consumers
Main 35 miles long
The Cost of Gas in 1913 was 2/- (10p) per 1,000 cubic feet
Helping the War Effort
During the First World War a by-product recovery plant was installed to extract Toluol and Benzol for the high-explosive industries
Showroom
First showroom opened in 1919, later moving to Silver Street.
1933 Statistics
Wages £25,996, 102 miles of mains, 17,796 consumers, 1,884 street lamps, 12,242 gas cookers, 33,257 tons of coal carbonised, 14,014 gallons of oil used, 21,617 coke made, 412,275 gallons of tar, 324 tons of sulphate of ammonia, 560,000,000 cubic feet of gas produced an increase of about 25% over the previous 10 years
A New Gasholder
The rapid increase in consumers during the previous 40 years meant that the maximum storage for gas was only enough for 12 hours consumption.
Various types of gasholder were inspected and in 1930 a new holder of the three-lift spiral guided type was ordered to increase storage capacity. The capacity of the new holder was 1,500,000 cubic feet.
The End of Coal Gas
Natural Gas was found in 1910 in Germany, in the mid-1950s BP discovered natural gas fiels in several places in the UK, a field was discover near Gainsborough in the late 1950s. It wasn't until the 1970s that drilling for natural gas in the North Sea became economically viable due to the 1973 oil crisis. Since that time coal gas production has ceased in the UK.
The Lost Houses of Lincolnshire - Denton Manor
The 1906 fire, flames probably added by the postcard printer |
A fire broke out in the private chapel, caused probably by a flue overheating on 14th January 1906. The house was restored in 1906 but demolished in 1939 after another fire in 1938.
Among the fittings of the house offered for sale were:
The house was built of 100,000 tons of hammer-carved stone and 150,000 bricks.
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"On the estate is a spring much frequented, from the medicinal virtue ascribed to its waters; it is very pure, and similar to that of Malvern Wells, in Worcestershire: it bears the name of St. Christopher's Well." - History of the County of Lincoln Vol II - 1834
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The Virgin Mary and the Wain Well
Eastgate from Bailgate |
The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Cold Bath House
Cold Bath House parish was created in 1837. It had an area of one acre and was situated at the top of the Arboretum at the junction of Lindum Terrace and Eastfield Road.
Henry Kirk Hebb, solicitor, clerk to the urban sanitary committee, town clerk to Lincoln Corporation for 30 years and chairman of the Lincoln and Lindsey Bank had Cold Bath House built in about 1867.
The house was designed by Michael Drury, the Lincoln Architect. Tenders for the erection of the house between £1,579 and £1,849 were received, the lowest price was from Robert Young, builder and contractor, his tender was accepted, a large quantity of materials from existing buildings was used. The location of the house perched on the cliff edge must have been very impressive. There was a room in the house designed to entertain the entire City County. A spring ran in the cellar, possibly the reason for the name of the area.
Hebb lived at the house until his death in 1902.
The site of Cold Bath House
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In 1905 Mrs Matilda Richardson lived at the house, she was the widow of William Wright Richardson, a director of Doughty, Son and Richardson Ltd.
In 1907 all the Lincoln parishes were incorporated into a single Lincoln parish, after 70 years Cold Bath House parish was relegated to the history books. Cold Bath House was the only building in the parish and the number of residents stayed static at 5. This 1 acre, single house parish was the smallest in Lincoln both in size and number of residents.
During the First World War the house became home to the headmaster of the Lincoln School and its boarders.
After the First World War Cold Bath House became Mrs Swan’s Nursing Home.
The Ruins of Cold Bath House |
The nursing home continued until 2nd August 1942, when the County Hospital and the nursing home were attacked by a German bomber. The main damage at the County Hospital was to the Nurses home, the operating theatre, the board room and the massage room, windows of two of the wards were damaged and some of the patients suffered injuries from flying glass. Mrs Swan’s Nursing Home was almost totally destroyed, the building was demolished in 1945.
A bomb also dropped on the allotments nearby on St Anne’s Road. It is thought the crew of the aircraft spotted the chimney at the hospital and thought it was a factory.
Unfortunately I have not located an image of the undamaged house.
A list of the dead and injured:
Deaths
- Lt. Harry Sidney COLLARD, Royal Engineers. He is buried at Newport Cemetery, Lincoln. The Royal Engineers occupied part of the house during the Second World War.
Injured
- R.S.M. Fred LEGGE, Royal Engineers
- Lt Cpl. William James PRINCE, Royal Engineers
- Sister D.M.B. CURRY
- Nurse WARNER, 20,
- Miss G.M. JAMES, a masseuse
- Nurse Myra RANDS, 20,
- Nurse GRUNELL
Injured patients
- Mrs Irene HIGGINGS, 22
- Mrs Daisy HORSFIELD, 25
- Keith HINCH, 3 weeks.
The site was cleared and was a smallholding until late in 1952. The southern part of the grounds of Cold Bath House was landscaped and incorporated into the Arboretum to celebrate the Coronation of H M Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
Did Bail Gate Stand Here?
Norman House |
Read more about Lincoln's Gates