Horse Racing at the Carholme

Horse Racing in Lincoln has a long history.

The first horse racing in the area is thought to have taken place at Temple Bruer: The Knights Templars, seeking a break from jousting and tournaments, would wager on the results of races held among themselves. After the dissolution of the Order farmworkers would hold races at the end of harvest.

The first recorded race was on 12th February 1597, when "the mayor's charges for a scaffold at the horse race" were approved. This must have been a wooden framed tiered stand so that spectators would have a good view of the race.

In April 1617 King James stayed in Lincoln for a few days:

" On Thursday (3rd April) thear was a great horse race on the Heath for a cupp, when his Majestie was present, and stood on a scaffold the Citie had caused to be set upp, and withall caused the race a quarter of a mile long to be raled and corded with rope and hoopes on both sides, whearby the people were kept out, and the horses that rouned were seen faire."

George 1 also visited Lincoln races in 1716, putting up £100 guineas in prize money himself.

Horse racing moved to Waddington Heath, a four mile long course, and remained there until 1770. It is believed that horse racing then continued near Dunholme for the next 20 years

In 1793 horse racing moved to the Carholme on the West Common at the edge of Lincoln. Most of the horses entered were local to the area until in 1806, when a Gold Cup of 115 Guineas was instituted.

At first a temporary wooden shed was erected for the important visitors at the meeting. In 1826 The Grandstand was erected by the Corporation.

The provision of the grandstand and improvements to the course and turf was at a cost of £7,000; a large sum of money in 1826. The improvements meant that more people could enjoy the spectacle of horse racing on the Carholme.

But in 1831 Lincoln was still regarded as an unimportant racing venue. The New Sporting Magazine of that year says, "The utter insignificance of these races would not have entitled them to a place in our monthly notices but for the extraordinary scene that occurred in the third day.":

700 or 800 "thimblemen"* including many dishonest characters moved from race meeting to race meeting to cheat people out of their winnings, turned up at the Lincoln meeting.

They were very successful in the first two days, but on the third day the racegoers attacked them with clubs and sticks. At first the thimblemen held their own; but a large number of horsemen arrived and routed them. Then the local people destroyed their stalls and caravans.

The royal purse of One Hundred Sovereigns, given to several Towns in England, to be run for mares only, in order to improve the breed of blood horses, and the ' Gold Cup ' or Subscription Plate of One Hundred Pounds. Many famous horses ran at the Carholme course in the early 19th century, among them:
Eclipse, Redshank, Carnaby, Volage, Bessy Bedlam, Bullet, Ballad Singer, Fleur-de-lis, Laurel, Lucy, Mullatto, Fortitude, Briuda, Lottery, Gallopade, Varnish, Marie, La Fille Mai Garde, Nancy.

The 1826 Grandstand

The winning of the Lincoln Gold Cup by Bessy Bedlam was celebrated by the naming of a public house at 33 Steep Hill in her honour. By 1857 it was re-named Fox & Hounds.

Jumps were added to the course in 1843 but were not a popular addition to the racing.

The Lincolnshire Handicap was first run in 1849, was won in that year by Media, a filly belonging to Lord Exeter; and in 1874 the race was won by the famous Fred Archer, then only a boy, on a horse called Tomahawk. Gradually Lincoln became more popular, and the Spring Meeting in particular assumed the importance to racing it retained until the closure. A second, larger grandstand was erected in 1897, designed W Mortimer, a well respected local architect, and built by William Wright. At the Spring Meeting in 1900the starting-gate was first used in a race for 2-year-old fillies, a feature of racing in which Lincoln can claim to be a pioneer.

The spring meeting, held in March, was the opening meeting of the flat racing calendar.

The winners of the Lincolnshire Handicap from 1926 to 1937 were, in chronological order:

King of Clubs (1926), Priory Park (1927), Dark Warrior (1928), Elton (1929), Leonidas (1930), Knight Error (1931), Jerome Fandor (1932), Dorigen (1933), Play On (1934), Flamenco (1935), Over Coat (1936), Marmaduke Jinks (1937) -     

Click on "Flamenco" to see the horse win the 1935 Lincolnshire Handicap.

The New Stand in 1897

Racing moved to Pontefract from 1942 to 1945 and never really recovered after World War II.
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In 1964 the Horse Race Betting Levy Board announced they would not support the course after 1966. A meeting of the City Council was held 21st July 1964 in the Guildhall where it was decided that horse racing at the Carholme would cease immediately, therefore the last race was held on 18th March 1964, ending a tradition of almost 200 years of racing on the Carholme.

The 1826 grandstand was demolished in 1966.

The 1948 Lincolnshire Handicap had the largest number of runners - a total of 58!

Lincoln Racecourse Regeneration Company was formed in 2010 to bring racing back to Lincoln but it was opposed by the City Council and many West End residents, so the course is destined to remain unused for the foreseeable future.

*The word "thimbleman" has passed into obscurity but this is the best definition I have found:
"thimblerigger: one who practises the trick of thimblerig; a low trickster or sharper. Also thimbleman."
A thimbleman may also "nobble" horses.

The Legend of the Head in the Wall

 If you walk Along Lincoln's Eastgate from Bailgate towards Langworthgate you will come across a high stone wall on the north side of the Cathedral.  Look up and you will see a stone head sticking out of the wall.

The "Legend of the Head in the Wall" is not very well known, even to the people of Lincoln.  If you go on the "Lincoln Ghost Walk" you will be told that the Dean of Lincoln had it placed there to remind those in holy orders that they must be temperate in their drinking habits.

The version I prefer is the one told me by my father many years ago:

"The husband had gone out for a drink at the White Horse Inn, across the road, (where the restaurant is now).  The wife became anxious when it was time for bed and he hadn't arrived home, so she opened the sash window and looked out.  While she had her head out of the window the sash failed and the window came crashing down and broke her neck.  The husband arrived home much later to find the lifeless body of his wife through the window."

The head was carved and placed in the wall as a memorial to the unfortunate lady.

In my view the logical explanation for the head is that it came from the Cathedral when Cromwell's men decapitated many of the statues and some jolly fellow thought that it would be a wheeze to put it in the wall!

This and other stories about Lincoln can be read in: 

It's About Lincoln: Snippets of History

The Hidden Necropolis

You may think the title of this article is a little dramatic, but the graveyard isn't visible from the road that passes it. ​ Eastgate Cemetery is north of Langworthgate, next to the bowls club.

Joseph Ruston

One of the first graves we came across was that of Joseph Ruston. Most people in Lincoln
would know the name Ruston, He became a partner in the Lincoln firm of Burton & Proctor, Burton didn't approve of the direction that the company was taking and soon left, from this was born Ruston Proctor & Co.

But it wasn't Mr Ruston who interested me. At the foot of the cross are two plaques, the one on the left was badly weathered and had some letters missing but, using software on my computer, I was able to decipher it:

​George Bennett married Marion Ruston in 1900. In the 1911 census they lived at North Place, Nettleham Road. They had four children the eldest, Robert Ruston Bennett, aged 9, was at Northdown Hill boarding school in Margate. Apart from four live-in servants they also had a Monthly Nurse, two nurses and an under nurse, all under the same roof. A monthly nurse would care for a mother and her baby, the youngest child was 4, so why so many nurses? Marion died in 1919 at age 53, so it may be her the nurses were caring for.

William Watkins and one of his sons are buried in the graveyard. William and his son, William Gregory, were architects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They produced some of the finest buildings in Lincoln and were particularly noted for using terracotta decoration on their buildings. W G Watkins designed St Giles Church using some of the stonework from St Peter at Arches church.

What is most remarkable about the Watkins' family is their longevity:
William Watkins, senior, died in 1926 aged 91
William's wife, Kate Deveraux died in 1931 aged 90
William Gregory died in 1959 aged 90
W.G.'s wife Alice Mabel died in 1968 aged 95

What was their secret?

Louis William Smith was born in Grimsby in 1869 in the 1911 census he listed his occupation as managing director of Clarkes Crank & Forge Ltd. He lived at Holly Grove, South Park.

In 1928 he entered Parliament as MP for Sheffield Hallam, he was knighted on 7th July 1938 and died in March 1939. At the time of his death he was chairman of Clarke's Crank and Forge Ltd.

In the graveyard, there are also monuments to Scorers, Trollopes and Sewells. Unfortunately, there are many gravestones that have been ravaged by the east wind.

The Crooked House and the Harlequin

The Crooked House at the top of Michaelgate is well known and is probably one of the most photographed buildings in Lincoln after the Cathedral, Castle and Stonebow.

This house looked like any other terraced house until the 1930s. At that time there was a major slum clearance throughout the city; in areas close to the factories and foundries of the Waterside, even Jews Court was in danger of being lost until it was rescued by the Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society (now The Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology).  In late 1933 a demolition order was issued for numbers 34, 36, 38 and 40 Michaelgate. When demolition of no 40 began it was discovered there was a half-timbered building behind the brick façade.  The owner of the house asked the council to rescind the demolition order, Permission was granted by the Minister of Health subject to it not being used for human habitation.   

Dating from the 16th century, the house has C18, C19 and C20 alterations. Dressed stone and brick, with close studded first floor with rendered nogging. Pantile roof. 2 storeys, 2 bays. Street front has a replica plank door to the left, and to right, a 2-light sliding sash. Above, to the right, a C20 casement. South gable has a C20 door to left and a C20 casement above. Gable framing has curved braces and corner posts. (https://historicengland.org.uk/)

The house was acquired by Lincoln Council and renovated to its original style, it became one of the oldest council houses in England.  The house is still owned by the City of Lincoln Council and managed by the National Trust.

Click here to read about the interior of the house

Walk on to Steep Hill and you will see another old half-timbered building:

The Harlequin Inn (also known as the Harlequin and Columbine when it was connected with the theatre on Drury Lane) dates from the 15th century, first recorded as an inn in the mid 18th century, in 1931 it was refused the renewal of its alcohol licence as "structurally unsuitable".  George Shelton was an antique furniture dealer for about 30 years and then it was the Harlequin Galleries an antiquarian bookshop for over 50 years until it closed a few years ago.

Other Lincoln Houses

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Boultham Hall
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Hartsholme Hall
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Eastgate House
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Monk's Tower
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Monk's Manor

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Cold Bath House

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Sibthorp House

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Eastcliffe House

The Old House on Corporation Street

Grand House Built on the Sale of Drugs

Lincoln Companies - James Dawson & Son Ltd.

James Dawson was born in Welton near Lincoln in 1836. He moved to Sheffield in the mid-1850s and was making boots and shoes, employing 4 men. James married Mary Skelton at St George's, Sheffield in 1858. By 1868 he was back in Lincoln selling boots and shoes at 15 Sincil Street. 

1880 he recognised the need for leather belts for all the machinery that was being manufactured in Lincoln and other places in the UK. He formed a company with Walter, his son, and William Posnett, the belting works opened at Unity Square in the same year. The company grew rapidly.  In 1881 a Dawson belt was shown at the Lincolnshire Show 2ft 4in (0.71 metres) by 60 ft (18.3 metres), weighing 3 cwt (152 Kg)

Dawsons gained a "First Order of Merit" in 1887 at the Adelaide Jubilee Exhibition for Leather machine belting, over the years there were many other awards for their belting. The Belting works moved from Unity Square to New Boultham about 1890.

Posnett left the company in 1892 and the company was incorporated as a private limited company on 10th March 1896 with a capital of £70,000 in £10 shares, becoming James Dawson & Son Ltd.

The Lincona V belt for motorcycles was introduced in 1902 and in 1908 Balata belting was introduced using the sap from the South American Balata tree.  James, the son of the founder, invented the Balata rubber process.

Walter left the company and became a farmer, and another son, George, became managing director.  James Dawson senior retire in 1902 and died on 24th April 1912, Sadly George died in March 1912. Following the deaths of his father and brother, James became managing director, he was chairman of the company from 1922.  James, his son and a grandson of the founder, became managing director.

Dawsons had large contracts during World War One for infantry equipment and other war material.

The Lincona laminated V belt was introduced in 1920 for use with industrial machinery. V Rubber ropes were made available from 1931 as a modern version of the Balata belt.  The Speedona V transmission rope was added to the range of products in 1934 for use with centre drives.

Dawsons expanded the size of their factory with the purchase of the Poppleton's sweet factory from the company's receivers in July 1936  

James Dawson (born 1872) died at Sutton on Sea on 13th October 1936, his home was Welbourn Manor.  He left £81,852.

In 1978 Dawson's became part of Fenner plc and are at the forefront of hose and ducting manufacture with manufacturing facilities in the UK and China. On 31st May 2018 the Fenner Group became part of Compagnie Generale Des Etablissements Michelin Sca the owners of the Michelin Tyre Company.

Dawsons have always been a major employer in Lincoln and today are Lincoln's second-largest employer. Of all the manufacturing companies established in Lincoln in the 19th century, Dawson's is the only one that retains its original name.

Click here to read about Poppleton's confectionery factory.

More Lincoln Companies:

Lincoln Companies - Lincoln Gas, Light and Coke Co.
Lincoln Companies - Clayton & Shuttleworth
Lincoln Companies - H Newsum & Sons Ltd
Lincoln Companies - W Rainforth & Sons
Lincoln Companies - James Dawson & Son Ltd.
Lincoln Companies - Penney & Porter Ltd

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Sibthorp House

Sibthorp House was located on the High Street just north of the present-day magistrates' court.  Built during the 16th century, the single-storey facade was replaced in the Queen Anne Style in the early 18th century for John Sibthorpe, M.P.  Sibthorpe had planned to add an upper storey but died in 1716 before the work could be carried out.  His widow, Mary Sibthorp, stopped the building and soon afterwards bought Canwick Hall.

Her story was a sad one, in 1726 she lost her son Gervase, aged only 16 and the next year Mary's eldest son, John, aged 22, who, with their parents, were buried in the family vault of St Mark’s church. 

The lower rooms were large well-proportioned apartments but the upper rooms were garrets opening into one another and quite out of keeping with the lower rooms of the house.  The house incorporated a very early mansion of which we know nothing, probably dating from the 14th century.  In the lower part of the back of the house were Gothic doorways and at right angles with it another part of the ancient building.

For many years it was the Inland Revenue tax office, the LNER locomotive control depot and later British Railways Eastern Region Offices.

In 1938 a Rhesus Monkey named Jacko travelling by rail from Liverpool to Grantham escaped from a crate and climbed onto the roof Sibthorp House, removed tiles and entered the roof space.  He was eventually recaptured by using another monkey to entice him into a room into Sibthorp House.

Sibthorp House was demolished in 1962 and modern shops and offices were built on the site, also named Sibthorp House.

Other Lincoln Houses

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Boultham Hall
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Hartsholme Hall
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Eastgate House
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Monk's Tower
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Monk's Manor

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Cold Bath House

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Eastcliffe House

The Old House on Corporation Street

The Crooked House and the Harlequin

Grand House Built on the Sale of Drugs

Cranky Jimmy, an Artist in Cork

James and Anne Anderton with
 a model of the Scott Memorial

James Anderton was born in Lincoln on 10th March 1825 and baptised in St Botolph's church on 12th April 1825, his father, Henry, was a collar and harness maker, working next to the church.

James didn't like school and, before his teenage years, worked as a day worker for local farmers, eventually he worked as a labourer on Towler's farm at Boultham. Towlers employed him to stop the cattle getting into the crops.

From an early age, James enjoyed making models. His first model was of a Chinese church, Italian and German artisans toured the country with plaster models of the Chinese church, made of wood, he covered the windows with fabric which, when lit from the inside with a candle gave it a spectacular appearance. Unfortunately, James' sister was showing it to some friends one evening and set fire to the church.

James next made a model of Lincoln Cathedral in wood, it took him over a year to complete. With the help of a friend he put it on a cart and took it around the area as far as some of the local villages, exhibiting it in the street. He blew a horn, and when a crowd had assembled he would uncover it and collect donations. The model was very heavy and the Mechanics Institute at Greyfriars agreed to display it for a year with the promise of a donation, there were no payments received so the model was withdrawn by James.

He next made a second model of Lincoln Cathedral but made out of corks as it would be much lighter than his wooden model Almost every day after working on the land he would walk to the cathedral to study it's architecture, on his way he would collect corks that had been thrown away. His work soon became well known and he would be sent corks from all over the country. His model of the cathedral comprised of an astonishing 1,000,800 corks. The model was built to a scale of a quarter of an inch to a foot, the dimensions were as follows 10' 5” long, height 5' 9”, width 7' 6”.

The West Front was the first part completed, using 13,500 corks: it was exhibited at the Great National Agricultural Show in Lincoln in 1854 where it was called “The eighth wonder of the world”.

In total, it took him 10 years 6 months to complete the model of the Cathedral and earned him the nickname of “Cranky Jimmy”

The fame of his model spread throughout Lincoln and he was visited by many hundreds of people, it was one of these visitors who suggested he should display it at the 1862 International Exhibition in South Kensington. A fund was set up to pay for the transportation of the model and £26.00 was raised. Unfortunately, one of the packing cases was dropped when it arrived in London and the contents badly damaged, it was five weeks before the model was repaired and ready to be shown.

The organisers of the exhibition could not give him a medal for his work as it was made from old corks and not normal materials, but he was presented with a season ticket to the exhibition and allowed to receive donations.

At first, he dressed in a good suit provided for him by an uncle, but soon realised that people thought he was already wealthy and didn't give donations, he instead wore the white smock that he had used when making the models and working on the farm, donations then poured in, he would receive donations of £10 to £12 daily.

His showing at the Exhibition was such a success that his hobby became his career and made him a wealthy man. Among other things, he built four cottages on Alfred Street, Lincoln. A plaque was placed in the wall of the cottage he lived in. “Perseverance, Cork and Glue, 1862” to indicate what was required to build his models. The cottages became known as “Cork Model Cottages”, they were demolished about 1969.

His next cork model was of St Botolph's church, where has was baptised and he married in 1849. He placed an inscription over the model:

“This is the church where he was wed,
A peal of bells rang over his head
This peal of bells you all shall hear
By putting in a copper here
When you have placed the money in
You look through the door below
The little figures will be pulling the ropes
As fast as they can go”

James showed the church model at the Lincoln and Boston fairs, the interest and money raised encouraged him to travel further afield with it.

The model of Lincoln Cathedral was badly damaged, the North Transept was completely destroyed because a lighted candle was left in it. It took him 7 months to repair it. When he had completed the repair he began a tour of the country, first visiting all the towns and many of the villages of Lincolnshire.

James made more models, including one of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, which was also exhibited at the International Exhibition in South Kensington in 1862. He toured the country showing his models and earning a good living.

In April 1865 he crossed the Humber and began his Yorkshire tour in Hull where he was so impressed by St Stephen's church he built a model, taking him four months and 30,119 corks.

The Scott Monument was exhibited in Edinburgh in 1871 during the centenary celebrations of Sir Walter Scott's birth, alongside models of Lincoln Cathedral, St Nicholas Church in Newcastle and other fine models

The following 25 years he toured throughout England and Scotland exhibiting his models and living in caravans.

He died at Blandford hospital in Dorset in 1892 at the age of 67. By this time his fame had spread worldwide with obituaries as far away as Australia.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to establish what happened to the models after his death.
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