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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.


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:



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.



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.

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Monk's Manor


Monk's Manor was built in 1877* for Joseph Ruston of Ruston, Proctor & Co. It was a design similar to Queen Victoria's house on the Isle of Wight, Osbourne House. I can find no record of the architect but some sources suggest it was designed by Major F H Goddard of Goddard and Son, Lincoln; Goddard designed a picture gallery for Joseph Ruston's growing art collection in 1883, he also designed the Drill Hall which was paid for by Ruston. 


Map of Monk's Manor house and grounds in 1905
Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

The house stood in approximately 25 acres between Greetwell Road and Wragby Road, the largest grounds of any of the uphill entrepreneur's houses.

Following Joseph Ruston's death in 1897 Jane, his widow moved to Stonefield House on Church Lane. His son Joseph Seward Ruston moved into Monk's Manor.

Joseph Seward Ruston moved to Lindum House, Sewells Road in 1912 and Charles Pratt, the wine and spirit merchant, lived at Monk's Manor from then until his death in 1932.



It was announced in August 1933 that the Monk's Manor site was to be redeveloped for new housing,
Dowse & Quincey, the Lincoln builders, would demolish the house and build a new house, called The Manor House, for the current owner, Mrs F E Pratt, to the east of Monk's Manor. The architect for the new house was Henry Gilbert Gamble, former partner of William Scorer.

Dowse & Quincey built private houses on the the site on Ancaster Avenue.












The wrought-iron entrance gates of Monks Manor were moved to the Boultham Park Road entrance to Boultham Park in 1934.



*Some sources remark it was built in 1870, but Ruston was living at Washingborough in 1875.


The Foss Dyke


The Foss Dyke Navigation is about 11 miles long, from Torksey Lock on the river Trent to Brayford Pool in the centre of Lincoln; it is the oldest canal in Britain, however, we do not know for sure how old it is. Sometime before 1774 a bronze statuette of the Roman god Mars was found in the Foss Dyke at Torksey; this discovery dated it as Roman.  Click the link to see image and description of the statuette http://bit.ly/marsfoss

The canal was reputedly used by the Danes when they invaded England and by the Normans to carry stone to build Lincoln Cathedral in the 11th century.

But the earliest mention of the canal is in the year 1121, in Symeon of Durham's, Historia Regium : "In the same year, king Henry cut a large canal from Torksey to Lincoln, and by causing the River Trent to flow into it, he made it navigable for vessels." The absence of any other documentary evidence indicates that the Canal was built during the reign of Henry I.

The Romans may have built a canal from Torksey to Hardwick, at the centre of a large Roman farm; this canal was probably extended during Henry I's reign.

The Foss Dyke enabled Lincoln and the Fens of Lincolnshire to communicate with Gainsborough and Hull, and with the Ouse and York.

Over the centuries the canal went into decline due to lack of maintenance. Katherine Swynford, who lived at Kettlethorpe near to the canal, is credited with having organized a protest to repair it, in 1375. The canal continued to deteriorate, until by the 17th century it was virtually impassable.

"1518, 10 June. A collection begins to be made towards the cleansing and repairing of the Foss-dyke, for which the King has sent down his commission. [The work was found to involve more cost than it proved easy to discharge, and on 14 Dec. it is reported that the Bishop of Lincoln had issued a commission to all curates and others in his diocese for aid, and granted pardon to all them that helped in the same, and collectors are appointed in consequence to ride to divers towns. Collections continued to be made for a long time, including York and Hull in their range.]" 
"1571 24 March Where[as] within the county of Lincoln, timber, wood, coal, turf and other necessaries have been almost clearly felled, taken away, consumed and spent by many greedy persons, owners of the same since the dissolution of the late religious houses, to the great decay of the poor ancient city of Lincoln, formerly served out of the said county with these necessaries for the relief of the said city and for setting the poor people on work; and for that there is yet some plenty of timber, &c. within the counties of Nottingham, Derby and York next adjoining, whence the said poor city could be well served if the same could be brought by water; [it is desired] that an Act of Parliament may be made for a commission to assess all persons within seven miles of the city for the dyking, cleansing and scouring of Foss-dyke, in order that sufficient water may be brought from the Trent to bring the said timber, etc." - The corporation of Lincoln: Registers, vol. IV (1564-99)

King James I transferred ownership of the canal to the Corporation of Lincoln.

In 1671, during the reign of Charles II, Lincoln obtained an Act which authorised improvements from Boston to the Trent. Work was carried out on the Fossdyke, but only the first 100 yards (91 m) of the Witham, from Brayford Pool to High Bridge, received attention. The work was carried out by Samuel Fortrey, a man with previous experience of draining the fens. He was required to bear some of the cost himself, in exchange for some of the profits. The work was completed in 1672, and included a navigable sluice or lock at Torksey, which had first been proposed by Simon Hill in 1632. Warehouses and wharves were built at Brayford Pool.
1685 July 21.—Whereas for these several years now last past it hath been a custom in this city for the mayor elect and the two sheriffs elect severally to make and give a treat or banqueting on every Holy Rood day, being Sept. 14, presently after they were elected, and the said treat or banquetting not only being a great trouble and charge, and several abuses and misdemeanours committed on that day by the freemen and inhabitants and the great number of foreigners which constantly resort to the said treat, to the great disturbance of the King's peace and abuse of the said treat; and for that the said treat or banquetting upon serious consideration is looked upon to be a thing altogether unnecessary and useless; therefore it is hereby ordered that the said treat . . . . shall for the future be clearly laid aside and none made. And the city being much in debt for money borrowed for the Foss dyke and for renewing the charter, 13l 13s. 4d. shall yearly be deducted from the Mayor's allowance of 90l., and 26l. 6s. 8d. from the sheriffs' allowance of 46l. p. 398. - The corporation of Lincoln: Registers, vols VI and VII (1653-1710)

By 1717, passage from Torksey was again difficult. Coal traffic averaged 1,357 tons per year, bound for Lincoln, but tolls were insufficient to finance repairs. 

The corporation in 1741 granted a lease of two-thirds of it for 999 years, at a rent of £50 per annum, and of the remaining third, for 99 years, at £25 per annum to Richard Ellison of Thorne, and it was reopened in 1745. Previously to this period coals were sold at twenty one shillings per chaldron ; but when Ellison cleared the canal, and re-opened the river in 1745, they were offered and sold at thirteen shillings.  He dredged it to provide 3.5 feet (1.1 m) of depth, and re-opened it in 1744. Two years later, the tolls were £595, and continued to increase. Under his son, the tolls were £2,367 in 1789, while his grandson collected £5,159 in 1811.

"From that time to the present, this long neglected canal has been improving, and the increasing number of vessels daily floating on its surface, renders it an almost inexhaustible mine of wealth to the lessee, an incalculable benefit to the commercial part of the city, and a never failing source of employment to the industrious poor."
- The History of Lincoln; Containing an Account of Its Antiquities - 1825

1826 Plan of the Fossdyke Navigation



The Great Northern Railway negotiated with the proprietors of the Witham and Fossdyke in 1846, to guarantee them an income by leasing the waterways. Richard Ellison IV had agreed a lease for 894 years, at £9,570 per year, based on the average profit for the previous three years plus 5 per cent.

A series of takeovers and mergers resulted in its ownership changing several times, before it was nationalised, and became the responsibility of the British Waterways Board in 1948.

Today the Foss Dyke is a popular pleasure boating canal, boats from Lincoln and Boston can connect with the canals system of England, subject to beam width.

Today Torksey Lock is a popular mooring for pleasure boates.