Grantham 152678 225308568 2008-07-13T00:38:34Z SmackBot 433328 Date the maintenance tags or general fixes {{Refimprove|date=June 2007}} {{otheruses}} {{infobox UK place| |country = England |latitude= 52.9182 |longitude= -0.6382 |official_name= Grantham |population = 34,592 |shire_district= [[South Kesteven]] |shire_county = [[Lincolnshire]] |region= East Midlands |constituency_westminster= [[Grantham and Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)|Grantham and Stamford]] |post_town= GRANTHAM |postcode_district = NG31 |postcode_area= NG |dial_code= 01476 |os_grid_reference= SK915365 |london_distance= 110&nbsp;mi (177&nbsp;km) [[Boxing the compass|NW]] |static_image=[[Image:St Wulfrum's, Grantham.jpg|240px]] |static_image_caption=<small>St Wulfrum's, Grantham's parish church and major landmark</small> }} <!---start of article---> '''Grantham''' is a [[market town]] within the [[South Kesteven]] district of [[Lincolnshire]], [[England]]. Located along the course of the [[River Witham]], twenty-four&nbsp;miles (39&nbsp;km) to the south-southwest of the city of [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]], it has a total resident population of 34,592.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} in around 18,000 households, including the village of [[Great Gonerby]]. The town is best known as the birthplace and childhood home of former prime minister [[Margaret Thatcher]], and as the place where [[Isaac Newton]] went to school. The town is situated within short walking distance of an ancient [[Roman road]], and was the scene of [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s first advantage over [[Cavalier|Royalist]]s during the [[English Civil War]] at Gonerby Moor. Grantham is also notable for having the first female [[Law enforcement in the United Kingdom|police]] officers in the [[United Kingdom]], who began their role together on [[November 27]] [[1914]], during the [[First World War]]. Miss [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wallen.htm Mary Allen] and Miss E. F. Harburn reported for duty on the ''beat''. Mary Allen was a former suffragette and had been previously arrested outside the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] and later went on to be the commandant of the UK's women's police force from the 1920s up to 1940. She helped to set up women's police forces in other countries, including [[Germany]]. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4610200.stm Edith Smith] became the first female with powers of arrest in August 1915. ==History== ===Toponymy=== The origin of the name "Grantham" is uncertain, though is said to probably be [[Old English language]] "Granta+ham", meaning "[[River Cam|Granta]]'s village", and appeared as early as 1086 in the [[Domesday Book]] in its present form of Grantham.<ref>Mills, A.D. (1991) ''"A Dictionary of English Place-Names,"'' Oxford University Press.</ref> ===Prehistory=== Late neolithic vessels from a burial were found at Little Gonerby, in the north of the town, in 1875.<ref>MAY Jeffrey (1976) ''Prehistoric Lincolnshire'' page 84, published by History of Lincolnshire Committee </ref> ===Military history=== During the famous [[Operation Chastise|Dams Raids]] [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) mission in May 1943, the [[RAF Bomber Command]]'s [[No. 5 Group RAF|No. 5 Group]] and the operation HQ, as [[Barnes Wallis]] nervously learnt the grim news, was in ''[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2004/09/25/pbomb25.xml St Vincents]'', a building which later housed a district council planning department. It was built by Richard Hornsby in 1865, lived in by [[Richard Hornsby]]'s son, and is now a private house. In 1944 (including [[D-Day]]), this was the headquarters for the [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]]'s [[Ninth Air Force]]'s [[IX Troop Carrier Command]] [http://www.publicenquiry.co.uk/commands/tc9th.html], being known as Grantham Lodge. [[RAF Spitalgate]] trained pilots in the war, and was not an operational base. RAF Spitalgate is now a [[Territorial Army]] ([[Royal Logistic Corps|RLC]]) [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/155382 barracks] called Prince William of Gloucester Barracks. Grantham College use the site for [http://www.grantham.ac.uk/courses/viewcourse.asp?Course_ID=36&photo=football football development]. The large mast on the base was part of the [[British Telecom microwave network|BT microwave network]]. ===Industrial history=== In 1905 [[Richard Hornsby & Sons|Richard Hornsby (1790-1864) & Sons]] of Grantham (founded 1815) invented the revolutionary caterpillar track, for use with Hornsby's [http://engines.rustyiron.com/hornsby ''oil'' engines]; these engines were developed by [[Herbert Akroyd Stuart]], from which [[Hot bulb engine|compression-ignition]] principle the [[diesel engine]] evolved, being manufactured in Grantham from July 8 1892. Although these engines were not wholly compression-ignition derived. Later in 1892 a prototype high-pressure version was built at Hornsbys whereby ignition was achieved solely (100%) through compression which ran continuously for six hours, being the first known ''diesel engine''. In 1909, Hornsbys showed the British Army their invention, who were bemused, but took the idea no further than that, although they subsequently bought four caterpillar tractors in 1910 to tow artillery. A short time later, Hornsbys sold the patent for the [[caterpillar track]] in 1914 to The Holt Manufacturing Company of [[California]], USA for $8,000, having only sold one caterpillar tractor commercially. Hornsby's design was far ahead of anything else around at the time. Thanks to the ownership of the patent, this company would become the world-dominating [[Caterpillar Inc.]] Tractor Company. [[Benjamin Holt]] even claimed to be the real inventor. In December 1914, the [[British Army]]'s Colonel [[Ernest Dunlop Swinton|Ernest Swinton]] saw one of Holt's caterpillar tractors towing a piece of artillery, and realised its literally ground-breaking role as an attack vehicle. One year later the tank was born (using Hornsby's initial designs), being made in nearby [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]] by [[William Foster & Co. Ltd|William Foster]]. It first saw action at the [[Battle of Flers-Courcelette]] on 15 September 1916. In 1918 Hornsbys amalgamated with Rustons and the company became Ruston and Hornsby. [[Aveling & Porter]] of [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]], Kent, would join with Barford & Perkins of [[Peterborough]] to become [[Aveling-Barford]] Ltd in 1934, largely due to financial help from [[Ruston & Hornsby]]. The new company took a former site of Hornsbys, naming it the '[[Invicta (motto)|Invicta]]' works, from the motto on the coat of arms of [[Kent]], and translates as 'unconquered'. It initially prospered but with the sinking market for large dumper trucks and road rollersm declined and now as [http://www.barforddumpers.com/HTML/02_about.html Barford Construction Equipment], it makes [[dumper]]s for construction sites, being owned by [http://www.whplc.co.uk Wordsworth Holdings] [[Public limited company|PLC]], owned by the entrepreneur Duncan Wordsworth. A trailer company, [http://www.fruehauf.co.uk Crane-Fruehauf], has moved into part of the factory, from its former home of [[Dereham]], when it went into receivership in early 2005. British Manufacture and Research Company (or [[BMARC]]), on ''Springfield Road'', made munitions notably the [[Hispano-Suiza HS.404|Hispano cannon]] for the [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] and [[Hawker Hurricane|Hurricane]] from 1937 onwards. It was owned by the Swiss company, [[Oerlikon]], from 1971 until 1988, becoming part of Astra Holdings PLC then being bought by [[British Aerospace]] in 1992 who then closed the site. Now it has been developed - as a new housing estate. The site's former offices are now business units for the Springfield Business Centre. Grantham's [[register office]] was moved there in 2007, due to the catering service being up to [[wedding reception]] standard. The food processing industry currently employs the largest contingent of Grantham's citizens, however this includes Fenland Foods (part of [[Northern Foods]]) on the Earlesfield Industrial Estate, which is scheduled to close in September 2008 following the loss of business with Marks and Spencer their sole customer [http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/UPDATED-Fenland-Foods-workers-to.4075959.jp], [http://www.moyparkfoodservice.com Moypark] (formerly Padleys) in Gonerby Hill Foot, and a large [[Frozen food|frozen vegetable]] factory (PAS) near [[Easton, Lincolnshire|Easton]]. The [[Woodland Trust]] is based on ''Dysart Road''. There is a small FM transmitter near the town's bypass on ''[http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/38706 Gorse Lane]'' from which [[BBC Radio Lincolnshire|Radio Lincolnshire]] can be heard on 104.7 and [[Lincs FM]] on 96.7, and national radio. ==Governance== Grantham once lay within the ancient [[Winnibriggs and Threo (wapentake)|Winnibriggs and Threo]] [[wapentake]] in the Soke of Grantham in the [[Parts of Kesteven|Kesteven]]. Politically the town is part of the [[Grantham and Stamford (UK Parliament constituency)|Grantham and Stamford]] constituency and is represented in Parliament by [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] [[Member of Parliament]] (MP) [[Quentin Davies]]. Davies had been elected to the seat as a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] before [[crossing the floor]] to join [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]; the constituency has a long history of electing [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] members of Parliament. The local authority - [[South Kesteven]] District Council - is currently [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] led, with the current political spread as 35 Conservative, 15 Independent, 2 Labour and 6 Liberal Democrat councillors.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}[http://moderngov.skdc.com/mgMemberIndex.asp] ==Landmarks== [[Image:St. Wilfrums Church.jpg|thumb|right|St.Wulfram's church]] [[Image:Beehivepubsign.jpg|thumb|The living pub sign of The Beehive, at 10 Castlegate]] The main local landmark is the impressive parish church of [[Wulfram of Sens|St Wulfram's]], which has the [[List of tallest churches in the world|sixth highest spire]] (282 ft) among English churches, and is also home to the country's first public library. In 1598, [[Francis Trigge Chained Library|Francis Trigge]], the rector of [[Welbourn]] gave £100 for a small library of books for the clergy and ''literate laity'' of Grantham. Two hundred and fifty of the original volumes remain and are kept in the parish church. Grantham is home to the country's only [http://www.diningpubs.co.uk/pub_details.asp?id=231 'living' pub sign]: a [[beehive]] of South African [[African bee|bees]] located in outside since 1830. ''Edith Smith Way'' is the name of the road beside the [http://www.guildhallartscentre.com Guildhall Arts Centre],on 'St Peter's Hill'; it is named after Englands first policewoman. The [http://www.angelandroyal.com Angel & Royal Hotel] is one of Britain's oldest inn c1200. [[John of England|King John]] held court there in 1213, when the site was a hostel run by the [[Knights Templar]]. The [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/280290 George Hotel] nearby (known as St Peter's Place in 1992 becoming now the George Shopping Centre) was mentioned in [[Charles Dickens]]’ novel [[Nicholas Nickleby]]. Also in the town is the [[Blue Pig]] one of many "Blue" pubs. Much of the town's property is owned by [[Buckminster]] Estates, since the time of the [[Earl of Dysart]]. Nearby are many historic houses including 17th century [[Belton House]], early 19th century [[Harlaxton Manor]], [[Stoke Rochford|Stoke Rochford Hall]] (once the training centre of the [[National Union of Teachers|NUT]]), and the 11th century [[Belvoir Castle]] (in [[Leicestershire]]). ==Transport== [[Grantham railway station]] is served by the [[East Coast Main Line]] (between the stops for [[Peterborough railway station|Peterborough]] and [[Newark North Gate railway station|Newark Northgate]]), [[Grantham to Skegness Line|Nottingham to Skegness Line]], and [[Liverpool to Norwich Line]]. The town has the [[A1 road|A1]] main road from [[London]] to [[Edinburgh]] running past it (the town was bypassed in 1962). The main shopping High Street, until recently, was part of the busy [[A52 road|A52]] (which runs to nearby [[Nottingham]]), and ''Wharf Road'' and ''London Road'' (next to [[J Sainsbury|Sainsbury's]]) still are, meeting the [[A607 road|A607]] (for Lincoln) at a busy junction. There is a motorway-style [http://www.moto-way.com/page.cfm?Section=2&location=16&Category=Home service station] at the north end of the bypass, on the [http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/7052.aspx new junction] which has recently replaced a roundabout. ==Sport== Grantham Town Football Club is the local football team, currently playing in the Unibond First Division South. The major claim to fame of [[Grantham Town F.C.|Grantham Town Football Club]] (nicknamed 'The Gingerbreads') is that [[Martin O'Neill]] started his management path from there. The club was founded in 1874 and they currently play in the 7,500 capacity (covered 1,950, seats 750) [http://www.runtrackdir.com/details.asp?track=grantham South Kesteven Sports Stadium] (although average attendances are well below capacity). The [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/113790 ground] also doubles as the town's athletics stadium (one of only three in Lincolnshire), next to the [http://www.ents24.com/web/venue/23583/Grantham/Grantham_Meres_Leisure_Centre.html Grantham Meres Leisure Centre] on ''Trent Road''. ==Notable people== * In the [[Domesday Book]] of [[William the Conqueror]], Grantham is first mentioned as "Grant ham".Its name is much older and could be derived from the Anglo-Saxon for the settlement on the gravel or sand bank. * Two world-famous people associated with the town are: ** mathematician and physicist Sir [[Isaac Newton]], who was educated at the [[The King's School, Grantham]] ** Conservative MP and Prime Minister (1979-1990) [[Margaret Thatcher]], who attended the [[Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School]] (K.G.G.S). Born on North Parade, Grantham, Margaret Hilda Roberts, as she was known, is still remembered personally by many inhabitants of the town.{{Fact|date=July 2008}} * [[William Stukeley]] (1687-1765), archaeologist, was a doctor in Grantham 1726-30. * [[Eric Chappell]], writer of many 1970s and 80s television [[sitcom]]s, including ''[[Rising Damp]]'', ''[[Only When I Laugh (TV series)|Only When I Laugh]]'' and ''[[Duty Free (TV series)|Duty Free]]'' comes from Grantham and still lives in village two miles outside of the town. * [[Graham Fellows]] of ''[[The Shuttleworths]]'' lives nearby, having previously lived near [[Louth, Lincolnshire|Louth]]. * [[Des Lynam]] lived there with his mistress, Harriet Hopkins, from 2005 until 2006. * [[Johnny Downes]] [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC]] (1920-2004) - BBC producer who created the first live children's TV programme, ''[[Crackerjack]]'', in 1955 and also ''[[Basil Brush|The Basil Brush Show]]'' in 1968. * [[Richard Todd]], retired actor famous for the film [[Dambusters]], lives in the hamlet of [[Little Humby]], located around 7 miles from the town. * [[Geoff Capes]], former [[World's Strongest Man]] resides in [[Stoke Rochford]], located 3 miles south of Grantham. ;Others: * [[Clare Tomlinson]] - [[Sky Sports]] presenter * [[Graham Lewis]] - musician. * [[Roderick Bradley]] - Gladiator named Spartan in the [[Gladiators (2008 UK TV series)]] * [[Stephen Lewis (actor)|Stephen Lewis]] - actor (most notably 'On the Buses' and 'Last of the Summer Wine') * [[Jessie Lipscomb]] - sculptress. * [[Nicholas Maw]] - composer. * [http://www.ladsarmy.com Richard ''Nooky'' Nauyokas] - from [[ITV]]'s ''[[Bad Lads Army|Lads Army]]''. * [[Nicholas Parsons]] - TV and radio presenter. His father, a local doctor, "brought Margaret Thatcher into the world."<ref>Nicholas Parsons on ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'', [[BBC Radio 4]], 9th November, 2007.</ref> * [[Maxwell Hutchinson]] - architect * [[Luke Wright (cricketer)|Luke Wright]] - England cricketer ==Bibliography== * ''The Royal Charters of Grantham 1463-1688'' Edited by G H Martin - Limited to 400 copies and contains list of Charters and index.<ref> Detail taken from a copy of ''The Royal Charters of Grantham 1463-1688'' published by [[Leicester University Press]] in 1963 </ref> ==References== <references/> ==External links== * [http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk Grantham Journal Newspaper] * [http://www.prioryfm.co.uk Priory FM - Grantham's local radio station] * [http://www.granthamuk.com Description of the town & street photographs.] * [http://www.oldengine.org/members/ruston/front.htm History of Ruston & Hornsby.] * [http://www.granthamtownfc.co.uk Grantham Town Football Club.] * [http://www.granthamtown.co.uk Grantham Town Youth Football Club.] * [http://www.southwestlincs.com/grantham.html South West Lincolnshire] * [http://www.granthamarcheryclub.co.uk Grantham Archery Club] * [http://www.kestevenrfc.co.uk Kesteven RFC] * [http://www.stwulframs.org.uk The Parish Church of St Wulfram] * [[Grantham College]] ===Video clips=== * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/regions/east_yorkshire/video/106000/bb/106323_16x9_bb.ram Proposal for new bypass] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/video/73000/bb/73965_16x9_bb.ram Kelvin MacKenzie tours Grantham Museum] {{Lincolnshire}} [[Category:Towns in Lincolnshire]] [[Category:Market towns in England]] [[bg:Грантъм]] [[de:Grantham]] [[es:Grantham]] [[eo:Grantham]] [[fr:Grantham]] [[id:Grantham]] [[nl:Grantham]] [[ro:Grantham]] [[sr:Grantam]] [[fi:Grantham]] [[vo:Grantham (Lincolnshire)]] [[zh:格兰瑟姆]]