LINCOLNSHIRE |
| Alford Manor House |
West Street, Alford |
The Manor House, now a folk museum, is really a house
within a house, for the original timbered building of about 1540 was encased in local red
brick in the early 18th century. A model of the house in the entrance hall shows its
construction. Most of the museum's exhibits recall the Victorian age. There is a boot and
shoemaker's shop of the 1860's, books containing recipes for well-tried pills, potions and
purges are on display in the chemist's shop, and there is a classroom, complete with a
backboard once strapped to scholars to cure round shoulders. A waterside walk leads
through the Manor House grounds, and a 'Heritage Trail' around the old town starts from
the house. |
| Ayscoughfee Hall and Gardens |
On A1073, in Spalding town centre |
The flamboyant Gothic facade of this house, with ornate
windows and doorways, pierced parapets and coat of arms, dates only form the 1840's. It
hides a superb 15th century merchant's house, complete with great hall and vaulted cellar.
The house contains local history collections, and stands in lovely walled gardens where
Dutch yew walks planted in the 17th century survive. |
| Battle of Britain Memorial Flight |
On A153, 15 miles north-east of Sleaford |
RAF Coningsby, an F2 Tornado base, is also the home of
the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The Flight, whose aircraft fly regularly at
displays throughout the year, is a living memorial to 'The Few' - those airmen who, when
Britain stood alone after the fall of France, thwarted Hitler's invasion plans. It
comprises three Spitfire Mark XIXs, a Spitfire Mark V, a Spitfire Mark II, which is
believed to be the only flying survivor of the Battle of Britain, two Hurricanes, and the
world's only airworthy Lancaster bomber. The aircraft are serviced by specialist
groundcrew and flown by pilots, all based at RAF Coningsby. |
| Belton House |
On A607, 3 miles north-east of Grantham |
Belton House remains virtually as it was built in 1688.
The building is based on a simple H-plan, with long windows and a hipped roof topped by
tall chimneys and graceful cupolas. The richly furnished interior has exquisite plaster
ceilings and woodcarvings. There are fine paintings and silverware and mementos of Edward
VIII. The house, and formal gardens and orangery designed in the 19th century, lie in a
magnificently landscaped park. |
| Church Farm Museum |
Off A52, in Church Road, Skegness |
The recollections of local people have enabled Church
Farm to be restored to its appearance in 1900-10, and its rooms have a 'lived in'
appearance. Most of the house dates from about 1760, but the porch, scullery, pantry and
wash-house were Victorian additions. Outside are beehives, an orchard, farm implements and
machinery and a barn, whose granary is used as an exhibition gallery. Even earlier days
are recorded in the nearby Withern Cottage, furnished as it would have been in 1800. The
stables contain craft workshops. |
| Croyland Abbey |
Off A1073, 11 miles south of Spalding |
King Ethelbald founded the Benedictine abbey in 716.
Much of the great abbey was destroyed after the Dissolution, and by Cromwell's men in
1643. However, the 15th century north aisle survives as the parish church, with ther tower
and its bells - one bell dating from the 15th century. There is also a Norman arch and
part of the magnificently sculptured 13th century west front. The curious Trinity Bridge
in the town centre dates from the 14th century. |
| Doddington Hall |
On B1190, 5 miles west of Lincoln |
This elegant house must have been something of a
novelty when it was built in 1600. It does not cluster round a courtyard in the manner of
earlier Elizabethan houses but looks outward through huge windows, a testimony to the
security and confidence of the age. The house has never been sold, but has passed by
inheritance or marriage through several families. The exterior remains as it was in 1600.
Successive owners filled the hall with fine furniture, porcelain, tapestries and
paintings. |
| Gainsborough Old Hall |
Off A159, in Gainsborough town centre |
A host of eminent visitors came to this magnificent
manor house, rebuilt in 1470-80. They included Richard III, now the subject of a permanent
exhibition there. Adherents of the Separatist Church, some of whom were to sail to America
in the Mayflower, met in the house in the early 17th century. The great hall,
more than 45ft long, is at the centre of the mansion, next to the enormous kitchen with
its huge open fireplaces. |
| Grantham Museum |
Off A1, in Grantham town centre |
Grantham's two most famous personalities are celebrated
in this museum: the physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton, who was born at nearby
Woolsthorpe Manor in 1642, and Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman prime minister,
who was born in the town in 1925. Other displays tell the story of the town from its
foundation in Saxon times and the growth of its agricultural engineering industry in the
19th century. |
| Grimsthorpe Castle |
On A151, 3.5 miles north-west of Bourne |
The promise of a visit from his brother-in-law Henry
VIII inspired the Duke of Suffolk in 1540 to transform his medieval castle into a Tudor
house. In the 18th century, Sir John Vanbrugh turned the north front and courtyard into a
miniature version of Blenheim Palace. A little later Capability Brown landscaped the park.
The west front was rebuilt in the 1840s, and extensive restoration work has been carried
out. The castle contains fine furniture and paintings. |
| Harrington Hall |
On A158, 7 miles east of Horncastle |
The 17th century Caroline mansion stands on a medieval
stone base and retains its Elizabethan porch tower. Inside are panelled rooms with fine
17th and 18th century furniture, china and paintings. There are 5 acres of gardens. The
hall lies on the edge of the Wolds, in the heart of 'Tennyson country'. The poet was born
in 1809 at Somersby, 3 miles to the west, while his father was rector there. Inside the
15th century Church of St Margaret there are mementos and a portrait bust of the poet. |
| Louth Museum |
Off A16, in Louth |
The Louth Naturalists', Antiquarian and Literary
Society has its beginnings in 1884, when four gentlemen of the town met to form a
Naturalists' Club. The club and its collections grew from strength to strength, and its
new museum opened in 1910. Fine collections of butterflies, moths and fossils from the
area are on display. Bygones include carpets locally made in the 19th century, tapestries,
dresses and gloves. Old newspapers, books and photographs relate local history, and there
is a scrapbook about the poet Lord Tennyson, who with his brothers attended Louth Grammar
School. |
| Museum of British Military Uniforms |
On B1177, 8 miles south-east of Sleaford |
The feats of heroism which earned many VCs are recorded
in this museum housed in an old Wesleyan chapel. There are uniforms ranging in date from
the Napoleonic Wars to the present day, many of them displayed on life-size models. Mess
dress, battledress, uniforms of specialist corps such as the Royal Marines and Royal
Engineers, and a section devoted to the women's services are also included. The scarlet
tunics of Victorian infantry and the kilts and trews of Scottish regiments give splashes
of bright colour, and there is appropriately a special display on the Royal Lincolnshire
Regiment. |
| St Botolph's Church |
In centre of Boston |
Though of cathedral size, St Botolph's has never been
anything other than a parish church. It stands between the River Witham and the Market
Place, both of which contributed considerably to its building. Within, the beauty of the
church owes much to its noble proportions. Its total length is just 10ft longer than the
height of the tower and it has a nave that soars throughout its length. Of particular
interest are the 13th century sanctuary knocker on the tower door and the effigy of Dame
Margaret Tilney 'who layid the first stone of the goodly steple of the Paroche Church of
Boston in1309'. The pulpit dates from 1612 and there are some delightful 14th century
carvings. |
| Stamford Museum |
In Stamford town centre |
David Lambert was Britain's heaviest man when he died
in Stamford in 1809. A life-size model of Lambert, wearing the only one of his suits to
survive, stands in the museum. The museum is a visitor centre for the historic market
town, with displays on its archaeology and history from Roman times. Stamford was a
prosperous Danish walled town by about AD 900, and there is fine Stamford ware - glazed
pottery made between AD 850 and 1250. A former brewery in All Saints Street now houses the
Stamford Brewery Museum, which takes visitors back to the working world of 1900. |
| Tattershall Castle |
On A153, 3.5 miles south-east of Woodhall Spa |
Tattershall Castle was built in about 1440 for Ralph,
Lord Cromwell, who had served with the English army at Agincourt in 1415. When he
inherited this estate in 1419 he set about rebuilding an earlier castle on the site in the
French style. The castle became derelict in about 1700, and the living quarters and
curtain wall were destroyed in the 19th century. Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, bought and
restored the property, and in 1925 gave it to the National Trust. Castle Leisure Park
adjoins the castle grounds. |
| Woolsthorpe Manor |
Off B6403, 7 miles south of Grantham |
Sir Isaac Newton, the physicist who discovered the Law
of Gravity, was born in this modest farm house in 1642. His genius was recognised by his
uncle, the Reverend William Ayscough, and in 1662 Newton went to Cambridge University.
Though he returned to Woolsthorpe rarely, it was during a visit in 1665, made to escape
the plague, that he discovered the principle of differential calculus. The house is much
as it was in Newton's day. |
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