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SLHA Awards for 2016
Presentation at 2017 AGM

The SLHA Awards for 2016 were announced at the Annual General Meeting of the Society at Bailgate Methodist Church, Lincoln on 21 October.

The Flora Murray Award was given to the Holbeach Cemetery Chapels Trust for a wide-ranging project that had involved many groups in the local community - both old and young - in creative activities, beneficial in themselves but also helping establish the cemetery as a valued asset in the town.

Awards of Excellence were received by (a) Robert Fish for his series of books on the Isle of Axholme's war, including detailed service records; (b) Caistor Heritage Trust for their hugely informative website, www.caistor.co.uk; (c) Church and community in Caythorpe for a guide book to St Vincent's Church (written by Christina Faraday), a booklet on the village's war memorial and a 'passport' to introduce children to the memorial (2 awards).

Find more details of the 2017 Awards

Award winners: Top: Chris Penney (Holbeach) Stewart Squires (SLHA), Alan Dennis (Caistor), Peter O'Leary (Caistor)
Bottom: Rosemary Foster, Sally Kelway, Janet Avison (Caythorpe), Robert Fish (Epworth)

October 2017

SLHA Annual General Meeting
Report, Review and Resolution in Lincoln

The Society's AGM was held at Bailgate Methodist Church in Lincoln on Saturday 21 October. In the absence of the Society President, Nigel Burn, SLHA Chairman, took the chair. About 50 members were in attendance.

The meeting approved the Society's general report for 2017 and the Treasurer's 2016/17 financial reports for both Lincolnshire Heritage and SLHA.

Approval was given to a phased increase in membership subscription fees taking effect in two stages, in 2018 and 2020. Agreement was also reached in principle to progress a merger with the Jews' Court and Bardney Abbey Trust.

Officers elected for 2017/18 were as follows:
President: Rod Ambler
Chairman: Nigel Burn
Treasurer: Chris Hewis
Committee/Team Chairmen: Archaeology: Antony Lee; Building Recording: David Stocker; History of Lincolnshire: John Beckett; Industrial Archaeology: vacant; Local History: Mark Acton; Publications: vacant
Additional members of Executive Committee: Caroline Crane, Ken Hollamby, Michael Jones, Eva Moore, Ken Redmore, Stewart Squires, David Start, Pearl Wheatley, Neil Wright, Harry Zeigler

Honorary Vice-Presidents: Thora Wagstaffe, Pearl Wheatley, Catherine Wilson

The 2018 AGM will be held in Boston on Saturday 20 October.

After the business meeting presentations were made to the 2017 winners of SLHA Awards.

Bailgate Methodist Church, Lincoln


October 2017

Archaeology in Lincolnshire
Recent discoveries

There was a large and enthusiastic attendance at the Society's annual archaeology conference held at Christ's Hospital School in Lincoln on Saturday 7 October. The programme was:

Old Sleaford Revealed - Dale Trimble
Lincoln Eastern By-pass: recent excavations - Ruben Lopez
Excavations at Lincoln Bus Station - Gavin Glover
The Bronze Age Village at Must Farm, Cambridgeshire - Mark Knight
The Archaeology of the Gilbertine Order in Lincolnshire - Peter Townend
New Finds from some Lincoln Monasteries - Stuart Harrison
The Georgian Lunatic Asylum (The Lawn) - Kat Fenelly

 

Comment

What a crowd! It is a long time since SLHA had such a large gathering. The Archaeology Team had put together an attractive programme which appealed to the professional archaeologists as well as us amateurs.

There is so much happening in the field in the County this was an excellent opportunity to catch up. The report on the Lincoln by pass excavation, delivered by its Spanish director, and the description and conclusions on the excavations on the new bus station site each brought us up to date.

Along with the other talks it was good to hear the successes of the group re-investigating Old Sleaford and hear that there was still more to learn about Sempringham.

PW


October 2017

Lincoln's Engineering Heritage
Lincoln UTC receive posters from SLHA

On 30 June a set of posters depicting examples of Lincolnshire's engineering heritage was handed-over to Lincoln University Technical College to help their students understand the long and illustrious history of engineering and manufacturing in the county.

This is one of the outcomes of a project initiated by Stewart Squires of SLHA's Industrial Archaeology team some five years ago in conjunction with the University of Lincoln and part-funded by Siemens.

Photo L to R: Eric Newton, SLHA Industrial Archaeology Team; Paul Batterbury, Interim Principal, Lincoln UTC; Chris Lester, SLHA Industrial Archaeology Team.  



 

June 2017

Ironstone in the Wolds
Walking Festival event

Despite a poor weather forecast (which, fortunately, was wrong) 27 walkers enthusiastically followed Stewart Squires on a tour of the remains of Claxby Ironstone Mine, the walk forming one of the launch events of this year's Wolds Walking Festival.

Starting from Claxby Viking Centre, the party passed the site of the miners' cottages before ascending the ridge using the path which the miners took to reach their daily toil and the incline down which the mine's output was lowered.

The mine operated from the 1860s to 1885, employing some 250 people at its peak in production. Due to its very poor safety record, it was described by the local Rector as "a gloomy cavern of disaster".

The principal remains visible today are the extensive earthworks which are the sites of tramways, tipping docks and calcining clamps together with depressions forming the remains of shafts and adits. These features were all visible against the backdrop of stunning views out towards the Trent Valley and beyond.

The visit was made possible thanks to the generosity of local landowners who joined in the walk. Stewart's book on the ironstone mines of Claxby and Nettleton will be published by SLHA towards the end of the year.

Stewart Squires with a group of walkers

May 2017

Roman Crafts
A half term family event

Just over 40 visitors crowded into the small activity space at Market Rasen Library to attend a successful half term event for families organised by Kathy Holland on behalf of the Society.

Visitors had the opportunity to participate in a variety of craft activities inspired by Roman crafts including creating Roman style jewellery and using clay to make an oil lamp. A replica pair of Roman sandals provided a chance to investigate how the Romans designed their footwear. A selection of replica oil lamps offered an insight into how ceramic oil lamps work, and provided a topic for a lively discussion on how people in the past lit their homes before the advent of electricity.

Experimenting with creating mosaic designs using a selection of colourful plastic tesserae proved once again to be a very popular activity and afforded the opportunity to introduce the interesting subject of Roman mosaics in Lincolnshire.

This event used resources provided by the "Past and Present" Project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund

Roman sandals and oil lamps - examined in Market Rasen, 2017 AD

February 2017

Lincolnshire Anniversaries : 2017
Notable People and Events from the Past

1067

* Remigius appointed to Bishopric of Dorchester by William the Conqueror ("reassigned" bishopric of Lincoln in 1072)

1217
* Second Battle of Lincoln, or Battle of Lincoln Fair, was fought around Lincoln Castle between the forces of the future Louis VIII of France and Henry III (20 May)
* The Charter of the Forest, which re-established rights of access to the royal forests for free men, first issued (6 Nov).  One copy is on display alongside Magna Carta at Lincoln Castle.

1567
*Lincoln Endowed Grammar School founded

1617
*King James I came to Lincoln for a visit of several days. He attended Cathedral services but also watched a cock-fight at a pub near the Stonebow and enjoyed a horse race (late March).

1717
* First edition of the Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury (3 Jan)
* Sir John Thorold, MP for Grantham and Lincolnshire 1697-1715 died (14 January)
* Robert Vyner of Gautby, MP for Thirsk 1783-1796, born (27 June)
* John Harrison, clockmaker of Barrow on Humber, made a clock with entirely wooden mechanism for Nostell Priory, Wakefield, owned by the Winn family
* William Stukeley, antiquarian of Holbeach, elected Fellow of the Royal Society
* Maurice Johnson of Spalding assisted in the formation of the Society of Antiquaries

1767
* Enclosure Awards granted for Grimoldby (9 December), Keddington (5 March), Tetford (2 April), Fenton & Laughterton , Aslackby & Dowsby (3 November) and Corby.
* Severe flooding in fens, breach in the Deeping Bank and north bank of River Glen (9 Feb)

1817
* Earthquake recorded at Coningsby (6 Feb)
* Annie Dixon, miniaturist portrait painter to royalty and nobility, born Horncastle (13 March)
* William Marrat's map of Lincoln, 10 inches to 1 mile, published with dedication to Coningsby Waldo Sibthorp
* Edward Trollope, antiquary, Anglican Bishop of Nottingham, born Uffington (15 April)
* Elizabeth Whiting, convicted of poisoning her child, first person to be hanged on Cobb Hall, Lincoln (15 March).
* Page Cartledge, introduced gas, made on the premises, for lighting his grocer's shop in Lincoln (5 May)
* The original building of the Lawn Lunatic Asylum opened in Lincoln (25 August)
* William Rainforth, agricultural implement maker, Britannia Works, Lincoln, born Gainsborough
* Samuel Jessup, farmer of Heckington, died aged 64 (17 May). An extreme hypochondriac, he is reputed to have taken over 50,000 pills in one year and owed a local apothecary about £800 when he died.
* The Crowland to Eye Turnpike Trust formed, one of the last in Lincolnshire; the turnpike was only 5 miles long and lay mostly in Northamptonshire.
* A House of Industry (workhouse) was set up within the Newark Union at Claypole.
* The London Warehouse, a fine, substantial building, was erected on Packhouse Quay, Boston; it was demolished in 1950.
* Trustees savings banks opened in Boston, Horncastle and Louth.
* Harvest wet and cold, worst ever known.

1867
* Railway lines were opened between Spalding and March (GNR March line, 1 April); Lincoln and Honington (GNR Honington line, 15 April); and Gainsborough and Doncaster (part of GNR Loop Line, 15 July)

1917
* The airfield at Bracebridge Heath was extended to 125 acres for service use by larger planes and the Royal Flying Corps.
* Marshalls of Gainsborough received orders to build 150 Bristol F.2B aircraft; they were built at the Carr House Works, Lea Road.
* William Ashbee Tritton (1875-1946) received a knighthood for his part in the development of the tank at Fosters of Lincoln (21 Feb).
* Rowland Winn, The Second Baron St Oswald, became the largest single producer of iron ore in the UK at his Scunthorpe area mines.
* The Hon Francis McLaren, Liberal MP for Spalding (1910-1917), joined the RNVR and was killed in a flying accident in Scotland (20 August)
* The Grimsby Chums took part in the battle of Passchendaele (October)
* Holbeach Crown Colony was set up with help of the Ministry of Agriculture to provide farm smallholdings for discharged soldiers.
* Home Defence Flight Station Brattleby Cliff was renamed Scampton RFC Station, with operational training squadrons 11, 60 & 81 flying Sopwith Camels, Pups and Dolphins.
* The Cranwell Branch railway line from Sleaford, built by the Admiralty, under GNR supervision, opened with 5.25 miles of single track.

1967
* The ironstone mines at Nettleton reached their peak level of production (but closed two years later).
* Stamford was designated the country's first conservation area under the Civic Amenities Act 1967.
* Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd performed at Spalding's Tulip Bulb Auction Hall before a crowd of 4000. Tickets were £1. (29 May)

January 2017