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Louth has played an important part of Lincolnshire History. Still
thriving with weekly markets, the town became a major trading area in the
1770s with the building of a canal. Costing a
princely £28,000, the canal became a major thoroughfare for the town,
adding to the wealth generated from the wool trade.
It was over
eleven miles in length, extending from Louth Riverhead to Tetney and eight
locks were incorporated to overcome the forty six feet differential in
levels involved. Trade through the canal was brisk and there were regular
sailings to London and Hull and other local ports.
In 1920
disaster struck the prosperous town when the river and canal flooded,
destroying large areas of Louth and killing 23 people. The waterway
finally closed in 1924, after a period of decline following the opening of
the railway.
The 18th
century wool warehouse at the head of the canal is now a restaurant and
public meeting place and houses an excellent display of the canal.
Although the waterway itself is no longer navigable, the towpaths have
been restored and make a fine walk out of town.
Adorning
the Louth skyline is the parish church of St James. With its 300 foot
tower standing high above the town, it is the most famous landmark in the
immediate area. Other historic buildings include a number of coaching
inns, as well as fine period houses in Westgate and Upgate. The
town sits on the Greenwich meridian and a small plaque in Eastgate marks
the line.
Louth Lincolnshire History Website Links
Louthlincs
Guide
to Louth
St
James Church Louth Online
Louth
Canal
Louth
Navigation Trust
Louth Priory
In 1818 the local
artist and architect Thomas Espin, FSA, built this Gothic villa, which is
now called the Priory Hotel. On the grounds near the lake is a folly that
he had constructed from sculptural fragments, which came from Louth Abbey.
Louth Abbey was
founded on the marshy Isle of Haverholme in 1137 on land given by Bishop
Alexander of Lincoln to the Cistercians. In 1139, at the preference of a
large group of monks arriving from the motherhouse of Fountains
(Yorkshire), the house was moved to Louth were it flourished as a major
player in the county wool trade. Between 1227-46 there is record of 66
monks and 150 lay brothers at Louth Abbey. The 14thc. and 15thc. saw the
slow decline of the abbey, which was suppressed in 1536 (see Knowles and
Hadcock). In 1818, Thomas Espin collected a number of sculptural fragments
from the ruins of Louth Abbey for the construction of his home, Louth
Park. He combined the Romanesque fragments recorded here with other
medieval pieces to form this garden folly for his estate. Espin died in
1822 and his home has been in the hands of various private owners since
that point. For several decades it was a private school. In the 1970s his
home became The Priory Hotel.
Louth Thorpe Hall
Located at the western end of the town in 20
acres of magnificent grounds, Thorpe Hall is considered to be one of the
finest country houses in Lincolnshire and certainly forms a notable part
of Lincolnshire History with its tales of Ghostly apparitions. It was originally built in 1584 for Sir
John Bolle, who was knighted for his military exploits in Cadiz, Spain in
1596, and eventually died here on November 3rd 1606. However, much of the
present building is later having been altered and enlarged at various
times during the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
The building stands on the site of an
earlier hall which belonged to a family of merchants called Chapman in the
15th and early 16th centuries.The formal gardens and grounds, which
include a deer park and lake, were originally laid out by Gertrude Jekyll
in 1906.
The hall stayed in the hands of the Bolle
family until the 18th-century and their Coat of Arms can still be seen in
the wall of the Dovecote at Thorpe Hall. There have been many esteemed
residents since including Captain Julius Tennyson, nephew of the
Poet Laureate, and Captain Langston Brackenbury, MP for Louth, who
actually died in the House of Commons.
Louth King Edward VI Grammar School
The school at Louth which eventually became King Edward VI Grammar
School can lay claim to being one of the oldest in the country - we know
that there was schooling in the town as early as the eighth century. The
earliest direct mention of a school here in the middle ages comes in a
reference to the Louth schoolmaster Simon de Luda in 1276. The school
seems to have been financed by the town's religious and merchant guilds
and by a chantry established by Thomas of Louth in 1317.
With the dissolution of the religious guilds in 1548, the future of
education in Louth, as in so many other market towns in England, was
placed at risk. Leading figures in the town petitioned Edward VI to secure
the school's future, and on 21 st September 1551 the school was granted a
royal charter under which it was handsomely endowed and a Foundation was
set up to administer it. This Foundation (though, sadly, not the handsome
endowments) continues today and works actively behind the scenes to
support the school, most recently offering financial support to our
successful bid to become a Specialist Science College.
During its long history the school has gone through many changes of
character. Until the mid 1960s it was a boys' school. In 1903 a girls'
grammar school was established close by and 1965 the two schools
amalgamated. At the same time it became a 14-18 school within the
innovatory "Louth Plan", which saw a 14-18 selective school
sitting alongside three 11-16 high schools in the town and its environs.
This situation would continue until the mid-1990s when the "Louth
Plan" finally fell apart, and in 1997 the school reverted to taking
the full secondary age range.
Since 1944 the school has been within the state sector, originally as a
Voluntary Controlled school. In 1991 it became Grant Maintained and then
adopted Foundation status in 1998. In September 2003 it became,
additionally, a Specialist Science College, although this does not mean
that it has ceased to be a grammar school which aims for, and reaches,
high standards across the curriculum.
Amongst our former students we number Captain John Smith (1592-95), who
went on to be the first elected president of Virginia; Sir John Franklin
(1797-1800) and Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1816-1820). In more modern times
our students have included Chris Wright (founder and chairman of Chrysalis
Group) and the leading academic, Professor Philip, the Lord Norton of
Louth. Louth Lincolnshire History
of St James Church
792: Abbot
Aethelheard (of Hludensis Monastery) is appointed Archbishop of
Canterbury. The Church is believed to be dedicated to St Herefrith,
perhaps being built on the site of his Shrine.
1247: The
Church is rebuilt. Edward I is crowned,
succeeding Henry III.
1447: Louth in
the 15th century - generations of men spend their life working for the
Church as labourers and craftsmen, rebuilding St James' Church. The
building is moved 1.2m and raised by 50cm on new bases. The tower is built
separately, and will be joined to the Church at a later date.
1449: The roof
of the Tower is strengthened in preparation for the building of the
"Broach" (Spire).
1501: It is the
early 16th century, and the population of England is recovering from
losses caused by the Black Death. John
Cole is Mason in Charge of the Spire.
1503: Thomas
Sudbury (the Vicar who retired last year) has given the Church a
magnificent Hutch, for keeping valuables. It has medallions on the doors,
depicting Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, with the crowned Tudor rose in
between.
1515: The
Weathercock is placed on top of the completed Spire. It is made from the
great Copper Basin taken from the Scots at Flodden Field. The people of
Louth are very proud! It is the 13th of September, and the Spire (which is
the tallest of any Parish Church in England) was consecrated today, to the
singing of the Te Deum. Great celebrations began, and the six Bells
including the Great Bell, called James and weighing 26cwt, could be heard
across the town, in proud proclamation of years of hard work and skill.
There will be some sore heads in the morning, as free Ale was given out
this afternoon! The total cost of building the Spire is £305 8s and 5d.
1534: The
"Act of Supremacy" transfers Papal supremacy over the English
Church, to the Crown.
1536: It is the
1st of October, and after Evensong, only 21 years after the great
celebrations of the Consecration of the Spire, a riot has started. This is
a reaction to rumours of Monasteries being closed, and of Church wealth
being confiscated.
1537: It is the
25th of March, and the Lincolnshire Rising has ended. Thomas Kendell,
Vicar of Louth will be executed at Tyburn.
1547: Images
are removed from the Church.
1554: The
Reformation under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, and the Counter-Reformation
under Mary, causes great changes in the Church. At
our Church of St James, new Images are being installed, and the Chantries
swept away. Strict ritual is introduced.
1558: Elizabeth
I succeeds to the Throne, and consolidates the Church of Englands
position.
1561: The Rood
Screen and Loft at St James' are removed.
1632: There is
a great storm this year in Louth, and the Spire is damaged, and needs
repair.
1720: An idea
to improve the services at St.James, by changing the pews around, is
executed. The more well-off, who subscribed to this appeal for funds are
excused pew rent. This favour will be passed on to their descendants.
Charles Edward Stuart, (Bonnie Prince Charlie)
is born in France this year.
1726: The ring
of eight bells is recast by Daniel and John Hedderley, bellfounders of
Derby, and hung in a magnificent wooden frame. This (still) is the
heaviest eight-bell peal in Lincolnshire, and the eighth heaviest in the
country - the tenor weighing 31cwt 1qr 7lb. The
Prime Minister is George Walpole. Gullivers Travels is written this year.
1775: William
Williams R.A. paints the tall pictures of St Peter, St James and the
Deposition from the Cross (now hanging in the nave).
1780: Reverend
William (Wolley) Jolland is vicar of Louth. During his time, galleries are
constructed over the aisles, and the reroofing and reseating continues.
His eccentricity is well known; he has built a hermitage in the vicarage
garden, and he embellishes his services with his own asides. His portrait
by Richard Jones hangs in the clergy vestry.
1796: A new
Organ is presented by David Atkinson of Fanthorpe Hall, with the provision
of a Gallery in the Tower, and £600 to provide an Organists' Salary.
1815: A new
Clock by James Harrison of Barton is provided. This
is the year that Napoleon escapes Elba, and the "Hundred Years
War" begins.
1820: George
III dies, and is succeeded by the Prince Regent as George IV. We are in
the 1820s, and Tennyson is a schoolboy living at 74, Westgate Place. He is
studying hard, in the hopes of going to Cambridge.
1824: A new
Weathercock is provided.
1825: New roofs
and ceilings for the Nave and Aisles are installed, using plans drawn up
by Edward James Willson of Lincoln, and William Coulan, a Louth Builder.
1826: Gas
lighting is installed.
1829: An
Engraving by T. W. Wallis, engraver, wood carver, meteorologist, and
borough engineer shows the unrestored Church, with Galleries, the Thorpe
Hall Pew, (John Louth's Chantry), box pews, high reading-desk and Pulpit
and the Reredos composed of the three paintings by William Williams. Over
the Chancel Arch hangs a coat of arms. The
Catholic Emancipation is taking place at this time.
1844: The Spire
is struck by lightning, and repairs increase the height to 295 feet.
William Brown takes advantage of the scaffolding, and makes sketches for
his panorama of Louth.
1848: For the
past 4 years, William Brown has worked on his panorama of Louth, and it
now goes on exhibition to the public.
1861: The
Chancel and Stained Glass window are refurbished. Albert
dies, and Queen Victoria retires into mourning.
1868: James
Fowler completes his restoration of St James', which remains basically
unchanged for the next 133 years. This is
the year that the Suez Canal opens, and the Union Pacific Railway is
completed.
Lincolnshire Information
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