Local events

Ten little gems
Did you know that piped water for the town was provided by the Greyfriars monks in 1314?... More

Markets, fairs, carnivals
The town has had a market for more than 1,000 years, and from 1484 to 1634 it actually had two... More

Town's history

First footings
About 4,000 years ago farmers used bronze tools to clear woods between the Witham and Mowbeck... More

Royal charter
Grantham 'officially' became a town on March 8, 1463, under a Royal Charter granted by Edward IV... More

Wool and iron
Agriculture played a great role in the early centuries of Grantham. The fertile land produced crops... More

People and places

St Wulfram's Church
Built in the 1100s on the site of a Saxon church, St Wulfram's is known as the Glory of Grantham... More

Margaret Thatcher
Britain's first woman Prime Minister was born on October 13, 1925, above a shop at 1 North Parade... More

King's School
King's School, possibly once St Wulfram's Church song school, is one of the oldest in the country... More

Sir Isaac Newton
Newton's lifetime of discoveries started at King's School, Grantham where he was head boy... More

Grantham Journal

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Ten little Grantham Gems

Did you know...

1 A piped water supply for the town was in place by 1314, provided by the Greyfriars monks who had a monastery just to the west of today’s market place.

2 In the days of stagecoaches, Gonerby Hill, just outside the town. was the steepest hill on the Great North Road between London and Edinburgh. The top was cut through in the 19th Century, but the original level can still be seen.

3 The Angel and Royal Hotel in the High Street (pictured) is one of the oldest inns in England. King John held court there in 1213. The George hotel nearby (now a shopping centre) was mentioned in Charles Dickens’ novel Nicholas Nickleby.

4 Grantham had the first official woman police constable in the country. Edith Smith joined the force in August 1915 and spent much of her three years in town ‘keeping an eye on frivolous girls likely to get into mischief’.

5 The town’s first volunteer fire brigade was formed in 1764. For many years the fire engine was stored in the north porch of St Wulfram’s Church.

6 The first cinema in town, the Picturedrome at the Empire and Royal Theatre, which was in George Street, opened in 1909.

7 RAF Spitalgate, a pilot training centre, was built on 30 acres of land and opened in 1915. The site is now the Prince William of Gloucester Barracks, headquarters of the TA’s Royal Logistic Corps.

8 Grantham was the most bombed town of its size in the country during the Second World War.

9 TV quizmaster and personality Nicholas Parsons was born in the town.

10 The booking office of the Guildhall Arts Centre was once the town jail.


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