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
In 1854 the Grantham Journal of Useful and Instructive and Entertaining Knowledge went on sale... More
Royal
Charter 
Grantham ‘officially’ became a town on March 8, 1463, under a Royal Charter granted by Edward IV. There had been earlier charters by owners of the town, such as the one by John, fifth earl of Warennes, on June 12, 1312, which allowed the appointment of an alderman or chief officer. The blue and gold shield of Warenne is in the borough’s coat of arms.
The Royal Charter, given for the town’s support of the Yorkist side during the last years of the Wars of the Roses, essentially allowed the townspeople to run their own affairs, make laws, have a prison and set ‘council tax’.
Only freemen had the right to decide the issues, a situation that largely continued until 1835 when the borough council, forerunner of the town corporation was formed.
In 1879, edge of town housing developments, such as New Somerby, Houghton and Walton, and Little Gonerby became part of the town. The town’s ability to run its own affairs disappeared in 1974, when Grantham came under the new South Kesteven District Council.