Grantham

Grantham, a market-town of Lincolnshire, on the left bank of the Witham, 25 miles SSW. of Lincoln, and 105 NNW. of London. It lies on the ancient Ermine Street, and is an important junction on the Great Northern Railway; whilst a canal (1793), 30 miles long, connects it with the Trent near Nottingham. High over the red-tiled brick houses soars the noble gray spire (278 feet high) of St Wolfran's Church, which, in style mainly Early English of the 13th century, has been finely restored by the late Sir G. G. Scott since 1865. An Eleanor cross was demolished in 1645, and a castle has left no trace; but the quaint Angel Inn is still standing, in which Richard III. signed Buckingham's death-warrant. Of King John, too, Grantham has memories, and of Oliver Cromwell, who here on 13th May 1643 won his first success; but the town's greatest glory is Sir Isaac Newton, who during 1655-56 idled, fought, and rose to be head-boy in its grammar-school. A bronze statue of him by Theed was erected in 1858. The said school was founded by Bishop Fox in 1528, re-endowed by Edward VI. in 1553, and reconstituted in 1876. The manufacture of agricultural implements, malting, and brick-making are the chief industries. Grantham was incorporated by Edward IV. in 1463, and from then till 1885 returned two members to parliament—a number reduced now to one. The borough boundary was largely extended in 1879. Pop. (1851) 10,873; (1871) 13,250; (1881) 17,345, of whom 16,886 were within the municipal borough; (1891) 17,170. See the local histories of Tinnor (1806), Marrat (1816), and Street (1857).