There are thousands of years of interesting things about Lincolnshire. Here's a few:
About ROYALTY: Edward I held the first parliament in Lincoln Cathedral and Richard III also held a parliament in the choir stalls. King John held court in one of Grantham's inns. Henry VIII besieged Lincoln Castle during The Risings, and he met his sixth wife, Catherine Parr at Gainsborough in 1540. King John lost the Crown Jewels in The Wash in 1216. In 1215 an army assembled in Stamford to march on King John forcing him to sign the Magna Carta. Queen Eleanor (wife of Edward I) died at Harby, and King John was treated unsuccessfully for a fatal fever at Spalding
About ARCHITECTURE: Newport Arch in Lincoln is the only Roman arch in the country still used by traffic. Lincoln's Norman Castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068. In the 18th century Horncastle was famous for its ten day horse fairs, cock fighting and bull baiting in its Bull Ring. St James' church, Louth has the tallest spire of any parish church at a magnificent 295ft (90m), whilst Sleaford's 13th century St Denys has one of the oldest spires in England. Boston's 14th century St Botolph's Church (Boston Stump) is famous for its 272ft (83m) tower.
About VILLAGES: Scampton is the home to the Red Arrows, the famous RAF Aerobatic Team. Alkborough still has its medieval turf maze, Julian's Bower. In 1860 Scunthorpe was a collection of five small villages - then the largest iron ore beds in Europe were discovered nearby. Gainsthorpe was a hideaway for robbers plundering travellers on the old Roman Road (now A15): during the 17th century, inhabitants from nearby villages dealt with the problem by razing Gainsthorpe and killing the offenders: there is now just one farm. Bourne is the birthplace of Hereward the Wake, the last Saxon noble to resist William the Conqueror, and thought locally to be the son of Lady Godiva and Leofric, Earl of Mercia.
About PEOPLE: Bernie Taupin, songwriter to Elton John, comes from Market Rasen. The cast of the film The Dambusters paid for the mechanism which silences Lincoln Cathedral bells between 11pm and 7am. Grimsby was named after a Danish fisherman called Grim. 250 of Boston's most influential citizens set sail to the New World during 1630, ultimately to found the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The construction of Lincoln Cathedral was financed by a Jewish moneylender.
About FILMS: Some grand Lincolnshire houses and locations have featured in films The Haunting (1999, Belvoir Castle and Harlaxton Manor), Middlemarch (1994, Stamford), The Fortunes & Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1966, Grimsthorpe Castle and Burghley), A is for Acid (2002, Lincoln Castle), Pride & Prejudice (1995, Belton House), Possession (2002, Lincoln University, Station, Eastgate), Moondial (1987 Belton House), and The Life & Crimes of William Palmer (1999, Lincoln Castle & Bailgate).
About EVERYTHING! The first military tank was designed and built in Lincoln. Scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark were filmed in Margaret Thatcher's old school. Operation Market Garden (WWII) was masterminded in Lincolnshire. Tennyson's "Come into the garden, Maud" has immortalised Harrington Hall. Boston Wash Banks is the largest area of saltmarsh in the country. The Gordon Boswell Romany Museum in Spalding houses the country's largest collection of Romany Vardo's carts and harnesses. Drinking water in Lincoln has been piped from Nottinghamshire ever since a typhoid epidemic in 1905. The violin shaped weather vane on Great Ponton Church a few miles South of Grantham is a replica of one given to the church by a 17th century fiddler. He played to villages who collected his fare to start a new life in America. Making his fortune in the New World, he thanked them by paying for the vane.
