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< Back Early History of a Mormon Community in Stamford Submitted by Chris Hunt The Mormons.- This sect (‘Latter-day Saints’ as they call themselves) have taken the room lately occupied by the Wesleyans in Gas Lane, Stamford, for the purpose of giving lectures every Sunday. It was opened on the 20th ult. (October 20th 1850), with a speech by an American elder, and last Sunday two men, one a labourer named Grice, from a village in the neighbourhood, addressed the congregation, consisting of about 20 persons including children. One of them spoke at great length on baptismal regeneration; and from the arguments used, it might be supposed that he had just come from the hands of Bishop Philpot (Strict Baptist – North Street Chapel, Stamford), had he not said that the world had been without successors to the Apostles for several hundred years, until an Angel appeared to Joe Smith, and made a revelation to him, and now the Latter-day Saints had the same power as St Peter, to admit into heaven all who believe and are baptised in their faith. Source Stamford Mercury November 1st 1850 p3/c2 In 1851 the Church of Latter Day Saints’ was recorded in the Census of Religious Worship. GAS LANE LATTER DAY SAINTS’ CHAPEL 1851. Parish of St. George. Erected about the year 1836. Separate and entire building. Used exclusively as a place of worship. Free sittings 14. On 30th March (1851). In afternoon General Congregation 14. In evening General Congregation 17. Signed Henry Wilson, Elder. Larton (Laxton) Court, St Leonard’s Street. Source Lincolnshire Returns of the Census of Religious Worship 1851. Edited by R.W.Ambler, M.A. Published by the Lincoln Record Society Volume 72 (1979) page 4. Note Below Henry Wilson was born in Castle Bytham on May 9th 1809 and died on July12th 1882 and is buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery, Utah, USA. He was a baker and confectioner and was still living in St Leonard’s Street in 1861 with his wife Mary Ann Wilson. A print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back Harriet Swanson and William Blades. Two 19th-century market traders Keith Hansell 2024 When writing my book ‘Stamford Fairs & Markets’ I tried to add flesh to the bones of those who once sold their wares within the town, whether on a daily basis, or at one of the town’s weekly markets. It was inevitable that some would slip through the net, only to be discovered once the book had been published. William Blades, a fishmonger of Stamford, and Harriet Swanson. a butter seller from Belmesthorpe, were two such people. Harriet Swanson ‘ Suspected Child Murder at Stamford’. That was the headline from a report in the Stamford Mercury on Friday the 6th of October 1845. Harriet Swanson, a single woman of about 24 years of age, had gone to the Shepherd and Shepherdess public house around 1pm, as per usual, before leaving to sell butter in the Friday market. When returning around 6pm, she asked the landlady, Mrs. Sanderson, if it was possible to stay the night. Whilst being shown her room she announced that she was about to be confined and begged that she might not be turned away. About an hour later, at Swanson’s request, Mr. Edward Barber, surgeon, was called and was quickly in attendance. On entering the room he found the prospective mother in bed, with a man sitting by the bed-side smoking a cigar. After the man had departed, she told Mr. Barber that her name was Elisa Deacon, and that she resided with her brother and sister at Oakham and had come to Stamford thinking she might be better managed, having neither father nor mother. At eleven that evening she gave birth to a ‘ perfect and healthy’ female. When returning the following morning, Mr. Barber again found the child in good health and laying beside her mother. When asked if she had put the child to breast, she replied she had not, as she intended to “ put the child out ”, and that the nurse, who was in attendance, had the care of feeding her. On the Saturday afternoon, Swanson said that her daughter had made some gurgling noises in her throat. About six that evening, when the nurse took the child from its mothers arms, the child’s face and hands were black but it came to again after only a few minutes. After returning the child to its mother, the nurse left the room for a few minutes, but quickly returned when the mother called out that her child was dead. Mr. Barber was immediately sent for and on his arrival undressed the child but found no marks of violence, except a slight indentation on the upper lip, like the mark of a single finger-nail. The following day a post mortem examination took place but found nothing to indicate the cause of death. The inquest that followed lasted for four hours, and in the course of the investigation, Mrs. Sanderson admitted that Swanson, and the man seen on Mr. Barber’s first visit, often met at her house, sometimes going into the bedroom but generally into the front parlour. Swanson also stated that William Templeman, of Carlby, was the child's father and that he gave her a sovereign on Friday night to meet her immediate expenses. William Blades Or ‘ Pugnacious Blades’, as the Stamford Mercury headline called on Friday July the 18th 1862. Below is the transcript of that report. “A Fight, which though short was anything but sweet for one of the combatants, occurred between two fishmongers of Stamford named William Holland and William Blades, in the fish-market at the Portico on Monday morning. There seems to have formerly been a kind of partnership between the two present rivals. They had both been indulging too freely in beer, and the dispute arose in consequence of Blades attempting to carry off a box of herrings, which he fancied belonged to him. To this course, however, Holland strongly objected, having an impression that he was being robbed and high words ensued, which ended in a scuffle: the boxes were smashed, and the herrings strewn over the pavement. The disturbance being upon the very threshold of the police-station, acting-sergeant Leech interposed threatening them with “durance vile” if they did not desist. In defiance of this caution, however, they resumed the fight with increased animosity and violence, but were at last separated and locked up until their passion had cooled. They were ordered to answer for their drunken and disorderly conduct at the police-station on the following morning, but Blades was so severely punished and his vision so obscured, both eyes being deeply mortgaged, that he could not find his way to the station: the case was therefore adjourned till Wednesday, when they appeared before the Mayor (R. Bromhead, Esq.). and Edward. Cayley, Esq., and were discharged. Blades face showed such strange inequality of surface and variety of that, as would have been tested to their utmost the enamelling abilities of the notorious Madame Rachel”. Notes. The Shepherd and Shepherdess public house was located in Castle Street, Stamford, and was first recorded in 1831, later changing its name to The Castle and finally closing in 1959. From the sale particulars of 1893 it consisted of a parlour and smoke room located at the front of the building, with the bar and tap room behind. It also had five bedrooms, store-room, cellar and wash-house. The Portico, erected c.1807, stood in Stamford’s High Street, on a site formerly occupied by the White Lion public house. The fish market was situated behind the Portico, comprising two rows of covered stalls with a centrally placed pump. Market days were Monday’s and Friday’s. Blades vision must have been severely impaired as he only lived yards away from the police station in Rubbins Court on Stamford High Street. The report makes reference to a Madam Rachel, real name Sarah Russell, who operated a fraudulent cosmetic parlour in the 1860s, at 47a New Bond Street in London. She promised her female clients that she would make them beautiful forever but in truth she was no more than a con-artist, applying dangerous substances to her clients’ skin, with the inevitable results. A print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back A Print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back The day World War Two was declared - September 3rd 1939 Not everybody was listening to the radio on the morning of September 3rd 1939 when Neville Chamberlain announced the declaration of war to the British public. It was a Sunday and in St Martin’s Church the 11.00am service was being taken by the Reverend Cox. In the middle of the service an elderly man rushed into the church and whispered to the Vicar what he had just heard on the radio. The Rev. Cox informed the congregation from the pulpit that a state of war now existed between Britain and Germany. He then pronounced the Benediction and ended the service. Source. Recollection from 1939. A printed copy can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back A print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back The End of the Stamford Bull Run In 1838, the magistrates having received a peremptory mandate from Lord John Russell, for the suppression of the Bull-running, part of a troop of the 14 th Light Dragoons, from Northampton, under the command of Captain Harvey, and a detachment of the metropolitan police, arrived on the 10 th of November. The Dragoons were quartered in Saint Martin’s, Stamford Baron, in Northampton, with orders not to pass the bridge. The town and neighbourhood were in a state of great excitement on Sunday and Monday. The only two bulls in the town, one belonging to Mr. Roberts, at the Horns Inn, and the other the property of Mr. J. Smith, farmer, Scotgate, were secured by the police in the Hotel stables. On Monday night, special constables were placed at every entrance to the town to prevent the arrival of any bull. On the morning of the 13 th , the people congregated in large bodies, and chance threw a bull in their way. A covered cart passed through the town at twelve o’ clock, containing a young bull, the property of Earl Spencer, from his seat at Wiseton, near Bawtry. The bullards took possession of the cart in Saint Martin’s, where the bull was let out, and immediately ran down Saint Martin’s and over the bridge into Stamford. At the bridge the police formed themselves in line and made an attack on the people, to stop the bull, but it was useless: the bull passed on up Saint Mary’s-hill to Saint Geroge’s square, down High-street, Scotgate, Saint Peter’s-hill, and into the bull-meadow, where he was taken by the police, and escorted by the dragoons to the Bull and Swan, and given up to his conductor. The people passed into the back way of Saint Martin’s, near the Sun, where an attack was made on the military with stones and brickbats, principally from women and children; and an industrious harmless man named Nathaniel Pollard, who, whist returning from his work, was wounded on the head by the Sergeant major, and several people were hurt by the police. The military after leaving a guard at the Bull and Swan, drew up opposite to Saint Martin’s church and charged their carbines with ball bearings: they then marched through the streets and the mob quietly dispersed. At the following Borough Quarter Sessions in January, 1839, James Woodall, Octavious Snary, John Kisbee, and William Pollard , were indicted for riotously assembling with sticks and staves and breaking the peace by running a bull calf: Pollard was further indicted for throwing a stone at Robert Seal, a Sergeant-major in the 14 th Light Dragoons. The solicitors were, - Mr. N. Wilkinson, of Peterborough, for the prosecution, and Messrs. Thompson and Son, Stamford, for the defendants. After considering for a few minutes, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty . In 1839, notwithstanding the precautionary measures adopted by the Magistrates under the direction of the Secretary of State, - the introduction of military and a London police force, - the appointment of special constables, - and the establishment of mounted scouts to perambulate the open fields, - the bullards on Wednesday, November 13 th , contrived to introduce a bull into the town, though only for a very short time. Captain Bell with 43 of the 5 th Dragoon Guards from Nottingham, and Inspector Pearce with 20 of the London police force, arrived in Stamford on Monday. Photograph taken of a picture in the Mayors Parlour, Stamford Town Hall. On Tuesday, Francis Butt, Esq. (the Mayor), with W. Hunt, J Roden, and R. Hunt, Esqs., Magistrates, swore in 90 special constables, and adopted every arrangement calculated to carry into effect the commands of Lord Normanby for the suppression of the bill-running. In the evening of Tuesday the metropolitan and the borough police took charge of the bulls of Mr. Smith of Scotgate, and Mr. Roberts of the Horns, and whilst they were conveying the animals down Ironmonger-street, they were assailed by a mob with paving stones: the promptitude and firmness of the police force, however, suppressed the riot at the expense of a few broken pates from their staves, and the bulls were locked up in a stable at the Hotel, and the following instructions were given to the constables. “Special Constables, when called out, have all the powers which belong to a Constable throughout the whole Jurisdiction for which the appointment is made. “They are each subject to a Penalty of £5. For neglect or refusal to serve, or to obey lawful orders for performance of the duties of office. “Any person assaulting or resisting a Special Constable whilst in execution of his office, or promoting or encouraging any other person so to do, is liable to a penalty of £20., or to be indicted for the offence. “The following arrangements have been made for to-morrow (Wednesday). “Horsemen are appointed to preamble the Fields. “Special Constables appointed to guard the entrances of the town, 87.-Messengers, 3.-Metropolitan Police at Town-hall. “Town police to perambulate the streets, and communicate with the magistrates at the Town-hall, every hour or oftener if necessary. “In case a Bull should appear to be run, or a riot take place, the whole of the Constabulary force immediately to fall in and concentrate and assist in suppressing the disorder, and in apprehending offenders. On Wednesday morning, at seven o’ clock, a horse patrol was placed in every direction at about the distance of a mile from the town, with orders to give instant notice in the event of any beast approaching towards Stamford. The Mayor and magistrates assembled at the Town-hall at eight o’ clock. - The soldiers also mounted guard at the George Inn, at the same hour. Parties now beginning to congregate in the streets, the magistrates issued the following order: - “Town-hall, Stamford. Wednesday, 13 th November, 1839. “The magistrates have directed that there should be no congregation or assemblage of persons in the streets; and the constables have strict orders to prevent any such occurrence. - By order, “Nath. Farrant, Clerk to the Magistrates” Everything remained tolerably quiet until between one and two o’ clock, when the cry of “the bull” was raised, and it was found that, in spite of the precautions adopted, a young bull, having a direction tied on it “for Stamford” – had been brought into the town from the fields North of Scotgate, was “run” across that street, up to Rutland Terrace, thence down Well-lane, and along Bath-row, to the Lammas bridge, where the water was very much out. Through the negligence, it is said, of some of the special constables – none of whom communicated to the Magistrates, as they had been directed to do, the circumstances of a bull’s having entered the town – the animal remained for some minutes about Lammas bridge; but as soon as the Magistrates became acquainted with the fact, Mr Reed (chief constable) and the borough police, with Superintendent Pearce and ten of the metropolitan force, proceeded to rescue the bull. This was not accomplished, however, until they had reached a distance of two miles from Stamford, near Tolethorpe, where the animal was found in the middle of the river, surrounded by several hundred people. Possession of the bull was immediately taken by the police, who proceeded to drive him towards Stamford, followed by the whole assemblage, with shouts and execrations. On nearing the town, the mob considerably increased, and symptoms of an attempting rescue becoming evident, a messenger was despatched for the remainder of the police force, and subsequently for the military, who arrived apparently in the exact point of time to prevent violence from the crowd, which now amounted to three or four thousand. Photograph taken of a picture in the Mayors Parlour, Stamford Town Hall. Stones were thrown at the police, and some severe blows given and received, when the appearance of F. Butt, Esq., Mayor, who headed the military, quieted these symptoms, and the bull was conduced into the town, between two files of dragoons, accompanied by the police, and followed by the many thousands who had further attempts at violence. collected, with shouts, but with no further attempts at violence. Photograph taken of a picture in the Mayors Parlour, Stamford Town Hall. The animal was then taken into the Hotel stables and secured, after which the mob dispersed, and the military and police withdrew. While the bull was being secured as above in the Hotel stables, an attempt was made by an individual to let loose another animal secured in the same place, by withdrawing the staples of the stable door, but he was fortunately observed by the police. The magistrates remained at the town-hall until a late hour, and the military and police were on duty till 10 o’ clock, when the town appearing perfectly quiet they retired, and no further commotion took place. The military remained in Stamford until the 15 th and the metropolitan police, after a few days, returned. The bull was claimed by Mr. Clement Bland, of Frith Lodge, who declared it to have been taken by violence from his premises, but by parties unknown. – On the dismissal of the military, the Mayor presented Captain Bell, in the names of himself and the other authorities, their thanks for his attention and zealous discharge of duty. SOURCE CHRONOLOGY OF STAMFORD BY GEORGE BURTON, 1846, PAGES 60 TO 65, PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY ROBERT BAGLEY Note: - The Stamford bull baiting and run was held on St Brice’s day the 13 th November for about 600 years until it was effectively supressed in 1839. A print copy can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

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location of the Stamford cross < Back Queen Eleanor’s Cross Ken Coles 1980 This article was produced by Ken Coles for the February 1980 edition of the Stamford Historian. In it he explores the evidence for the location of Stamford's Eleanor Cross. Queen Eleanor’s Cross Queen Eleanor’s Cross. Where exactly did this immense cross stand? This question has been circulating around Stamford for many years now, and every so often pops up again. Although this has probably been done many times before, I have with the aid of notes by Laurence Tebbut, John Chandler and Michael Key, tried to answer the question, putting together the majority of the information the Survey Group has on the subject. Why a Cross? Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England and wife of Edward I, died on 28th November 1290 at Harby in Nottinghamshire. Edward decided that she was to be buried in Westminster Abbey, so her body was taken to Lincoln and there embalmed ready for the journey south. A solemn procession for London, by a long and circuitous route, set out on December 4th accompanied by the king himself. Halts for the night were made at approximately every 20 miles, at Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable,St Albans, Waltham Abbey, West Cheam and Charing Cross, eventually reaching Westminster Abbey where the funeral took place three days later, on 17th December. In the following two years Edward had crosses erected in memory of Queen Eleanor in each of the resting-places above. Of these three still remain today at Geddington, Northampton and Waltham. Early evidence whilst the cross was still standing Stamford’s cross stood for approximately 350 years, and to confirm this we have two eye-witnesses. The first was Captain Richard Symonds of the Royalist army, who visited Stamford briefly on his way from Newark to Huntingdon on Saturday August 22nd 1645. He wrote the following in his diary, ‘In the hill before ye into the towne stands a lofty large cross, built by Edward I in memory of Eleanor whose corps rested there coming from the north. Upon the top of this cross these three shields shields are often carved: England; three bends sinister; a bordure (Ponthieu); Quarterly Castile and Leon’ The second eye-witness is Richard Butcher, Town Clerk. In his survey of Stamford of 1646 he says the following: ‘Near unto the York highway and about twelve score paces from the town gate which is called Clement Gate, stands an ancient crosse of freestone of very considerable fabric, having many ancient scrutcheons or arms insculped in the stone about it as the arms of Castille and Leon quartered being the paternal coat of the King of Spain and divers other hatchments belonging to that crown which envious time hath so defaced that only the ruins appear to my eye and therefore not to be described by my pen’ There is one other earlier reference to a cross, and that is in the Town Records of November 30th 1621: ‘..... the hall also agreed that the fate of the Kings Crosse shall be forthwith amended by a sufficient workman’ Although to judge by Butcher’s later description the ‘workman’ did not do a very good job. Peck’s Annals (p.17) show that the cross was destroyed between 1646 and 1660, probably by Parliamentarian ‘fanatics’. Later Evidence On January 16th 1745 William Stukeley wrote to a fellow antiquarian: ‘Our surveyor of the turnpike road opened up a tumulus half a mile north of Stamford on the brow of a hill by the roadside and there discovered the foundations of the Queen’s Cross, the lower most tier of the steps in tact and part of the second, tis of Barnack stone, hexagonal, the measure of each side thirteen feet so the diameter was thirty f eet. It s tood on a grassy heath called by the towns people Queens Cross’. In another letter dated 21st December 1754 he wrote that Mr Wying surveyor of the turnpike, was opening a quarry on the left hand side of the road from Stamford to Great Casterton and that he took away a carved stone from part of the pinnacle and other pieces which he put in his Barnhill garden. He says the cross ‘stood on a delicate eminence called Anemone Hill’. He also wrote to the Mercury quite soon after this, on December 26th 1745, reporting the discovery of the remains of a cross ‘on a grassy cliff on the left hand from Stamford to Brigcasterton’. A question raised here is whether Queen’s Cross heath and Anemone Hill are the same place, or was the ‘carved stone’ found away from the foundation (steps)? Towards the end of the 19th century when the Torkington Estate was divided up for building purposes (i.e. Torkington Street, Reform Street) one plot was called Blue Anemone Hill. There is one other interesting paragraph in the Peterborough and Huntingdon Standard of 10th October 1847 describing: ‘A stone effigy built into a wall in St Martins that of a female of the time of Edward I or II. The head is detached, the hands across the breast are mutilated and the feet are gone’. If the Stamford cross resembled the cross at Geddington then the above description could very well be part of the cross, as the Geddington one has three sculptures of the queen on it. Modern Evidence There is not a lot of evidence from the modern period, but in 1973 a section of Barnack stone was found in the Foxdale area of Stamford. Mr H W Pond found the stone in a dry stone wall and Mr R F Grimwood of the local History Society had it removed to St Leonard’s Priory for storage and safekeeping, where it still remains. It is described as weighing 2 cwts., and is eight inches square, thirty inches high with rounded edges. Part is carved with chevrons. This was thought to have been part of the cross. The Foxdale area is one mile out of Stamford and this seems too far if we take Butcher’s ‘twelve score paces from Clement Gate’ and Stukeley’s ‘half a mile’, although this does not rule out the stone as being part of the cross as it could easily have been moved to that position. On walking Butcher’s twelve score paces from Clements Gate (the Stamford side of Scotgate traffic lights) I arrived behind Clock House on the Casterton Road and adjacent to the front garden of Rock Lodge House. Now, before this article was suggested an acquaintance had said that I should look at the ‘ancient stonework’ in Rock Lodge gardens, so permission was given by the owners, to look around the garden and, true enough, built into the walls at certain places were pieces of old masonry. After tracing some previous owners, no information was gained as to the origins of these remains. A suggestion is that they may have been excavated whilst the gardens were being landscaped and probably could have come from the old church of St Thomas, which is alleged (without any evidence at all) to have stood near this spot. The Survey Group would be happy to receive any other information on these. To end, I would like to think that a few of these pieces came from the cross itself, as Rock Lodge stands ‘twelve score paces’ on the left hand side of Casterton Road and on the first ‘cliff face’. With its commanding views toward Stamford, what more suitable spot could be found for such a monument, at the entrance to the town where the Oakham and North roads meet? Bibliography R Butcher, Survey and Antiquities of the town of Stamford , 1646 F Peck, The Antiquarian Annals of Stamford , 1727 The Stamford Mercury The Peterborough and Huntingdon Standard This article by Ken Coles is reprinted from the issue 4 of the Stamford Historian published in February 1980 Addendum The above article was written in 1980, but 13 years later a fragment of Purbeck marble with a rose carved on one of its surfaces was found in the garden of Stukeley House, 9 Barn Hill, Stamford, the home in the 1740s of noted antiquary, William Stukeley. The appearance of this fragment accorded with a description of the upper shaft of the Stamford Eleanor Cross Stukeley claimed to have found in December 1745 on Anemone Hill (upper Casterton Road). Further research confirmed the fragment to be part of Stukeley’s find and that he had almost certainly discovered the site of the Stamford Eleanor Cross. This discovery places the Stamford Eleanor Cross in the Foxdale area of Casterton Road, map reference TF01910758 +/- 20 m. and not at the junction of Empingham and Casterton Roads as previously thought.The essence of the case for revision was published in the correspondence columns of the Stamford Mercury, 28 September 2007, p.13, and can also be found on the Mercury website at http://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/opinion/letters/overwhelming-evidence-on-site-of-eleanor-cross-1-486463 . A full account of the discovery can be found in John F H Smith, ‘A Fragment of the Stamford Eleanor Cross’ published vol. 94 of the Antiquaries Journal, 1994, pp. 301-311. In September 2013 a further article on Stukeley, ‘William Stukeley in Stamford: his houses, gardens and a project for a Palladian Triumphal Arch Over Barn Hill’ by J F H Smith was published in the Antiquaries Journal (vol. 93, pp. 353-400). This lists (footnote 53) all the references in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, to Stukeley’s claimed find of the Cross. These are: Bodleian Library, Oxford, Eng. misc. c. 538, fols 41–41v; Eng. misc. e. 126, fols 91–98; Eng. misc. e. 196, fols 51 and 111–112. In addition a drawing entitled ‘The groundplot of Queens Cross, Stamford’ (Eng. misc. e. 126. fol.18) shows that what Stukeley found was hexagonal in plan, not octagonal as suggested by Smith (1994)John F H Smith8 January 2014 A print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back Anti-Printing Poem by an Unknown Hand, Published in 1820 The Banished Printer to His Trade – A Parody Submitted by Chris Hunt Compositor of printing name! Quit! Oh quit your wooden frame! Working, starving, idling, drinking Oh the gain, the loss of printing! Cease, fond printer, cease your trade, And shun the laws for printers made! Hark! they sentence; - judges say, ‘Libel printer, go away!’ What is this embitters life? Starves my children, kills my wife, Sends me abroad for punishment? Tell me my trade – ‘tis banishment! England recedes; it disappears -- France opens to my eyes! my ears With foreign accents ring: Lend, lend your ships! I sail! I fly! O judge! where is thy victory? O law! where is thy sting? The above poem was attached to a letter to the editor, which stated: I trespass upon your time and patience with an ode, intended to convey a faint idea of the inky breathings of an aspiring letter-press printer, who was fully conversant, and even deeply versed, in the ‘black arts’; and being considered too noxious a weed to remain in the garden of England was transplanted into a more degenerate soil. Leaving it to your candour to determine whether the ‘setting-up’ will warrant its being ‘sent to press’, I remain, sir, with grateful acknowledgements for your encouragement. X. Source Drakard’s Stamford News January 7th 1820 p4/c3 Note We shall never know the author of this poem, although its contents almost certainly mirrored the views of the Editor of the Stamford News, Mr Drakard. A print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back October 31st 1940 – The Luftwaffe Comes to Stamford Chris Hunt 2021 Today St Leonard’s Street is a quiet part of the town, far enough away from the High Street and Wharf Road to get little or no traffic, other than motorists trying to find a parking space. However, on Thursday October 31st 1940 the War came to this area when a large bomb which was reported at the time to have weighed close to a ton fell on Cornstall Buildings. A low flying lone German plane, possible a Heinkel 111, dropped a bomb which took off the roofs and chimney stacks of No 2 and 3 Cornstall Buildings before passing through No 17 Cornstall Buildings and demolishing a coal shed at the rear of the property. One side of the house had gone and there was a hole above the front door where the bomb had hit the building. Luckily the bomb did not explode. The occupier of No 17, Mrs Elsie Griffiths and her daughter Doreen had a very lucky escape as although in the house at the time sitting on the sofa, it was however reported that if they had been standing they would not have been so lucky. Immediately the emergency services were on hand to clear the area., which stretched from Maiden Lane to Brazenose Lane, and from St Paul’s Street to Wharf Road. Stamford School could only be accessed from Elm Street. The plane had come from the general direction of Wothorpe, spraying bullets over the Town before dropping the bomb. It was suggested at the time that the pilot had been aiming for the gas works which was only a hundred yards away on Wharf Road. The Town Council erected market stalls on Ironmonger Street so that those shopkeepers who had had to close their shops could continue trading, allowing their ‘registered customers’ to buy their rations. People evacuated from their houses found refuge in relatives and friends house across the town and others were found accommodation, bedding and food was provided from reserve stores held at the Fane School. Payments were made to householders under the Government Evacuation Scheme and those who had left their ration cards in their homes were issued with emergency ones from the Town Hall, and supplies of second-hand clothing was made available to those in need. The local bomb disposal team at the time was based in Ketton and they began the job of making the bomb safe. It was found to have a ninety-six-hour fuse which could have resulted by the Monday of destroying a large area at the eastern end of the town. Luckily for everyone it was defused on the Sunday and people were then allowed to return to their homes. A print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next

< Back Weather in Stamford In April 1641, a very heavy rain, accompanied by a high west wind, caused a flood which covered the bridge. On Saturday November 1, 1736, a very high wind blew down a windmill on the west side of the town, and did much damage. On the 4th of May, 1800, a most dreadful storm passed over Stamford: the thunder and lightning were terrific, and the hailstones destroyed nearly all the windows facing the south-west. On Friday, the 31st August 1821, a shower, which did not last an hour, inundated the town. In Protection-place, Scotgate, the water was six feet high, and potatoes, apples, plums, onions, &c. were conveyed by the stream from the market, down Maiden-lane and the Hotel-yard: the electric fluid struck the house occupied by Mr. Samuel Watson, tanner, in Blackfriar’s-street, and partly uncovered the roof: this storm extended only a mile round Stamford. On the 10th of June, 1822, there was a severe tempest of thunder and lightning, which did much damage in the neighbourhood; and on the 28th of the following month a heavy storm of thunder, lightning, and hail took place. In 1823 on the 27th January, the streets were so covered with ice, that many persons skated from Scotgate to the top of High-Street. On the 14th January, 1827, Emlyn’s-close tree was split in two by a violent hurricane, and 50 feet of the main stem was brought to the ground. 1830. On account of the exceeding wetness of the summer months this year, there were greater and more frequent floods in the River Welland than had occurred for many years previous: and the meadows becoming inundated, caused a greater loss of sheep, by the rot, than had ever before been experienced. 1833. August 31st, there occurred a tremendously high wind from the N.W., which was supposed to have been the greatest wind since November 10th, 1810. The roofs of buildings were much damaged by the removal of many slates and tiles; but happily, further than this no material injury was done. SOURCE CHRONOLOGY OF STAMFORD BY GEORGE BURTON, 1846, PAGE 308, PRINTED & PUBLISHED BY ROBERT BAGLEY A Print version can be downloaded HERE Previous Next