Boston, Lincolnshire
), is now considered part of Boston, but the name remains as a church
parish and as an electoral
ward.
The order of importance was the other way round when the Boston quarter of Skirbeck developed at the head of
the Haven which lies under the present Market Place. At that stage, the Haven was the
tidal part of the stream, now represented by the Stone Bridge Drain (), which carried the water from the East and West Fens. The line of the road through Wide Bargate, the A52 road and the A16 is likely to have developed on its marine silt levees. It led as it does now, to the relatively high ground at Sibsey (), thence to
Lindsey.
The reason for the original development of the town, away from the centre of Skirbeck was that Boston lay on the point where navigable tidal water was alongside the land route, which used the
Devensian terminal
moraine ridge at Sibsey, between the upland of East Lindsey and the three routes to the south of Boston:
* The coastal route, on the marine silts, crossed the mouth of Bicker Haven towards
Spalding.
* The
Sleaford route into
Kesteven passed
via Swineshead () thence following the old course of the River Slea, on its marine
silt levee.
* The Salters' Way, route into Kesteven left Holland from
Donington. This route was much more thoroughly developed in the later Medieval period, by Bridge End Priory (). The
River Witham seems to have joined the Haven after the flood of September,
1014, having abandoned the port of Drayton on what subsequently became known as Bicker Haven. The predecessor of Ralph the Staller owned most of both Skirbeck and Drayton so it was a relatively simple task to transfer his business from Drayton but
Domesday Book, of
1086 still records his source of income in Boston under the heading of Drayton, so Boston's name is famously not mentioned. The Town Bridge still maintains the pre-flood route along the old Haven bank.
Growth
After the
Norman Conquest,
Ralph the Staller's property was taken over by Count Alan
a. It subsequently came to be attached to the Earldom of
Richmond, Yorkshire and known as the Richmond Fee. It lay on the left bank of the Haven.
During the
11th and
12th centuries, Boston grew into a notable town and
port. The
quinzieme was a raised on the fifteenth part (6.667%) of the value of merchants' moveable goods at the various trading towns of England. In 1204 when the merchants of London paid £836, those of Boston paid £780
b.
Thus by the opening of the
13th century, it was already significant in trade with the
continent of
Europe and ranked as a port of the
Hanseatic League. It was one of the official "
staple towns" of England, authorized to carry on the import and export trade. Much of Boston's trade at this time was in
wool, and Boston is said by the locals to have been built on it. Apart from wool, Boston also exported
salt, produced locally on the
Holland coast,
grain, produced up-river and
lead, produced in
Derbyshire and brought
via Lincoln, up-river. The wool export trade began to decline in the
15th century as the industry shifted to the
value-adding business of
weaving, which was conducted in other parts of the country, the Hansa merchants quit the town, and Boston's wealth declined.
 |
Blackfriars Arts Centre |
In the
13th and
14th centuries four orders of
friars arrived in Boston:
Dominicans,
Franciscan,
Carmelites, and
Augustinians. As the English
Reformation progressed, their friaries were closed by
King Henry VIII. The
refectory of the Dominican friary was eventually converted into a
theatre in
1965, and now houses the
Blackfriars Arts Centre.
The town received its charter from Henry VIII in 1545, and Boston had two
Members of Parliament from
1552 but with the Haven silted, the town was then, rather living on memories.
Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
In
1607 a group of
Pilgrims from
Nottinghamshire led by
William Brewster and
William Bradford attempted to escape pressure to conform with the teaching of the
English church by going to
the Netherlands from Boston. At that time unsanctioned emigration was illegal, and they were brought before the court in the
Guildhall. Most of the pilgrims were released fairly soon and the following year, set sail for The Netherlands, settling in
Leiden. In
1620, several of these were among the group who moved to
New England in the
Mayflower.
Boston remained a hotbed of religious dissent. In
1612 John Cotton became the vicar of St Botolph's and, although viewed askance by the Church of England for his non-conformist preaching, became responsible for a large increase in Church attendance. He encouraged those who disliked the lack of religious freedom in England to join the
Massachusetts Bay Company, and later helped to found the city of
Boston, Massachusetts (
1630) which he was instrumental in naming. Unable to tolerate the religious situation any longer he eventually emigrated himself in
1633.
At the same time, work on draining the fens to the west of Boston was begun, a scheme which displeased many whose livelihoods were at risk. This and the religious friction put Boston into the
parliamentarian camp in the
Civil War which in England, began in 1642. (One of the sources of livelihood obtained from the fen was fowling. The feathery aspect of this is still reflected in the bedding manufactory, now in Skirbeck.) The chief backer of the drainage locally,
Lord Lindsey, was shot in the
first battle and the fens returned to their accustomed dampness until after
1750.
The later
18th century saw a revival when the Fens began to be effectively drained. The
Act of Parliament permitting the embanking and straightening of the fenland Witham was dated
1762. Its sluice was designed to help scour out the Haven. The land proved to be fertile, and Boston began exporting
cereals to
London. In
1774 the first financial
bank was opened, and in
1776 an Act of Parliament allowed watchmen to begin patrolling the streets at night.
Nineteenth century to the present day
In the
19th century, the names, first of Howden, near the Grand Sluice and later, of Tuxford, near the Maud Foster Sluice, were respected among engineers for their steam road locomotives, thrashing engines and the like. Howden developed his business from making steam engines for river boats while Tuxford began as a miller and millwright. His mill was once prominent near Skirbeck church, just to the east of the Maud Foster drain.
The railway reached the town in
1848 and briefly, it was on the main line from London to the North. The area between the Black Sluice and the station was mainly railway yard and the railway company's main depôt. The latter facility moved to
Doncaster when the modern main line was opened. Boston remained something of a local railway hub well into the
20th century, moving the produce of the district and the trade of the dock, plus the excursion trade to Skegness and similar places. But it was much quieter by the time of the
Beeching cuts of the
1960s.
Boston once again became a significant port in trade and fishing when, in
1884, the new
dock with its associated
wharves on the Haven were constructed. It continued as a working port, exporting grain, fertilizer, and importing timber although much of the fishing trade was moved out in the inter-war period. The first cinema opened in
1910, and the town was used by film makers during the
Second World War to represent the Netherlands when the real thing was not able to cooperate. In
1913 a new Town Bridge was constructed. Central Park was purchased in
1919, and is now one of the focal points of the town.
Electricity came to Boston during the early part of the century, and electrical street lighting was available from
1924.
The Haven Bridge, which now carries the two trunk roads over the river was opened in
1953 and the new road built in the early
1970s rather separated Skirbeck from Boston but the town largely avoided the development boom of the
1960s. More recently, the new
shopping centre named Pescod Centre opened in
2004, bringing many new shops into the town. Further development is planned.
The town is experiencing something of a
boom at present. By the standards of recent decades, it has seen a large increase in
immigration recently, most notably from Eastern Europe and
Portugal. This has led to some social tension, which came to a head during the
2004 European Football Championship, when something akin to rioting occurred briefly. After the loss to Portugal in the 2006 World Cup, trouble once again flared, withclashes between riot police and supporters.
However, as a sea port and holder of trade fairs, the town was long accustomed to
seamen from the
Baltic,
Hansa merchants and so on. After the surrounding land was drained, there were influxes of
seasonal labourers from other parts of England, from
Ireland or other parts of Europe. People occasionally became excited then too - the Hansa merchants finally left after one had been in a fight. But the fights are noticed because of their rarity.
Some of the most interesting things to be seen in Boston lie not in the usual list of tourist features but in the area of
civil engineering. However, there are remarkable sights of the more usual sort.
|
Boston Stump viewed from the market place. From 1552, the Bostonians used to have their jail between the church and where the red car is. This is likely to be where the Scrooby Pilgrims were imprisoned in 1607. |
* The
mediaeval parish church, (dedicated to St Botolph) with its high tower, is known locally as "the (Boston) Stump". It can be seen for many miles around the town. Building on the current church began early in the
14th Century, The building of the tower began around
1450 by excavation of a deep, wide hole. Archaeological records indicate that a wooden
Norman church had existed on the site of the south aisle. The internal space of the building is impressive but the added interest of the ceiling, windows
reredos, choir stalls with their
misericords, the optional climb up the tower steps and numerous other details make the place worth a trip. The pulpit, made in 1612 indicates the importance accorded to preaching in the time of the Pilgrims. The furnishings of most English parish churches were destroyed or neglected in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries so it is not surprising to find that was so here, in the town of John Cotton but the end of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century were a high point in craftsmanship and it shows here. There is interest outside as well, look at the buttress on the south-west corner of the tower for a record of flooding.
* While you are there, look up-river to the Grand Sluice. It is disguised by a railway bridge and a road bridge but it is there, twice a day keeping the tide out of the fens and twice a day allowing the water from the upland to scour the Haven.
* Not far away in the opposite direction, was the boyhood home of
John Foxe, the author of
Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
* The Town Bridge maintains the line of the road to Lindsey and from its western end, looking at the river side of the Exchange Building to the right, it is possible to see how the two ends of the building, founded on the natural levees of the Haven have stood firm while the middle has sunk into the infill of the former river.
* The prison used to stand in the Market Place, by the church (see the photograph caption). The lawyers' quarter is still in use, just to the north of the church.
* On the site of the prison is a statue of the founder of the
Illustrated London News, Herbert Ingram.
* The market, held on Saturdays and Wednesdays in the Market Place and also on Wide Bargate on Wednesday, is a worthwhile experience.
* The
Maud Foster Mill, completed in
1819, is the largest operating
windmill in England following extensive restoration during the
1980s and early
1990s and is now a working
museum. It is unusual in having an odd number (five) of sails.
* The Guildhall in which the Pilgrim Fathers were tried, on the
first floor, by the
magistrates, was converted into a
museum in
1929. The American Room was opened by the
U.S. Ambassador,
Joseph Kennedy, in
1938. The cells in which the Pilgrims are said to have been held at the time of their
trial are on the
ground floor. In
2005 it is closed for repair and refurbishment.
* In Skirbeck Quarter, on the right bank of the Haven, is the Black Sluice, the
outfall of the
South Forty-foot drain.
* The
Prime Meridian passes through Boston, marked by the fairly modern, suburban, Meridian Road () which straddles the line.The road was named after the line.
* The
Boston May Fair has been held in the town every year since at least
1125. This fair is held during the first week of May, and is one of the largest outdoor fairs in the country. By tradition, the fair is officially opened by the incumbent
mayor at 11 am, on the
May Day bank holiday.
* The
Pilgrim Fathers Memorial is located on the north bank of The Haven a few miles outside the town. It was here at Scotia Creek, that the Pilgrims made their first attempt to leave for
Holland in
1607.
* Freiston Shore is a nature reserve, and lies on
The Wash coast north of the mouth of The Haven.
There is a
Tesco on New Hammond Beck Road, near
Swineshead Road (A52) to the west of the town. There is an
Asda on
Sleaford Road (A52) close to the
train station. There are
Co-ops on Argyle Street (A1137) and on Eastwood Road, heading east out of the town.
Boston Grammar School, an all male selective school, is on South End, near the John Adams Way (A52/A16) and River Witham. Its female analogue,
Boston High School is on Spilsby Road (A16), in the north of the town next to the
Pilgrim Hospital. These two are the only schools in the town to have sixth-forms.
Haven High Technology College is on Marian Road to the north of the town.
Boston College is on Skirbeck Road.
Population
According to the
2001 Census, there were 35,124 people residing in Boston town, of whom 48.2% were male and 51.8% were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 5% of the population. 23% of the resident population in Boston were of retirement age.
Religion
80% of the population are
Christians, the next highest religious minority were
Muslims making up 0.4%. There are also small
Buddhist,
Hindu,
Jewish and
Sikh communities. 11% of the population claim no religion.
Boston is in the
East Midlands European Parliament constituency, which elects six members.
Boston and Skegness parliament constituency of which the current member is
Mark Simmonds.
The town is the main settlement in the
Boston local government district of
Lincolnshire which includes the town of Boston and 18 other
civil parishes.
The town electoral wards for Boston Borough
They are:
*Central Ward elects
one councillor.
*Fenside Ward elects two councillors
1 2.
*North Ward elects two councillors
1 2.
*Pilgrim Ward elects
one councillor.
*Skirbeck Ward elects three councillors
1 2 3.
*South Ward elects
one councillor.
*Staniland North Ward elects
one councillor.
*Staniland South Ward elects two councillors
1 2.
*West Ward elects
one councillor.
*Witham Ward Elects two councillors
1 2.
Boston's
twin towns include:
{| valign="top" |
* -
Boston,
Massachusetts (
United States of America)
* -
Laval (
France)
* -
Mikawa (
Japan)
