Explore
medieval Grantham
Wouldn’t it be great if you could travel back in time a thousand or
so years to the time of the Domesday Book and explore the town of
Grantham as it was then…..?
Using this PowerPoint you can do just that!
Simply click on the aerial photograph of Grantham today to explore
what it may have looked like in the medieval period ….
Lets Go
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
Sokeland
At the time of Domesday (1086) the open-field system was used across
England. Each village or town was surrounded by two, three or four very
large fields. Each year crops like wheat, barley, oats, peas and beans
would be grown on one or more of those fields, and one left fallow to
regain its fertility.
The land was farmed communally - each field divided into strips and
split among the peasants. There were few hedges or other field
boundaries. You can see the evidence of medieval strip farming or ridge
and furrow in fields today - the "corrugated iron" effect. Remains of ridge
and furrow were found and recorded during archaeological work off
Belton Lane.
The 16th century map shows an area of field systems which includes ridge and furrow,
strip farming and animal husbandry. The land use changed to retail use and now a
modern shopping centre and car park exists on the plot.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
Farmland
Grantham and the surrounding villages were organised under the feudal system and in Domesday Book
the land is recorded as manors owned by the King, the church or other noblemen. The Lord of the
Manor would collect taxes for the king and his land was worked by peasants called villeins. Villeins
worked on the land with rights to pasture and meadow for hay making and animal grazing but he had to
work on the lord's land for free.
A large amount of land was owned by King William, not just in Grantham itself, but in the surrounding
area. This was known as sokeland and included parts of nearby villages such as Gonerby, Harlaxton,
Great Ponton, Stoke Rochford or Belton. Sokeland was land worked by sokemen; peasants who paid
their own taxes and rented the land they farmed to the soke Lord. A sokeman had more control over his
land than a villein.
The land changed from being used for farming to being used for residential purposes. The terraced
houses that are present on this site now are probably Victorian in date and can be seen on the first
edition Ordnance Survey map dating from about 1880. They correspond to the expansion of the town in
the 19th century.’
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
The edge of medieval Grantham
Grantham is first mentioned in Domesday
Book and is recorded as Grantham,
Grandham, Granham and Graham.The name
may come from an old English name Granta
or more likely from “grand” meaning gravel.
The ham comes from Old English meaning
homestead or estate.
This plot is where the town and the rural areas
meet and the medieval map shows the fields
and the layout of the houses, burgage plots
and small paddocks. On the modern map, the
plot is still of mixed use but the land is now
residential and industrial.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
Burgesses
Burgesses were people who lived in towns.
They could hold land and paid rent to their local lord
and unlike the villeins who lived in the countryside,
they could dispose of their land as they wished.
Towns were centres for trade and centres of industry.
At the time of Domesday there were 111 burgesses
living in Grantham (people working and paying tax).
The population of the town was around 555 - a
considerable size for the time.
The medieval map shows residential land use with
long burgage plots (owned by burgesses) at the back
of the houses which front onto the street. The burgage
plots contain smaller vegetable plots and enclosures
where livestock were kept. The property boundaries
remain a similar shape through to the modern period.’
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
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The Market
Markets and fairs were held in Grantham from a very early date. There were no other markets within 7
miles, which meant that Grantham was a very important centre for local trade.
A market was held once a week on a set
day and in a set place - in Grantham this
was close to the Great North Road. A fair
was held annually on a set date - often a
saint's day and could last for several days.
The layout of the market place is the same
from the medieval period through to the
modern day and the market cross still
exists.
Click here to see a reconstruction drawing
of what the medieval market may have
looked like.
See complete
Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Communications and Trade Links
Grantham is located on the Great North Road, and near the River Witham,
which meant that the town had great long-distance connections for trading
and communications.
The Great North Road (the A1) ran north from London to York and was the
main north-south route in medieval times. It's not only buildings and
archaeological remains that survive from medieval Grantham. The street
layout visible today is largely the same as it was in the medieval period.
The land use in the medieval period was residential and rural/arable
farmland which was converted to retail in the modern period.
Many of the names of the roads, streets and even
buildings contain clues to the medieval town - Grey
Friars, Guildhall Street, Spitalgate School,
Castlegate, Angel & Royal Hotel ….
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
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The Royal Borough of Grantham
Before 1066 a large part of Grantham was owned by Queen
Edith who had a hall there, and it is also recorded as having its
own mint between about 979 and 1016.
After the Battle of Hastings and by the time of Domesday Book in
1086 Grantham was owned by King William and was a Royal
Borough (an important town).
The medieval map shows residential buildings with burgage
plots. The layout is similar on the modern map, although the
medieval buildings were cleared to be replaced by new houses
and a car park.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
The Blue Pig public house
The Blue Pig Inn was built probably in the sixteenth
century as a shop and an inn, and is a timber-framed
building, with a projecting first floor.
The pub is still in existence in the present day. The
building has obviously been altered and added to but
retains its internal medieval core.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
The Angel Inn
On the site of the Angel and Royal Hotel stood a much earlier
building called the Angel Inn.
This was used as the Commandery (headquarters of a manor or
estate) of the Knights Templars and then the Knights Hospitallers.
The Hotel was arguably in existence from the 13th century,
although the present buildings probably date from the 15th century.
Retail buildings have been built around the hotel to replace the
residential buildings from the medieval period.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Kings Grammar School
A school existed in Grantham in 1322, which was re-founded in around 1494. In 1550-1 it was
again re-founded as Free Grammar School of King Edward VI.
The Old School House (built in 1497) and the Masters House (built in 1500) survive in near original
condition, among 19th-20th century rebuilding. Numbers 1 and 2, Church Street, are also Listed
Buildings dating from the 16th century.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
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The Church
A church is mentioned in Domesday (1086), which was almost
certainly on the site of the present day church - St Wulfram's.
Churches are mentioned in Domesday as they provided an
income for the lord of the Manor.
The grade I Listed church was built in the 12th century and
retains its original format, although it has undergone some
alteration and additions.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
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Tofts and Crofts
In the villages of Lincolnshire peasants lived in
houses made of wood, turf or unbaked earth built
on platforms known as tofts. Later, stone was used
for foundations and walls.
Next to the house, there would be a croft or garden
/ paddock. Here the peasants would grow
vegetables such as peas, beans, leeks, onions
and herbs as well as keep ducks, hens and geese.
At the time of Domesday (1086),a
total of 77 tofts were recorded in Grantham.
The area was residential in the medieval period
as shown by the houses and long burgage
plots. It remains partially residential in
the present day although there are also retail
buildings on the site
See complete
Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
St Margaret’s Hospital
The hospital of St Margaret was founded before 1328
and is also referred to as the hospital by the Spittlegate
(the word Spital often refers to leper hospitals).
A medieval Christian cemetery was excavated in 1857
(and in 1991) on London Road near Wharf Road, to the
south of the map. This may be the cemetery of St.
Margaret's Hospital and means that the hospital
buildings might be nearby.
Three of the skeletons excavated in 1991 showed signs
of having had leprosy.
The area was used for residential purposes, or possibly
for the Hospital, and for farming land and is now of
mixed residential and retail use.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
14. Ridge and Furrow
The land was farmed communally - large fields, part of the open
field system, were divided into strips and split among the
peasants. There were few hedges or other field boundaries.
In the medieval period, the area was green fields which were
ploughed in strips known as ridge and furrows. Different crops
might have been grown along each ridge as they were often
worked by different sokemen. The modern map shows that the
area is still green fields and evidence of the ridge and furrow
can be seen on the aerial photograph.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
Grantham House
In the medieval period this area was occupied
by Grantham House and its gardens. The gate
posts at the entrance to the property, opposite
the church, are 13th century Listed features
that are still in existence in the present day.
The property layout remains fairly similar on
the modern map, although the house has been
demolished and replaced with a new building
and a swimming pool. The large expanses of
green land have not been built upon.
A manor was the dwelling and estate of the nobleman
who held the land from the King or other nobleman.
They would collect payments for the King from the
peasants around and make them work for him. In the
Domesday Book the size of manors varied enormously.
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Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
Watermills
There is documentary evidence in the Domesday
Book of at least four mills existing in medieval
Grantham. These were watermills not windmills
which were a later invention.
They were probably located along the River
Witham, although their exact location is unknown.
There is also a large amount of ridge and furrow
farming in this area. The modern map shows that
this was replaced by expanses of industry.
See complete
Medieval map
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Aerial Photo
Resource provided by www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record
This is a
reconstruction
drawing of what
market day may
have looked like in
medieval Grantham.
The first markets
were held by custom
in Grantham rather
than by a Charter
granted by a king.
The first recording of a market in Grantham is in 1281 and it is not until 1484
that a Charter for a Wednesday market and two fairs (around Easter and in
early December) were granted by King Richard III.
Aerial Photo
Resource created for www.mylearning.org © Lincolnshire Historic Environment Record