Remembrance walk to honour Belton’s First World War heritage
A guided Remembrance walk at a historic estate will offer visitors a chance to explore the park’s little-known military past.
The Belton Estate National Trust site, near Grantham, will mark its wartime heritage on Sunday, November 9, with a special walk tracing its role during the First World War.
In 1914, Adelbert, 3rd Earl Brownlow, offered the estate to the War Office. Within months, rows of bell tents filled the parkland as soldiers of Kitchener’s Army arrived for training.
By April 1915, Belton had transformed into a temporary town housing around 20,000 men, complete with a base hospital, churches, YMCA huts, a cinema and even its own railway line.
After the formation of the Machine Gun Corps in October 1915, the estate became its English headquarters alongside Harrowby, storing 163 guns and hosting the training of thousands of troops before they were posted overseas.
Between 1915 and 1922, around 170,500 men served with the Corps, each spending at least five weeks at Belton before deployment.
Lady Adelaide Brownlow, President of the Lincolnshire Branch of the Red Cross, played a vital role in the local war effort. She established soldiers’ rest homes in Grantham, raised funds for the wounded and opened Belton’s gardens as a place of respite.
The upcoming Act of Remembrance Walk begins at 9.30am and will visit the Machine Gun site, Commonwealth War Graves at Londonthorpe, and the remains of the estate’s wartime hospital.
It will also include a climb to Bellmount Tower to learn about its connection to the RAF Regiment.
Charlotte Beaver, visitor operations and experience manager at Belton, said: “While the history of Belton sprawls across almost 400 years, its role in WW1 is an important part of the story.
“These walks are a wonderful way to bring this significant period of history to life, and I encourage anyone with an interest in Belton’s military past to come along.”
Further Military History walks are planned for Sunday, November 2, and Sunday, January 4.
Details and free bookings are available at nationaltrust.org.uk/Belton.