Tales from the riverbank: A look back at history of River Witham through Grantham

We recently held a talk on the history of our town’s river, writes Ian Simmons and David Martin, co-leads of Grantham RiverCare.

Grantham recently hosted a ‘heritage weekend’ when various groups across the town held events to celebrate past glories and reveal echoes of the past.

My co-author David Martin organised a river walk to highlight the history of the Witham as it flows through our town, with particular reference to the mills long gone from its banks.

Let’s start with some fun facts - the Witham is 82 miles long, rising south of Colsterworth, running north towards Lincoln, turning right towards Boston and then out to the North Sea. No one seems to know where the name came from although there are many theories which we can perhaps speculate on in a later ‘Tales’.

Since neolithic times, rivers have been used by us to get around (the ‘A1’ was even worse back then!) and our ancestors built mills to grind grain that fed the population. They were an essential food source and an opportunity to create wealth for past entrepreneurs.

Evidence exists across the town, most notably with two mill (grinding) stones propped up outside Avenue Vets in Avenue Road.

They can be clearly seen from the pavement. One stone would be fixed and one rotated, grinding as it turned.

Grantham used to have a couple of windmills, sadly long gone. One stood west of Manthorpe Road and one in Barrowby village. These supplemented the water mills on the banks of the Witham.

These include, running downstream/north, Spittalgate Mill (also known as Swallows Mill) off

Bridge End Road and now converted to accommodation. A mill on this site was mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086).

Less visible is the site of the mill along what is now Welham Street. Well Lane Mill was described in the Grantham Journal in 1854 no less, where a Chinese bridge crossed the river to the “Wilderness” on the east bank.

At that time most of the town was located west of the river, with open countryside for those who ventured across.

There was even a ducking stool from mediaeval times, evidence of the misogyny and ignorance women suffered back then.

Around the same time as the newspaper reports, two grand houses were constructed that stand today, namely Stonebridge House and Elsham House.

We headed through Wyndham Park towards Slate Mill Place where Slate Mill once stood before a huge fire destroyed it in 1892. A surprise to some, but this mill didn’t mill slate!