Gainsborough () is a market town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

West Lindsey West Lindsey is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England. Its council is based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Caistor and M ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. The population was 20,842 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 23,243 in 2019. It lies on the east bank of the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

, north-west of Lincoln, south-west of

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

, 20 miles south-east of

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

and east of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. It is sometimes claimed to be England's furthest-inland port.

History

King Alfred, Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut the Great

The place-name Gainsborough first appears in the

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

of 1013 as ''Gegnesburh'' and ''Gæignesburh''. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, it appears as ''Gainesburg'': Gegn's fortified place. It was one of the capital cities of

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

in the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

period that preceded Danish rule. Its choice by the

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

s as an administrative centre was influenced by its proximity to the Danish stronghold at

Torksey __NOTOC__ Torksey is a small village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 875. It is situated on the A156 road, south of Gainsborough and north-west of Lincoln, an ...

. In 868

King Alfred Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when ...

married

Ealhswith Ealhswith or Ealswitha (died 5 December 902) was the wife of King Alfred the Great. She was the mother of King Edward the Elder who succeeded King Alfred to the Anglo-Saxon throne. Her father was a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman ...

(Ealswitha), daughter of

Æthelred Mucel Æthelred Mucel was an Anglo-Saxon noble from Mercia who was the father of Ealhswith, the wife of Alfred the Great. Æthelred witnessed several charters between 867 and 895; he may be the same man as an ealdorman called 'Mucel' who witnessed ...

, chief of the

Gaini The Gaini were an Anglo-Saxon tribe which occupied part of the kingdom of Mercia. The Gaini are only recorded in Asser's life of King Alfred the Great, written in 893, which stated that in 868, before he became king, Alfred married Ealhswith, dau ...

, who lived upon the banks of the River Trent, whence the town gets its name.Ian W. Walker (2000), ''Mercia and the Making of England'' Sutton J. Charles Cox (1916), ''Lincolnshire'' p. 133; Methuen & Co. Ltd. Retrieved 23 April 2011. Historically, Gainsborough is the "capital that never was". Towards the end of July 1013, the Dane

Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( ; ; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 until his death, King of England for five weeks from December 1013 until his death, and King of Norway from 999/1000 until 1014. He was the father of King Ha ...

and his son and heir

Cnut Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

(Canute) arrived in Gainsborough with an army of conquest. Sweyn defeated the English opposition, and King Ethelred fled the country. Sweyn was declared King of England and returned to Gainsborough. Sweyn and Cnut took up high office at the Gainsborough Castle on the site of the present-day Old Hall, while his army occupied the camp at Thonock (now known as Castle Hills). However, Sweyn died, or perhaps was killed five weeks later in Gainsborough. His son Cnut established a base elsewhere. So Gainsborough was named as capital of England and of Denmark for five weeks in the year 1013. Cnut may have performed his unsuccessful attempt to turn the tide back in the

at Gainsborough. Historians believe he may have been demonstrating on the Trent Aegir, a

tidal bore A tidal bore, often simply given as bore in context, is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay, reversing the direction of the river or bay's cu ...

. He and his supporters may have known Gainsborough was the furthest reach of the aegir, and ideal for his demonstration. However, the story was only written down a century later by

Henry of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon (; 1088 – 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), as "the most important Anglo- ...

, who gives no location, and it may have been a myth or a fable.

Medieval Gainsborough

The Domesday Book (1086) records that Gainsborough was a community of

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

villeins A villein is a class of serf tied to the land under the feudal system. As part of the contract with the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields in return for land. Villeins existed under a ...

and sokemen, tenants of Geoffrey de Guerche. The Lindsey Survey of 1115–1118 records that Gainsborough was held by

Nigel d'Aubigny Nigel d'Aubigny (''Neel d'Aubigny'' or ''Nigel de Albini'', died 1129), was a Norman Lord and English baron who was the son of Roger d'Aubigny and Amice or Avice de Mowbray. His paternal uncle William was lord of Aubigny, while his father was a ...

, the forebear of the Mowbray family, whose interest in Gainsborough continued until at least the end of the 14th century. A weekly market was granted by King John in 1204.

Gainsborough Old Hall

Thomas Burgh acquired the manor of Gainsborough in 1455. He built

Gainsborough Old Hall Gainsborough Old Hall in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire is over five hundred years old and one of the best preserved medieval manor houses in England. History Construction and royal visit by Richard III The hall was built by Sir Thomas Burgh in 14 ...

between 1460 and 1480, a large, 15th-century, timber-framed medieval strong house, and one of the best-preserved manor houses in Britain. It boasts a magnificent Great Hall and strong brick tower.

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

in 1483 and

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

in 1541 both stayed at the Old Hall. The manor was sold to the Hickman family in 1596.

English Civil War

The town was garrisoned for the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

in January 1643 and began cooperating with the garrison at Newark in raiding the surrounding countryside and harassing Parliamentarians there. With the Great North Road blocked to Parliamentarian traffic, Gainsborough became significant as part of a route around Newark by way of Lincoln and the line of the modern

A15 road This is a list of roads designated A15. Entries are sorted in alphabetical order by name of country. * A015 road (Argentina), a road connecting the junction with National Route 14 at La Criolla and the Salto Grande Dam access-road * ''A15 road (A ...

. It was in Royalist interests to obstruct this, which gave rise to battles at

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Ca ...

and Winceby. Parliament captured Gainsborough in the battle on 20 July, but it was immediately besieged by a large Royalist army and forced to surrender after three days. Parliament captured Gainsborough again on 18 December 1643, but had to withdraw in March 1644, razing the town's defences to prevent their use by the enemy. The Earl of Manchester's army passed through Gainsborough in May 1644 on its way to York and the

Battle of Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639–1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters unde ...

. After the Civil War ended in 1645, several people in Gainsborough were fined for Royalist sympathies, including Sir Willoughby Hickman, 1st Baronet at the Old Hall, who had been created the first Baronet of Gainsborough by Charles I in 1643.

Churches

The first record of a church at Gainsborough is in 1180, when the rectory there was granted by Roger de Talebu to the great Preceptory of the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

in Lindsey, at Willoughton. In 1547, following the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

, the parish of Gainsborough came under the jurisdiction of the

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...

for the first time. The medieval Church of All Saints fell into disrepair after the Civil War. In 1736 it was demolished to make way for a new parish church completed in 1748 in a mix of perpendicular Gothic and

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

styles. All that remains of the medieval church is the west tower, 90 feet high with a ring of eight bells. A monument to Richard Rollett, master

sailmaker A sailmaker makes and repairs sails for sailboats, kites, hang gliders, wind art, architectural sails, or other structures using sails. A sailmaker typically works on shore in a sail loft; the sail loft has other sailmakers. Large ocean-going sa ...

on Captain

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's second voyage, is located in the porch. All Saints remains the main parish church of the town. The town's rising 19th-century population called for a second church in the south of the town; Holy Trinity Church opened in 1843. This was followed by St John the Divine Church in Ashcroft Road in 1882, and St George's Church in Heapham Road in the 1950s. Holy Trinity closed in 1971 and is now the Trinity Arts Centre. St John the Divine church was closed in 2002 and it is now used for a cafe and community centre. Non-conformism flourished in Gainsborough. It has often been claimed that some of the Mayflower Pilgrims worshipped in secret at the Old Hall before sailing for Holland to find religious freedom in 1609; no historical evidence for this has been found, whereas the congregation of John Smyth that met in the town developed into the

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

and some returned to England. The John Robinson Memorial Church in Church Street was dedicated in 1897; the cornerstone was laid by Thomas F. Bayard,

US Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the United States' diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of th ...

. Now the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

, it was named in honour of John Robinson (1576–1625),

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of the "

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who travelled to North America on the ship ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith had named ...

" before they left on the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

''.

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

, the founder of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, preached in Gainsborough several times between 1759 and 1790. The town's first Methodist chapel opened in Church Lane in 1788, moving to a new site in North Street in 1804, and rebuilt there as St Stephen's in 1966. The Primitive Methodists set up in the town in 1819, with chapels in Spring Gardens (1838), Trinity Street (1877) and Ropery Road (1910). St Thomas's Church in Cross Street caters for the town's Roman Catholics.

Second World War

Gainsborough suffered its only large-scale air raid of the war on the night of 10 May 1941. High-explosive bombs and

incendiaries Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

were dropped, but many fell harmlessly on the surrounding countryside. There was only minor damage in the town and no casualties. On the night of 28–29 April 1942 a single Dornier 217 dropped a stick of bombs on the town centre, causing extensive damage and the loss of seven lives. On 31 December 1942, a

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufor ...

aircraft on a training exercise crashed on Noel Street, killing both airmen and a three-year-old girl. On 22 May 1944 a RAF

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

fighter, in a training exercise, collided with a

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

bomber and crashed into a Sheffield-bound goods train as it was passing over the railway bridge on Lea Road. The pilot was the only casualty. In the early hours of 5 March 1945 a single

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...

fighter/bomber made a low-level attack over the town, dropping anti-personnel bombs on Church Street and the surrounding residential area. Three people died and 50 houses were damaged.

New town

There was a proposal to develop Gainsborough as a

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

linked to

, but the plan was not pursued. New housing was instead built to the south-east of Sheffield.

Governance

The town was before 1974 in the Gainsborough Urban District in the county of

Lindsey Lindsey may refer to : Places Canada * Lindsey Lake, Nova Scotia England * Parts of Lindsey, one of the historic Parts of Lincolnshire and an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 ** East Lindsey, an administrative district in Lincolnshire, ...

. West Lindsey District Council was formed from five former councils. Gainsborough Town Council was established in 1992, and in the same year Gainsborough's first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

was appointed. The council consists of four wards, Gainsborough Hill, Gainsborough North-East, Gainsborough North-West, and Gainsborough Trent, which elect a total of 18 councillors. The next municipal elections are scheduled for May 2027. Sir

Edward Leigh Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gainsborough, previously Gainsborough and Horncastle, since 1983. Parliament's longes ...

has been Gainsborough's Member of Parliament (MP) since 1983.

Oil

In July 1958, BP discovered oil at Corringham, then at Gainsborough in January 1959.

Geography

The town is at the meeting point of the east–west A631, which crosses the Trent on

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

at the only point between the M180 and the A57), the A156 from the south to

and A159 from

). The dual-carriageway ''Thorndike Way'' was intended to link with the A15 at Caenby Corner; it only reache
eastward
to the town boundary. It is named after the locally born actress Dame

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...

. The former A631 through the town is now the B1433. Work on the 4km bypass was started by Tarmac in late 1972, and opened on Friday 10 May 1974. The civil parish extends south across rural land to Lea. The boundary passes to the south of Warren Wood, north of Lea Wood Farm, and along the northern edge of Lea Wood northwards through Bass Wood, where it meets Corringham, the main settlement to the east of Gainsborough. The boundary crosses ''Thorndike Way'' (A631) and briefly follows the B1433. At Belt Farm it meets ''Thonock'', then follows ''The Belt Road'', to the south of Gainsborough Golf Club, then down ''Thonock Hill'' to the edge of the Trent Valley.

George Eliot and ''The Mill on the Floss''

Many scholars believe Gainsborough to be the basis for the fictional town of St Ogg's in

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

's ''

The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by English author George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, first published in three volumes on 4 April 1860 by William Blackwood and Sons. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Pub ...

'' (1860). The novelist visited Gainsborough in 1859, staying in the house of a shipbuilder in Bridge Street, which survives today as the United Services Club. The stone bridge and the nearby willow tree are mentioned and the Old Hall is described in detail. Thomas Miller's ''Our Old Town'' published two years before, included the true story of a miller who loses a lawsuit after assaulting his adversary, and George Eliot used a similar story plot in ''The Mill on the Floss'' as the basis of the Tulliver/Wakem feud. It is also possible that she witnessed the Trent Aegir, which inspired the flood in her story's climax.

Economy

Boiler-maker and ironworks

Gainsborough has a long history of industry. It was the manufacturing base of Marshall, Sons & Co., a boiler-maker founded by William Marshall in 1848, who died in 1861 and was buried in the cemetery in Ropery Road. His business became one of the joint-stock companies run by his sons James and Henry. It occupied the 16-acre Britannia Ironworks, the biggest in Europe when built. Marshall's Works'

steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

were sold worldwide until it closed in the 1980s. The site is now split among various companies.

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

in Beaumont Street and Dransfield's occupy about nine acres; the remainder is held by local companies.

Packaging

Another area of Gainsborough industry is Rose Brothers, named after William German Rose and Walter Rose, the co-founders. In 1893 William Rose invented the world's first packaging machine. Two years later it bought the Trentside Works site and started to expand into many other areas, producing items such as starch, razor blades and sweets such as Cadbury's chocolates, its name appearing on the Roses selection. The firm produced seaside rock-making machines, cigarette-making machines and bread-slicing and wrapping machines. When it closed, A. M. P. Rose bought the confectionery packaging side. The Rose Brothers Ground hosted cricket matches. By the east bank of the Trent near the railway bridge is a large mill owned by Kerry Ingredients (headquartered in

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

Wigs, jokes and exhausts

Gainsborough is the home of two of the largest importers of

jokes A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...

and

novelties A novelty item is an object which is specifically designed to serve no practical purpose, and is sold for its uniqueness, humor, or simply as something new (hence "novelty", or newness). The term also applies to practical items with fanciful or ...

into the UK: Smiffy's (formerly known as RH Smith & Sons, founded in 1894), and Pam's of Gainsborough, a smaller firm founded in 1986. Smiffy's were the only wigmaker left in the UK until December 2008, when bulk production moved to the Far East and over 35 jobs were lost. The firm has set its future goals on a more mature

fancy dress A costume party (American English) or fancy dress party (other varieties of English) is a type of party, common in contemporary Anglo culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock characte ...

and party market. Another local business is Eminox, founded in 1978. It started by building replacement exhausts for the local bus company, then expanded into manufacturing large

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

exhaust systems for buses and commercial vehicles. It also builds low-emission catalytic systems for the London low emission zone.

Landmarks

Beside Riverside Walk are Whitton's Mill flats, which won a Royal Town Planning Institute award for the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

. Marshall's Yard also received an award, for regeneration. West Lindsey District Council had its offices at the Guildhall, Lord Street, but moved in January 2008 to a £4.3 million new-build in Marshall's Yard. Silver Street is home to many Gainsborough shops. Elswitha Hall is the birthplace of

Halford John Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was a British geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Exte ...

, founder of the

Geographical Association The Geographical Association (GA) is an association in the United Kingdom. The organisation has a stated aim of improving geographical knowledge of the public through promoting geographical education. Origins The Geographical Association was fo ...

. A water tower in Heapham Road was built in 1897 to mark the

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

Transport

Railway

The town has two railway stations on different routes. The main station is Gainsborough Lea Road in Lea Road (A156) in the south of the town, serving the Sheffield-Lincoln and Doncaster-Lincoln lines with mainly hourly services to , and . Sheffield services generally call at , and Sheffield only, then continue towards . The other station is Gainsborough Central near the town centre. It serves the Brigg branch line and is the terminus of an hourly service to and from Sheffield on Mondays to Saturdays, calling at all stations. On Saturdays there are three services to via and . Where the railway crosses the Trent, the four lines come together at two junctions on either side of the river. The lines from Lincoln and Cleethorpes meet at East Trent Junction, east of the river. Those from Sheffield and Doncaster meet at West Trent Junction on the opposite side in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. West Burton Power Station is to the south-west of the town, next to the Sheffield-Lincoln Line.

Buses

The town bus station in Hickmen Street has frequent services on Monday to Saturday, but no Sunday services. Most town routes are served by

Stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

. Two local services connect the uphill area of the town and Morton to the town centre, one running clockwise, the other anti-clockwise. The town has a connection hub with hourly services to Lincoln, Scunthorpe and Retford and a service to Doncaster every two hours. These serve several villages along the route. Other bus services run during school terms.

Rivers

Gainsborough is sometimes claimed as the British port furthest inland, at over from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. It has had a long history of river shipping trade. There is still one wharf, but ships no longer navigate this far up river. Commercial shipping remains further down the river at Gunness Wharf, Grove Wharf and Flixborough Wharf, which has direct rail links. This leads to some to argue that

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

, to the north of the town, is now the most

inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...

in the UK. At the A631

, there was a ferry before 1787, a distance of 235 feet. The bridge was completed for £12,000 in the spring of 1791, but it meant that taller river traffic of the day could no longer go further upstream. Originally a toll bridge, it was bought by the Ministry of Transport, Lindsey County Council, Gainsborough Urban District and Nottinghamshire County Council for £130,000 in 1927 and declared toll-free on 31 March 1932.Ian S. Beckwith, ''The Book of Gainsborough'' (1988) In the 1970s, the town council planned to build another bridge adjacent to the existing one on the North side and extend the Thorndike Way dual-carriageway across the river and join The Flood Road dual-carriageway. However, all of the funding for the project was given for the completion of the

Humber Bridge The Humber Bridge is a single-span road suspension bridge near Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. When it opened to traffic on 24 June 1981, it was the longest of its type in the world; the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge surpassed ...

, which opened in 1981.

Sport

The town is home to the semi-professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club

Gainsborough Trinity F.C. Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

, which plays in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

, the seventh level of English football. For a brief spell in the early 20th century, the club was professional and a member of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. The Gainsborough United F.C. was active in 1980. Gainsborough Rugby Club (the All Blacks) has played Rugby Union in the town since 1924. The town is home to the Gainsborough & Morton Striders Athletic Club, who in 2013 were awarded England Athletics' ''Run England'' National Group of the Year. The club was founded in July 1983. There are several cycling clubs, including Trent Valley Road Club, Viking Velo and Gainsborough Aegir Cycling Club.

Media

Television signals are received from either the Belmont or

Emley Moor The Emley Moor transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on Emley Moor, west of the village centre of Emley, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It is made up of a concrete tower and apparatus that began ...

TV transmitters. Local radio stations are

BBC Radio Lincolnshire BBC Radio Lincolnshire is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lincolnshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios near Newport Ar ...

, Greatest Hits Radio Lincolnshire, Hits Radio Lincolnshire and Trentside Radio, a community based radio station. The town's local newspapers are the '' Gainsborough Standard'' and ''

Lincolnshire Echo The ''Lincolnshire Echo'' is a weekly British regional newspaper for Lincolnshire, whose first edition was on Tuesday 31 January 1893, and is published every Thursday. It is owned by Reach PLC and it is distributed throughout the county. The ...

''.

Attractions

The house and grounds of Richmond Park, in the north of the town, opened as a public park in 1947; attractions include greenhouses, an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

and a 600-year-old oak tree. Whitton Gardens on the Riverside opened in 1973. Gainsborough Model Railway Society features one of the largest model railways in ‘O’ gauge, depicting The East Coast Main Line from Kings Cross to

Leeds Central Leeds Central was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency first existed from 1885 until it was abolished in 1955. It was recreated in 1983. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Revie ...

. The model railway build commenced in 1953, covers 2500 square feet, has over 1200 feet of main line track and needs ten operators.

is over five hundred years old and one of the best preserved

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

manor houses in England. Gainsborough Town Hall, which was built in 1892, is now an entertainment venue with seating for up to 150 people. Renovation of the town's river banks was completed in 2002, providing riverside access. On the second weekend in June in that year, the town hosted the Gainsborough Riverside Festival, an annual arts/heritage event that ran until 2013. Trinity Art Centre hosts live music, plays, comedy, and also screens films. There is a volunteer-run charity called Gainsborough Heritage Centre, with displays of a range of object from the town's past.

Education

Unlike most of the UK, Lincolnshire retains a

tripartite system The Tripartite System was the selective school system of State school#United Kingdom, state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 onwards in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementa ...

, with secondary education for many pupils decided by voluntary examination at

eleven Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

. The town has one of the top state schools in the country,

Queen Elizabeth's High School Not to be confused with Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet. Queen Elizabeth's High School is a co-educational grammar school in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. The school, established in 1983, but with a timeline to 1589, is an amalgamat ...

(selective state

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

from 11 to 18 featuring a sixth form) on Morton Terrace (A159). QEHS students earn outstanding GCSE and

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

results and the school is over-subscribed. The town has several primary schools. There are links beyond the town to the John Leggott Sixth Form College in

, North Lindsey College, and Lincoln College. Sweyn

Notable people

In birth order: *

(died 1014), King of Denmark and England, died in Gainsborough. * Simon Patrick (1626–1707), theologian and

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...

* *

Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon (16 January 1740 – 26 September 1799), styled Lord Norreys from 1745 to 1760, was an English peer and music patron. Bertie was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the second eldest son of Willoughby Bert ...

(1740–1799), peer and music patron *

Thomas Mozley Thomas Mozley (180617 June 1893) was an English clergyman and writer associated with the Oxford Movement. Early life Mozley was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of a bookseller and publisher. His brother, James Bowling Mozley, would ...

(1806–1893), clergyman and writer * Thomas Miller (1807–1874), author and poet * James Bowling Mozley (1813–1878), theologian * John Collingham Moore (1829–1880), portrait painter *Sir

Halford Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was a British geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ext ...

(1861–1947), geographer and explorer * George Cuckson (1878–1915), footballer *Dame

(1882–1976), actress * Frank Airey (born 1887), footballer with

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

* Kathleen E. Carpenter (1891–1970), freshwater ecologist * Rex Woods (1903–1987), artist and illustrator *

Bill Podmore Edgar William Podmore (15 August 1931 – 22 January 1994) was a British television producer. Born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, he is best remembered for his long association with the soap opera ''Coronation Street'', a series he produced for ...

(1931–1994), TV producer, ''Coronation Street'' * Mervyn Winfield (1933–2014), Nottinghamshire cricketer *

John Alderton John Alderton (born 27 November 1940) is an English retired actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', '' Thomas & Sarah'', '' Wodehouse Playhouse'', '' Little Miss'' (original television series), '' Please Sir!'', '' ...

(born 1940), actor, ''Upstairs Downstairs'', ''Please Sir!'', the original series of ''Fireman Sam'' * Susan Wakefield (1942–2022), New Zealand Tax expert, philanthropist * John Hargreaves (born 1944), England cricketer * Andy Dalby (born 1948), guitarist with Kingdom Come and Camel * Chris Mosdell (born 1949), lyricist with

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (abbreviated to YMO) was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals, occasional keyboards) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Julia Deakin Julia Margaret Deakin (born 20 May 1952)Clarke, Gemma (5 September 2016)"Grand Re-Opening of Gainsborough Heritage Centre" ''Gainsborough Heritage Association''. Retrieved 10 August 2021. is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the ...

(born 1952), actress * Steve Housham (born 1976), footballer and manager

International relations

Gainsborough is twinned with

Cham, Germany Cham (; ) is the capital of the Cham (district), district of Cham in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria in Germany. Location Cham lies within the Cham-Furth lowland, which is bordered on the south by the Bavarian Forest and on the north by the Uppe ...

Arms

References

External links

Town CouncilOfficial Gainsborough Old Hall Website
Information on the hall, events and history
Town historyThe churches''Gainsborough Live'' Local News''Gainsborough Standard'' newspaper

Lincs FM – Local Commercial Radio Station
{{authority control Civil parishes in Lincolnshire Towns in Lincolnshire West Lindsey District