Editing Grantham (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Grantham_relief_map_labelled.svg|thumb|Grantham and surrounding settlements, roads, railways and watercourses. The urban area is in grey; areas over 100m in elevation are shaded beige.|286x286px]]
Grantham is a town in the [[South Kesteven]] district of [[Lincolnshire]], a [[non-metropolitan county]] in the [[East Midlands]] of England.<ref name=":0">[https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ "Election Maps"], ''[[Ordnance Survey]]''. Retrieved 14 December 2020.</ref> Until 1974 it was a [[borough]],<ref>{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=126}}.</ref> but it is now a [[civil parish]] and bounded by the parishes of [[Great Gonerby]] to the north-west, [[Belton and Manthorpe]] to the north, [[Londonthorpe and Harrowby Without]] to the north-east and east, [[Little Ponton and Stroxton]] to the south, [[Harlaxton]] to the south-west, and [[Barrowby]] to the west. Its [[urban area]] is almost entirely within the parish,<ref name=":0"/> though The Spinney [[housing estate]], Alma Park [[Industrial park|industrial estate]] and part of the Bridge End Road housing estate are in Londonthorpe and Harrowby Without.<ref name=":1">[http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/LondonthorpeandHarrowbyWithout/ "About the Parish"], ''Londonthorpe and Harrowby Without Parish Council''. Retrieved 14 December 2020.</ref>

===Topography and geology===
The town lies in the [[valley]] of the [[River Witham]], its core at the Witham's confluence with the Mowbeck (or Mow Beck).<ref name="Lane2011-9">{{Harvnb |Lane |2011 |p=9}}.</ref> The Witham flows south–north through Grantham.<ref>{{Harvnb |White |1979 |pp=1–2}}.</ref> The Mowbeck, which rises from springs at Harlaxton about {{convert|3|mi|km}} to the south-west of the town,<ref>[https://www.google.com/maps/dir/52.8859015,-0.6823101/Grantham/@52.8888804,-0.6827709,1483m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x487820d7b8e18acd:0xec445ad0df69f289!2m2!1d-0.643582!2d52.912524!3e2 "Harlaxton to Grantham"], ''[[Google Maps]]''. Retrieved 14 December 2020.</ref> is [[culvert]]ed behind Westgate and Brook Street<ref name="Lane2011-9"/> until it joins the Witham at White Bridge.<ref>[https://www.granthammatters.co.uk/grantham-underground/ "Grantham Underground"], ''Grantham Matters'', 21 March 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2020.</ref>

The floor of the Witham valley – 50–60 m above [[sea level]] in the town centre – is underlain by [[mudstone]] of the [[Charmouth Mudstone Formation|Charmouth formation]] of the [[Lower Jurassic]] period (199–183 million years ago). This formation is overlain by Belton sand and gravel laid down in estuaries and rivers in the [[Quaternary|Quaternary period]] up to 3 million years ago. The river courses are overlain by Quaternary [[alluvium]] and to the north by [[Fluvial terrace|river terrace]] deposits.<ref name="BGS">[http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain3d/ "Geology of Britain 3D"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523052912/http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain3d/ |date=23 May 2020 }} ([[British Geological Survey]]). Retrieved 14 December 2020.</ref> The [[soil]] around the route of the Witham is wet, acidic, sandy and loamy; its fertility is poor.<ref name="soilscapes">[http://www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes/ "Soilscapes Map"], Landis.org.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2020.</ref>

As the ground rises on the town's eastern and southern fringes, it is underlain by Jurassic [[Marl]]stone rocks of ferruginous [[sandstone]] and [[ironstone]] formed 190–174 million years ago, and then by [[Whitby Mudstone]] of 174–183 million years ago. The land rises sharply to form the [[Lincoln Cliff]] that marks the edge of the urban area and start of the [[Lincoln Heath]] and Kesteven Uplands, which are capped by Jurassic [[Oolite|Oolitic Limestone]],<ref name="BGS"/><ref name=":6">{{Harvnb |Robinson |2001 |pp=8–9}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2007 |pp=37, 44}}.</ref> mostly overlain by shallow, free-draining, [[Lime (material)|lime]]-rich soils.<ref name="soilscapes"/>

To the west, the town is near the edge of the low-lying [[Vale of Belvoir]]<ref>{{Harvnb |Measom |1861 |p=145}}.</ref> but fringed by an [[escarpment]]<ref>{{Harvnb |Robinson |2001 |p=9}}.</ref> rising in places to over 100 m to form the hills on which sit Barrowby, Great Gonerby, the Green Hill and Earlesfield suburban areas and the business parks off Trent Road. These hills are of siltstone and mudstone of the Jurassic [[Dyrham Formation]], which line the edges of the Witham and Mowbeck valleys and the shallow valley of [[Barrowby Stream]]. At its highest the scarp is capped by Jurassic ferruginous sandstone and ironstone rocks of the Marlstone formation. There are some [[Head (geology)|head deposits]] and [[pleistocene]] [[glaciofluvial]] deposits of sand and gravel east of Barrowby.<ref name="BGS"/> The soil in the lower areas is slowly [[Permeability (Earth sciences)|permeable]], seasonally wet and slightly acidic, though [[Base-richness|base-rich]]. On higher ground it tends to be slightly acidic and base-rich, but freely draining and highly fertile.<ref name="soilscapes"/>

[[Grantham Canal]], which opened in 1797,<ref>[http://www.granthamcanal.org/history/ "History"], ''Grantham Canal Society''. Retrieved 14 December 2020.</ref> closely follows the route of the Mowbeck from Echo Farm into the town. West of there it cuts through a valley north of Harlaxton into the Vale of Belvoir, eventually reaching [[West Bridgford]] near [[Nottingham]].<ref name="bing">[https://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=52.752459~-0.69762&style=r&lvl=11&sp=Point.52.752459_-0.69762_River%20Witham___ "Grantham"], ''[[Bing Maps]]''. Retrieved 14 December 2020. Toggle the [[Ordnance Survey]] layer for contours.</ref>

===Urban area===
[[File:Grantham_town_centre_map.png|thumb|408x408px|Map of Grantham town centre. London Road, Wharf Road, Sankt Augustin Way and Barrowby Road form the A52. Harlaxton Road is the A607.]]
The historical core of Grantham is bounded by Westgate, Brook Street and Castlegate, and includes the High Street down to St Peter's Hill. This is the town's main [[retail]] and [[Commercial district|commercial]] area. It includes many historic buildings. Between Westgate and the [[A52 road|A52]] to the west are [[Post-war|postwar]] retail buildings and [[High-rise building|blocks of flats]]. North of it is 18th, 19th and 20th-century [[suburb]]an housing focused on North Parade, which include [[villa]]s and [[Terraced house|terraced]] housing.<ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011 |pp=47, 49, 53, 61, 86}}.</ref> Further north, off Gonerby Road and Manthorpe Road ([[A607 road|A607]]), these give way to large, low-density, suburban, privately owned housing on estates mostly built in the 1970s and 1980s. Those at the base of Gonerby Hill are known as '''[[Gonerby Hill Foot]]''' and lie west of the railway line, to the east of which developments are contiguous with the historical core of [[Manthorpe, Grantham|'''Manthorpe''']] village.<ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011 |pp=153, 155, 164}}</ref>{{Refn|group="n"|There is some 1930s-era and earlier post-war housing lining Manthorpe Road, the A607, and some older housing in Gonerby Hill Foot.<ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011 |pp=157, 160}}</ref>}}

South of the town centre, suburban housing takes the form of late-[[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] brick, terraced and villa houses in [[Grid plan|grid-plan]] layouts, initially built for industrial workers and now largely owned or let privately.<ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011 |pp=103, 121}}.</ref> Alongside some housing in Harlaxton Road (A607), most of these streets cluster round [[Grantham railway station|the railway station]] and nearby retail and industrial units in an area known as '''Spittlegate''' (also spelled Spitalgate or Spittalgate), the town cemetery – an area called '''New Somerby''' in older maps – and the Wharf Road, London Road and Bridge End Road stretches of the A52.<ref name="bing"/><ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011|pp=105, 289}}</ref><ref>For New Somerby, see [https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/491500/334500/10/101230 "1:10,560 Ordnance Survey Map of Lincolnshire"] (dated 1947–50), retrieved via Old-Maps.co.uk on 16 December 2020.</ref> Further south-east, low-density, mostly privately owned, suburban housing estates of the 1970s and 1980s cluster round the A52, marking the edge of the town's urban area in an area of rising ground that forms part of '''Somerby Hill'''.<ref>{{Harvnb|South Kesteven District Council|2011|pp=182, 184, 186–188, 191}}</ref> Further east, off the A52, are the [[Prince William of Gloucester Barracks]], on the brow of the hill.<ref name="bing"/><ref>{{Harvnb|South Kesteven District Council|2011|pp=|p=182}}</ref>

The north-east fringe of the urban area is marked by 20th-century development. An exception is a piece of land east of the Witham and north of Stonebridge Road that includes schools and colleges and portions of a 19th-century barracks complex south of greenspace, including '''Wyndham Park'''. Otherwise the area between the Witham, Belton Lane, Londonthorpe Lane and the Lincoln Cliff has suburban housing, mostly privately owned with some let by [[housing association]]s. It includes part of the '''Harrowby Estate''', begun in 1928 as [[Public housing in the United Kingdom|council housing]]). The part round Belton Lane and Harrowby Lane is a low-density mix of pre-[[World War I|First World War]], [[Interwar period|interwar]] and postwar houses; the remainder of the large estate and the '''Cherry Orchard Estate''' appeared in the immediate postwar period in medium density, on a layout inspired by the [[Garden city movement|Garden City movement]]. South of Londonthorpe Lane and north-east of the other estates are medium and high-density housing areas dating largely from the 1970s to the early 21st century;<ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011 |pp=125, 129, 167, 169, 171, 174}}</ref><ref name=":2">For council estates, see {{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |pp=88–89}}</ref> The northernmost, known as '''The Spinney''' or '''Sunningdale''',<ref name=":1"/> adjoins the post-war '''Alma Park industrial estate''' off Londonthorpe Lane.<ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011 |pp=279, 288}}</ref>

The town's western fringe sits between the railway line, the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] bypass and the Kesteven Uplands. North of the canal are large, varied developments mostly from the 20th century, including the '''Earlesfield''' estate, begun as a council estate in the 1920s and expanded in the postwar period, industrial estates, and a [[leisure centre]] complex, all south of Barrowby Stream, by the expansive 1980s estate on '''Green Hill''', the Edwardian and Victorian villas lining Barrowby Road, and the large 1980s and 1990s estate to its north. Most of this is privately owned, but some is let by housing associations. The canal basin is lined with industrial, [[warehouse]], retail and office buildings that continue up to Dysart Road. South of them are Harlaxton Road (A607) and Springfield Road, round which separate residential developments have been built, including inter-war homes in Huntingtower Road, a 21st-century estate centred on Hudson Way, post-war social housing at Walton Gardens, post-war housing Denton Avenue, and late-20th-century developments at Harris Way.<ref name=":2"/><ref>{{Harvnb |South Kesteven District Council |2011 |pp=139, 141, 194, 198–200, 206, 208, 210–211, 218}}</ref>

===Climate===
The [[British Isles]] experience a temperate, [[maritime climate]] with warm summers and cool winters.<ref>[https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/England-and-Scotland.htm#:~:text=Englands%20climate%20can%20be%20described,lush%20green%20of%20its%20countryside.&text=Temperate%20winters%20and%20cool%20summers,extreme%20seasonal%20variations%20are%20rare. "Climate of the World: England and Scotland"], ''Weather Online''. Retrieved 8 July 2020. {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708220703/https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/England-and-Scotland.htm#:~:text=Englands%20climate%20can%20be%20described,lush%20green%20of%20its%20countryside.&text=Temperate%20winters%20and%20cool%20summers,extreme%20seasonal%20variations%20are%20rare. |date=8 July 2020}}.</ref> Data from the weather station nearest to Grantham, at Cranwell, {{convert|16|km|0|order=flip}} away, shows an average daily mean temperature of {{convert|9.8|°C|°F|abbr=on}} fluctuates from a peak of {{convert|16.9|°C|°F|abbr=on}} in July to {{convert|3.9|°C|°F|abbr=on}} in January. The average high temperature is {{convert|13.7|°C|°F|abbr=on}}, though monthly averages vary from {{convert|6.7|°C|°F|abbr=on}} in January and December to {{convert|21.8|°C|°F|abbr=on}} in July; the average low is {{convert|5.9|°C|°F|abbr=on}}, reaching lowest in February at {{convert|0.8|°C|°F|abbr=on}} and highest in July and August at {{convert|12.0|°C|°F|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Met Averages"/>

{{Cranwell weatherbox}}