Editing Sleaford (section)

==History==
===Etymology===
The earliest records of the place-name Sleaford are found in a charter of 852 as ''Slioford'' and in the [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]] as ''Sliowaford''. In the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' (1086), it is recorded as ''Eslaforde'' and in the early 13th century as ''Sliforde''.<ref name=":5" /> In the 13th century ''[[Book of Fees]]'' it appears as ''Lafford''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Creasey|1825|p=21}}.</ref> The name is formed from the [[Old English]] words {{Lang|ang|sliow}} and {{Lang|ang|ford}}, together meaning "ford over a muddy or slimy river".<ref name=":5">{{Harvnb|Ekwall|1977|p=462}}.</ref>

===Early period===
[[File:Corieltauvistater.jpg|thumbnail|An electrum [[stater]] of the [[Corieltauvi]], probably struck at Sleaford in the mid-1st century BC]]
Archaeological material from the [[Bronze Age]] and earlier has been recovered and excavations have shown there was unsustained late-[[Neolithic]] and Bronze Age human activity in the vicinity. The earliest known permanent settlement dates from the [[Iron Age]], where a track northwards from [[Bourne, Lincolnshire|Bourne]] crossed the River Slea. Although only sparse pottery evidence has been found for the middle Iron Age period, 4,290 pellet mould fragments, probably used for minting and dated to 50 BC–AD 50, have been uncovered south-east of the modern town centre, south of a crossing of the River Slea and near Mareham Lane in Old Sleaford. The largest of its kind in Europe, the deposit has led archaeologists to consider that the site in Old Sleaford was one of the largest [[Corieltauvi]]an settlements in the period and possibly a tribal centre.<ref name="mahany-roffe-6">{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|p=6}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|May|1994|pp=1–2}}.</ref>

During the [[Roman Britain|Roman occupation of Britain]] (AD 43–409), the settlement was "extensive and of considerable importance".<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|p=8}}.</ref> Its location beside the Fens may have made it economically and administratively important as a centre for stewards and owners of fenland estates.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|pp=8–10}}.</ref> There are signs of a road connecting Old Sleaford to [[Heckington]], where Roman tile kilns have been uncovered and may imply the presence of a market.<ref name="mahany-roffe-10">{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|p=10}}.</ref> When the first roads were built by the Romans, Sleaford was bypassed as "less conveniently located" and more "geared to native needs".<ref>{{Harvnb|Burnham|Wacher|1990|p=9}}.</ref> A smaller road, [[Mareham Lane]], which the Romans renewed, ran through Old Sleaford, and south along the fen edge towards Bourne. Where it passed through Old Sleaford, excavations have shown a large Roman domestic residence, associated farm buildings and field systems, and several burials.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MLI60584&resourceID=1006 |title=Romano-British Roadside Settlement to the North of Boston Road, Sleaford |work=Heritage Gateway |access-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203010915/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MLI60584&resourceID=1006 |archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref> Other Roman remains, including a burial, have been excavated.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/8498311.stm |title=Skeleton Uncovered at Roman Dig in Sleaford |work=[[BBC News]] |date=4 February 2010 |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226141139/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/8498311.stm|archive-date=26 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.apsarchaeology.co.uk/news/index.php?title=First%20Roman%20cemetery%20plot%20in%20Sleaford%20unearthed |title=First Roman Cemetery Plot in Sleaford Unearthed |work=Archaeological Project Services |date=17 March 2011|access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205014430/http://www.apsarchaeology.co.uk/news/index.php?title=First%20Roman%20cemetery%20plot%20in%20Sleaford%20unearthed|archive-date=5 December 2014}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Plan of Sleaford Castle.png|thumb|A plan of [[Sleaford Castle]]|350x350px]]
There is little evidence of continuous settlement between the late Roman and [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] periods but the Saxons did establish themselves eventually. South of the modern town, a 6th- to 7th-century cemetery has been uncovered with an estimated 600 burials, many showing signs of [[Paganism|pagan]] rites. The now-ruined [[St Giles/All Saints' Church, Old Sleaford|church]] at Old Sleaford has been discovered<ref name="mahany-roffe-10" /> and excavations of the market place have uncovered Anglo-Saxon remains from the 8th–9th centuries, indicating some form of enclosure with domestic features.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MLI91643&resourceID=1006 |title=Mediaeval Core of New Sleaford |work=Heritage Gateway |access-date=27 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510101105/https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MLI91643&resourceID=1006|archive-date=10 May 2023}}</ref>

The earliest documentary reference to Sleaford occurs in a 9th-century charter,<ref name="mahany-roffe-11">{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|p=11}}.</ref> when it was owned by Medehamstede Abbey in [[Peterborough]], a [[Mercia]]n royal foundation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=17}}.</ref> There is little evidence of estate structure until the late Saxon period,<ref name="mahany-roffe-10" /> but there may have been a market and court before the [[Norman Conquest]], and it may have been an economic and jurisdictional centre for surrounding settlements.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|pp=14–16}}.</ref> The Slea played a big part in the town's economy: it never ran dry or froze, and by the 11th century it supported a dozen [[watermill]]s. The mills and others in nearby [[Quarrington, Lincolnshire|Quarrington]] and the lost hamlet of Millsthorpe, formed the "most important mill cluster in Lincolnshire".<ref name=":2">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=17–18}}; Quarrington means "settlement of millers".</ref>

In the later Middle Ages, the Romano-British settlement became known as Old Sleaford, while New Sleaford was a settlement centred on [[St Denys' Church, Sleaford|St Denys' Church]] and the market place.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|pp=11–12}}.</ref> The ''[[Domesday Book]]'' of 1086 has two entries under ''Eslaforde'' (Sleaford) recording land held by [[Ramsey Abbey]] and the [[Bishop of Lincoln]].{{Refn|group="n"|The Bishop succeeded a Saxon [[thegn]], Bardi, and held 11 carucates with 29 villeins, 11 borders, 6 sokeman, a church and priest, and 8 mills, {{convert|1|acre|ha|1|abbr=off}} of woodland, {{convert|320|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of meadow and {{convert|330|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of marsh. Ramsey Abbey had been granted land in Sleaford and surrounding villages in about 1051. By ''Domesday'' its fee called ''Eslaforde'' consisted of 1 [[carucate]], 1 [[Soke (legal)|sokeman]], 2 [[Serfdom|villeins]] and {{convert|27|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of meadow; it was sokeland of the abbot of Ramsey's manor of [[Quarrington, Lincolnshire|Quarrington]], where he is recorded holding two churches.<ref name="mahany-roffe-11"/>}} The location of these manors is unclear. One theory endorsed by [[Maurice Beresford]] is that they focused on the settlement at Old Sleaford, due to evidence that New Sleaford was planted in the 12th century by the bishop to increase his income,{{Refn|group="n"|This hypothesis was based on the topography, the granting of a fair, market and burgage tenure in the 12th century, and the "Old" and "New" epithets<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|pp=4–5}}.</ref>}} a development associated with the construction of [[Sleaford Castle]] (1123–39).<ref name="mahany-roffe-11"/> Beresford's theory has been criticised by the historians Christine Mahany and David Roffe{{Refn|group="n"|The earliest references to Old and New Sleaford occur in 13th century documents, which limits their use as evidence for town plantation; the grants of a market and fair in the 12th century do not necessarily indicate a new settlement, but merely a codification and rationalisation of pre-existing arrangements. The diversion of roads like Mareham Lane and the compass-aligned streets provide no chronology even if they imply a westward migration from Old Sleaford.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|pp=11–13}}.</ref>}} who have reinterpreted the ''Domesday'' material and argued that in 1086 the Bishop's manor included the church and associated settlement which became "New" Sleaford.<ref name="Mahany 1979 13–14">{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|pp=13–14}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=15–16}}.</ref>

A charter to hold a fair on the feast day of St Denis was granted by King [[Stephen, King of England|Stephen]] to [[Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln]], in 1136–1140. Between 1154 and 1165, [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] granted the bishop of Lincoln the right to hold a market at Sleaford and [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] confirmed this in 1329. In 1401, [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] granted the bishop fairs on the feast days of St Denis and St Peter's Chains.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Samantha |last=Letters |url=http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html |title=Places |work=Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 |publisher=[[Centre for Metropolitan Studies]], [[Institute of Historical Research]] |access-date=9 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924045219/https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/gazweb2.html |archive-date=24 September 2024}}</ref> A survey of [[burgage]] tenure from 1258 survives,<ref>{{Harvnb|Beresford|Finberg|1973|p=137}}; the survey was examined in {{Harvnb|Hosford|1968}}.</ref> analysis of which indicates that [[demesne]] farming centred on the hamlet of [[Holdingham]].<ref name=":6">{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|p=18}}.</ref> The town later had at least two [[guild]]s comparable to those found in developed towns.<ref name=":1">{{Harvnb|Hosford|1968|p=28}}.</ref> However, there was no formal charter outlining the town's freedoms;<ref name="Pawley Book of Sleaford p. 24">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=24}}.</ref> tight control by the bishops meant the economy was mainly geared to serve them. It thus retained a strong tradition of demesne farming well into the 14th century.<ref name=":17">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=29}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|pp=18–19}}.</ref> As the economic initiative passed more to burgesses and middlemen who formed ties with nearby towns such as [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]], evidence suggests that Sleaford developed a locally important role in the wool trade.<ref name="Roffe p. 19">{{Harvnb|Mahany|Roffe|1979|p=19}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=34}}.</ref> In the [[Subsidy roll|Lay Subsidy]] of 1334, New Sleaford was the wealthiest settlement in the Flaxwell [[Hundred (county division)|wapentake]], with a value of £16 0s. 8d.<sup>1</sup>/<sub>4</sub>d.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MLI91642&resourceID=1006 |title=General Settlement Record for New Sleaford |work=Heritage Gateway |access-date=27 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404203535/https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MLI91642&resourceID=1006|archive-date=4 April 2023}}</ref> Meanwhile, Old Sleaford, an "insignificant" place since the end of the Roman period, declined and may have been deserted by the 16th century.<ref name="lincstothepast.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lincstothepast.com/Settlement-of-Old-Sleaford/246006.record?pt=S |title=Settlement of Old Sleaford (Reference Name MLI91636) |work=Lincs to the Past |publisher=[[Lincolnshire Archives]] |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109181433/http://www.lincstothepast.com/Settlement-of-Old-Sleaford/246006.record?pt=S|archive-date=9 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=16}}.</ref>

===Early modern period===
[[File:Sir Edward Carre - geograph.org.uk - 960417.jpg|thumb|The tomb of Sir Edward Carre (died 1618) in St Denys' Church]]
The manor of Old Sleaford was owned in the late 15th and early 16th centuries by the Hussey family. [[John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford]] was executed for treason for his part in the [[Pilgrimage of Grace|Lincolnshire Rising]]; the manor and his residence at Old Place reverted to the Crown and were later sold to Robert Carre,<ref>{{Harvnb|Trollope|1872|pp=123–126}}; {{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=35–36}}.</ref> the son of George Carre or Carr, a wool merchant originally from Northumberland who had settled in Sleaford by 1522.<ref>{{Harvnb|Trollope|1872|pp=127–128}}; {{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=35}}.</ref> Robert also bought the castle and manor of New Sleaford from [[Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Trollope|1872|pp=129–130}}.</ref>{{refn|It was previously sold by the Bishops of Lincoln to [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset]] and reverted to the crown on his attainder in 1549; [[Queen Mary I of England|Queen Mary I]] later sold it to [[Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Trollope|1872|p=129}}.</ref>|group = n}} His eldest surviving son Robert founded [[Carre's Grammar School]] in 1604, and his youngest son Edward was created a [[Carr baronets|baronet]]; his son founded Sleaford Hospital in 1636.<ref name=":18">{{Harvnb|Trollope|1872|pp=131–132}}.</ref> The last male descendant died in 1683 and the heiress, Isabella, married [[John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol]], in whose family the estates remained until the 1970s.<ref name="Trollope Sleaford p. 134">{{Harvnb|Trollope|1872|p=134}}.</ref><ref name="Pawley-50">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=50}}.</ref> The Carres and Herveys had a strong influence: while extracting dues from their tenants, they enforced their monopoly on charging tolls on market and cattle traders and for driving animals through the town.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=43–44}}.</ref>

Industry was slow to take hold. By the second half of the 18th century, [[Cogglesford Mill]] was the only working corn mill in the town. An old mill at the junction of Westgate and Castle Causeway supplied hemp to the rope-making business of the Foster and Hill families. As the local historian Simon Pawley wrote, "In many respects, things had changed little [by 1783] since the survey of 1692," with few of the buildings or infrastructure being improved.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=49–51}} (quote at p. 51).</ref> Major changes to agriculture and industry took place in the last decade of that century. Sleaford's three medieval [[Open field system|open fields]] (North, West and Sleaford Fields) were [[Enclosure|enclosed]] in 1794, with over 90 per cent of the {{convert|1096|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of the open land being granted to Lord Bristol.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=63–64}}.</ref>

===Industrial development===
[[File:Sleaford-Map-1891-Simplified.svg|thumb|Sleaford, as it appeared in 1891. The major roads are marked in red; railways in grey and rivers in blue. Key: (1) Market Place, (2) St Denys' Church, (3) Manor House, (4) Carre's Grammar School, (5) Westholme House, (6) Castle, (7) Station, (8) Old Place, (9) the remains of St Giles's Church, (10) the Union workhouse.<ref>[[Ordnance Survey]]. 1:10,560 Map. Published 1891.</ref>]]

Canalisation of the River Slea began in the 1790s. [[Canal]]s in England were constructed from the 1760s to make inland trade easier; Sleaford's businessmen were keen to benefit from these. [[Sleaford Navigation]] opened in 1794.<ref name=":3">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=64}}.</ref><ref name=":19">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk/page42.html |title=History – Establishment |work=Sleaford Navigation Trust |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129202053/http://www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk/page42.html |archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> It eased the export of farm produce to the Midlands and the import of coal and oil. Mills along the Slea benefited and wharves were constructed around Carre Street.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=65–66}}.</ref> Between 1829 and 1836 the navigation's toll rights increased in value 27 times over.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk/page43.html |title=History – The Company |work=Sleaford Navigation Trust |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129202753/http://www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk/page43.html |archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> The railways emerged in the 19th century as an alternative to canals and arrived at the town in 1857, when a line from [[Poacher Line|Grantham to Sleaford]] opened.<ref name=":20">{{Harvnb|Shaw|1981|pp=79–81, 84, 86}}.</ref><ref name=":21">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk/Walk%206.pdf |title=Slea Walks 6 – Sleaford, Holdingham, Ruskington & Haverholme Lock |work=Sleaford Navigation Trust |access-date=17 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917161952/http://www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk/Walk%206.pdf |archive-date=17 September 2014}}</ref> This made trading easier and improved communications,{{refn|Bricks could also be transported more easily, which contributed to the construction of new buildings on West Banks, Grantham Road and London Road.<ref>{{Harvnb|Shaw|1981|p=87}}.</ref> For a full account of the development of West Banks and adjoining roads, see {{Harvnb|Stroud|Stroud|1981|pp=51–65}}. Station Road and Nag's Head Passage were also developed in this period.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ellis|1981c|pp=68–69}}.</ref>|group = n}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Shaw|1981|pp=87–88}}.</ref> but led to the decline of the Navigation Company. Income from tolls decreased by 80 per cent between 1858 and 1868; it made its first loss in 1873 and was abandoned in 1878.<ref name="Ellis pp. 89">{{Harvnb|Shaw|1981|pp=89–91}}.</ref> The town's rural location and transport links led in the late 19th century to the rise of two local seed merchants: Hubbard and Phillips, and Charles Sharpe; the former took over the Navigation Wharves, and the latter was trading in the US and Europe by the 1880s. The advent of steam power led Kirk and Parry to open a large steam-powered flour mill in 1857 and provided the basis of [[Ward and Dale]]'s factory, which made steam [[cultivator]]s for farming.<ref name="Pawley 1996 72">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=72}}.</ref> The railway, Sleaford's rural location and its [[Artesian well|artesian]] wells, were key factors in the development of the {{convert|13|acre|ha|abbr=off|adj=on|0}} [[Bass Maltings, Sleaford|Bass & Co]] [[Malt house|maltings]] complex at Mareham Lane (1892–1905).<ref name=":182"/>

New Sleaford's population more than doubled from 1,596 in 1801 to 3,539 in 1851.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10450913/cube/TOT_POP |title=New Sleaford AP/CP – Total Population |work=Vision of Britain |publisher=[[University of Portsmouth]] |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129203702/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10450913/cube/TOT_POP |archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> Coinciding with this is the construction or extension of public buildings, often by the local contractors Charles Kirk and [[Thomas Parry (Boston MP)|Thomas Parry]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Pevsner|Harris|Antram|2002|pp=654–657}}; {{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=101–102}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayStandard.aspx?oid=892397 |title=Journal and Account Book of Charles Kirk of Sleaford, Builder and Architect (Reference Name MISC DON 1015) |work=Lincs to the Past |publisher=[[Lincolnshire Archives]] |access-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232808/http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/RecordDisplayStandard.aspx?oid=892397 |archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref>{{refn|The principle buildings were the Sessions House (1831), the grammar school (1834), Carre's Hospital (1830–1846), the gasworks (1839), Navigation House (1838–39), much of Eastgate (including the Alvey School in 1850, and Kingston and Lafford Terraces in 1856 and 1857), the cemetery (1856) and the corn exchange (1857)|group=n}} The gasworks opened in 1839 to provide lighting in the town.<ref name="Mid-Victorian Sleaford p. 94">{{Harvnb|Shaw|1981|p=94}}.</ref> Sleaford's [[Poor Law Union]] was formed in 1836 to cater for the town and the surrounding 54 parishes. A [[workhouse]] was built by 1838, able to house 181 inmates.<ref name=":15">{{Cite web |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Sleaford/ |title=Sleaford, Lincolnshire |work=The Workhouse |access-date=13 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114052453/https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Sleaford/|archive-date=14 January 2024}}</ref> Despite these advances, the slums around Westgate were crowded, lacking in sanitation and ridden by disease;<ref name="Pawley79-80"/> Northgate, as the entry point from the north along the [[Turnpike trust|turnpike]], had also attracted notoriety for its taverns, lodging houses and brothels in the early 19th century: it was the "plague spot of the town".<ref name="Pawley 1996 103">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=103}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|Turland|2021|p=31}}.</ref> The local administration failed to deal with these issues, prompting a heavily critical report on the town's public health by the General Board of Health, which set up a Local Board of Health in 1850 to undertake public works.<ref name="Pawley79-80">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=79–80}}.</ref><ref>The report is: {{Harvnb|Ranger|1850}}.</ref> By the 1880s, Lord Bristol had allowed the Board to pump clean water into the town, though engineering problems and his reluctance to sell land to house a pumping station had delayed the introduction of sewers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=80–81}}.</ref> In the meantime, despite [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] dominating official institutions, [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformist]] chapels were flourishing in the poorest parts of the town, at Westgate from the early 19th century and at Northgate after 1848, where they sought to provide spiritual care and education. [[Temperance movement|Temperance]] was so prominent in the town that an [[aerated water]] factory, Lee and Green, opened in c. 1883 and became one of Sleaford's most important manufacturers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=71, 88–89, 102–103}}.</ref>

===Twentieth century and beyond===
[[File:Officer Training School - geograph.org.uk - 1554138.jpg|thumb|Officer Training School at [[RAF Cranwell]], near Sleaford.]]
Although hardly damaged in the [[World War I|First]] and [[World War II|Second World Wars]],{{Refn|group="n"|A Zeppelin raid passed overhead in 1916.<ref name="Pawley 1996 119–120">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=119–120}}.</ref>}} Sleaford has close links with the [[Royal Air Force]] due to proximity to several RAF bases, including [[RAF Cranwell]], [[RAF Digby]] and [[RAF Waddington]]. Lincolnshire's topography – flat and open countryside – and its location in the east of the country made it ideal for the airfields being constructed in the First World War. Work began on Cranwell in late 1915; it was designated an RAF base in 1918 and the [[Royal Air Force College Cranwell|RAF College]] opened in 1920 as the world's first air academy.<ref name="History of Royal Air Force Cranwell">{{Cite web |url=http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Cranwellaviationheritagecentre/section.asp?catId=34025 |title=History of Royal Air Force Cranwell |work=Cranwell Aviation Heritage Centre |access-date=18 September 2014 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230033558/http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Cranwellaviationheritagecentre/section.asp?catId=34025 |archive-date=30 December 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="raf.mod.uk">{{Cite web |title=Formation of RAFC Cranwell |work=[[Royal Air Force]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113010711/http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcollegecranwell/history/formationrafcc.cfm |archive-date=13 January 2013 |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcollegecranwell/history/formationrafcc.cfm}}</ref> The [[Cranwell branch]] railway linking Sleaford station with the RAF base opened in 1917 and closed in 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Outline History of RAF Cranwell |work=Royal Air Force Cranwell Apprentices' Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819235258/http://www.rafcaa.org.uk/cranwell.html |archive-date=19 August 2013 |url=http://www.rafcaa.org.uk/cranwell.html}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Ludlam|1988|p=47}}.</ref> During the Second World War, Lincolnshire was "the most significant location for bomber command" and [[Rauceby Hospital]], south-west of Sleaford, was requisitioned by the RAF as a specialist burns unit which the plastic surgeon [[Archibald McIndoe]] regularly visited.<ref name="History of Royal Air Force Cranwell" />

Sleaford's population remained static between the wars, but the [[Great Depression]] in the 1930s caused unemployment to rise. The Council housing put up along Drove Lane proved insufficient for the low-income families after the Westgate slums were cleared in the 1930s; Jubilee Grove opened in that decade to meet the demand.<ref name="Pawley 1996 119–120">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=119–120}}.</ref> In the post-war period, there were housing developments at St Giles Avenue, the Hoplands, Russell Crescent, Jubilee Grove and Grantham Road.<ref name="n-kesteven.gov.uk">{{Harvnb|North Kesteven District Council|2011c}}, figure 8 (overleaf from page 5).</ref> Parts of the town were redeveloped: in 1958, the Bristol Arms Arcade opened, the Corn Exchange was demolished in the 1960s and the Riverside Shopping Precinct opened in 1973, as did Flaxwell House, designed to house a department store, though later becoming the national headquarters for [[Interflora]].<ref name="Pawley 1996 121, 130">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|pp=121, 130}}.</ref> Old industries departed; Ward and Dale closed down in 1939<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ward and Dale Anniversary 2014 |url=https://steamploughclub.org.uk/ward-and-dale-anniversary-2014/ |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=Steam Plough Club|date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130213631/https://steamploughclub.org.uk/ward-and-dale-anniversary-2014/|archive-date=30 November 2023}}</ref> and Lee and Green around the 1940s;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monument Record MLI90625 – Site of Former Lee and Green Factory and Bottling Plant, Sleaford |url=https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Monument/MLI90625 |access-date=19 June 2024 |website=Lincolnshire Heritage Explorer |publisher=[[Lincolnshire County Council]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619202952/https://heritage-explorer.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Monument/MLI90625|archive-date=19 June 2024}}</ref> Bass shut the maltings in 1959,<ref name=":182">{{NHLE|num=1062154|desc=Former Maltings of Bass Industrial Estate|access-date=6 March 2015|mode=cs1|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and Hubbard and Phillips's pea-sorting factory closed in 1972.<ref name=":48" /> New [[Industrial park|industrial estates]] and business parks were built off East Road in the late 20th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lincolnshire County Council|2022|p=24}}.</ref>

By 1979, the major landowner, [[Victor Hervey, 6th Marquess of Bristol]], was heavily in debt and sold most of his estates in Sleaford and Quarrington. The estate office closed in 1989.<ref name="Pawley-122">{{Harvnb|Pawley|1996|p=122}}.</ref> Much of the land went to property developers and subsequent decades brought new housing and a considerable rise in population.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/sleafordanddistrictcivictrust/section.asp?catId=21666 |title=About Sleaford |work=Sleaford and District Civic Trust |access-date=17 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917203739/http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/sleafordanddistrictcivictrust/section.asp?catId=21666 |archive-date=17 September 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> According to a council report, people were attracted to the town by "the quality of life, low crime rates, relatively low house prices and good-quality education".<ref>{{Harvnb|Central Lincolnshire Joint Planning Unit|2010|p=41}}.</ref> From 1981 to 2011, Sleaford's population rose from 8,000 to 18,000; the growth rate in 1991–2001 was the fastest of any town in the county.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-23233893 |title=New Homes in Central Lincolnshire Could Reach 42,800 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=8 July 2013 |access-date=19 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310152207/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-23233893|archive-date=10 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|North Kesteven District Council|2011a|p=1}}.</ref> The infrastructure struggled to cope, especially with increased traffic congestion. Two bypasses opened and a one-way system was introduced, a process that Pawley argues accelerated the decline of the High Street.<ref name="Pawley-122" /> Between 1995 and 2001, the [[Single Regeneration Budget]] granted over £10 million to Sleaford to deliver 13 major regeneration programmes collectively known as "Sleaford Pride", including improvements to the town centre, the conversation of the old Navigation stables, and the development of [[The National Centre for Craft & Design|The Hub]] arts centre (opened 2002) on the site of a former Hubbard and Phillips seed warehouse.<ref name=":23" /><ref name=":48">{{Cite web |url=https://hub-sleaford.org.uk/history |title=History |work=The Hub |access-date=19 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619101936/https://hub-sleaford.org.uk/history|archive-date=19 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 December 1995 |title=New Year Start to Regeneration |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003991/19951220/005/0005 |access-date=7 February 2025 |work=Sleaford Target |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |p=5}}</ref>