Editing Grantham

{{Short description|Market town in Lincolnshire, England}}
{{about|the town in England}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox UK place
 | official_name            = Grantham
 | country                  = England
 | region                   = East Midlands
| static_image_name = {{multiple images
| image1 = Market Place, Grantham - geograph.org.uk - 3591234.jpg
<!--please crop me at the top and bottom-->
| image2 = Grantham - Town Hall ^ Sir Isaac Newton statue - geograph.org.uk - 4282239.jpg
| image3 = Vine Street, Grantham - geograph.org.uk - 2918115.jpg
| image4 = Grantham seen from the train - geograph.org.uk - 3814262.jpg
| image5 = The Church of St Wulfram, Grantham (5458729587).jpg
| image6 = The River Witham from Bridge End Road, Grantham - geograph.org.uk - 3946952.jpg
|align = center |total_width = 250|perrow=1 2
}}
| static_image_caption = Top to bottom, left to right: Market Place, [[Grantham Guildhall]] and statue of Sir [[Isaac Newton]], Vine Street, skyline of Grantham, [[St Wulfram's Church, Grantham|St Wulfram's Church]] and Bridge End Road with the [[River Witham]] passing through
 | population               = 44,580
 | population_ref           = (ONS, 2016)
 | os_grid_reference        = SK9136
 | coordinates              = {{coord|52.918|-0.638|display=inline,title}}
 | post_town                = GRANTHAM
 | postcode_area            = NG
 | postcode_district        = NG31
 | dial_code                = 01476
 | constituency_westminster = [[Grantham and Bourne (UK Parliament constituency)|Grantham and Bourne]]
 | civil_parish             = Grantham
 | shire_district           = [[South Kesteven]]
 | shire_county             = [[Lincolnshire]]
 | parts_type               = Areas of the town
 | p1                       = [[Arnoldfield]] (Ward)
 | p2                       = [[Barrowby]] (Village)
 | p3                       = [[Barrowby Gate]] (Ward)
 | p4                       = [[Belton, South Kesteven|Belton]] (Village)
 | p5                       = [[Cold Harbour, Lincolnshire|Cold Harbour]] (Village)
 | p6                       = [[Gonerby Hill Foot]]
 | p7                       = [[Great Gonerby]] (Village)
 | p8                       = [[Harlaxton]] (Village)
 | p9                       = [[Harrowby, Grantham|Harrowby]] (Ward)
 | p10                     = [[Harrowby, Lincolnshire|Harrowby]] (Village)
 | p11                      = [[Little Ponton]] (Village)
 | p12                      = [[Londonthorpe]] (Village)
 | p13                      = [[Manthorpe, Grantham|Manthorpe]] (Village)
 | p14                      = [[Old Somerby]] (Village)
 | p15                      = [[Somerby Hill]]
 | p16                      = [[Springfield, Grantham|Springfield]] (Ward)
 | p17                      = [[St Vincent's, Grantham|St Vincent's]] (Ward)
 | p18                      = [[St Wulfram's, Grantham|St Wulfram's]] (Ward)
 | website                  = [http://www.southwestlincs.com/visit-grantham/ Visit Grantham], South Kesteven District Council
 | london_distance_mi       = 100<!-- straight line per MOS – constant and comparable with other place distances -->
 | london_direction         = S
}}
'''Grantham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|r|æ|n|θ|əm}}) is a market town and [[civil parish]] in the [[South Kesteven]] district of [[Lincolnshire]], England, situated on the banks of the [[River Witham]] and bounded to the west by the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] road. It lies {{convert|23|mi|km}} south of [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] and {{convert|22|mi|km}} east of [[Nottingham]]. The population in 2016 was put at 44,580.<ref name=ons.gov.uk>{{cite web|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/wardlevelmidyearpopulationestimatesexperimental|title=Ward-level population estimates (Experimental Statistics) – Office for National Statistics|website=www.ons.gov.uk}}</ref> The town is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the South Kesteven District.

Grantham was the birthplace of the UK Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]]. [[Isaac Newton]] was educated at [[The King's School, Grantham|the King's School]]. The town was the workplace of the UK's first warranted female police officer, [[Edith Smith (police officer)|Edith Smith]] in 1914. The UK's first running [[diesel engine]] was made there in 1892 and the first tractor in 1896.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} [[Thomas Paine]] worked there as an excise officer in the 1760s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.alford.info/history/thomas-paine/|title=Thomas Paine – Alford, Lincolnshire|website=alford}}</ref> The villages of [[Manthorpe, Grantham|Manthorpe]], [[Great Gonerby]], [[Barrowby]], [[Londonthorpe]] and [[Harlaxton]] form outlying suburbs of the town.

==Etymology==
Grantham's name is first attested in the [[Domesday Book]] (1086); its origin is not known with certainty. The ending ''-hām'' is [[Old English]] and means "homestead". The first part of the name may either be the personal name ''Granta'' or derive from the Old English word ''Grand'' ([[gravel]]), implying either "Granta's homestead" or "homestead by gravel".<ref>{{Harvnb|Mills|2011}}.</ref> In the early 20th century, the town's name was still pronounced ''Grant-m'' or ''Grahnt-m''; but as people moved more frequently and became more literate, they began to derive the place name from its spelling and the pronunciation shifted to ''Granthum'' (the ''t'' and ''h'' becoming a ''th'' phoneme). This was already becoming common in 1920,<ref>{{Harvnb |Nicklin |1920 |p=15}}</ref> and the later pronunciation is now the norm.<ref>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/grantham "Grantham"], ''Collins English Dictionary''. Retrieved 17 December 2020.</ref>{{Refn |group="n" |''Granfum'' is also sometimes heard in the early 21st century.<ref>{{Harvnb |Pinchbeck |2018 |loc=s. "It's the Way You Say It"}}.</ref>}}

==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}}

==Prehistory==
Much of Grantham's early archaeology lies buried beneath the modern town, making it "difficult to unravel".<ref name="Lane2011-9"/> Early prehistoric hunter-gatherers visited the area. Scattered Stone Age tools have been found, the earliest being a [[Paleolithic|Palaeolithic]] axe on the Cherry Orchard Estate, dating between 40,000 and 150,000 years ago. The next earliest material consist of [[Mesolithic]] [[Stone tool|flints]] crafted 4,000 to 8,000 years ago and found round Gonerby Hill and the riverside in the south of the town. [[Neolithic]] people probably settled in the Grantham area for its proximity to the rivers and its fertile soils; material suggesting settlement in this period has been found at [[Great Ponton]]. Other scattered finds have been unearthed around the town. Remains of a Neolithic ritual site on the parish boundary between Harlaxton and Grantham are known from [[aerial photography]]. [[Bronze Age]] artefacts include pottery vessels, with human remains found in Little Gonerby, a [[Bell Beaker culture|Beaker]] pot, Beaker pottery sherds, [[Cremation|cinerary]] urns and a food vessel, and a later cemetery at Belton Lane, but there is little direct evidence of Bronze Age settlement in the area of the modern town. Little is known about it in the [[Iron Age]], though ditched enclosures and a field system of this date are known to lie off Gorse Lane.<ref>{{Harvnb |Lane |2011 |pp=11–16}}.</ref>

Various [[Romano-British culture|Romano-British]] coins and pottery finds have emerged in Grantham;<ref name="Honeybone15">{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=15}}.</ref> a burial and pottery from the 2nd century AD were uncovered off Trent Road in 1981. Small settlements or farmsteads from the period have been discerned on the hills overlooking Grantham from the east, and another has been found in Barrowby. There were probably Romano-British farmsteads on the site of the modern town,<ref>{{Harvnb |Lane |2011 |pp=16–17}}.</ref> but the wet soils round the Mowbeck and flooding by the Witham probably made it hard for a larger settlement to grow there.<ref name="Honeybone15"/> Three kilometres to the south of the modern town, an important Roman site has been found at [[Saltersford]], a crossing of the River Witham near Little Ponton. Extensive finds and evidence of a significant Romano-British occupation have emerged in the vicinity since the 19th century; it has been tentatively identified by some scholars as ''[[Causennae]]'', mentioned in the [[Antonine Itinerary]], and sat at the place where River Witham was crossed by the [[Salter's Way]], a trade route connecting the salt-producing coastal and marshland regions with the Midlands. Salter's Way may also have crossed [[Ermine Street]] (now B6403) at [[Cold Harbour, Lincolnshire|Cold Harbour]], 4&nbsp;km south-east of Grantham. Saltersford may have been a small town with a market for local farmsteads and smaller settlements.<ref>{{Harvnb |Lane |2011 |pp=10, 17–20}}</ref><ref>For the distance from Grantham town centre to Cold Harbour, see [https://www.google.com/maps/@52.9029343,-0.640257,13.31z "52.9029343, −0.640257, 13z"], ''[[Google Maps]]''. Retrieved 18 December 2020.</ref>

==Medieval town==
===Origins===
The local historian Michael Honeybone has "no doubt that the town of Grantham was established during [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|[Anglo-]Saxon]] times"; its name suggests it emerged in the earliest phase of Anglo-Saxon settlement, probably by the 7th century.<ref name="Honeybone15"/> The archaeological evidence for this is limited to finds indicating cemeteries at the sites of the Central School in Manthorpe and the junction of Bridge End Road and London Road in the town, and to small quantities of pottery sherds found on London Road, Belton Lane, Saltersford, New Somerby and Barrowby.<ref>{{Harvnb |Lane |2011 |p=20}}</ref>

The town's Saxon-period history is obscure and debated.<ref name=":4" /> The medievalist Sir [[Frank Stenton]] argued that Grantham probably emerged as an "important estate centre" before the [[Viking Age|Viking invasions]] in the 9th century and then functioned as a "minor local capital" in the [[Danelaw]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Stenton|1971|p=525}}</ref> By contrast, the historian David Roffe has argued that the town and its outlying [[Soke (legal)|soke]] were established in the 1040s or 1050s by [[Edith the Fair|Queen Edith]] and [[Leofric, Earl of Mercia]], to strengthen their hands in the county at the expense of [[Siward, Earl of Northumbria]]. They may have also created [[St Wulfram's Church, Grantham|St Wulfram's Church]] either as a new place of worship or as one revived from a possible earlier [[Monastic cell|cell]] of [[Crowland Abbey]]. Roffe argues that Siward's death in 1055 made Grantham's new role less important; as such, its soke only grew to its full extent after the [[Norman Conquest]] of England, when the king merged it with the soke of Great Ponton.<ref>{{Harvnb|Roffe|2011|p=36}}.</ref> Whatever its origins, by the time of the [[Domesday Book]] (1086, the earliest documentary evidence for the settlement), Grantham was a town and royal [[Manorialism|manor]]; under its jurisdiction fell soke comprising lands in 16 villages. St Wulfram's served this extended parish area.<ref name=":4">{{Harvnb |Roffe |2011 |p=21}}</ref>

===Royal manor===
Grantham's Domesday entries show it as an estate centre, where Queen Edith had a [[hall]] before 1066. Twenty years later, the king had the manor; there were four mills and eight acres of meadow, but no arable land. The [[demesne]] appears to have been land now known as Earlesfield in Great Gonerby. There were 111 [[Burgess (title)|burgesses]] and 72 [[bordars]], possibly labourers or craftsmen, indicating that Grantham was both a manor and a borough where the lord retained exclusive rights.<ref>{{Harvnb |Roffe |2011 |pp=26–29}}.</ref>{{Refn |group="n" |Alongside this estate, a smaller fee was held by the Abbot of Peterborough, whose tenant was called [[Kolgrimr (landowner)|Kolgrimr]] in 1086, and 77 tofts held by sokeman tenants of thegns settled nearby.<ref>{{Harvnb |Roffe |2011 |pp=28–29}}.</ref>}} It was a valuable asset, used by the king to reward loyal followers.<ref name=":5">{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=33}}.</ref> By 1129, the manor and soke had been granted to [[Rabel de Tancarville]], the king's [[Chamberlain (office)|chamberlain]] in [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]]. He sided against [[Stephen, King of England|King Stephen]] during [[The Anarchy]] (1135–1154) and his lands were probably [[Forfeiture (law)|forfeited]] on his death in 1140, although restored to his son William and confirmed in the early 1180s.<ref>{{Harvnb |White |1976 |pp=559–560}}.</ref> The king retook the manor after William's heir Ralph de Tancarville failed to support him in Normandy.<ref name=":5"/>

In 1205, the king granted it to his ally [[William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey]]. It was held as a [[life interest]] and [[Future interest|reverted]] to the [[The Crown|Crown]] on his widow's death in 1249, but regranted to his son [[John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey|the 6th earl]] in 1266. On his death in 1304 it reverted to the crown and was soon granted to [[Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Aymer de Valence]], but had been regranted to Warenne's grandson, [[John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey|the 7th earl]], by 1312. Four years later it was resettled on the 7th earl for life with reversion to the crown. [[William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton]] was granted the reversion in 1337 and took [[seisin]] ten years later. After his death, it reverted again to the Crown and in 1363 [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] granted it to his son [[Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York|Edmund of Langley, Duke of York]], through whose heirs it passed to [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York]],<ref>{{Harvnb |Manterfield |2011 |pp=39–40}}.</ref> a major figure in the [[Wars of the Roses]] and rival of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]. After Richard's death in 1460, Henry's Queen [[Margaret of Anjou]] attacked Grantham in 1461, but later that year was defeated by Richard's son Edward, who took the throne as [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]]. Two years later, Grantham was rewarded for loyalty to the [[House of York|Yorkist]] cause when the king granted the borough a [[Charter of Incorporation|charter of incorporation]], as a self-governing council – the Corporation of Grantham headed by an Alderman – with various freedoms.<ref name="honeybone1988-p35">{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=35}}.</ref>{{Refn|group="n"|The manor stayed in royal hands and was often granted to a queen or queen mother for life. In 1696, William III granted it without reversion to [[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland]].<ref name="honeybone1988-p35"/> The earl's eventual successor, the 3rd Duke of Portland, sold the manor to [[Lord William Manners]] in 1767.<ref name="turnor-61">{{Harvnb |Turnor |1806 |p=61}}.</ref> He gave it to his illegitimate son John Manners,<ref name="turnor-61"/><ref name="drummond">{{Harvnb |Drummond |1964}}.</ref> who married [[Louisa Tollemache, 7th Countess of Dysart|Louisa Tollemache]], a daughter of the [[Lionel Tollemache, 4th Earl of Dysart|Earl of Dysart]], a title she later inherited in her own right;<ref name="drummond"/> their son, [[William Tollemache, Lord Huntingtower (1766–1833)|William]], along with [[Buckminster Park]] inherited the lordship of the manor. He was created a [[baronet]] and adopted the surname Talmash (or Tollemache). It then passed to his son, who also inherited the Dysart title as the 8th Earl, in 1833.<ref>{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=43}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb |Port |Thorne |1986}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvnb |Jenkins |2009}}.</ref> By the late 20th century, the lordship was held by trustees of the Buckminster Estate.<ref>{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=38}}.</ref>}}

===Economy and government===
[[File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - North East View of Grantham Church, Lincolnshire - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|Watercolour and graphite painting of Grantham Church by [[J. M. W. Turner]] (1797)]]
Its lords encouraged Grantham to expand as a commercial centre.<ref name=":7">{{Harvnb |Manterfield |2011 |pp=40–41}}</ref> By the late 11th century it was an "important market town".<ref>{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=16}}</ref> The [[Medieval English wool trade|wool trade]] prospered, benefiting from its proximity to [[grazing]] lands on the Lincoln Heath. This wealth contributed towards the building of [[St Wulfram's Church, Grantham|St Wulfram's Church]].<ref name=":8">{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |pp=25–26}}</ref> Wool shops were in Grantham in 1218<ref name=":8" /> and Walkergate (now Watergate) was recorded in 1257, indicating the presence of [[Fulling|fullers]] (walkers), who played a role in processing wool. Cloth manufacture declined around this time, but wool continued to be produced for trading, primarily for export from [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]]. Wool merchants are recorded from the town in the late 13th century (foremost being was Roger de Belvoir, who contributed over £296 to the [[Wool Prize]] of 1297). By this time merchants from [[Italy]],<ref>{{Harvnb |Manterfield |2011 |pp=41–42}}</ref> [[Saint-Omer]] and [[Amiens]] were active in the town.<ref>{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=26}}.</ref>

In 1269, the earl granted the town free [[tronage]] – the right to weigh wool without paying a [[Toll (fee)|toll]]. Less than 30 years later, its merchants were asked to send a representative to counsel the king.<ref name=":7"/> The wool trade boomed in the early 14th century; the town's merchants traded at least 980 sacks of wool at Boston during [[Edward II of England|Edward II]]'s reign, half from the de Chesterton family.<ref>{{Harvnb |Manterfield |2011 |pp=42–43}}.</ref> In 1312, the earl granted the burgesses various freedoms and the right to elect a leader (the [[Alderman]]), codifying a longstanding informal arrangement.<ref>{{Harvnb |Manterfield |2011 |p=41}}.</ref> Later in the century the king sought to raise revenues by [[tax]]ing the wool trade; some Grantham merchants, including the wealthy Roger de Wollesthorpe, acted as [[creditor]]s to the king.<ref name=":9">{{Harvnb |Manterfield |2011 |p=43}}</ref>

England's falling population, continued taxation of wool exports and the growth of cloth exports and monopolisation led to the wool trade declining by the mid-15th century.<ref>{{Harvnb |Haigh |1990 |p=127}}</ref> Cloth exports became more important nationally. Grantham had a small cloth industry, but it could not compete with new [[Fulling|fulling mills]], which required fast-flowing water.<ref name=":10">{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |pp=26–27}}</ref> Its merchants continued to trade in wool and it remained a dominant aspect of the town's economy.<ref name=":9"/> Other industries also existed during the Middle Ages; there is evidence of [[wine]] trading, [[brewing]], [[parchment]] making, [[weaving]] and other trades and crafts.<ref name=":10"/>

The bridging of the [[River Trent]] at [[Newark-on-Trent|Newark]] by the late 12th century realigned the [[Great North Road (Great Britain)|Great North Road]] so that it passed through Grantham,<ref>{{Harvnb |Honeybone |1988 |p=29}}</ref> bringing traffic to the town as an important stopping place and leading to the development of [[inn]]s such as [[The George Inn, Grantham|''The George'']] and [[Angel and Royal|''The Angel'']].<ref>{{Harvnb |Dixon |Taylor |2011 |pp=237–238}}.</ref> By the 16th century, the economy was diverse. The largest sector was the [[leather]] trade, employing a quarter of the known workforce; distribution, food, drink and agricultural trades were also important. By that time, clothing and textiles each accounted for less than 10 per cent of the town's workers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Manterfield|2011|p=44}}.</ref>

==Modern history==
===19th and 20th centuries===
The Lincoln Theatre Company of actors took a 21-year lease on the theatre in 1800.<ref>{{cite book|title= Treading the Boards : Actors and theatres in Georgian Lincolnshire |author= Neil R Wright|publisher= SLHA|year= 2016|page=68}}</ref> [[Westgate Hall, Grantham|Westgate Hall]], which was commissioned as the local [[corn exchange]], was completed in 1852.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Westgate Hall|num= 1062439 |access-date=11 July 2023}}</ref>

The town developed when the railway came. The Nottingham Line ([[London and North Eastern Railway|LNER]]) arrived first in 1850, then the London line ([[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|GNR]]) – the Towns Line from Peterborough to Retford – arrived in 1852. The [[Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway]] arrived in 1857.<ref>{{cite book |last=Leleux |first=Robin |title=The East Midlands |series= A regional history of the railways of Great Britain |volume=9 |year=1976 |pages=86–91}}</ref><ref>{{cite PastScape |mnumber=1365060 |mname=Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway |access-date=6 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Boston, Sleaford, and Midland Counties railway |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=860200 |work=A vision of Britain through time |access-date=6 June 2013}}</ref><ref name=vobmaps>{{cite web |title=Historical maps:History of Grantham, in South Kesteven and Lincolnshire |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/?layer=europe&xMin=3291949.84272&yMin=2928969.06313&xMax=3328949.84272&yMax=2965969.06313 |work=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=6 June 2013}}</ref>

[[Gas lighting]] appeared in 1833. The corporation became a borough council in 1835. Little Gonerby and Spittlegate were added to the borough in 1879. The town had been in the wapentake of [[Loveden]] and included three townships of Manthorpe with Little Gonerby, [[Harrowby, Lincolnshire|Harrowby]] and Spittlegate with Houghton and Walton.<ref name=vobmaps/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/Reg/districts/grantham.html|title=Grantham Registration District|website=www.ukbmd.org.uk}}</ref><ref name=SKDCmaps>{{cite web |title=314 315 GRANTHAM TOWNSCAPE ASSESSMENT / APPENDICES APPENDIX A: HISTORIC MAPS OF THE STUDY AREA|url=http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=4943&p=0|work=heritage study and town plan |publisher=South Kesteven County Council |access-date=6 June 2013}}</ref>

Grantham Golf Club, now defunct, was founded in 1894 and continued until the onset of the Second World War.<ref>[http://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=630 "Grantham Golf Club"], "Golf's Missing Links" website. Accessed 21 September 2022.</ref>

Until the 1970s, the housing estates west of the town centre were green fields. Green Hill, on the A52, was literally a green hill.<ref name=vobmaps/><ref name=SKDCmaps/> In July 1975 the National Association of Ratepayers' Action Groups (NARAG) was formed in Grantham by John Wilks, its chairman, as a forerunner of the [[TaxPayers' Alliance]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

===Military history===
[[File:Army Housing - geograph.org.uk - 155382.jpg|thumb|right|Army barracks, next to the [[A52 road|A52]], east of the town]]
The town has a long military history since the completion of the [[The Old Barracks, Grantham|Old Barracks]] in 1858.<ref name=drill>{{cite web |url=http://www.drillhalls.org/Counties/Lincolnshire/TownGrantham.htm |title=Grantham |publisher=The Drill Hall Project |access-date=9 December 2017}}</ref>

====Dambusters====
During the [[Operation Chastise|Dambuster Raids]] [[Royal Air Force]] missions in May 1943, the [[RAF Bomber Command]]'s [[No. 5 Group RAF|No. 5 Group]] and operation HQ were in [[St Vincents Hall|St Vincents]],<ref>[https://archive.today/20120918213324/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/main.jhtml?xml=/property/2004/09/25/pbomb25.xml Telegraph.co.uk], St Vincents</ref> a building later owned by Aveling-Barford and housing a district council planning department. It was built by [[Richard Hornsby]] in 1865 and lived in by his son. It is now a private house. In 1944 (including [[D-Day]]), it was the headquarters for the [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]]'s [[Ninth Air Force]]'s [[IX Troop Carrier Command]], known as Grantham Lodge.<ref>{{cite web |author=Raymond Harwood |url=http://www.publicenquiry.co.uk/commands/tc9th.html |title=9th Troop Carrier Command |publisher=Publicenquiry.co.uk |access-date=30 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201183319/http://www.publicenquiry.co.uk/commands/tc9th.html |archive-date=1 December 2008 }}</ref>

====RAF Spitalgate====
[[RAF Spitalgate]] trained pilots during both world wars, initially as a [[Royal Flying Corps]] establishment. It was the first military airfield in Lincolnshire. It has never been an operational fighter or bomber base; although it did see operational service during the 1943 invasion of Europe as a base for American and Polish gliders and parachutists. It officially closed in 1974. The [[Women's Royal Air Force]] had been there from 1960 until closure.<ref name=RIS>{{cite web |last=Johnston |first=Philip Ralph |title=RAF Spitalgate (formerly RAF Grantham) |url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/spitalgate/spitalgate.htm |access-date=7 June 2013}}</ref> (as [[RAF Wilmslow]] was closing due to the imminent ending of [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|National Service]]), and moved to [[RAF Hereford]] (now the home of [[Special Air Service|SAS]]).{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

After closure, RAF Spitalgate became the Royal Corps of Transport, later [[Royal Logistic Corps]] barracks: [[Prince William of Gloucester Barracks]], named after [[Prince William of Gloucester]].<ref name=RIS/><ref>{{cite web |title=Spitalgate (Grantham) Airfield History |url=http://www.bcar.org.uk/spitalgate-history |work=Bomber County |year=2010 |publisher=Bomber County Aviation Resource |access-date=7 June 2013}}</ref> Grantham College used the site's two football pitches for their South Lincolnshire Football Development Centre (from September 2004).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grantham.ac.uk/Courses.aspx?AcademiesCourses |title=Courses – Grantham College |first=First |last=Media}}</ref> After closure in 1975 a vehicle test centre was built on the outfield; this closed in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 6: Vehicle Inspectorate |url=http://archive.treasury.gov.uk/pub/html/docs/nar/c6.pdf |work=National asset register |publisher=National records office |access-date=7 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117022216/http://archive.treasury.gov.uk/pub/html/docs/nar/c6.pdf |archive-date=17 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Grantham (33) |url=http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/doitonline/bl/vosateststationlocations/grantham%2833%29.htm |publisher=VOSA |access-date=7 June 2013}}</ref> The large mast on the base was part of the [[British Telecom microwave network|BT microwave network]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Backbone_radio_link_and_radio_standby_to_line_links_for_safeguarding_vital_communications |title=Backbone radio link and radio standby to line links for safeguarding vital communications |work=British GPO paper |date=July 1956 |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)]] CAB 134/1207}}{{dead link|date=March 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

The [[Queen's Royal Lancers]] (part of the [[Royal Armoured Corps]]) have their RHQ on the base.

====RAF Regiment====
The [[RAF Regiment]] was formed north-east of the town in parts of [[Londonthorpe and Harrowby Without]] during December 1941 with its headquarters at [[RAF Belton Park]], which is recognised as its birthplace.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafregiment/history/ |title=RAF – History |first=RAF Details |last=here |access-date=17 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406170752/http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafregiment/history/ |archive-date=6 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Belton Park estate had been a training centre for the [[Machine Gun Corps]] from November 1915.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.machineguncorps.co.uk/history.html |title=Membership |publisher=Machineguncorps.co.uk |access-date=30 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711143831/http://www.machineguncorps.co.uk/history.html |archive-date=11 July 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The RAF Regiment reached in excess of 66,000 personnel and during training was housed at [[RAF Belton Park]], the Regiment's first depot, [[RAF Folkingham]] and [[RAF North Witham]].

===Women's police force===
Grantham was first after London to recruit and train women police officers. It was the first provincial force to ask the newly formed Corps of Women's Police Volunteers to supply them with occasional policewomen, recognising them as useful for dealing with women and juveniles. In December 1914 Miss Damer Dawson, the Chief of the Corps, came to Grantham to supervise the preliminary work of the women police. Officers stationed there were Miss Allen and Miss Harburn.<ref>''Grantham Journal'', 19 December 1914.</ref> In 1915, Grantham magistrates swore in [[Edith Smith (police officer)|Edith Smith]], making her the first policewoman in Britain with full powers of arrest.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4610200.stm |title=Town remembers first policewoman |work=BBC News |date=13 January 2006 |access-date=1 March 2011}}</ref>

===Industrial history===
====Richard Hornsby & Sons====
[[Richard Hornsby]] and Richard Seaman founded Seaman & Hornsby, Iron Founders and Millwrights, at Spittlegate in Grantham in 1810. The company was renamed [[Richard Hornsby & Sons]] when Seaman retired in 1828.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Seaman_and_Hornsby |title=Seaman and Hornsby |website=www.gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref> Products included ploughs and seed drills.

From 1840 until 1906 the company built steam engines. Thereafter production shifted to oil, petrol and gas engines. It employed 378 men in 1878 and 3,500 in 1914.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Richard_Hornsby_and_Sons |title=Richard Hornsby and Sons |website=gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref>

In 1905 Richard Hornsby & Sons invented a [[Tracked vehicle#Hornsby / Holt / Phoenix|caterpillar track]] for a machine using Hornsby's [[Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine|oil engines]]; these engines were developed by Yorkshireman [[Herbert Akroyd Stuart]], from which [[Hot bulb engine|compression-ignition]] principle the [[diesel engine]] evolved, being manufactured in Grantham from 8 July 1892.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://engines.rustyiron.com/hornsby/ |title=Richard Hornsby Vaporizing Oil Engine |publisher=Engines.rustyiron.com |date=7 December 1910 |access-date=30 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20081202142817/http://engines.rustyiron.com/hornsby/ |archive-date=2 December 2008}}</ref> Although such engines were not wholly compression-ignition derived, in 1892 a prototype high-pressure version was built at Hornsby's, developed by Thomas Henry Barton [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] – later to found Nottingham's [[Barton Transport]] – whereby ignition was achieved solely through compression; it ran continuously for six hours as the first known diesel engine. In the town, Hornsby's built Elsham House, whose grounds became [[Grantham College]]) and the Shirley Croft. Its site in Houghton Road was bought from Lord Dysart.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
[[File:Oil Engine - geograph.org.uk - 2194963.jpg|thumb|right|Hornsby oil engine at the [[Museum of Lincolnshire Life]]]]
In 1910 Hornsby presented its chain-track vehicle to the British Army, which then bought four caterpillar tractors to tow artillery. At the demonstration, a British transport officer suggested putting armour plating and a gun on a Hornsby tractor, so creating some sort of self-propelled gun. David Roberts, managing director of Hornsby, did not pursue the idea, but later expressed regret at not having done so. Four years later, Hornsby sold the patent for its [[Continuous track|caterpillar track]] to the Holt Manufacturing Company of California, USA, for $8,000, having itself sold only one caterpillar tractor commercially.<ref>[https://patents.google.com/patent/US916601 "Patent number: 916601"]; [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|United States Patent Office]], 30 March 1909. Retrieved 11 July 2012.</ref> The Holt system was superior to Hornsby's, but the Hornsby transmission was what Holt really wanted. Thanks in part to this acquisition, Holt eventually became the successful [[Caterpillar Inc.]] Tractor Company. In 1918, Hornsby's amalgamated with Rustons as [[Ruston & Hornsby]]. In the 1920s the company had its own orchestra in the town; the site was a diesel engine plant. During the Second World War, the company made tanks such as the [[Matilda II|Matilda]] at the Grantham factory. Ruston and Hornsby left in 1963 and most of the factory was taken over by a subsidiary, Alfred Wiseman Gears, which itself left in 1968.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
[[File:Ruston crawler tractor working model.JPG|thumb|right|Scale model of Hornsby 1910 steam caterpillar tractor]]

====Barford's====
The agricultural engine and steamroller manufacturer [[Aveling and Porter]] of [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]], Kent, merged with [[Barford & Perkins]] of [[Peterborough]] as [[Aveling-Barford]] Ltd in 1934, largely with financial help from Ruston & Hornsby, as both firms had entered into administration. The new company took a former site of Hornsbys, naming it the Invicta works, from the [[Invicta (motto)|motto]] on the coat of arms of [[Kent]], which translates as "unconquered"; all Aveling & Porter machinery was brought from Kent by rail.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

During the 1970s Barford's was the town's largest employer, with around 2,000 employees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Aveling-Barford|title=Aveling-Barford – Graces Guide|website=www.gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref> It initially prospered, but declined with the sinking market for large [[Dump truck|dumper trucks]] and [[road roller]]s. In 1947, its agricultural division, [[Barfords of Belton]], developed the world's smallest tractor, the Barford Atom, weighing {{convert|177|lb|kg|abbr=off}}.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

Now Barford Construction Equipment, it makes [[dumper]]s for construction sites, being owned by Wordsworth Holdings [[Public limited company|PLC]], owned in turn by the entrepreneur Duncan Wordsworth until it went into administration in March 2010. A restructuring package resulted in ownership transferring to Bowdon Investment Group in May 2010. It is now known as Invictas Engineering.

A trailer company, Crane-Fruehauf, moved into part of the factory from its former home at [[Dereham]], when it went into receivership in early 2005.

====BMARC====
British Manufacture and Research Company (British Marc Ltd or [[BMARC]]), in Springfield Road, made munitions, notably the [[Hispano-Suiza HS.404|Hispano cannon]] for the [[Supermarine Spitfire|Spitfire]] and [[Hawker Hurricane|Hurricane]] from 1937 onwards. It was owned by the Swiss [[Oerlikon Contraves|Oerlikon]] from 1971 until 1988, becoming part of Astra Holdings plc. The firm was bought by [[British Aerospace]] in 1992, which then closed the site. It has now been developed as a housing estate. The site's former offices are now business units for the Springfield Business Centre. Grantham's [[register office]] moved there in 2007.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

===Former developments===
In 1968 Reads of Liverpool built a canning factory in Springfield Road to serve Melton Mowbray, becoming [[American Can Company|American Can]], then [[Pechiney]] (French) in 1988, then [[Impress Coöperatieve|Impress]] (Dutch). It closed in 2006 and was demolished in 2007 to make way for a housing estate. [[Ransome & Marles]] Bearing had a [[ball bearing]] factory in the town until 1957, when production was moved to Newark.

Mowbray and Co Ltd, a brewery, was bought by J. W. Green of Luton. It was founded in September 1828 and became a public company in 1880. It closed in 1967.

==Economy==
The food industry, together with Grantham Hospital, is currently the largest Grantham employer.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Kesteven District Council |url=http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1796 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924104104/http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1796 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=21 June 2017 }}</ref> Poultry production company [[Moy Park]] (formerly Padleys) is at Gonerby Hill Foot; GW Padley bought the site in 1977 from Wolsey, a former garment manufacturer. It acts as a poultry [[hatchery]].{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Moy Park are owned by [[Marfrig]] of [[São Paulo]], with Marfrig's European headquarters at [[Preston Deanery]] in [[Hackleton]], [[Northamptonshire]]. [[Aviagen]] Turkeys also has a poultry hatchery further along the B1174 at Gonerby Moor. [[Brake Bros Ltd]] has a depot near the Gonerby Moor service station, off B1174.<ref>{{cite web |title=Distribution & Logistics in Grantham |url=http://www.townpages.com/lincolnshire/grantham/distribution-and-logistics.htm |access-date=5 June 2013 |work=Grantham town pages}}</ref>

Fenland Foods (part of [[Northern Foods]]) on the Earlesfield Industrial Estate, closed in September 2008 after losing business with [[Marks and Spencer]], its sole customer.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hart |first=Bob |title=Updated: Fenland Foods workers to protest |url=http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/UPDATED-Fenland-Foods-workers-to.4075959.jp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627134954/http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/UPDATED-Fenland-Foods-workers-to.4075959.jp |archive-date=27 June 2009 |access-date=30 July 2009 |publisher=Grantham Journal }}</ref> On Ellesmere Business park is [[Väderstad-Verken]] UK, its parent company based in [[Väderstad]] in Sweden and Tecknit Europe (makers of [[Conducted electromagnetic interference|electromagnetic shielding]] equipment), owned from 2006 by [[Parker Hannifin]] based in [[Cranford, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite web |year=1998 |title=TE |url=http://www.dl7avf.info/katalog/quellen.html |access-date=5 June 2013 |work=KyteLabs InfoBase – Embedded Control and Analog Design}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=16 October 2006 |title=Parker Acquires Tecknit Division of Technical Wire Products, LLC and its Affiliates |url=http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/Parker-Acquires-Tecknit-Division-of-Technical-Wire-Products-LLC-and-its-Affiliates-502439 |access-date=5 June 2013 |work=thomasnet news}}</ref>

At [[Easton, Lincolnshire|Easton]], {{convert|7|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} south of Grantham, are two large facilities. One is Norbert Dentressangle, which bought [[Christian Salvesen|Christian Salvesen plc]] in November 2007 and maintains the frozen storage and distribution operation which has been at the site since the late 1960s.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} The other is [[McCain Foods]], which purchased Potato and Allied Services (PAS) in 1991, which had run a potato processing factory on the site since the early 1970s; it has since been extended.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} There was a third large [[Frozen food|frozen vegetable]] processing factory owned and operated by Christian Salvesen; it was sold to Pinguin Foods in August 2007,<ref>{{cite web|title=Christian Salvesen Easton factory sold |url=http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/Christian-Salvesen-Easton-factory-sold.3132220.jp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120802135756/http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/Christian-Salvesen-Easton-factory-sold.3132220.jp |archive-date=2 August 2012 |access-date=30 July 2009 |publisher=Grantham Journal}}</ref> which closed the facility in December 2008.<ref>{{cite web |title=All news from the East Midlands |url=http://www.thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk/news/lincolnshire/jobs-facing-the-axe-at-food-firm.aspx |access-date=30 July 2009 |publisher=Thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk}}</ref>

[[File:Spittlegate Level, Grantham, Lincolnshire - geograph.org.uk - 42995.jpg|thumb|right|The {{convert|46|acre|ha}} of Spittlegate Level (B1174 – the former A1) south of the town, home of many local companies and the former [[Corus Group|Corus]] Service Centre, which was developed in 1973]]
GBS has been based in Grantham since May 1975, when known as Chatto, [[The Bodley Head|Bodley Head]] & Cape Services. [[Chatto & Windus]] had merged with [[Jonathan Cape]] in 1969. The former site was officially opened on 23 September 1975 by [[Michael Foot]] MP.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} [[Random House]] was formed in 1987 from a combination of book companies, and in 1990 the site became known as Grantham Book Services.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} The company won an award in 1992 from the [[Galaxy National Book Awards|British Book Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1992 |url=http://www.granthambookservices.co.uk/company_history.html |work=Company History |publisher=Grantham Book Services |quote=GBS was the first to be awarded the prestigious British Book Awards' "Distributor of the Year Award". |access-date=6 June 2013 |archive-date=18 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718175751/http://www.granthambookservices.co.uk/company_history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Next door to GBS and a [[Gala Coral Group|Gala Bingo]] is Cathodic Protection, which with BGB Innovation won [[The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) (2009)|The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export)]] in 2009.

According to [[ONS coding system|Super Output Area]] data from the [[Office for National Statistics|ONS]], the least socially deprived area in Lincolnshire is the ward of Stamford St John's; Grantham's least deprived ward (SKDC) is in the north-east of the town near the former Central School.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lincolnshire Research Observatory |url=http://www.research-lincs.org.uk/UI/Documents/IMD%202010%20what%20does%20it%20mean%20for%20Lincolnshire.pdf |access-date=21 June 2017}}</ref>

===Hotels===
Conference and hospitality facilities in the Grantham area include the Olde Barn Hotel in [[Marston, Lincolnshire|Marston]], the Q-Hotel group Belton Woods Hotel, the Urban Leisure Hotel and various golf clubs.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} [[Stoke Rochford Hall]] won the [[Les Routiers]] Wedding Venue of the Year in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Les routiers award |url=http://www.stokerochfordhall.co/latest-news/116-stoke-rochford-hall-wins-les-routiers-best-wedding-venue-award |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130624213235/http://www.stokerochfordhall.co/latest-news/116-stoke-rochford-hall-wins-les-routiers-best-wedding-venue-award |archive-date=24 June 2013 |access-date=7 June 2013 |publisher=Stoke Rochford Hall }}</ref> The ''Griffin Inn'' at [[Irnham]] won the 2012 [[Les Routiers]] [[Bed and breakfast|B&B]] of the Year Award.<ref>{{cite web |year=2012 |title=Griffin Inn Irnham |url=http://routiers.co.uk/hotels_restaurants_pubs/Griffin_Inn_Irnham_pub_Grantham_pub_Lincolnshire_pub_Griffin_Inn |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517175336/http://routiers.co.uk/hotels_restaurants_pubs/Griffin_Inn_Irnham_pub_Grantham_pub_Lincolnshire_pub_Griffin_Inn |archive-date=17 May 2013 |access-date=6 June 2013 |work=Hotels, Restaurants and Pubs |publisher=Les Routiers |quote=Award winner 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2012 |title=Griffin |url=http://www.thegoodpubguide.co.uk/pub/view/Griffin-NG33-4JG |access-date=6 June 2013 |publisher=Good pubs guide |quote=Winners of the prestigious Les Routiers best B&B 2012}}</ref> [[Eden House Hotel, Grantham|The Eden House Hotel]] is a historic building built as a mansion in about 1850.

====''Angel and Royal''====
{{Main|Angel and Royal}}
[[File:The sign of the Angel and Royal - geograph.org.uk - 1044228.jpg|thumb|300px|The sign of the ''[[Angel and Royal]]'']]
[[File:Grantham Market Place with Angel and Royal Hotel, Lincolnshire, England 1836.jpg|thumb|300px|The Angel and Royal in 1836]]
The ''[[Angel and Royal]]'' in the High Street is reputedly the oldest inn in England. The present façade was built about 600 years ago, but the site had already held an inn for 200 years before that, and its origins are older still, as a hostel for the [[Knights Templar]]. [[John I of England|King John]] is reputed to have visited with his Royal Court in 1213. A visit by [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] was the origin of the gold emblem angel holding the King's crown over the original archway. Other royal visitors include [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]], [[George IV]] and [[Edward VII]], when [[Prince of Wales]], leading to the inclusion of "Royal" in the inn's name.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.angelandroyal.co.uk/about-us|title=History|publisher=Angel and Royal|access-date=24 September 2023}}</ref>

===Closures===
Brook Street and Hill Avenue sub-post offices were closed in Grantham in 2008 as part of the Post Office Network Change programme. In August 2010 it was confirmed that the Grantham branch of [[Marks and Spencer]] would close, with two other Lincolnshire branches in [[Skegness]] and [[Scunthorpe]], due to low sales, although a Marks and Spencer Food Hall re-opened in 2014. The closure met with local protests.<ref>BBC News Lincolnshire 25 August 2010 [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-11076135 "M&S confirms three store closures in Lincolnshire"]. Retrieved 25 August 2010.</ref> Discount department store chain [[Boyes (retailer)|Boyes]] took over the property in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=Value goods store Boyes to move into former M&S store in Grantham |url=http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/business/breaking-news-value-goods-store-boyes-to-move-into-former-m-s-store-in-grantham-1-4225460 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013093643/http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/business/breaking-news-value-goods-store-boyes-to-move-into-former-m-s-store-in-grantham-1-4225460 |archive-date=13 October 2012 |access-date=12 September 2013 }}</ref> Haldanes, a chain of about 20 supermarkets based in Ruston Road, went into administration.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} The former [[HM Revenue and Customs|HMRC]] office at Crown House in Castlegate closed in early 2010, moving to two sites in Lincoln.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crown House |url=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/better-regulation/grantham-crown-final.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703155534/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/better-regulation/grantham-crown-final.pdf |archive-date=3 July 2013 |access-date=21 June 2017 }}</ref>

== Demography ==

=== Ethnicity and religion ===
According to the 2011 census, Grantham's population<ref>Defined as the ONS E35001363 area – the urban area without Great Gonerby</ref> was 96.3% [[White people|white]]; 2.0% [[Asian people|Asian]] or [[British Asian]]; 0.6% [[Black people|Black]], [[Demographics of Africa|African]], [[Caribbean people|Caribbean]] or [[Black British people|Black British]]; and 0.9% [[Mixed ethnicity|mixed]] or multi-ethnic; and 0.2% other. The population is therefore less ethnically diverse than England as a whole, which is 85.4% white; 7.8% Asian or Asian British; 3.5% Black, African, Caribbean or Black British; 2.3% mixed ethnicities; and 1% other. 90.1% of the town's population were born in the United Kingdom, compared with 86.2% nationally; 6.1% were born in European Union countries other than the UK and Ireland, of which almost three quarters (4.3% of the total) were born in [[Enlargement of the European Union|post-2001 accession states]]; for England, the figures were 3.7% and 2.0% respectively. 3.4% of the population was born outside the EU, whereas the total for England was 9.4%.<ref name="nomis-skeg">{{cite web |title=Grantham Built-Up Area Sub Division: Local Area Report |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E35001363 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219211026/https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E35001363 |archive-date=19 December 2022 |access-date=19 December 2022 |website=Nomis: Official Labour Market Statistics |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]}}</ref><ref name="nomis-eng">{{cite web |title=England: Country Report |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E92000001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622012249/https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E92000001 |archive-date=22 June 2020 |access-date=28 June 2020 |website=Nomis: Official Labour Market Statistics |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]}}</ref>

In the 2011 census, 69.4% of Grantham's population said they were [[Religion|religious]] and 23.8% said they [[Irreligion|did not follow a religion]], very similar to England as a whole (68.1% and 24.7% respectively). However, compared to England's population, [[Christians]] were a higher proportion of the Grantham population (67.6% compared with 59.4%), and all other groups were present at a lower proportion than the national rates. There were 20 [[Sikhs]] in Grantham, making up a negligible proportion of the population compared with 0.8% nationally; [[Hindus]] composed 0.5% (compared with 1.5% in England), [[Muslims]] 0.5% against 5% nationally, [[Jews|Jewish people]] 0.1% compared with 0.5% for all of England, and [[Buddhism|Buddhists]] 0.3% of the town's population, contrasting with 0.5% nationally.<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
! colspan="14" |Ethnicity, nationality and religious affiliation of residents (2011)<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />
|-
!
!White
!Asian or British Asian
!Black, African, Caribbean or Black British
!Mixed or multi-ethnic
!Other ethnicity
!Born in UK
!Born in EU (except UK and Ireland)
!Born outside EU
!Religious
!Did not follow a religion
!Christian
!Muslim
!Other religions
|-
!Grantham
|96.3%
|2.0%
|0.6%
|0.9%
|0.2%
|90.1%
|6.1%
|3.4%
|69.4%
|23.8%
|67.6%
|0.5%
|0.9%
|-
!England
|85.4%
|7.8%
|3.5%
|2.3%
|1.0%
|86.2%
|3.7%
|9.4%
|68.1%
|24.7%
|59.4%
|5.0%
|2.5%
|}

=== Household composition, age, health and housing ===
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed floatright"
! colspan="3" |Gender, age, health and household characteristics (2011)<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />
|-
!Characteristics
!Grantham
!England
|-
|Male
|48.5%
|49.2%
|-
|Female
|51.5%
|50.8%
|-
|Married{{Refn|Residents aged 16 and over|name=first|group="n"}}
|47.2%
|46.6%
|-
|Single{{Refn|name=first|group="n"}}
|31.1%
|34.6%
|-
|Divorced{{Refn|name=first|group="n"}}
|10.9%
|9.0%
|-
|Widowed{{Refn|name=first|group="n"}}
|7.3%
|6.9%
|-
|One-person households
|28.8%
|30.2%
|-
|One-family households
|65.3%
|61.8%
|-
|Mean age
|39.4
|39.3
|-
|Median age
|39.0
|39.0
|-
|Population under 20
|24.8%
|24.0%
|-
|Population over 60
|22.4%
|22.0%
|-
|Residents in good health
|80.7%
|81.4%
|-
|Owner-occupiers{{Refn|Households|name=first1|group="n"}}
|62.2%
|63.3%
|-
|Private renters{{Refn|name=first1|group="n"}}
|18.8%
|16.8%
|-
|Social renters{{Refn|name=first1|group="n"}}
|17.1%
|17.7%
|-
|Living in a detached house{{Refn|name=first1|group="n"}}
|27.8%
|22.3%
|}
In the 2011 census, 48.5% of the population were male and 51.5% female. Of the population over 16, 47.2% were married, compared to 46.6% in England; 31.1% were single (a smaller proportion than in England where it was 34.6%), 10.9% [[divorce]]d (compared with 9% in England), 7.3% widowed (slightly higher than the 6.9% for all of England), 3.3% separated and 0.2% in same-sex [[Civil partnership in the United Kingdom|civil partnerships]] (2.7% and 0.2% respectively in England). In 2011, there were 17,944 households in the Grantham urban area. It had a slightly lower than average proportion of one-person households (28.8% compared with England's figure of 30.2%); most other households consisted of one family, which was more common in Grantham than England as a whole (65.3% of the total, compared with 61.8% in England). This was because there were slightly higher than average rates of cohabiting couples (12% compared with 9.8%), lone parent households (11.2% against 10.6%) and married couples (34.2% compared with 33.2%), but fewer people in multiple and other household types (5.9% compared with 8%).<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />

The 2011 census showed the average age of Grantham's population to be in line with the national average; the mean age was 39.3 and the median 39 years, compared with 39.3 and 39 for England. 24.8% of the population was under 20, versus 24% of England's, and 22.4% of Grantham's population was aged over 60, compared with 22% of England's population.<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" /> In 2011, 80.7% of the population were in good or very good health, compared to 81.4% in England, and 5.4% in very bad or bad health, exactly the same rate as in England. 18% of people (9.3% in 16–64 year-olds) also reported having their day-to-day activities limited, compared with 17.6% in England (8.2% in 16–64 year-olds).<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />

As of 2011, Grantham had similar proportions of people who owned their homes with or without a mortgage (62.2%) than in England (63.3%) and who [[Council house|rented socially]] (17.1% compared with 17.7% nationally); there was a slightly higher rate of [[Private rented sector|private renting]] (18.8% compared with 16.8%) while owner-occupiers were more likely to be mortgaged than in England as a whole (55.7% of them, compared with 51.8%). The proportion of household spaces which are [[Single-family detached home|detached]] or [[semi-detached]] houses is higher than average (27.8% and 33.6%, compared with 22.3% and 30.7%), while the proportion of households living in apartments, flats and maisonettes is much lower (13.1% against 22.1%). The proportion of [[Terraced house|terraced]] household spaces is similar (25.4% compared with 24.5%).<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />

=== Workforce ===
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed floatright"
! colspan="3" |Economic characteristics of residents aged 16 to 74 (2011)<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />
|-
!Characteristic
!Grantham
!England
|-
! colspan="3" |Economic activity
|-
|Economically active
|72.7%
|69.9%
|-
|Employed
|69.9%
|62.1%
|-
|Full-time employed
|42.7%
|38.6%
|-
|Retirees
|13.9%
|13.7%
|-
|Long-term sick or disabled
|3.9%
|4.0%
|-
|Long-term unemployed
|1.6%
|1.7%
|-
! colspan="3" |Industry
|-
|Agriculture
|0.9%
|0.8%
|-
|Manufacturing
|13.9%
|8.8%
|-
|Construction
|7.3%
|7.7%
|-
|Wholesale and retail trade; repair of vehicles
|19.1%
|15.9%
|-
|Transport and storage
|5.0%
|5.0%
|-
|Accommodation and food services
|6.0%
|5.6%
|-
|Information and communication
|2.0%
|4.1%
|-
|Financial and insurance
|2.4%
|4.4%
|-
|Professional, scientific and technical
|3.9%
|6.7%
|-
|Public administration and defence
|6.7%
|5.9%
|-
|Education
|7.7%
|9.9%
|-
|Health and social work
|12.9%
|12.4%
|-
! colspan="3" |Occupation
|-
|Managers and directors
|9.3%
|10.9%
|-
|Professionals; associate professionals
|21.8%
|30.3%
|-
|Administrative and secretarial
|10.8%
|11.5%
|-
|Sales and customer services
|9.4%
|8.4%
|-
|Caring, leisure and other services
|10.5%
|9.3%
|-
|Skilled trades
|12.8%
|11.4%
|-
|Process, plant and machine operatives
|10.9%
|7.2%
|-
|Elementary occupations
|14.4%
|11.1%
|-
! colspan="3" |Qualifications
|-
|No qualifications
|23.7%
|22.5%
|-
|Level 4 or higher
|19.8%
|27.4%
|-
|}
In 2011, 72.7% of Grantham's residents aged between 16 and 74 were [[Economic activity rate|economically active]], compared with 69.9% for all of England. 65.6% were in [[employment]], compared with 62.1% nationally. The proportion in full-time employment is also comparatively high, at 42.7% (against 38.6% for England). The proportion of retirees was in line with the national figure, at 13.9% compared with 13.7% for England, as was the proportion of long-term sick or disabled (3.9%, compared with England's 4%); 1.6% of people were [[Unemployment|long-term unemployed]], compared with 1.7% in all of England. The 2011 census revealed that the most common industry residents worked in were: [[Wholesaling|wholesale]] and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles (19.1%), manufacturing (13.9%), and human health and [[social work]] (12.9%). The latter category was in line with the national average, but retail and manufacturing were overrepresented compared with England (where the proportions were 15.9% and 8.8%, respectively). Most other industries were under-represented comparatively, with [[financial services]] (2.4% versus 4.4% nationally), [[Information and communications technology|information and communication]] (2.0% against 4.1% nationally), and professional, scientific and technical activities (3.9% compared with 6.7%) especially so.<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />

Compared with the whole of England, the workforce had modestly higher proportions of people in [[elementary occupation]]s (14.4% compared with 11.1%), process, plant and machinery operative roles (10.9% against 7.2%), skilled trades (12.8% versus 11.4%), and caring and other service occupations (10.5% against 9.3%). There was a much lower proportion of people in [[professional]], associate professional, technical, administrative and [[Secretary|secretarial]] occupations than in England as a whole (combined 32.6% versus 41.7% of England's population aged 16–74), principally driven by a lower proportion of full professionals (11.1% compared with 17.5%).<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />

The proportion of residents aged 16 to 74 with no qualifications was 23.7%, only slightly higher than the national figure (22.5%); the proportion of residents whose highest qualification is at [[National qualifications frameworks in the United Kingdom|Level 1 or 2]] (equivalent to [[GCSE]]s) is higher than in the national population, but 19.8% of Grantham's population have a qualification at Level 4 or above ([[Certificate of Higher Education]] upwards, including [[Undergraduate education|graduates]]), compared with 27.4% nationally.<ref name="nomis-skeg" /><ref name="nomis-eng" />

=== Deprivation ===
The government's [[Multiple deprivation index|Indices of Multiple Deprivation]] (2019) show that Grantham contains both dense pockets of deprivation and areas of substantial affluence. The county council note that high levels of deprivation in parts of the town contrast with the less deprived rural hinterlands around it.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lincolnshire County Council|2019|p=4}}.</ref> A statistical area covering part of the Earlesfield estate falls within the most deprived 10% of areas in the country; it is the most deprived place in South Kesteven. Other parts of Earlesfield and the Cherry Orchard suburb fall within the most deprived 20% of areas nationally, while much of the central urban area also falls below the national median and the top five most deprived areas in the district are all parts of Grantham. However, the Green Hill and Spinney housing estates and parts of Gonerby Hill Foot and Manthorpe fall within the least deprived decile nationally; one of them is in the least 10 deprived places in South Kesteven.<ref>[http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/iod_index.html "Indices of Deprivation 2015 and 2019"], ''[[Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities]]''. Retrieved 21 December 2022. See also, the full index (File 1), which can be downloaded at [https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019 "English indices of deprivation 2019"], ''[[Government of the United Kingdom|HM Government]]''. Retrieved 21 December 2022.</ref>

==Transport==
===Rail===
[[File:Grantham station - geograph.org.uk - 1663793.jpg|thumb|right|[[British Rail Class 91|Class 91]] Electric locomotive at the station in May 2004, looking south]]
[[File:Bridge 66.JPG|thumb|right|Bridge 66 on the Grantham Canal at Harlaxton]]
[[File:Spittlegate mill 2.JPG|thumb|right|Spittlegate Millhouse, Grantham]]
[[Grantham railway station]] is served by the London–Edinburgh [[East Coast Main Line]], between [[Peterborough railway station|Peterborough]] and [[Newark North Gate railway station|Newark Northgate]]). It is joined by the [[Nottingham-Grantham Line|Nottingham to Skegness Line]] ([[Poacher Line]]). Liverpool–Norwich trains also call at Grantham. Electric trains began running in October 1988. Transport links to Nottingham and Peterborough attract some commuters. The town's [[grammar school]]s also attract pupils from [[Radcliffe on Trent]], [[Bingham, Nottinghamshire|Bingham]], [[Newark-on-Trent|Newark]] and even [[Retford]] via the train.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Grantham is the best-served station in Lincolnshire,{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} although after October 1970, most of [[East Lincolnshire Railway|Lincolnshire's branch lines]] were closed. Before October 1970 the connection from [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]] to [[Lincoln railway station|Lincoln Central]] was through Grantham and followed the A607 via [[Leadenham railway station|Leadenham]]. After that date, London-Lincoln trains still passed through Grantham, but then continued up the main line to [[Newark North Gate railway station|Newark Northgate]], where the trains branched off to [[Lincoln St Marks railway station|Lincoln St Marks Railway Station]] via a new curve just north of Newark.

In 1906 a [[Grantham rail accident|rail accident]] killed 14 people.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

On 3 July 1938 ''[[LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard|Mallard]]'' broke the [[Land speed record for railed vehicles|world speed record]] for [[steam locomotive]]s, at {{convert|126|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}, on the slight downward grade of [[Stoke Bank]] south of Grantham on the [[East Coast Main Line]].

===Road===
The Great North Road was routed through the town in 1196. The turnpike to the north reached the town in 1725, that to Stamford in 1739, to Nottingham in 1758, and that to Melton in 1780.

The [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] main road from London to [[Edinburgh]] runs past the town, which was bypassed in 1962. The [[A52 road|A52]] linking Nottingham and the East Coast was diverted from High Street onto the Inner Relief Road, Sankt Augustin Way, in 1998. Wharf Road and London Road junction is still a busy junction on the [[A607 road|A607]] for Lincoln. Motorway-style [[Grantham North Services]], at the north end of Grantham bypass, is on a new junction which replaced a roundabout in May 2008.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 April 2008 |title=Highways Agency – Gonerby Moor Progress Photos |url=http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/17538.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709110058/http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/17538.aspx |archive-date=9 July 2009 |access-date=30 July 2009 |publisher=Highways.gov.uk }}</ref>

Grantham, with [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]], had been earmarked for a bypass before the war in 1939. There were 60 serious accidents a year, with three to four deaths. After the war, on 21 November 1945, there was a meeting at the Guildhall about the proposed bypass of the London-Edinburgh-Thurso trunk road for Grantham and Great Gonerby. This was the first enquiry into a trunk road scheme in the country after the war. The proposed route followed the current line, from [[Little Ponton]] to College Farm, except it was to be a single carriageway road.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

On 8 February 1960, it was announced that a bypass would be built, including the route south to the [[B6403 road|B6403]] at [[Colsterworth]]. [[Robert McGregor & Sons|Robert McGregor and Sons Ltd]] of Manchester would build the road for £1,856,009. (The company went on to build Newark bypass in 1964.) The bridges were built by [[Simon Carves]] of [[Cheadle Hulme]]. It was formally opened on 10 October 1962 by [[James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster]], then the [[Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire]] (from 1950 to 1975).<ref>{{cite web |title=Concrete Quarterly 55, page 32 |url=http://www.concretecentre.com/PDF/cq_055.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704230206/http://www.concretecentre.com/PDF/cq_055.PDF |archive-date=4 July 2011 |access-date=21 June 2017 }}</ref> He was married to the (only) daughter of [[Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor|Nancy Astor]].

Various attempts at one-way systems in Grantham have been introduced, but traffic delays are still commonplace. Low railway bridges also add to traffic difficulties, with lorries becoming stuck under them. Many promises have been made by the local council for a Grantham bypass road. The latest, the Grantham Southern Relief Road, has been in planning since 2007. Phase one of the project was completed in 2016 which provided access to some commercial facilitates and a new roundabout on the B1174.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schubert |first=Chris |title=Grantham Southern Relief Road |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/major-projects/grantham-southern-relief-road |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=Lincolnshire County Council }}</ref> Phase Two, started in October 2019, involves a new grade separated junction on the A1 and is due to be opened on 20 December 2022. Phase three for the main stretch of road started in 2021 and due to be completed by 2023. In July 2022 it was found that ground conditions at a new viaduct were for as expected, and the project would be delayed as the viaduct would need to be redesigned.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schubert |first=Chris |title=Unexpected engineering issue for Grantham Southern Relief Road project |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/article/1133/unexpected-engineering-issue-for-grantham-southern-relief-road-project |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=Lincolnshire County Council }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schubert |first=Chris |title=Grantham Southern Relief Road |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/major-projects/grantham-southern-relief-road |access-date=21 December 2020 |website=Lincolnshire County Council }}</ref>

===Waterways===
Grantham was once linked to Nottingham by the [[Grantham Canal]]. It is possible to walk and cycle along the canal starting from Grantham near the A1/A607 intersection (opposite ''The Farrier'').

The [[River Witham]] runs through Grantham. It has a riverside walk linking Dysart Park and Wyndham Park, on which is a view of Spittlegate Mill. The walk passes Inner Street allotment and the rear of [[Sainsbury's]] car park, access to which is by a pedestrian bridge at the end of College Street. There are other footbridges with views of the river and its weirs. Swans, ducks and trout are among the wildlife that can be seen along the river.

==Education==
[[File:NewtomMannequin.jpg|thumb|120px|right|Mannequin of Isaac Newton at Grantham Museum]]
[[Grantham College]], a [[further education]] college for the district, opened in 1948, for those not attending school sixth forms. It has a satellite site at Sleaford, Sleaford College.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Since September 2008 the Walton Academy in Kitty Briggs Lane near Harlaxton Road has run post-16 courses. In September 2019, the school had its first intake of male students in the lower school, making the former all-girls school co-educational.<ref>{{cite web |date=11 March 2018 |title=Boys WILL be going to Walton Girls |url=https://www.granthammatters.co.uk/boys-will-be-going-to-walton-girls/ |access-date=6 October 2019 |website=Grantham Matters }}</ref>

Two notable schools in the district are [[Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School]] and [[The King's School, Grantham|The King's Grammar School]]. Both have large sixth forms and eminent past students. Britain's first female prime minister, [[Margaret Thatcher]], attended Kesteven and Grantham, and [[Isaac Newton]] famously attended The King's. Both have remained single-sex up to the age of 16.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

In 1970, [[Kesteven|Kesteven County Council]] (based in Sleaford) announced plans to turn the grammar schools into co-educational comprehensives for ages of 11–16 and leave Grantham College the only sixth form for the town. Later it was proposed to create two sixth-form colleges from one of the grammar schools. Other parts of Kesteven became comprehensive but responsibility for education passed to Lincolnshire under the local government reorganization of 1974, and both schools stayed as [[grammar school]]s.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Ex-pupil Margaret Thatcher was [[Secretary of State for Education and Skills|education secretary]] at the time. The governors of the King's School delayed the process in July 1973, and in January 1975 a plan to make Grantham comprehensive was voted against by the county council, having been approved by the council's own education committee.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

On 1 August 2011 The King's School ended its long relationship with the local elected authorities and the town of Grantham, by converting to a selective academy. It remains a selective boys' school and has kept its name and logo.<ref>{{cite web |title=200 invalid-request |url=http://www.kings.lincs.sch.uk/page_viewer.asp?page=The+King's+School+-+Academy+Status&pid=531 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130718205940/http://www.kings.lincs.sch.uk/page_viewer.asp?page=The+King's+School+-+Academy+Status&pid=531 |archive-date=18 July 2013 |access-date=21 June 2017 |website=www.kings.lincs.sch.uk}}</ref>

All four secondary modern schools are on the outskirts of Grantham. Only three of the six secondary schools are co-educational.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

[[The Priory Ruskin Academy]] (formerly [[Central Technology & Sports College]]) is a co-educational school sited near [[Manthorpe, Grantham|Manthorpe]], this school is part of the wider Priory Federation, which has multiple schools in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. The Priory Ruskin Academy has a sixth form which open in 2013 at the old Church High School site.

In Gorse Lane is [[Grantham Preparatory School]], an independent school preparing entrants for the 11-plus examination.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Another private primary school is Dudley House School.<ref>[http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_providers/full/(urn)/120728 "Dudley House School"] Ofsted. Retrieved 19 May 2011.</ref> Near St Wulfram's on Castlegate is the National Church of England Junior School,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaljuniorschool.com|title=The National Church of England Junior School – Home}}</ref> built in 1859, and a [[feeder school]] for the town's grammar schools.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

The Blessed Hugh More School, a Catholic secondary school, closed in 1989.<ref>Blocl.uk site: [https://blocl.uk/schools/blessed-hugh-more-school-129598 Blessed Hugh More School, Retrieved 29 April 2025.]</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:Grantham Guildhall.jpg|thumb|[[Grantham Guildhall]], completed in 1869]]
Grantham once lay within the ancient [[Winnibriggs and Threo]] [[wapentake]] in the Soke of Grantham.<ref>Vision of Britain site: [https://archive.today/20121205081358/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10005838&c_id=%20 Retrieved 16 March 2012.]</ref>
[[File:Grantham unparished area UK locator map.svg|thumb|the unparished area in South Kesteven district, the current parish and previous district have the same boundaries as the former unparished area]]
In 1894 Grantham became a [[municipal borough]] which became part of the administrative county of the [[Parts of Kesteven]] in 1889.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10027070|title=Relationships and changes Grantham MB through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=28 December 2024}}</ref> On 1 April 1974 the district and parish were abolished and became part of South Kesteven [[non-metropolitan district]] in the [[non-metropolitan county]] of Lincolnshire.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1972/2039/schedule/part/25/made|title=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|publisher=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|accessdate=28 December 2024}}</ref> No [[successor parish]] was formed so it became [[unparished area|unparished]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/grantham%20and%20west%20kesteven.html|title=Grantham and West Kesteven Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=28 December 2024}}</ref> A [[charter trustees]] was formed to preserve the borough status of the former borough.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1976-04-12/debates/d3a6a770-a0f1-45ea-ab22-55514941bec4/CharterTrustees|title=Charter Trustees|publisher=Hansard - UK Parliament|accessdate=28 December 2024}}</ref> 

On 1 April 2024 Grantham was parished and the responsibilities of the charter trustees were transferred to the parish.<ref name=reorg2023>{{cite web|url=https://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-12/Reorganisation%20Order_Redacted.pdf|title=The South Kesteven District Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) (Grantham Parish) Order 2023|publisher=[[South Kesteven District Council]]|accessdate=28 December 2024}}</ref> The parish council is named Grantham Town Council and is made up of 22 councillors representing seven wards: Arnoldfield ward, Barrowby Gate ward, Earlesfield ward, Harrowby ward, Springfield ward, St Vincent's ward and St Wulfram's ward. Each elects three councillors except St Vincent's which elects four. These wards are similar to, but not identical with, the district wards used for election to [[South Kesteven District Council]].<ref name=reorg2024 /><ref>{{cite web |title=Parish council - Grantham Town Council |url=https://moderngov.southkesteven.gov.uk/mgParishCouncilDetails.aspx?ID=556 |website=moderngov.southkesteven.gov.uk |publisher=South Kesteven District Council |access-date=20 January 2025 |date=11 August 2022}}</ref>

Politically the town belongs to the [[Grantham and Bourne (UK Parliament constituency)|Grantham and Bourne]] constituency, represented in Parliament by [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) [[Gareth Davies (English politician)|Gareth Davies]], elected at the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|4 July 2024 general election]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moss |first1=Adam |title=New MP Gareth Davies takes over in Grantham and Stamford |url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/new-mp-gareth-davies-takes-3640216 |website=lincolnshirelive |date=13 December 2019}}</ref>

Two of Grantham's MPs in recent years, [[Joseph Godber|Joe Godber]] and [[Douglas Hogg]], have been [[Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food|Secretary of State for Agriculture]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310069/MPs-expenses-Clearing-the-moat-at-Douglas-Hoggs-manor.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310069/MPs-expenses-Clearing-the-moat-at-Douglas-Hoggs-manor.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=MPs' expenses: clearing the moat at Douglas Hogg's manor |publisher=The Telegraph |date=12 May 2009 |access-date=12 July 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Before 1974, the local area was represented by Grantham Borough Council, based at [[Grantham Guildhall]] on St Peters Hill, and [[West Kesteven Rural District]], based in Sandon Close. The local authority is now Grantham Town Council.

The Grantham Charter Trustees had responsibility for ceremonial functions remaining from the former Grantham Borough Council. They include civic ceremonies, annual commemorative events, hosting official visits and maintaining the town's regalia. The Charter Trustees consist of the Grantham District Councillors on South Kesteven District Council. Two members of these are elected annually as Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Grantham.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/charter-trustees-elect-new-mayor-of-grantham-9069488/ |title=New mayor of Grantham elected |publisher=Grantham Journal |date=8 May 2019 |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref>

The 2016 population, put at 44,580, divides by electoral ward into Belmont 4,900; Grantham Arnoldfield 4,666, Grantham Barrowby Gate 5,195, Grantham Earlsfield 6,557, Grantham Harrowby 4,770, Grantham St Vincent's 7,637, Grantham St Wulfram's 5,461, and Grantham Springfield 5,394.<ref name=ons.gov.uk/>

==Religious sites==
{{main|St Wulfram's Church, Grantham}}
[[File:St. Wilfrums Church.jpg|thumb|right|[[St Wulfram's Church, Grantham]]]]
Grantham has places of worship of various denominations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.churches-uk-ireland.org/towns/g/grantham.html |title=The Churches of Britain and Ireland – Grantham|website=www.churches-uk-ireland.org}}</ref> The main local landmark is the parish church of [[Wulfram of Sens|St Wulfram's]], which has the [[List of tallest churches in the world|sixth highest spire]] among English churches, at {{convert|282+1/2|ft|m|1|abbr=off}}. It is the second tallest church in Lincolnshire after [[St James' Church, Louth|St James' Church]] in [[Louth, Lincolnshire|Louth]]. It also holds England's first public library, dating from 1598, when [[Francis Trigge Chained Library|Francis Trigge]], rector of [[Welbourn]], gave £100 for a small [[chained library]] of books for the clergy and ''literate laity'' of Grantham; 250 of the original volumes remain in a small room above the South Porch. From October 1974 the church was permanently floodlit at night.

The Anglican church in the New Somerby district, dedicated to St Anne and seating about 350, was erected as a mission church in 1884 and built of iron. A mission church, dedicated to St Saviour and seating about 150, was built of brick in the Little Gonerby district in 1884.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/st-annes-grantham/ |title=St Anne, Grantham |website=A Church Near You}}</ref><ref>http://www.churches-uk-ireland.org/images/lincs/grantham/anne.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> The church of St John the Evangelist was built of stone in the Spittlegate district in 1840–1841. It seated about 1,100.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/Grantham/#ChurchHist |title=Genuki: Grantham, Lincolnshire |last=GENUKI}}</ref> Today the Deanery of Grantham still includes the churches of St Anne and St John the Evangelist amongst its 18 churches.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Deanery of Grantham |url=http://www.lincoln.anglican.org/deanery.php?id=19 |work=Diocese of Lincoln website |publisher=[[Diocese of Lincoln]] |access-date=29 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801034345/http://www.lincoln.anglican.org/deanery.php?id=19 |archive-date=1 August 2009 }}</ref> The current [[suffragan bishop|suffragan]] [[Bishop of Grantham]] is [[Nicholas Chamberlain]]; his official residence is in [[Long Bennington]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Who's Who – The Area Bishops |url=http://www.lincoln.anglican.org/page.php?i_@CI_74#1a |work=Diocese of Lincoln website |publisher=[[Diocese of Lincoln]] |access-date=29 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104103701/http://www.lincoln.anglican.org/page.php?i_%40CI_74 |archive-date=4 January 2012 }}</ref>

The [[Catholicism|Catholic]] [[Church of St Mary the Immaculate, Grantham|Church of St Mary the Immaculate]] stands in North Parade.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stmarysgrantham.org.uk/ |title=Welcome to St Mary's Grantham |access-date=29 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105101447/http://www.stmarysgrantham.org.uk/ |archive-date=5 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Grantham [[Baptists|Baptist]] Church is located in Wharf Road.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.granthambaptistchurch.co.uk/ |title=Grantham Baptist Church |work=granthambaptistchurch.co.uk}}</ref> Grantham Christchurch ([[Local ecumenical partnership|LEP]]) Church ([[United Reformed Church]]) is located in Finkin Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christchurchgrantham.com |title=ChristChurch Grantham |access-date=21 June 2017}}</ref> Harrowby Lane [[Methodism|Methodist]] Church dates from the late 1920s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.harrowbylane.org.uk/harrowbylanehistory.html |title=Harrowby Lane Methodist Church |access-date=21 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109191118/https://www.harrowbylane.org.uk/harrowbylanehistory.html |archive-date=9 November 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Finkin Street Methodist Church]] was a [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodist]] chapel built in the 1840s and attended by Margaret Thatcher.

Plans in 2014 to construct an [[Islam]]ic cultural centre in the town created controversy, including protests from right-wing groups.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/update/2014-02-21/picture-of-site-where-controversial-islamic-cultural-centre-could-be-built/ |title=Picture of site where controversial Islamic cultural centre could be built |work=ITV News}}</ref>

== Culture and amenities ==

=== Amenities ===
Wyndham Park has two children's play areas. There is an open-air paddling pool, football pitch and cafe. Dysart Park has a paddling pool and safe play area for children under six, a green for football and a bandstand. Indoor amenities for children include a swimming pool at the Meres Leisure Centre.

The public library is located in the Sir Isaac Newton Centre. On St Peter's Hill in the centre of town stands [[Grantham Museum]] and the Guildhall Arts Centre, which includes a 210-seat theatre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.guildhallartscentre.com/|title=Guildhall Arts Centre|website=www.guildhallartscentre.com}}</ref>

[[Belton House]] is a popular [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] site with events for children, a play area, train rides, picnic area and woodland walk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/nottinghamshire-lincolnshire/belton-house|title=Belton House &#124; Lincolnshire|website=National Trust}}</ref>

=== Nature ===
[[File:Saltersford Marsh.JPG|thumb|right|Saltersford Marsh]]
Grantham and its surrounding area host [[peregrine falcons]], which have in recent years roosted in the [[bell tower]] of St Wulfram's Church.<ref>{{cite web |title='St Wulfram's Church' Peregrine falcons set up nest on top of A1 pylon near Grantham |url=https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/peregrine-falcons-set-up-nest-on-top-of-a1-pylon-9195734/ |website=Grantham Journal |date=18 April 2021 |access-date=1 December 2022}}</ref> Grantham is surrounded by rolling countryside and woodland, such as nearby Ponton Park Wood, which has walks and views of woods and farmland.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} To the north-east there are the attractive gardens and the magnificent deer park of the [[National Trust]]'s [[Belton House]]. Adjacent are Londonthorpe and Alma Park Woods, both owned by the [[Woodland Trust]]. The former comprises young woodland and open areas of wild flowers, while Alma Park has mature woodland on its steep [[limestone]] scarp and offers views over the town and the surrounding area.

To the south of the town, between Little Ponton and Saltersford, the [[River Witham]] flows through marshes and water meadows that support a variety of plant species, including [[vetches]], cowslip, ''[[Primula veris]]'', Lady's bedstraw ''[[Galium verum]]'', and orchids, including the [[southern marsh orchid]], and wildlife, including [[grey heron]]s, [[mallard]]s, [[greylag geese]], [[Arvicola amphibius|water vole]], and the now critically endangered [[white clawed crayfish]]. The area has notable populations of dragonflies, especially ''[[Aeshna grandis]]'', ''[[Anax imperator]]'', ''[[Libellula quadrimaculata]]'' and ''[[Calopteryx splendens]]'', which are also found on [[Grantham Canal]] as it runs through The [[Vale of Belvoir]] to the west of the town. Wildlife can also be found in the town's Wyndham and Dysart Parks.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

The Woodland Trust is based in Dysart Road and has been in Grantham since 1978; its new £6 million building,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lincolnshire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9192000/9192111.stm |title=BBC – New eco-friendly HQ for Woodland Trust in Grantham|date=15 November 2010}}</ref> on the opposite side of the road, opened in November 2010. The building, designed by [[Atelier One]] and [[Max Fordham]], has won several architectural awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=Feilden Clegg Bradley – Woodlands Trust Headquarters, Grantham |url=http://www.bdonline.co.uk/home/interior-design/feilden-clegg-bradley-woodlands-trust-headquarters-grantham/5019837.article |publisher=Building Design Online |access-date=23 November 2012}}</ref>

=== Gingerbread biscuits ===
The town is known for gingerbread biscuits, first made in 1740 by a baker, William Eggleston. He produced a biscuit called Grantham Whetstones. Whetstones were a rusk-like dry biscuit enjoyed locally and by coach drivers who would stop in Grantham to change horses while travelling along the Great North Road. According to folk belief, Egglestone was baking whetstones in his dimly lit kitchen one morning when he mistook one ingredient for another, resulting in a ginger-like biscuit to emerge from the oven. The mistake was a huge success and the biscuit became established as Grantham Gingerbread, known as a white gingerbread, as it is not made with molasses or black treacle. This has a delicate ginger flavour, rich in butter, with a domed top and a crackled surface. The centre is hollow like a honeycomb.<ref>[https://www.foodsofengland.info/granthamwhetstones.html Foods of England project. Retrieved 17 April 2025.]</ref>

=== Media ===
[[File:Grantham Radio Station - geograph.org.uk - 608243.jpg|thumb|Grantham Radio Station, owned by [[NATS Holdings|NATS]] (En Route) Limited, for [[radio navigation]] for aircraft, and is situated in the north of [[Waltham on the Wolds|Waltham]] near the [[Sproxton, Leicestershire|Sproxton]] parish boundary]]Grantham's local newspaper, the ''Grantham Journal'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/|title=The Latest News & Sport From Grantham|website=Grantham Journal}}</ref> first went on sale in 1854 as ''The Grantham Journal of Useful, Instructive and Entertaining Knowledge and Monthly Advertiser''.  It was founded by Henry Escritt, a Yorkshireman by birth, who moved to the area in 1861. The ''Journal'' is owned by Iliffe Media (formerly by [[Johnston Press]]), and has a sister newspaper in [[Melton Mowbray]], the ''Melton Times''. In the 1960s and earlier it produced the ''Melton Journal'' and ''Rutland Journal'', both versions of the main paper.

[[David Wood (journalist)|David Wood]] (1914–1990), former political editor of ''[[The Times]]'' (working under Sir [[William Haley]]), started out at the ''Grantham Journal''.

Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC East Midlands]] and [[BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire]] on BBC One, and by [[ITV Central]] and [[ITV Yorkshire]] on ITV1.

Radio stations that broadcast to the town are [[BBC Radio Lincolnshire]] and [[Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire|Greatest Hits Radio Lincolnshire]]. Grantham also has a full-time community radio station, [[Gravity FM]]. The station has its own studios in Riverside Walk, on the western side of Grantham College. It is operated by local volunteers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gravityfm.net |url=http://www.gravityfm.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114053400/http://www.gravityfm.net/ |archive-date=14 January 2014 |access-date=21 June 2017 }}</ref>

==Sport==
===Football===
[[Grantham Town F.C.|Grantham Town Football Club]] currently play in the [[Northern Premier League]]. They were founded in 1874 and now use the 7,500-capacity (covered 1,950, seats 750) South Kesteven Sports Stadium (although average attendances are well below that).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.runtrackdir.com/details.asp?track=grantham |title=South Kesteven Sports Stadium |publisher=Runtrackdir.com |access-date=30 July 2009}}</ref> The ground also doubles up as the town's athletics stadium (one of only three in Lincolnshire), next to the Grantham Meres Leisure Centre on ''Trent Road''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ents24.com/web/venue/23583/Grantham/Grantham_Meres_Leisure_Centre.html |title=Meres Centre Tickets, Grantham |publisher=Ents24.com |access-date=30 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927205852/http://www.ents24.com/web/venue/23583/Grantham/Grantham_Meres_Leisure_Centre.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref>

[[Harrowby United F.C.]] play at Dickens Road (NG31 9QY). They are in the [[United Counties League]] Premier Division North.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

[[File:Kesteven Rugby Football Club - geograph.org.uk - 155393.jpg|thumb|right|Kesteven RFC pitch in April 2006]]

===Rugby Union===
Kesteven Rugby Football Club was founded in 1947 and plays at Woodnook, off the [[High Dyke, Lincolnshire|B6403]]. It fields two men's teams, a ladies XV and many junior sides.

===Hockey===
Grantham Hockey Club, which fielded men's and women's team in league hockey, played at the Meres Leisure Centre, on an astro-turf pitch directly behind the football stadium.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://granthamhockey.co.uk/|title=Grantham Hockey Club &#124; Grantham Hockey Club – friendly, welcoming Lincolnshire hockey club|website=granthamhockey.co.uk}}</ref> In 2011, the men ended a long spell in the Midlands League, moving to the East League, successfully earning promotion to Division 5 (North West). Their story is documented in ''1,309 Days Later'', the title a reference to a no-win spell between 2006 and 2009.<ref>{{cite book |title=1,309 Days Later: The story of how a dreary Lincolnshire market town's hockey team went from being at the bottom of a very big pile to making headlines |first=John |last=Pennington |date=6 August 2012 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|id={{ASIN|1469900386|country=uk}}}}</ref>

===Bowls===
Grantham bowls players have represented the indoor and outdoor clubs in county and national competitions. Indoor club players Martin Pulling, Dion Auckland, Ian Johnson, and former England U25 player Mathew Orrey, have played for the England squad.<ref>[http://www.eiba.co.uk/int/2012/jun-trials.php "Junior Men's International Trial"], English Indoor Bowling Association Ltd. Retrieved 26 November 2011</ref><ref>[http://www.granthamdistrictibc.co.uk Grantham and District Indoor Bowling Club]. Retrieved 26 November 2011</ref>

===Table tennis===
In 1993 and 1994 international team matches were held in Grantham, at the South Kesteven Table Tennis Centre, which was opened in January 1992 by [[Johnny Leach]]. [[Grantham College]] have a Table Tennis Academy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grantham.ac.uk/tabletennis/ |title=Table Tennis Academy |access-date=21 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808111338/http://www.grantham.ac.uk/tabletennis/ |archive-date=8 August 2012 }}</ref>

==Twinning==
*[[Sankt Augustin]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], Germany (near [[Bonn]], 57,000 population), twinned<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sankt-augustin.de/home/page_sta_379.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208094411/http://www.sankt-augustin.de/home/page_sta_379.html|url-status=dead|title=Sankt-augustin.de|archivedate=8 February 2013}}</ref> since 1980. The A52 relief road is named ''Sankt Augustin Way''. Sankt Augustin has its '' Grantham-Allee'' and "Grantham-Bridge".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fh-brs.de/Sankt_Augustin_by_train-lang-en.html |title=Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences – University – Addresses and how to find us – Sankt Augustin by train |publisher=Fh-brs.de |date=3 March 2009 |access-date=30 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719013629/http://www.fh-brs.de/Sankt_Augustin_by_train-lang-en.html |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref>

== Landmarks ==
{{further|Public houses and inns in Grantham}}
[[File:Beehivepubsign.jpg|thumb|The living pub sign of The Beehive, at 10 Castlegate]]
[[File:Grantham Guildhall.jpg|thumb|left|[[Grantham Guildhall]] on St Peters Hill designed by William Watkin]]
[[File:The Red House - geograph.org.uk - 335316.jpg|thumb|The Red House on North Parade (former ''Oddfellows Arms'')]]
[[Grantham House]] is to the east of the church, and a [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] property.

Grantham has the country's only "living" [[public house]] sign: a beehive of South African [[African bee|bees]] situated outside the ''Beehive Inn'' since 1830.

[[Grantham Guildhall]] on St Peter's Hill is now the Guildhall Arts Centre.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Town Hall, Grantham|num=1360282|access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref> Edith Smith Way is a road next to the Arts Centre, named after England's first policewoman. Mary Allen and Ellen F. Harburn reported for duty on 27 November 1914.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mary Allen |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/Wallen.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425110005/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wallen.htm |archive-date=25 April 2009 |access-date=27 February 2019 |publisher=Spartacus-Educational.com }}</ref> Mary Allen was a former suffragette and had been previously arrested outside the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] and later went on to be the commandant of the UK's women's police force from the 1920s up to 1940. She helped to set up women's police forces in other countries, including Germany. Edith Smith became the first female with powers of arrest in August 1915.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 January 2006 |title=Town remembers first policewoman |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4610200.stm |access-date=30 July 2009}}</ref>

Sandon Road is named after [[Viscount Sandon]], also the [[Earl of Harrowby]]. The first person with the title was [[Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby]]; a road is also named after him. He bought [[Harrowby Hall]] in 1754. The current owner is [[Dudley Ryder, 8th Earl of Harrowby]].{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

The ''Blue Pig'', one of many ''Blue'' pubs, stands in Vine Street, near the Church of St Wulfram. The building is one of probably only four remaining [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]] buildings in the town and a survivor of the disastrous fires of the 1660s.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} It was first mentioned as an inn in a trade directory of 1846, when the landlord was one Richard Summersby. The property was then owned by the [[:Category:Manners family|Manners family]] (giving the derivation of Blue in the name).{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}
[[File:Gorse Lane, Grantham - geograph.org.uk - 38706.jpg|thumb|160px|right|The water tower on Gorse Lane is a local landmark for drivers]] The nearby ''George Hotel'' (known as St Peter's Place, now the George Shopping Centre) was mentioned in [[Charles Dickens]]'s novel [[Nicholas Nickleby]]. Many of the town's property and industrial estates have been owned by [[Buckminster]] Trust Estates since the time of the [[Earl of Dysart]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Tollemache |first=Sir Richard John |title=Land known as 12 Trust of Buckminster Estate - CA-7-1-370 |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/1718/land-known-as-12-trust-of-buckminster-estate-ca-7-1-370 |publisher=Lincolnshire County Council}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Tollemache |first=Sir Richard John |date=2013-09-27 |title=Land known as 12 Trust of Buckminster Estate - CA-7-1-368 |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/1720/land-known-as-9-trust-of-buckminster-estate-ca-7-1-368 |publisher=Lincolnshire County Council}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Buckminster Developments Limited |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00845496 |website=Company Information Service, Government of United Kingdom}}</ref>

To the west of the town near the [[A607 road|A607]] is Baird's [[malt]]ings, owned by Moray Firth until 1999 and before that by R & W Paul. Other maltings have been converted for residential use, such as Riverview Maltings near the river, formerly owned by Lee & Grinling's.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

Grantham [[Jobcentre Plus|JobCentre]] was opened on 24 June 1975 by local MP [[Joseph Godber]].{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} [[Grantham and Kesteven Hospital|Grantham and District Hospital]] stands next to the Priory Ruskin Academy on the A607 in the north of the town. The maternity unit opened in August 1972 is now a midwife-staffed unit.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

Nearby are many historic houses including 17th-century [[Belton House]] (the [[Brownlow baronets|Brownlows]]), early 19th-century [[Harlaxton Manor]] (the [[Philip Pearson-Gregory|Gregorys]]), [[Stoke Rochford Hall]] (owned by the Turnors, and since 1978 a training centre of the [[National Union of Teachers|NUT]]), and the 19th-century [[Belvoir Castle]] (the [[David Manners, 11th Duke of Rutland|Manners]]), in [[Leicestershire]]. Much of the property and land to the south-west of the area is owned by the two estates of Belvoir and Buckminster.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":11" /> Further to the south of Stoke Rochford are the [[Cholmeley baronets|Cholmeleys]] of [[Easton, Lincolnshire|Easton Hall]].

On 15 May 2022 a {{convert|10|ft|6|in|1|adj=on}} high bronze [[Statue of Margaret Thatcher (Grantham)|statue of Margaret Thatcher]], dressed in the full ceremonial robes of the [[House of Lords]], by sculptor [[Douglas Jennings]] and costing £300,000, was installed.<ref name="museum">{{cite web |date=26 November 2018 |title=Margaret Thatcher statue plans unveiled |url=https://www.granthammuseum.org.uk/2018/11/26/margaret-thatcher-statue-plans-unveiled/ |access-date=16 May 2022 |publisher=Grantham Museum |archive-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519124320/https://www.granthammuseum.org.uk/2018/11/26/margaret-thatcher-statue-plans-unveiled/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Located on St Peter's Hill Green, close to the [[Grantham Museum]], it was placed on a {{convert|10|ft|6|in|1|adj=on}} tall plinth to discourage vandalism, but was [[egging|attacked with eggs]] within two hours of its unveiling.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|last=Brown |first=Mark |date=15 May 2022 |title=Margaret Thatcher statue egged within hours of it being installed |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/15/margaret-thatcher-statue-grantham-egged-within-hours-of-it-being-installed |access-date=15 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="museum" /><ref name="live">{{cite web |last=Laver |first=Adam |date=15 May 2022 |title=Police issue statement over egg thrown at Margaret Thatcher statue |url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/police-issue-statement-over-egg-7083447 |access-date=18 May 2022 |website=LincolnshireLive}}</ref> It has since been vandalised on four further occasions.
{{clear left}}

==Notable people==
<!-- Please do not add those with no Wikipedia article. Please keep alphabetical order within sections. References are needed for each entry showing its connection to Grantham and for information not found on the person's own page. -->
[[File:Theed Newton Grantham Piédestal.JPG|thumb|''Sir Isaac Newton'' by [[William Theed]], 1858, bronze; St Peter's Hill, Grantham]]
[[File:Maison natale de Margaret Thatcher, Grantham.JPG|thumb|The corner shop where [[Margaret Thatcher]] was born, North Parade, Grantham. Location: {{Coord|52|54|57.09|N|0|38|42.40|W|}}]]

===Armed forces and police===
*[[Philip Knights, Baron Knights]] (1920–2014), police officer
*[[Walter Richard Parker]] [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (1881–1936), Royal Marine awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] at [[Gallipoli Campaign|Gallipoli]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://granthammatters.co.uk/parker-walter-1888-1936/ |title=Walter Parker (1888–1936) |website=www.granthammatters.co.uk |date=19 August 2012 |access-date=8 June 2013}}</ref>
*[[Edith Smith (police officer)|Edith Smith]] (1876–1924), first woman police officer with full arrest powers

===Arts and entertainment===
*[[Antonio Berardi]] (born 1968), fashion designer
*[[Judy Campbell]] (1916–2004), actor and playwright
*[[Syd Cain]] (1918–2011), film production designer
*[[Eric Chappell]] (born 1933), comedy writer
*[[Colley Cibber]] (1671–1757), actor, playwright and poet laureate, attended [[The King's School, Grantham]].
*[[Dorothy Cowlin]] (1911–2010), novelist born in Grantham
*[[Johnny Haddon Downes]] (1920–2004), television producer
*[[Vince Eager]] (born 1940), singer
*[[Graham Fellows]] (born 1959), actor and musician<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corrie.net/profiles/actors/fellows_graham.html|title=Graham Fellows|website=www.corrie.net}}</ref>
*[[Michael Garner]] (born 1954), actor
*[[Holly Humberstone]] (born 1999), singer and songwriter
*[[Henry Johnson (acrobat)|Henry Johnson]] (1806–1910), circus equestrian gymnast and acrobat
*[[Jessie Lipscomb]] (1861–1962), sculptor
*[[Spencer Matthews]] (born 1988), television personality and entrepreneur
*[[Nicholas Maw]] (1935–2009), composer
*[[Richard Nauyokas]] (born 1962), soldier and actor
*[[Nicholas Parsons]] (1923–2020), television and radio presenter
*[[Roy Petley]] (born 1951), Grantham-born ''[[plein air]]'' painter
*[[William Stukeley]] (1687–1765), [[antiquarian]]<ref>[https://archive.today/20080229203854/http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk/texts/viewtext.php?id=OTHE00017&mode=normalized William Stukeley at Grantham]. Retrieved 29 January 2011.</ref><ref>[http://stamfordcivicsociety.org.uk/WILLIAM_STUKELEY.pdf William Stukeley: Grantham doctor] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827211544/http://stamfordcivicsociety.org.uk/WILLIAM_STUKELEY.pdf |date=27 August 2011}}. Retrieved 29 January 2011.</ref>
*[[Richard Todd]] (1919–2009) actor
*[[Clare Tomlinson]] (born 1968), news presenter

===Crime===
*[[Beverley Allitt]] (born 1968), serial killer<ref>{{cite news |title=Nurse 'only link to children's deaths' |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=Manchester |date=16 February 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Shadows of death fell across Ward 4 |last=Jenkins |first=Lin |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=18 May 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Killings fed a craving for attention |last=Jenkins |first=Lin |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=18 May 1993}}</ref>
*[[Murder of Julie Pacey|Julie Pacey]] (1955/1956–1994), victim of mysterious unsolved murder in the town in 1994. The killer, 'Overalls Man', may also be from the area or still lives there today<ref>{{cite news |title=DNA breakthrough over 1994 Julie Pacey murder |url=https://www.itv.com/news/central/2015-07-28/dna-breakthrough-over-1994-julie-pacey-murder |access-date=1 July 2023 |work=ITV News |date=28 July 2015}}</ref>

===Politics and philosophy===
*[[Mary Sophia Allen]] (1878–1964), suffragist, women's rights activist, and Nazi sympathizer
*[[Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet]] (1659–1697), politician and landowner
*[[William Bury (Roundhead)|William Bury]] (c. 1605–1669), [[Commonwealth (England)|Commonwealth]] politician and army officer
*[[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley]] (1520–1598), statesman and [[Secretary of State]], attended the King's School.
*Sir [[Clement Cotterell (MP)|Clement Cotterell]] (died 1631), courtier and [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] for Grantham
*Sir [[Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet|John Cust]] (1718–1770), MP for Grantham (1743–1770) and [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]]
*[[Joseph Godber]], Lord Godber (1914–1980), was Conservative MP for Grantham in 1951–1979 and held several government posts.
*[[Douglas Hogg]], Lord Hailsham (born 1945), was a Conservative politician and minister, and MP for Grantham (1979–1997).
*[[Denis Kendall]], MP for Grantham 1942–1950
*[[John Mordaunt (speaker)|John Mordaunt]] (died c. 1505), MP for Grantham in 1491 and Speaker of the House of Commons
*[[Henry More]] (1614–1687), rationalist philosopher, attended The King's School.<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle= More, Henry |volume = 18 |last= |first= |author-link= |page=822 |short=1}}</ref>
*[[Thomas Paine]] (1737–1809), political writer and revolutionary
*[[Margot Parker]] (born 1943), [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]] (2014–2019)
*Sir [[Arthur Priestley]] (1865–1933), Liberal MP for Grantham (1900–1918)
*Alderman [[Alfred Roberts]] (1892–1970), local politician
*[[Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby]] (1735–1803), politician
*[[Norman Shrapnel]] (1912–2004), political correspondent and author
*[[Margaret Thatcher]] (1925–2013), Conservative Prime Minister, daughter of Alfred Roberts
*[[Thomas Witham]] (c. 1420–1489), Chancellor of the Exchequer to [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] and [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]]

===Religion===
[[File:Effigy of John Still at his tomb in Wells Cathedral, Somerset, UK - 20100930.jpg|thumb|180px|
Bishop [[John Still]], effigy in [[Wells Cathedral]]]]
*[[Frederic Barker]] (1808–1882), Anglican Bishop of Sydney, attended The King's School.
*[[Tim Ellis (bishop)|Tim Ellis]] (born 1953), Anglican suffragan Bishop of Grantham (2006–2013)
*[[Arthur Greaves]] (1873–1960), Anglican suffragan Bishop of Grantham and later [[Grimsby]]
*[[Gregory Hascard]] (died 1708), Anglican Dean of Windsor and religious writer
*[[Dennis Hawker]] (1921–2003), Anglican suffragan Bishop of Grantham (1972–1987)
*[[John Hine (bishop of Grantham)|John Hine]] (1857–1934), Anglican bishop, successively of [[Nyasaland]], [[Zanzibar]], [[Northern Rhodesia]] and Grantham (1920–1930)
*[[Welbore MacCarthy]] (1840–1925), Anglican Archdeacon of [[Calcutta]], and later inaugural suffragan Bishop of Grantham (1905–1920)
*[[Algernon Markham]] (1869–1949), Anglican suffragan Bishop of Grantham (1937–1949)
*[[James McCann (bishop)|James McCann]] (1897–1983), Anglican [[Archbishop of Armagh]] and Primate of All Ireland
*[[Anthony Otter]] (1896–1986), Anglican suffragan Bishop of Grantham (1949–1965)
*[[John Still]] (1593–1608), [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]], once thought to have written an early farce, ''Gammer Gurton's Needle''
*[[Doris Stokes]] (1920–1987), spiritualist and psychic medium
*[[William Wand]] (1885–1977), Anglican prelate, successively [[Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane|Archbishop of Brisbane]], [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]] and [[Bishop of London]]

===Science and engineering===
[[File:Rivercourt Methodist Church 02.JPG|thumb|180px|[[Rivercourt Methodist Church]], Hammersmith, London, designed by Charles Bell]]
*[[Charles Bell (British architect)|Charles Bell]] (1846–1899), architect
*[[William Clarke (apothecary)|William Clarke]] (1609–1682), apothecary and tutor to Isaac Newton
*[[Maxwell Hutchinson]] (born 1948), architect
*[[Isaac Newton]], (1642–1726/27), physicist and mathematician
*[[Mark A. O'Neill]] (born 1959), biologist and computer scientist
*[[Thomas James Smith]] (1827–1896), pharmacist and founder of the medical equipment firm [[Smith & Nephew]]

===Sport===
*[[Shaun Balfe]] (born 1972), racing driver
*[[Patrick Bamford]] (born 1993), professional footballer with [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] and the [[England national football team]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/16852847 |title=Bamford deal a sign of the times |work= BBC Sport|access-date=1 January 2014}}</ref>
*[[Terry Bly]] (1935–2009), professional footballer, died in Grantham
*[[Ian Bowyer]] (born 1951), professional footballer
*[[Roderick Bradley]] (born 1983), American footballer
*[[John Broughton (cricketer)|John Broughton]] (1873–1952), first-class cricketer
[[File:Charles P. Dixon.jpg|thumb|180px|Olympic gold medal winning tennis player [[Charles P. Dixon]]]]
*[[Charles P. Dixon]] (1873–1939), Olympic gold, silver and bronze medal-winning tennis player
*[[Mathew Dowman]] (born 1974), first-class cricketer
*[[Dave Gilbert (footballer)|Dave Gilbert]] (born 1963), professional footballer
*[[Arthur Green (footballer, born 1885)|Arthur Green]] (1885 – post-1912), professional footballer
*[[Timothy Grubb]] (1954–2010), Olympic show jumper
*[[Cyril Hatton]] (1918–1987), professional footballer<ref>Grantham Matters [http://www.granthammatters.co.uk/hatton-cyril/ Retrieved 17 March 2016.]</ref>
*[[Richard Holmes (footballer)|Richard Holmes]] (born 1980), professional footballer
*[[Richard Howitt (cricketer, born 1977)|Richard Howitt]] (born 1977), first-class cricketer
*[[Vikki Hubbard]] (born 1989), international high jumper
*[[Dickie Joynes]] (1877–1949), professional footballer
*[[Alastair McCorquodale]] (1925–2009), Scottish athlete and first-class cricketer, died in Grantham.
*[[Harry Pringle]] (1900–1965), professional footballer, died in Grantham.
*[[Arnold Rylott]] (1839–1914), first-class cricketer
*[[David Storer]] (born 1968), former cricketer
*[[Simon Terry]] (1974–2021), Olympic Bronze medal-winning archer
*[[Tom Wells (cricketer)|Tom Wells]] (born 1993), first-class cricketer
*[[William Woof]] (1858–1937), first-class cricketer
*[[Ashley Wright (cricketer)|Ashley Wright]] (born 1980), first-class cricketer
*[[Luke Wright]] (born 1985), first-class cricketer

==See also==
*[[Public houses and inns in Grantham#"Blue" pubs|Blue pubs]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group="n"}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
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*{{cite book |author-last1=Roffe |author-first1=David |chapter=The Early History of Grantham |editor-last1=Start |editor-first1=David |editor-last2=Stocker |editor-first2=David |title=The Making of Grantham: The Medieval Town |location=Heckington |publisher=[[Heritage Lincolnshire|Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire]] |year=2011 |pages=21–38 |isbn=9780948639593}}
*{{citation |author=South Kesteven District Council |url=http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2117&p=0 |title=South Kesteven Landscape Character Assessment |location=Grantham |publisher=South Kesteven District Council |year=2007}}
*{{citation |author=South Kesteven District Council |title=Grantham Townscape Assessment |location=Grantham |publisher=South Kesteven District Council |url=http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8711 |year=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212161948/http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8711 |archive-date=12 February 2021}}
*{{citation |first=Frank M. |last=Stenton |author-link=Frank Stenton |title=Anglo-Saxon England |series=[[Oxford History of England]] |edition=3rd |year=1971 |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780192801395}}
*{{citation |last=Turnor |first=Edmund |author-link=Edmund Turnor (antiquarian) |title=Collections for the History of the Town and Soke of Grantham |location=London |publisher=[[William Miller (British publisher)|William Miller]] |year=1806 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRw2AQAAMAAJ |oclc=1089905381}}
* {{citation |first=Andrew |last=White |url=https://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/assets/downloads/IS_arch_12_antiquities_from_the_witham_prehistoric_and_roman.pdf |title=Lincolnshire Museums Information Sheet: Antiquities from the River Witham. Part I: Prehistoric and Roman |series=Archaeology Series |volume=12 |location=Lincoln |publisher=Lincolnshire Museums |year=1979 |oclc=819665966}}
*{{cite journal |last=White |first=Graeme |title=King Stephen, Duke Henry and Ranulf de Gernons, Earl of Chester |journal=[[The English Historical Review]] |volume=91 |issue=360 |year=1976 |pages=555–565 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/566626 |doi=10.1093/ehr/XCI.CCCLX.555|jstor=566626|url-access=subscription }}
*{{citation |last=Youngs |first=Frederic A. |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England |volume=2 |year=1991 |location=London |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] |isbn=9780861931279}}

==Further reading==
Historical overviews of some or all of Grantham's history can be found in:
*[[Thomas Allen (topographer)|Allen, Thomas]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=YlAGAAAAQAAJ "Grantham soke and town"], in Thomas Allen (ed.), ''The History of the County of Lincoln, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time'', vol. 2 (London and Lincoln: John Saunders Jr, 1834), pp.&nbsp;300–317
*Couth, Bill (ed.), ''Grantham During the Interregnum: The Hall Book of Grantham, 1641–1649'', The Publications of the [[Lincoln Record Society]], no. 83 (Woodbridge: [[Boydell Press]] for the [[Lincoln Record Society]], 1995)
*Manterfield, John B., "The Topographical Development of the Pre-Industrial Town of Grantham, Lincolnshire 1535–1835" (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, [[University of Exeter]], 1981)
*Manterfield, John B. (ed.), ''Borough Government in Newton's Grantham: The Hall Book of Grantham, 1649–1662'', The Publications of the Lincoln Record Society, no. 106 (Woodbridge: [[Boydell Press]] for the [[Lincoln Record Society]], 2016)
*Martin, G. H., ''The Royal Charters of Grantham 1463–1688'' (Leicester: [[Leicester University Press]], 1963)

Histories of more specific aspects of the town's history include:
*Branson, S. J., ''A History of the King's School, Grantham'' (Gloucester: [[Alan Sutton]], 1988)
*Cartwright, Adam, "Mowbray and Co Ltd, Brewers of Grantham (1837–1952)", ''[[Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology|Lincolnshire History and Archaeology]]'', vol. 49 (2017)
*Crook, Ruth, ''The History of Vine House and Vine Street, Grantham'' (Grantham: Grantham Civic Society, 2014)
*Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, ''The History of Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, 1910–1987'' (Grantham: [[Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School]], 1987)
*Manterfield, John B., "Grantham Apothecaries: Further Notes", ''[[Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology|Lincolnshire History and Archaeology]]'', vol. 25 (1990)
*Manterfield, John B., "Edward Pawlett of Grantham: A Provincial Bookseller, 1660–1687", ''[[Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology|Lincolnshire History and Archaeology]]'', vol. 29 (1994)
*Pointer, Michael, ''Hornsbys of Grantham, 1815–1918'' (Grantham: Bygone Grantham, 1976)
*Pointer, Michael, ''The Glory of Grantham: Story of St Wulfram's Church'' (Grantham: Bygone Grantham, 1978)
*Pointer, Michael, ''Ruston & Hornsby, Grantham, 1918–1963'' (Grantham: Bygone Grantham, 1984)
*Wilson, Catherine M., "Industrial Archaeology Notes", ''[[Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology|Lincolnshire History and Archaeology]]'', vol. 12 (1977) – concerning Bjorlow Leather Works and Coles Cranes Factory
*Wright, Neil R., ''Lincolnshire Towns and Industry 1700–1914'', History of Lincolnshire, no. 11 (Lincoln: History of Lincolnshire Committee of the [[Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology]], 1982)

Additionally, privately published works of a historical nature include Ruth Crook and Barbara Jeffries's ''The History of Little Gonerby and its School'' (Grantham: privately published, 2008) and ''The History of Gonerby Hill Foot and its School'' (Grantham: privately published, 2008). Collections of photographs include the ''Bygone Grantham'' series (6 vols; Grantham: Bygone Grantham, 1977–1987) edited by Michael Pointer and Malcolm Knapp. Knapp also compiled ''Grantham: The War Years, 1939–1945: A Pictorial Insight'' (Newland: Lincolnshire Books, 1995). Various collections of newspaper cuttings and excerpts under the title ''Grantham in the News'' by John R. Pinchbeck were published in five volumes between 1999 and 2010.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Grantham}}
{{Wikivoyage|Grantham}}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Grantham |volume= XI |last= |first= |author-link= | page=51 |short=1 }}
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle= Grantham |volume = 12 |last= |first= |author-link= |page=360 |short=1}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081016163454/http://www.grantham-online.co.uk/ Grantham tourist information, business services, community information, youth zone, news.] – published by Kesteven District Council
*[http://www.granthamjournal.co.uk Grantham Journal Newspaper]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081022083531/http://www.granthamengland.co.uk/ A Grantham directory]

{{Portal bar|England|United Kingdom}}
{{Lincolnshire|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Grantham| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Market towns in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:South Kesteven District]]