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A future from the past

Gainsborough is using its historic buildings to create an interesting town for the future

Words: Jonathan Broad Pictures: Richard Picksley and John Smith

According to the philosopher Alain de Botton, human beings tend not to notice or truly appreciate what they have on their own doorsteps. In support of this one of his fellow philosophers says that everyone should be made to take their annual break, for at least two weeks, within a twenty-mile radius of their own home. This may sound extreme to some but perhaps they do have a point.

When I first moved to this area, all I could see was flat and boring fenland. 'Well and truly blinkered' is the phrase which springs to mind. However, it's surprising what treasures can be discovered when you dig a little deeper. Returning to the twenty-mile radius theory, you could do worse than visit Gainsborough and the surrounding area.

Nestling against the eastern bank of the River Trent, on the county border with Nottinghamshire, Gainsborough was first referred to in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle in the year 1013 although the place-name is probably much older. Borough, or burgh is derived from the Old English burg, which means a fortified settlement. Gainsborough would have started out life as no more than a simple village, defended by a ditch and earthen bank, perhaps surmounted by a wooden stockade. In 868 Alfred the Great was married here and a street bears his name today.

Gainsborough's position on the Trent has brought both prosperity and invasion. This great river has linked the town with the midlands and the north of England as well as the North Sea and Europe. But as well as enabling Gainsborough to trade with the rest of the world, it has brought conquerors.

In 1013, the town was attacked and devastated by Sweyn, King of the Danes and his son, Canute. Sweyn brought his vessels up the Trent and the whole of Northumbria as well as Lindsey were defeated by his army. Sweyn died the following year in Gainsborough and is thought by many to be buried here, possibly at Castle Hills which was close to his camp at Thonock. At this point in its history, Gainsborough was not an ideal place to visit or settle in.

Gainsborough is very well known for its Old Hall. Sir Thomas de Burgh's original hall was burned by the Lancastrian army in 1470 but he had rebuilt it by 1484 in time to entertain Richard III. It was extended around the year 1600 and is considered to be one of the most extensive and perfect examples of a medieval manor house.

Throughout its history, the Old Hall has featured in national history. Henry VIII stayed there and in the seventeenth century it had close links with the Pilgrim Fathers. Baptist Minister, the Revd John Smythe, having been sacked from his living for 'preaching strange doctrines' was offered refuge at the Hall, along with around sixty other separatists, by its then owner, William Hickman.

The numbers of separatists grew and eventually, all who rebelled against the church were exiled. They sailed to Holland in 1607. In 1620 the rebels boarded the Mayflower and set sail on their historic journey to America.

Today, Gainsborough still experiences controversy the latest being over the redevelopment of the Marshall's site. Marshall's Engineering Works was founded in 1848 by William Marshall, a millwright. It covered a sixteen-acre site with eleven-and-a-half acres taken up by buildings. The company exported agricultural machinery all over the globe. During the First World War, the company employed 5,000 people, manufacturing weapons. By the 1920s it was a market leader in the design of the internal combustion engine for tractors and the stationary oil engine. In March, 1936, a new company was founded which became involved in the manufacture of the midget submarine.

Now £19million is being spent to develop this site into a retail and leisure park with 305 car parking spaces, scheduled for completion this Easter. However, the Britannia Works was a Grade II listed building and the project has been the subject of much heated debate in the community. The new building will retain Marshall's historic frontage and the plans for the old works will create many new jobs in the area.

As a market town attracting people from villages for miles around, Gainsborough has also been a centre for entertainment. Actor John Alderton was born in the town. If he had lived there in 1772, when the first purpose-built theatre was erected, I am confident he would have been a proud man indeed. However, in those days actors were considered as nothing more than rogues and vagabonds and the plays in which they performed were regarded as 'lewde and ungodly spectacles'.

The first cinema performances in Gainsborough were in December 1896 when, within a few days, two different shows were put on in the town. The first was at the Albert Hall, the forerunner of the King's Theatre in Trinity Street, and on the following Monday, 7th December, Edison's 'Cinematograph' was part of a variety bill at the Public Hall in Spital Terrace. On Whit Monday in June, 1925, the New Grand Cinema was opened in the Market Place. This was the town's first purpose-built cinema in the days when the silent films were accompanied by music provided by either an upright piano or an orchestra. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, the first talking pictures were shown at the Grand, three years after they were introduced to Britain. Two decades later, the Grand was renamed the Gaumont Cinema but was always known locally under its original name. It closed in 1961 when it was converted into an emporium for the local Co-operative Society.

Today, Gainsborough theatre-goers have the Trinity Arts Centre, based in the former Trinity Church, which offers a programme of music, theatre, exhibitions, workshops and demonstrations.

And there are also regular jazz-based entertainments at the newly refurbished Sands venue, Gainsborough's former town hall.

Over recent years the town's riverside has benefited from a complete facelift with new flood defences, pieces of art work, landscaped gardens and redevelopment of the former riverside warehouses into residential accommodation.