Gainsborough, Lincolnshire

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Gainsborough

Coordinates: 53.4016° N 0.7732° W
Population	19,110
OS grid reference	SK815901
District	West Lindsey
Shire county	Lincolnshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GAINSBOROUGH
Postcode district	DN21
Dial code	01427
Police	Lincolnshire
Fire	Lincolnshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Gainsborough
European Parliament	East Midlands
List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire

Gainsborough is a town in Lincolnshire, England. The West Lindsey Council headquarters are based in Gainsborough. The town is at the meeting point of the east-west A631, the A156 (from the south to Torksey) and A159 (from Scunthorpe). 'Thorndike Way', Gainsborough's dual carriageway, currently extends eastward only to the town boundary and was intended to connect with the A15 at Caenby Corner. The town's main attractions are Gainsborough Old Hall, Gainsborough Castle and West Lindsey Leisure Centre on The Avenue.

1 History
2 Industry
3 Sport and entertainment
4 Education
5 External links

[edit] History

Gainsborough Old Hall

Marketplace

River Trent and new Gainsborough Riverside developments

The Guildhall, offices of the West Lindsey District Council

One of the best preserved manor houses in Britain, Gainsborough Old Hall is a large 15th century timber-framed medieval strong house. Sir Thomas Burgh built it between 1460 and 1480. It boasts a magnificent Great Hall and strong brick tower. King Richard III in 1483 and King Henry VIII in 1541 both stayed at the Old Hall.

The River Trent runs right alongside Gainsborough, and recently the river banks have been renovated to provide residents and tourist with access to the riverside and a sitting area to enjoy the view. The main church is All Saints.

Historically, Gainsborough is the "capital that never was". Sweyn Forkbeard based himself at Gainsborough after gaining the kingship in late 1013, and King Cnut allegedly performed his purposely unsuccessful attempt to turn the tide back in the River Trent at Gainsborough, but nevertheless, the town was a capital city of Mercia during the Dark Ages.

The town was garrisoned for the king in January 1643 but the Royalist fortification of Newark had blocked the Great North Road to Parliamentarian traffic so Gainsborough became significant as part of a route around Newark by way of Lincoln and the line of the modern A15 road. It was in the Royalists' interests to obstruct this but holding Gainsborough also allowed them to forage in Lindsey and to harass Parliamentarians there. During 1643, this competition gave rise to the battles of Gainsborough and Winceby.

[edit] Industry

Gainsborough has a long-standing history with industry. The town was the manufacturing base of Marshall's, a major boiler manufacturer. The company occupied Britannia Works, the biggest in Europe when built. The site has now been split among many different companies, Tesco and Dransfield. The remainder of the site is occupied by local companies. Tesco, on Beaumont Street, demolished a large section of the works to create its large store around five years ago. Dransfield is in the process of remodeling about nine acres (36,000 m²) of the site to include a shopping area and a new heritage museum. Building work is now underway on the site at the corner of Spring Gardens and the projected finish date is spring 2007. There is a Morrisons on Heapham Road South, and Co-ops in the Lindsey Centre in the town centre, and Morton on Queensway.

Another area of Gainsborough’s industry is Rose's. They produced seaside rock making machines along with packaging machines. These included cigarette making machines and bread-slicing and wrapping machines. The proper name of the firm is Rose Bros., after William German and Walter, the co-founders.

Gainsborough is the home of two of the largest Jokes and Novelties manufacturers in the UK: Smiffy's (also known as Smiths of Gainsborough), and Pam's of Gainsborough, a smaller company. Smiffy's are also the only wigmaker left in the UK.

Gainsborough is also famed as Britain’s most inland port and so has a long history with river trade — the town’s Trent Bridge prevents most barges from go beyond it and so many have to offload their goods at the town. There is currently one wharf in the town — mainly a source of wood.

West Burton Power Station is three miles to the south-west of the town, near to the railway to Retford. At the East Trent Junction, on the east side on the railway bridge over the Trent, the railway line from Retford (and Sheffield) and Doncaster, the line splits into two - for Grimsby and Lincoln. The two respective railway stations in Gainsborough are Gainsborough Central on Spring Gardens near the town centre (for the Grimsby line) and Lea Road (for Lincoln) on Lea Road (A156) to the south of the town. At the equivalent West Trent Junction, on the other side of the river in Nottinghamshire, the lines from Doncaster and Sheffield meet. The bridge over the Trent carries four possible routes of trains (Sheffield or Doncaster to Lincoln or Grimsby).

[edit] Sport and entertainment

The town is home to Gainsborough Trinity F.C., a semi-professional football club playing at the sixth level of English football. During a brief spell at the start of the 20th century, the club was professional and a member of The Football League.

The second weekend in June sees the town play host to the Gainsborough Riverside Festival, an annual arts/heritage event which has run since 2001.

[edit] Education

The town has one of the top state schools in the country, Queen Elizabeth High School (selective state grammar school from 11-18) on Morton Terrace (A159) next to the railway line, whilst the Castle Hills Community Arts College, on The Avenue next to the leisure centre and the other side of the railway, recently achieved the status of performing arts college for the second time. The Middlefield School of Technology is on Middlefield Lane, next to Thorndike Way. The town has links with the John Leggott Sixth Form College in Scunthorpe, which enrolls many international students. Gainsborough College on Acland Street focuses on vocational education.