Long Sutton, Lincolnshire

Long Sutton is a market town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies in The Fens, close to the Wash, 13 miles (21 km) east of Spalding.

Long Sutton
St Mary's Church
Long Sutton is located in Lincolnshire
Long Sutton
Long Sutton
Location within Lincolnshire
Population4,821 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceTF430230
 London90 mi (140 km) SSW
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSPALDING
Postcode districtPE12
Dialling code01406
PoliceLincolnshire
FireLincolnshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

History

Long Sutton belonged historically to the wapentake of Elloe in the Parts of Holland.[2]

A flood in 1236 that destroyed Wisbech Castle is also said to have washed away the village of Dolproon (or Dolprun) near Long Sutton and its existence has been handed down in the lines: "When Dolproon stood, Long Sutton was a wood. When Dolproon was washed down, Long Sutton became a town."[3]

By the mid-14th century, it was considered to be one of the richest communities in Lincolnshire.[4]

In the 1800s the town was on the circuits of touring theatre companies, in 1842 the Bullen theatre company performed here.[5] Long Sutton Market House was completed in 1856.[6]

Long Sutton railway station on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway opened in July 1862 and closed in 1959 when passenger services were withdrawn.[7]

In 1987 a Butterfly Park was opened near Long Sutton. The park was closed in October 2012 after a series of losses and bad weather.[8]

On 21 June 2012, at about 2:30 pm, a tornado hit Long Sutton. Particular damage was caused in Woad Lane with the tornado "leaving a trail of destruction in its wake".[9]

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This stretches south to Tydd St Mary, with a total population at the 2011 Census of 7,260.[10]

Community

Long Sutton is the terminus of the A1101. It is now bypassed, with Sutton Bridge, by the A17 which follows the former railway. In 2001 the town had a population of 6,461.[11]

Long Sutton is served by one main local newspaper company, Spalding Today, which produces the Spalding Guardian and the Lincolnshire Free Press.[12]

Food canning factory

Among the largest local employers since the 1940s was the canning factory of Lockwoods Foods Ltd in Bridge Road, between Sutton Bridge and Long Sutton. It produced a range of own-brand canned food and drink products ranging from mushy peas to seasonal strawberries and cola[13][14] to ginger beer[15] and lemonade shandy.[16] The firm catered to UK and overseas markets, including third-party brands such as Del Monte. In the 1980s the factory was bought by Premier Foods, as Lockwoods Foods Limited went into administrative receivership. Premier Foods, among other food brands, later produced the staple Fray Bentos canned steak and kidney pie at the Long Sutton factory. After the sale of Fray Bentos to Baxters in 2011, production moved to Scotland in 2013.[17][18] The factory now belongs to the Princes Food & Drink Group. Long Sutton is its largest food production site in the United Kingdom.

Facilities and landmarks

Long Sutton County Primary School is in Dick Turpin Way in the centre of Long Sutton. It has about 400 pupils. University Academy Long Sutton is the local co-educational secondary modern school.

St Mary's Church has a 13th-century lead-covered timber spire similar in design to Chesterfield Parish Church's twisted spire, but Long Sutton's is straight. The church is a Grade I listed building.[19] The spire is 149 feet (45 metres) high.[20]

Dr Bailey's inscribed stone in the church

Within the church is a memorial inscribed "Alas! Poor Bailey" to a local surgeon, John Bailey, who was killed by robbers while returning from a visit to a patient in Tydd St Mary just after midnight on 22 April 1795. His murderers were not caught.[21][22]

Town public houses are the Olde Ship Inn in London Road, the Crown and Woolpack in High Street, and the Corn Exchange and the Granary in Market Street.

Sport

The town's Long Sutton Athletic F.C. plays in the Peterborough and District Football League. It previously played in the Eastern Counties Football League.[23]

Notable people

In birth order:

References

  1. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  2. "Hundred of Elloe | Domesday Book". Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015. Domesday Map Online: Long Sutton.
  3. F.J.Gardiner (1898). History of Wisbech and Neighbourhood. Gardiner & Co.
  4. Neil R Wright (2016). Treading the Boards. SLHA. p. 56.
  5. "Theatre". Lincolnshire Chronicle. 2 September 1842. p. 3.
  6. "A History of the Long Sutton Market House and Corn Exchange". www.longsuttonmarkethouse.org. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  7. Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 277. OCLC 931112387.
  8. "Long Sutton Butterfly Park to close". BBC News. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  9. "Tornado hits Long Sutton"; Spalding Guardian 23 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  10. "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  11. Annual Monitoring Report 2006-07 Archived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, p. 11; South Holland District Council
  12. "News – Spalding Guardian". Spaldingtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  13. "LOCKWOODS-Cola-330mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  14. "LOCKWOODS-Cola (diet)-326mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  15. "LOCKWOODS-Ginger beer-326mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  16. "LOCKWOODS-Shandy-330mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  17. "Baxters Fray Bentos acquisition cleared". BBC News. 30 December 2011.
  18. "On the move". FoodManufacture.co.uk.
  19. Historic England, "Church of St Mary (1064562)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 March 2017
  20. Julian Flannery, 2016. Fifty English Steeples: The Finest Medieval Parish Church Towers and Spires in England. New York City, New York, United States: Thames and Hudson. pp. 98–107 ISBN 978-0-500-34314-2.
  21. Sylvanus Urban, The Gentleman's Magazine: and Historical Chronicle for the Year 1795. Volume 77. Part the First, 1795, p. 441.
  22. Daniel Codd, Tales from the Gibbet Post (The Hunt for 'Butcher Jack'). Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Kindle Edition, 2013. ASIN: B00D2B8OWA
  23. "Long Sutton Athletic Football Club". Teamstats.net. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  24. Kyll, Thomas (1739), The Trial of the Notorious Highwayman Richard Turpin, London: Ward and Chandler booksellers
  25. What's in a Name? Sir Richard Winfrey - a man who made such a difference. Accessed 9 August 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.