The Stamford Canal book Chapter 1
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Stamford, in Lincolnshire, is a relatively small market town. The present day population is approximately 18,000 (2005). The town is situated just to the east of the Great North Road (A1). This major trunk road ran through the town until, in the 1960s, a bypass was built. Celia Fiennes, when making her tour around Britain in the 17th century, visited Stamford in 1691 and recorded in her diary that she found Stamford to be 'England's most attractive town'. Her visit was followed, in 1724, by Daniel Defoe, also touring the country composing a journal of what he witnessed. His interests lay decidedly with the social and economic nature of the places he visited. He said of Stamford "..the town boasts greatly too of its antiquity and indeed it has evident marks of its having been a great place in former days". Stamford must have possessed cultural importance to merit visits by these people. Indeed the town had the beginnings of a university in the 14th century (this was suppressed by authorities at Oxford - all that remains now is Brazenose Gate and a copy of the original door-knocker).
There is no evidence of a Roman settlement at Stamford, even though Ermine Street passed only a short distance to the west. There was, however, a small Roman town at Great Casterton a few miles away. Stamford, 'Stane ford' or 'Stanford' as it was originally called, was first settled by Saxons. In the 9th century, it was taken over by the Vikings, later to become one of the five burhs (boroughs) of the Danelaw (the others being Lincoln, Nottingham, Leicester and Derby). Here the river bed is limestone and the town came into being as the place where the River Welland could be most conveniently forded. Whether the name Stane ford or Stanford refers to a stone ford (over limestone) one can only surmise. The land above and below Stamford is of an alluvial nature and would be prone to becoming marshy during the winter months. Even today, in 2005, this part of the Welland valley is liable to flooding.
Stamford, in the early part of the 10th century, was re-taken by the Saxons and began to prosper, even to the point of minting its own coins. According to Stamford's Official guide book, King Edgar granted a mint to Stamford in the year 972. The mint was in production for 200 years.
Some of Stamford's prosperity was due to the pottery industry that flourished from the 9th to the 13th centuries. Stamfordware and other goods were exported to the continent, almost certainly, using the River Welland to transport them in bulk. The outfall of the River Welland in the Wash is close to where the River Witham empties into the sea. The port of Boston is situated on the River Witham. (Examples of 'Stamfordware' can be seen in the Stamford's museum).
During the Middle Ages Stamford became a major centre for both trade and manufacture. It was a centre of the woollen industry. Cloth-making had started in Saxon times - around 800AD - and continued up tc 1300AD. Wares were sold in Venice as late as 1265. The great Mid-Lent fair attracted wool merchants from France and further afield. Politically it was a major influence on events of the period and it had an ecclesiastical impact appropriate to its status.
The present day town retains many of its 17th, 18th and 19th century limestone buildings. These buildings and the six churches in the town, are all built of local limestone. The churches also contain a great deal of Barnack stone. 'Barnack Rag', as it is called locally, is a type of limestone from a quarry close to the village of Barnack a short distance from Stamford. The quarry, originally owned by the Abbey at Peterborough, produced stone of an excellent quality. Both Peterborough and Ely cathedrals contain large amounts of 'Barnack Rag'. The quarry has not been used as such for many years and is, today, a nature reserve. other local limestone was used for the many of the buildings in the town. A large number of the town's buildings have roof tiles made of Collyweston slate. These limestone slates are quarried near the village of Collyweston which lies to the west of Stamford.
Stamford rose to a place of international repute as a cloth manufacturing centre and wool market in the thirteenth century. Many Spanish and Italian merchants frequented its fairs to purchase supplies of Stamford's splendid scarlet cloth for sale in the Mediterranean. The local wool used for this cloth was held in such high esteem that buyers came regularly from Flanders to the wool market at Stamford to secure the wool for their own native cloth manufacture. From the mid thirteenth century the weaving workshops in the town also produced a high quality worsted material known as "Haberget" cloth (examples of this cloth can be seen in the Stamford museum).
Situated as it was between the wool producing areas of the Fens and the rich plains of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, Stamford was perfectly placed to act as a trading centre for wool. This ideal position was further enhanced by the fact that Stamford was situated on the River Welland. The 'Hundred Rolls' illustrate just how important Stamford was for collecting wool from its catchment area and then sending it abroad mainly via Boston but also through the port of Lynn. The outfall of the River Welland is very close to that of the River Witham, goods could therefore easily be transported from the Welland, along the River Witham to Boston and thence to other countries. (A 'Hundred' was a group of parishes. In the late l3th century enquiries were made, by Central Government, into local Royal rights and privileges. The results of these enquiries were reported in the 'Hundred Rolls')
Water was a major means of transport at this time. The River Welland between Stamford and the North Sea coast would thus have provided a highway, not only for goods, but also for travellers of all kinds. Edward IV is reported to have voyaged from Crowland Abbey to Fotheringhay by water in 1468. It should be noted that Fotheringhay is on the River Nene, not on the River Welland. It was said that there was a navigable waterway, at that time, connecting the River Welland and the River Nene, Carr Dyke has been suggested as the means by which this might have been achieved, but present evidence suggests that Carr Dyke was a fen edge drain and not a continual waterway between the Welland and the Nene. The River Folly which joins the River Welland just below the village of Deeping St. James is also a possible means by which water transport could have moved between the rivers Welland and Nene.
It had been very difficult, for many years, to travel over land because of the state of the roads and the problem of highwaymen. The Roman roads had fallen into disrepair and were liable to flooding during the winter months. The abbot of Crowland when asked by the king in the 12th century to make a road, not only complained about the cost and difficulty of such a venture but also described the contemporary condition of the Welland and the subsequent flooding, "where there was so much water in winter time that it covered the ground an ell and a half in depth (approximately 2 metres) and, in tempestuous wind, two ell's (approximately 2.6 metres ) , at which time the ground on the side of the river was often broken by bargemen and mariners." (quoted in Wheeler).
Commissioners for Sewers had been appointed from the 13th century onwards presumably to work with the monasteries to ensure drainage work was done. Unfortunately there does not seem to have been a great deal of wherewithal to get things done. William Cecil's agent in south Lincolnshire reported that "well I know that these twenty years has not done so much for the cleansing of sewers as is done and shall be done for this present year ... and when so good an act shall be done again I wot not,-...except yourself' or such like will take pain as you did." Both William and his father appear to have been conscientious in their duties in this respect, owning lands in Rutland, Northamptonshire as well as Lincolnshire.
The Cecil family were very influential in Stamford. William Cecil, later to become Lord Burghley, became principal Secretary of State under Queen Elizabeth I. David Cecil, father of William, was elected an Alderman of Stamford three times, he was three times MP and also on the governing body of the town. David had always been close to court, particularly by his association with Sir David Phillips who was close to Lady Margaret Beaufort (the mother of Henry VII). It seems likely that William Cecil used his influence at court to obtain the freedom of Stamford in 1494, reinforcing his position in the town by marrying Alice Dycons, daughter of a powerful alderman. Details of the influence of the Cecil family upon Stamford can be obtained from 'The Story of Stamford' by Martin Smith.
Although early drainage schemes improved the scour (flow) of the river, this lead to flooding elsewhere. Any drainage dykes, constructed to improved drainage, were often sabotaged by local Fenlanders. These Fenlanders relied, not only on pasturage for grazing their sheep, but also on the eels, fish and wildfowl which were plentiful in the flooded areas. The Fenlanders also used the willow and reed that grew along the banks of the diverse streams of the river. The willow for making baskets, the reed for thatching their houses. Any successful drainage of the Fens in this area would have created hardship for these communities.
Stamford was reliant on the River Welland for the supply of goods for manufacture and foodstuffs. It was also the means of exporting wool via the east coast ports to Flanders. In his book 'Memorials of Old Lincolnshire' E. M. Sympson, relates the importance of the river for carrying Barnack Rag for the building of abbeys, churches and houses along the Welland valley and beyond. The stone, quarried in the ‘euplands' around Barnack was floated on flat-bottomed boats during the winter months along the Welland and then along the shallow river tributaries to the various building sites. There the stone was dressed by the masons, with the actual building taking place in the summer months transport could only be used in the winter months not just because, labour was readily available then but because seasonal flood waters made for quicker deliveries!
The river also provided power for the mills which ground the flour upon which much of Stamford's prosperity lay, particularly in later year: Unfortunately the river was silting up, and problems with low water level were exacerbated by draining off water to provide power to the mills.
Although Stamford was not able to maintain its position in the markets throughout the whole of this time, the industry, based on sheep, revived during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) using both wool and the sheep-skin itself that provided parchment for books being written in the many monastic houses of the area. Stamford, at the height of its boom, was a very prosperous town. As a sign of this prosperity one has only to look into Stamford's history to find references to the many religious foundations including priories, nunneries, hospitals and colleges.
Stamford later went into decline. The prosperous Jews of Red Lion Square, Goldsmiths Lane and Silver Street had been expelled in 1290, taking, not only their trade in precious metals and jewels, but also their money lending facility. Wars with France and plagues in 1349,1361 and 1375 added to the problems. The manufacturing of cloth was also undergoing revolutionary change. Unfortunately for Stamford, the change that was bringing new life to many villages and some of the lesser known cloth centres, dealt the town an economically painful blow. The old upright warped looms, in use in Stamford at that time, gradually became obsolete with the introduction of a new luxury cloth, close woven and fluffy, which was produced on horizontal warped looms. These horizontal warped looms were more efficient and able to produce a greater quantity of cloth in a given time than their vertical warped counterparts.
Stamford's boom ended in the latter part of the 14th century. Only a powerful elite of wool merchants like John and William Browne, the latter described by Leland as "a marchant of very wonderful richnesse" remained prosperous. (The Brownes built an ornate hospital fer the elderly in 1483 and restored All Saints church after it had been sacked by the Lancastrians in 1461). However most of Stamford was in ruins and poverty was rife. The east coast export trade had collapsed due to the silting up of the Wash. New centres had developed for the wool trade in Yorkshire, East Anglia and the Cotswolds.
As if to compound its problems, the town had been burned in 1461 by the Lancastrian army as it passed through on its way south to St Albans. By 1500, Stamford's trade and industry had declined, and the town was left with the architecture and institutions of its illustrious past, while its population was on the verge of destitution. There were also changes of emphasis from wool to corn and barley production, and the clearance of woodlands for cattle grazing and fodder production.
The Dissolution of the monasteries during the 16th century meant a decline not only in trade but also employment. Much land in Stamford was owned, up to this time, by monastic orders. Further, the monasteries had been held responsible for the drainage of the countryside. Without them there was a decline in drainage maintenance therefore there was widespread flooding all year round. The fens reverted to how they had been in Saxon times. Robert Aske (leader othe Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536) commented "such abbeys as were near the danger of sea banks were great maintainers of sea walls and dykes, builders of bridges and highways and such other things for the commonwealth."
During the Tudor period the economy of the majority of the country improved. This led to the revival of many towns. Farming became yet profitable, due to an increase in agricultural produce. However, because of government regulations, this produce could only be sold at recognised markets. In some cities, with recognised markets, this period also saw a great expansion of industry.
The development of marketing alone might have set Stamford on its feet once more had the town been able to make a niche for itself in the marketing organization of the region. The town, however, did not prosper during the Tudor age. As has been mentioned previously, the town's market had, in the past, been an important centre for wool trading. one would have therefore assumed that the town too would have benefited from any boom in market trading. That this did not happen seems odd when one remembers Stamford's location in relation to the wool producing areas in the counties around it.
Stamford was not alone in failing to take advantage of the changing prosperity of the country under the Tudors. The city of Lincoln, a few miles north, also failed to benefit during this period. Like Stamford, Lincoln had thrived on the international reputation of its cloth during the medieval period but, as if mirroring Stamford, at the beginning of the sixteenth century the town was full of empty falling houses and disused churches.
Stamford was a depressed town throughout the sixteenth century. There was very little money available for the support of its many churches and, in 1548, a drastic reorganization was carried out. The parishes were reduced from eleven to six. In 1524 the population of Stamford was approximately 240 households. Spalding, a few miles to the east, had slightly more households and the nearby village of Pinchbeck had only slightly fewer. In 1563, Stamford's population was still only about 263 families. It was thus a little more than half the size of Boston (471 families), and about the same size as Grantham (252 families). Even in 1603, when another census was taken the population had only risen by less than 13 per cent. In the same period other townships of the Midlands had shown a population increase of 40 or 50 per cent.
In 1574, nearly thirty years later, the local council was so disturbed by unemployment and poverty in the town that it issued an ordinance that no one should give work to any stranger so long as there were Stamford citizens without jobs. In 1624, fifty years later, the town still invited pity and was described by the Bishop of Lincoln as "a poor decayed town." By 1665 an increase in the population only brought the total number of households to about 282 families (an increase of 15 per cent in 100 years).
A further drawback which the inhabitants considered to be of vital importance in hindering their commercial activity was the fact that the River Welland was no longer navigable from the sea to Stamford. In a petition to Queen Elizabeth in 1571, the town's alderman and burgesses alleged that the former wealth of its merchants (so evident, they emphasized yet again, in the ruins of their ancient buildings and parish churches) had depended on the river and the outlet it gave to the sea. The cause of the silting was not explained, but one cause could have been the diminution of traffic on the river, following upon the decline of the wool and cloth trades. The silting up of the river was evidently the result of long, slow deterioration, for the same petition tells us that by that time six or seven watermills had been erected between Stamford and Market Deeping and all these mills had divided the river into streams in order to drive their wheels. Clearly, it was a long time since the Welland had been navigable.
The loss of this waterway seemed to contemporaries to put considerable obstacles in the way of the revival of Stamford's trade. It is noteworthy that Lincoln which suffered similar economic decline at this period thought itself hampered in exactly the same way by the silting up of the Fossdyke. The Fossdyke had connected Lincoln with the Trent at Torksey, and so given it water communication with the Midlands and Yorkshire. Although an attempt was made to reopen the Fossdyke in 1518, success was not achieved until some time in the course of the next century, the exact date being unknown.
Rivers had always been vital for the transport of goods. As has been mentioned previously, roads were often impassable during winter months. Roads would cross many rivers but, unfortunately many of the rivers were unbridged, for example, the Trent north of Newark and those with estuaries around the Wash. There is a note in Neil Birch's 'Industrial History of Stamford' that coaches could not travel until May because of the poor condition of the roads! Even as late as the early eighteenth century the Great North Road (one of Britain's arterial routes) was described as "a narrow paved causeway for horses, with an unmade road on either side of it. The paved part of the road being filled with strings of 30 to 40 packhorses." Traveling would certainly have been slow and difficult. (The Great North Road passed through Stamford at this time).
We know that Stamford had had little or no growth during the previous 200 years but, from the middle of the 17th century the town actually underwent a period of renewed prosperity. The economy of Stamford did not change overnight. The recovery was gradual but sustained. Employment increased, the town grew and the population increased. Unfortunately this progress has not been particularly well documented. What is known is that more deliberate attempts were made, by its citizens, to bring new industry to the town. Although many did not succeed, enough did to provide an increase in employment for the town's expanding population. What enabled this prosperity in the middle to late 17th century?
Accepting that Stamford's original prosperity had undergone a period of severe decline in the 15th and 16th centuries, what was now making a difference to the town's prosperity? How were the fortunes of a town improved? Remember this was a town that had only increased in size by 15 per cent in 100 years whilst other, similar towns, had increased their populations by 40 or 50 per cent in the same period? There was an improvement in the country's road network during the 17th century but it should be remembered that road transport was still dangerous because of the risk of highway robberies and was often impassable during the winter months "when waters were out" (flooding). Something had drastically changed Stamford's fortunes….
The Stamford Canal << The earliest proper canal in England? <<
