Long Sutton, Lincolnshire

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

Long Sutton

St Mary's Church
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 was historically in the wapentake of Elloe[2] in the Parts of Holland.

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]

The Friday market dates back to the early 13th century when the town was a prosperous trading centre. By the mid-14th century, it was considered to be one of the richest communities in Lincolnshire.

Prosperity continued into the 20th century, helped by the arrival of the railways. In the 1950s eleven trains would daily transport passengers and local produce to and from the town. Long Sutton railway station on the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway closed in 1959 when passenger services were withdrawn.

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.[4]

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".[5]

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches south to Tydd St Mary with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 7,260.[6]

Community

Long Sutton is the terminus of the A1101, the UK's lowest road. 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.[7]

Long Sutton has a Friday market and produce auction. The town has a history of association with antique dealers and shops.

The town is known for floral displays that decorate the town and its churches throughout spring and summer, and was named among the best kept villages in Lincolnshire, and for the second year running, has been named best small town in the East Midlands in Bloom competition.

Long Sutton is served by one main local newspaper company, Spalding Today, which produces the Spalding Guardian and the Lincolnshire Free Press.[8]

Food canning factory

One of the largest employers in the area since the 1940s was the food-canning factory of Lockwoods Foods Limited, on Bridge Road between Sutton Bridge and Long Sutton. Lockwoods produced a wide range of own-brand canned food and drink products, ranging from canned mushy peas to seasonal strawberries, cola[9][10] to ginger beer[11] and lemonade shandy[12] to name a few, for both the domestic UK and overseas markets, including third-party brands such as Del Monte. During the 1980s, the factory was purchased by Premier Foods when Lockwoods Foods Limited went into administrative receivership. Premier Foods, among other popular food brands, would later produce the popular staple food Fray Bentos canned steak and kidney pie at the Long Sutton factory. Following the sale of the Fray Bentos business to Baxters in 2011, production was moved to Scotland in 2013.[13][14] The factory facility, is now part of the Princes Food & Drink Group and Long Sutton is their largest food production site in the United Kingdom.

Facilities and landmarks

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.

Long Sutton County Primary School is in Dick Turpin Way in the centre of Long Sutton; it has about 400 pupils. The Peele Community College is the local co-educational secondary modern school.

St Mary's Church has a 13th-century lead-covered timber spire. It is of a similar design to Chesterfield Parish Church's twisted spire but Long Sutton's spire is straight. It is the highest, oldest and best-preserved lead spire in England and possibly Europe. The church is a Grade I listed building.[15]

Dr Bailey's inscribed stone in the church

Within the church is a memorial inscribed "Alas! Poor Bailey". This is in memory of a local surgeon, John Bailey, who was killed by robbers while returning from a visit to a patient in Tydd St Mary. He was attacked just after midnight on 22 April 1795. His murderers were not caught.[16][17]

Sport

The town's football club, Long Sutton Athletic F.C., play in the Peterborough & District League, and have previously played in the Eastern Counties League.[18]

Notable people
  • Alfred Piccaver (1884–1958), operatic tenor, was born in Long Sutton.
  • Dick Turpin, highwayman, lived in Long Sutton for about nine months, under the alias of John Palmer (or Parmen).[19] There is a road in the town named after him.
  • Richard Winfrey (1858–1944) was a Liberal MP, newspaper publisher and campaigner for agricultural rights.
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References
  1. "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Domesday Map Online: Long Sutton
  3. F.J.Gardiner (1898). History of Wisbech and Neighbourhood. Gardiner & Co.
  4. "Long Sutton Butterfly Park to close". BBC News. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. "Tornado hits Long Sutton"; Spalding Guardian 23 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012
  6. "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  7. Annual Monitoring Report 2006-07 Archived 13 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, p. 11; South Holland District Council
  8. "News – Spalding Guardian". Spaldingtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  9. "LOCKWOODS-Cola-330mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  10. "LOCKWOODS-Cola (diet)-326mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  11. "LOCKWOODS-Ginger beer-326mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  12. "LOCKWOODS-Shandy-330mL-Great Britain". CanMuseum.com. CanMuseum.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  13. "Baxters Fray Bentos acquisition cleared". BBC News.
  14. "On the move". FoodManufacture.co.uk.
  15. Historic England, "Church of St Mary (1064562)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 March 2017
  16. Urban, Sylvanus. The Gentleman's Magazine: and Historical Chronicle for the Year 1795. Volume 77. Part the First. (1795). p.441
  17. Codd, Daniel (2013). Tales from the Gibbet Post (The Hunt for 'Butcher Jack'). Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. Kindle Edition. ASIN: B00D2B8OWA
  18. "Long Sutton Athletic Football Club". Teamstats.net. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  19. Kyll, Thomas (1739), The Trial of the Notorious Highwayman Richard Turpin, London: Ward and Chandler booksellers
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