Tag Archives: sleaford

Find of the Month, March – Soda Water Torpedo Bottle

By Cova Escandon (Project Supervisor Archives)

The find of the month for March is  a Lee and Green Ltd. torpedo bottle. It is made of plain glass and you can read on its body ‘Sleaford’ and ‘Spalding’.

Lee and Green Ltd. Torpedo Bottle

Lee and Green Ltd. Torpedo Bottle

Arthur Green and Ranyard Lee opened an aerated water bottling factory in Spalding in 1885. The factory was located on Albion St. and built by John Richard Carter in 1824. It was sold in 1846 to Henry Bugg the Younger and William Henry Bugg. A few years later, the premises were used temporarily as a guano store, before being sold to Lee and Green. They also had factories in Sleaford, Bourne, Boston and Skegness.

The first ‘torpedo bottles’ appeared at the end of the 18th Century as a solution to the problem of containing gas in glass bottles. At this time, glass bottles were not strong enough to contain the gas so they would often explode. Glass capable to contain the gas was very expensive, so it was reserved for luxurious liquids such as champagne. Cheaper drinks like ginger beer were contained in stoneware bottles. The torpedo shape would stop any air leaking as it prevented the bottle from being stood up, keeping the cork moist as a result of being in contact with the soda, so it wouldn’t shrink (something still done today with other drinks such as wine). Pouring the drink would also be easier and it would be better adapted for packing carriage. It did present advantages for the merchant and the consumer too as the consumer would have to finish the drink before putting down the bottle! The bottles were also easy to transport via boat on flat shelves with holes on them so they wouldn’t fall over when the ship moved.

1914 marks the end of the torpedo bottle era. They are no longer necessary as they are replaced by Malenstrone’s 1901 patent that allows normal shaped bottles to contain gas.

‘The Story of Lee and Green’ Exhibition is currently on display at Sleaford Museum.

The Story of Lee & Green

The Woolly Spires of Lincolnshire

By Isobel Curwen (Heritage Research Supervisor)

A few weekends ago, whilst wandering round the small market town of Louth, I stumbled across these rather unusual knitted churches which are currently on display at St James’ Church. Originally commissioned by The Collection, Lincoln, these knitted masterpieces form part of a countrywide project entitled the ‘Woolly Spires’ project, managed by artsNK.

During the medieval period, Lincolnshire prospered as a wool producing county using wool from the iconic breed of sheep, the Lincoln Longwool (see our previous blog post for more details about the Lincolnshire wool trade!). The profits from this trade went mainly to a few wool merchants and wealthy landowners who in turn founded many of Lincolnshire’s churches (Vince 2003).

In order to reflect both the founding of many of Lincolnshire’s churches as a result of the wool trade, and their rural nature, residents and community groups were gathered from the six rural districts of Lincolnshire to created knitted versions of their churches using wool exclusively from the Lincoln Longwool breed. The churches created include St Deny’s Church, Sleaford, St Mary and St Nicholas’ Church, Spalding, St Botolph’s Church, Boston, St James’ Church, Louth, St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham, and St Mary’s Church (Stow Minster), Stow.

The knitted churches on display at St James' Church, Louth

The knitted churches on display at St James’ Church, Louth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St Mary and St Nicolas, Spalding

St Mary and St Nicolas, Spalding

Many of Lincolnshire’s churches can be found in rural settings which can be divided into distinct geographical areas (Jenkins 1999). The churches to south of the county, in the area around the Fens and The Wash, have their origins in the monastic houses of Norman England. St Botolph’s Church, Boston is a particularly nice example with its famous ‘Boston Stump’. To the west lie the coastal marshes and the Wolds, with St James’ Church steeple providing a focal point to the open landscape. Inland Lincolnshire is represented by both the Humber and Trent valleys with St Deny’s church, Sleaford providing a fine example of stained glass windows and the tower of St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham providing a visual masterpiece of early Gothic architecture.

The churches of Lincolnshire, and their associated land and settlements, are a fundamental component of the county’s history and as result play a key part in the work undertaken here at AAL whether this be as part of research for a desk-based assessment or as part of a building recording survey.

We think these woolly churches are great and they are currently doing a tour throughout Lincolnshire so do keep a lookout for them coming to a church near you!

Jenkins. S., 1999, ‘Lincolnshire’, In: England’s Thousand Best Churches (pp 363-400), Penguin Group, London

Vince. A., 2003, ‘The new town: Lincoln in the High Medieval Era (c.850-c.1350), in: Stocker. D. (ed) The City by the Pool (pp 159-249), Oxbow Books, Oxford