Historic Places in Greater Lincolnshire

Gainsborough Old Hall is an imposing mansion largely built during the later 15th century. Developed into a fashionable Jacobean residence, the Hall subsequently fell on hard times. Parts of the hall served as a raucous theatre. Others were made into crammed tenements. It was even used as a pub. In the mid-20th century, local volunteers raised funds to restore Gainsborough Old Hall. It remains a much-loved community hub to this day. There’s lots to see at Gainsborough today. Highlights include the magnificent medieval great hall, the domestic apartments and the finest medieval kitchen complex anywhere in England. Climb Gainsborough Old Hall’s tower for views over the town and the river Trent, then take a break in the tearoom in the 15th-century parlour.

Built in 1877, to replace an earlier post mill, this six-storey mill is undergoing major conservation to restore its cap, fantail and six sails, and to bring it back into working order. The project started in 2020 and will run for several years. The award-winning tearoom sells produce normally made from the mill's organic, stone-ground flour but, while the mill is out of action, it is being ground at a nearby mill.Sibsey Trader Windmill is one of the few six-sailed mills remaining in England. The mill was built in 1877 by local millwrights Saundersons of Louth, in a typical Lincolnshire style, to replace a small post mill. It is not exceptionally tall, containing only six floors above ground, and the height to the top of the cap is 74 feet 3 inches. The slenderness of the tower, and the flat landscape in which it stands, together create the impression that it is bigger than it actually is, and make the sails, already admittedly large, look enormous

Bolingbroke Castle is located at Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire. The castle is now in ruins, although much of the lower walls and the ground floors of the towers are still standing. Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone. The castle was built as a polygonal enclosure with seven horseshoe-shaped towers. Two of the towers form the entrance to the enclosure. The castle is does not have a keep. The curtain wall was 12 feet thick and there used to be a surrounding moat. Bolingbroke Castle is open to visitors all year round, and hosts occasional events throughout the year including historical events and music concerts.. Bolingbroke Castle was built by Randulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester around 1220. Randulph de Blundeville also built Beeston Castle at around the same time (like Bolingbroke, Beeston Castle had no keep). The castle passed to the House of Lancaster in 1311. King Henry IV was born at Bolingbroke Castle in 1366. Bolingbroke was partially destroyed in 1643 during the English Civil War and abandoned shortly afterwards. The castle is now in ruins. The Duchy of Lancaster handed the site to the Ministry of works in 1949 and they undertook major excavation of the ruins. Management of the castle was handed over from English Heritage to the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire in 1995