Lightning strike.

In May 1908 a thunderstorm which passed over Lincolnshire did some serious damage to the tower of Boston Stump. During the height of the storm a tremendous crack of thunder, preceded by a blinding flash of lightning, was heard.

The inhabitants rushed out of houses and shops, to find that the tower of the church had been struck. One of the pinnacles at the top of the tower was dislodged, and the main portion of the masonry, half a ton in weight, crashed through the lead roof of the belfry and, striking the bells, caused them to ring. Other portions of the masonry fell on the pavement outside the church, a much frequented causeway, but fortunately no one was injured.

On a previous occasion in August 1900, while the congregation was at service, a pinnacle crashed through the roof of the tower and the church, falling near the font, and also in July 1893, the pinnacle at the south-east corner of the tower was lopped off by a storm and hurled into the narrow thoroughfare through the churchyard and embedded itself in the pavement. This was the same pinnacle that was struck in May 1908, but then it fell inwards on the roof of the belfry, crashing through the lead work in two places and tearing away a large portion of the timber roof. One of the beams fell on a bell, and the strange note it produced was heard all over the town above the din of the storm, and added to the weirdness of the scene.

The 1908 one, happened on a Wednesday market day and of course the town was crowded with people from surrounding towns and villages, and several of them actually witnessed the striking of the tower. Two ladies, visitors to the town, had a very narrow escape. They had been up the tower to look at the surrounding scenery, and were descending when the storm commenced, and had barely reached the floor of the church when the total shock occurred. Part of the dislodged pinnacle fell into the churchyard, and buried itself in the ground between the footpath and the church wall. A piece of stone struck the iron rails on the church side of the pathway and bent them, and then rebounded into the west doorway. Smaller fragments were hurled for many yards, and it was surprising that no one was injured. The greater portion, however, fell inward and crashed through the lead roof of the belfry in two places.

At first it was feared that the interior of the church was damaged, pieces of plaster had fallen from the roof but otherwise no damage was done.  The tower was filled with smoke and for a time it was feared that the lightning had set fire to the belfry. Mr Hackford and some others immediately went up the tower to investigate, and were confronted with an almost overpowering smell of sulphur, but fortunately there was no fire.

Church Street

Church Street today (2012) is a small, quaint cobbled area of Boston with shops, a cafe and of course the Britannia Inn. It has hardly changed since 1956 (picture below) the year when one lady, Miss Jessie Mason, who was born in Church Street in 1866, spoke of her memories of the street.

(above) Church Street in the 1950's.

(above) An undated picture of Church Street, but obviously before Health and Safety days as the hung up rabbits show !

She recalled Miss Storr's school for infant boys and girls, Ward's carpet warehouse and Tuxford's goldsmiths and silversmiths. She admitted that she liked it better in her childhood but the memory was tempered by the thoughts of regular flooding at very high tides. These occasions she recalled caused great excitement. To the cries of "The eagre's coming, the eagre's coming," whole families would turn out to rescue what they could from the inevitable flooding and the men to tend their boats. Talking of the river, Miss Mason remembered skating on the River Witham six days a week for six weeks in 1875.
Lawyer Arkley, a well known figure in those days, was quite a character. She recalls he adopted a dictatorial attitude about who should enter the churchyard, and certainly wouldn't allow wheeled vehicles, such as perambulators, to pass through. There were four posts barring the way from Church Street to the Churchyard and Lawyer Arkley lived in the house on the corner opposite the Church Key so was therefore able to keep a sharp eye on all who passed.

Mr. Hackford, in the top hat, standing outside The Church Key, Lawyer Arkley lived in a house opposite out of shot of the picture but the 4 posts can be clearly seen. The Stump in this view would be directly behind us.

There was a butter market in those days, held at the opposite end of Church Street. Here sat the country women with huge baskets of butter and eggs, it was a flourishing market and brought a lot of business to Church Street. The Church Key, so called because the keys of The Stump were kept there, was the home of the verger for many years Mr. G Hackford. Some people believe the Key was originally spelt Quay and with steps on the wall on the riverside and old prints showing boats unloading there this could be true.

SEA SERPENT?

In August 1903 there was a lot of excitement at Boston Dock when a sea creature was landed there from the steam trawler "Indian" belonging to the Deep Sea Fishing Co. It was described at the time as "a monster of the deep, having the body of an elongated flatfish and a head shaped like a horse's." The creature was brought up in the vessels trawl during the  night-time on the fishing grounds off Iceland.
It was just over 8 feet long and between 8 and 10 inches deep and the body was so flat that when laid out it scarcely rose 2 inches above the board. Running the whole length of the body was a series of fins and the tail itself was small in proportion to the body but the most remarkable thing about the monster was its head which was horse shaped. The eyes were large, about 3 inches across and the body was smooth and grey coloured with no scales about the head. Captain Johnston, of the trawler "Indian" said that when the animal was hauled aboard the body flashed in the darkness like a piece of silver.
It was displayed on the Fish Pontoon at the dock and after a lot of bidding it was sold to a Mr. H. Randall for 14 shillings (70p) and afterwards moved for exhibition at Skegness. The older fishermen of Boston said they had never seen anything like it and local naturalists were at a loss as to what it might be.
So what was it? Well, Mr. G.E.Hackford, photographer of Boston, sent a photograph and letter to the Natural History Museum in London and received this reply.
"The fish represented on your excellent photographs, which I am very pleased to keep, is the Deal Fish (Trachypterus Arcticus), a pelagic fish of wide distribution, already on record from Iceland and from various points on the British coasts. Yours faithfully, G.A. Boulenger."
So there we have it, no sea monster brought to Boston but still an interesting story. The picture above shows what a Deal Fish looks like.

Neglecting Boston's history

The neglect of Boston's history is nothing new, when the Court Room in the Guildhall was dismantled in 1878 an old turned oak balustrade was removed and for the next 33 years formed part of Mr. G.E. Hackford's garden fence on the Haven Bank !!

Fortunately in June 1911 it was rescued by the Boston Antiquarian Society and given to the Corporation and it was hoped that the old balustrade would find a resting place in the Peoples Park (near the old General Hospital and swimming baths) where it would be a suitable addition to the memorial archway (pictured below) made from the oak timber removed from St. George's Hall in the 1890's. I don't know if they actually did this with the balustrade, maybe someone out there knows?

St. James's Church

Thank you to Heidi Chester for this photo of St. James’s Church in George Street. Heidi thinks the 3 storey house on the left is still there (No.9?). It is from a postcard and the post mark indicates a date of 1924.St. James’s church was a chapel of ease to the Parish Church. The foundation stone was laid on St. James’s Day 1861 and it occupied two years building. It was opened for public worship on 24^th August 1864. It was built in the Gothic style and was designed by Mr. G. Hackford, Westminster, hon. Architect.
I remember during the 1960’s little dances were held there called “Bob hops” due to the fact that it cost a shilling (a Bob) to get in, I also remember a Youth Club being held there where I first heard “Come on” (the Rolling Stones first ever record) which made me a life-long fan of the Stones!! Happy days. I think it was demolished in 1969 but am not certain.

The same view today, looking from Fydell Crescent toward the old Wickes's store.

　　

The Neglected Stump

In 1851 the exterior of the Stump (St. Botolph's Church) was much as it is today except, perhaps, that it had a rather neglected look.

If you arrived on a week-day, you would find the church locked and would have to apply to Mr. Hackford, the verger, who lived nearby for the key.

Mr. Hackford's house near the Stump.

The church-yard contained many upright tombstones, fewer trees, no hedges and no wall to separate it from the river and people were still being buried there.
The first thing to strike you as you entered would be the intense cold as in 1851 the church had not been heated since the day it was built. Bare arches opened into what is now the Cotton Chapel which was used as a vestry and there may have been an empty bookcase left behind by the Laughton School which was long housed there.
Under the tower there was nothing on the walls except the tablet about the fire in 1803. To picture the nave of the church as it was then you must mentally remove all the stained glass, the pictures on the walls, the coats of arms, the banners, everything in fact that now adds colour to the building. The nave was separated from the chancel by a mahogany screen and gallery which was later removed to the Roman Catholic Church on Horncastle Road.
On March 20^th, 1851, Mr. Blenkin who had been vicar for less than two months held a meeting to consider re-pewing the church and out of this meeting developed the restoration and began the slow but continuing changes that leave us with the beautiful church that we know today.

Two Signs

The man stood in front of St. Botolph's Church in this picture is Mr. G.E. Hackford’s (a Boston photographer) Uncle. There are two signs above the doorway he is standing in, one warned people where the key to the fire station was obtainable, while the other draws attention to the fact that shaking rugs in the churchyard is not permitted!!