THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE TO INDUSTRY IN LINCOLNSHIRE IN THE 19TH CENTURY

In 1890 the industry of Lincolnshire was described thus:

“Lincolnshire being almost wholly an agricultural county the manufactures are, with one exception, unimportant. The exception is the Agricultural Implement Works for which it is noted. The growth of Lincoln in recent years is almost entirely  due to these – combined with its greatly improved railway access- and the cathedral city is the principle seat of this industry. Here there are three very large works each with a speciality for particular types of agricultural implements: viz., Clayton & Shuttleworths. Ruston & Proctors, and Robey’s, besides several smaller ones. The other large ones are Hornsby’s at Grantham and Marshall’s at Gainsborough. This is a special feature of the county for all who are interested in the scientific development of agriculture, and to visit one of these works, (which is readily permitted) may be recommended. The iron-works of Frodingham and its neighbourhood are small compared with those in some parts of the country but are on the increase. In 1887 1,227,882 tons of ore were raised, and there were 13 blast furnaces at work, producing 200,000 tons of iron. There are no other manufacturers worth naming except the whiting and lime-works of the chalk cliffs, gypsum, for plaster ceilings, found near the Trent, the hard Adamantine Clinker Bricks at Little Bytham, and the stone quarries of Ancaster.”[i]

Steam plough - Lincolnshire was at the heart of implement manufacture.

This perhaps has lessons for today. If you look in any Fenland field much of the equipment is manufactured abroad in Germany, Italy or America. But this can be misleading as there is a highly successful British manufacturing industry serving UK and foreign agriculture and much of this can be found quietly working around the Fenland areas of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. Thus we see potato handling equipment, elevators, innovative electronic devices, water management  equipment, seed drills, cultivating equipment, robots and automatic handling equipment to name but a few of the items manufactured in the area. Their location and success has been greatly assisted by the strong and successful presence of agriculture in the area. Then on the back of this is a thriving food packing, processing and distribution industry that now dominates Spalding. How this is developed and protected for the future is possibly a key part of this nation’s security.

[i] Murrays Handbook of Lincolnshire 1890