The Town Signs Project

   

The original Committee decision and aspiration was to place plaques showing historical information on our town bridges, but after some discussion we came up with the idea of also providing blue plaques for notable people who were born in or have been associated with Sleaford and who have made their mark on the town.

With this in mind, and to move on with the Project, we formed a Working Group from four of our Committee Members and also Dr Simon Pawley. At our first meeting, a priority list of the bridges and also the people to be commemorated on the first few plaques we would like to be installed was drawn up. We then met up with the Conservation Officer at North Kesteven District Council, who agreed to have a town walkabout with the members of the Working Group. His knowledge and advice on the best siting for each bridge and relevant building plaque proved to be of great help and I am sure will continue to be invaluable to enable the future implementation of the Project.

Following on from our walkabout, both Simon and John Dale (our Committee colleague and Civic Trust Researcher) produced some appropriate wording for each plaque and a manufacturer was found to produce the appropriate style of plaque for us at a realistic price.  We then need to obtain permission from the relevant building owners for installation of a plaque on their property.

On 14th August 2024, we celebrated with great pride as the first two plaques were erected.  You may have noticed that the photograph in the centre above is actually a cake!

John Dale unveiled the first blue plaque at the entrance to Ward and Dale's former yard and workshops at what is now the New Life Church, Mareham Lane.  Ward and Dale were the world's largest steam ploughing company, and John Dale is the great grandson of its founder.  The beautiful cake helped to celebrate the occasion in a light lunch for Civic Trust members and invited guests.

The second plaque was unveiled by Dr Simon Pawley on the railings above the Nine Foot river bridge next to Riverside Church and is the first of the blue plaques to name bridges in the town.

So watch this space as we hope to give more information of each Plaque as it is placed - two more are planned for later in the year.  John also intends to produce a ring binder file containing the plaque details which you will be able to view in Sleaford Museum.

This is an exciting and ongoing project for the Civic Trust. We pride ourselves that we are not only commemorating some of the people who have made their mark on our town, but we are also helping to make residents and visitors alike aware of some of the town history.

Unveiling of 3rd Civic Trust Blue Plaque at The Pines, Boston Road; Mon 8 Dec 2024
Former employees of Sharpes Seeds were invited to the unveiling of the blue plaque by Faith Hopkins, Secretary of Sleaford Civic Trust.  The Pines was built by nurseryman and seedsman John Sharpe around 1830, and was later occupied by his son, Charles Sharpe.  He founded one of the biggest seed companies in the UK, employing over 400 people in Sleaford at its height.  Charles Sharpe Seeds is thought to have invented the paper seed packets still popular in garden centres throughout the world today.
      
Former employees gather to see the unveiling of the plaque, some who had not seen each other for 30 years.
Unveiling of 4th Civic Trust Plaque to name the Stone Bridge next to 12 Southgate, at the entrance to Southgate Precinct
 
The 4th Civic Trust plaque was officially unveiled at this short ceremony.  Dr Simon Pawley was in attendance and gave a short history and explanation of the reason for the positioning of the plaque in this location.
This plaque is to name the original bridge, known as the Stone Bridge in Medieval times, next to this location.
We know the bridge was rebuilt by Sir Robert Carre (1637-1682) and, until sometime within the last century, it carried his family arms and the date 1675 on it.  The Town Mill (formerly the Malt Mill) stood, we think, on the other side of the river behind the empty unit (once the Halifax Estate Agency) that sticks out into the Precinct here.  We think the reason the river is so narrow at this point is because there were originally two channels, one (now gone) leading to the mill, and the other (still there) the bypass race.
12 Southgate, now this Bookmaker's building, is listed and was built around 1808.  It was originally a grocer, ironmonger and tallow chandler's shop.
Unveiling of 5th Civic Trust Plaque in memory of William Henry Wright
   
The 5th Blue Plaque was unveiled on May 8th 2025 to celebrate the life of William Henry Wright ...definitely a case of local lad made good!  The plaque is located on the side of the Pygott and Crone building on Southgate, by the entrance to Paul Wetherill’s Butchers.
In 1923, William Henry Wright travelled to London on business from his home in Canada. Whilst there, he was interviewed by a Daily Telegraph reporter because Bill, as he was known, was the second-richest man in Canada, whose life story reads like a Hollywood movie. A story headlined 'Butcher's Boy to Millionaire' that started with 'born in Sleaford in 1876  subsequently made its way into the local papers!
It caused quite a stir at the time, with some locals recalling that Bill was born in the building on Southgate now occupied by Pygott & Crone. Bill started his working life as an Apprentice Butcher, working and staying with his mother’s brother at his Westgate shop, his mother had died when he was 9. It’s here Bill is said to have developed his love for horses, looking after the firms horse and cart.
Seeking adventure, at the age of 19, he joined as a Trooper in the 8th Hussars, spending time in India and Egypt before landing in South Africa on the day the 2nd Boer War started. A few days later, he was under siege in Ladysmith for 122 days.
1909 - He returns to Sleaford, his father dying whilst he was away, he joins his sister Frances in Richmond upon Thames and opens a Butchers business with her husband, Edward Hargreaves. With things not going too well, he decided to emigrate to Canada, landing in Toronto in 1907. Doing jobs ranging from being a groom to painting houses, Bill was joined 2 years later by Frances and Edward in 1909.
Trying their luck at prospecting, 360 miles north ofToronto at Kirkland Lake, Bill and Edward are out hunting rabbits for their supper. After becoming separated, Bill, hearing a pistol shot and thinking Edward might be in trouble, rushes to his friend, stumbles over a rock and finds GOLD!
1916 - He’s a millionaire and 40 years old. He joins the Canadian Infantry and heads back to Europeto serve during WW1, being known as the richest private in the army.
1919 - He returned home to Haileybury, Canada, a multimillionaire and owner of one of Canada’s biggest gold-producing mines.
1922 - His house burns down along with most of Haileybury, when bushfires get out of hand.He moves to Barrie, 60 miles north of Toronto, and buys a racetrack and stables, breeding Thoroughbred racehorses.
1936 - He buys 2 Toronto newspapers and merges them. The Globe became Canada’s largestselling paper.
1939 - A horse he bred won Canada’s Triple Crown. Over time he gives the equivalent of half a million pounds to the Red Cross and finances the building of the Barrie Ice Hockey Stadium. He also gives the equivalent of 3.6 million pounds tohospitals in Barrie.
1951 - 'Bill' dies on September 20th in Barrie, Ontario.
Unveiling of 6th Blue Plaque on the Mansion House in Southgate and a bronze plaque in memory of Charles Ellis in Memorial Gardens, 11th Aug 2025.
 

Historic Town Signs

The original wooden town signs which were placed on the entry roads into Sleaford were replaced several years ago. Civic Trust member and local artist, Harriott Brand, offered her skills to renovate and paint the historic town signs to be erected into the refurbished Monument gardens outside Sleaford Museum.

The signs were unveiled at the Grand Re-opening of the gardens on November 16th 2024.