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Sleaford Navigation
& Navigation House
Timeline
www.navigationhousesleaford.co.uk
Why was Navigation House built?
The primary source of income for waterway companies was from tolls
levied on boats, the amount of the toll charged was normally
determined by the type of cargo and also by its weight. Sleaford
Navigation was no different from any other waterway in that respect
and so some method of weighing the cargoes was needed. The
Company decided to install a weighbridge for cargoes in Navigation
Yard, Sleaford, and at the same time build a small hut as an office for
the weighing clerk.
However, the decision to install the weighbridge and build the hut
coincide with a rise in the prosperity of the Navigation. A very clear
indication of this can be seen when comparing the relevant prices of the
lease for control of Navigational tolls, warehouse and wharf.
The lease of toll rights in 1829 saw a figure of £50 per annum, whereas
7 years later the lease was £1,340 per annum. Consequently, shortly
after the initial decision, the Committee resolved to erect a far grander
building as befitted their prosperous enterprise. In so doing they were
both demonstrating and celebrating the status and success of the
Navigation.
The building, Navigation House, was finished in 1839 and consisted of
an office for the Clerk with the weighing machine in it, a Committee
Room for meetings and two upstairs rooms that were to provide ac-
commodation for the Clerk. A small brick extension was later added at
the back.
According to Charles Hadfield, the celebrated waterway historian,
Navigation House is unique in being the only example of specially built
Company Offices to exist on a rural waterway.
After the Sleaford Navigation Company was wound up in 1878,
Navigation House continued to be used as a dwelling until the 1950s
when the building gradually fell in to disrepair.
There was an attempt in the early 1970s to demolish the building and
this led to the formation of the Sleaford Navigation Society whose aim
was to preserve the house. It was saved from demolition but no funds
were available for restoration.
By 1999 the building was getting into a very poor state indeed but, for-
tunately, money from a single regeneration budget project, Sleaford
Pride, was used, together with funding from the Heritage Lottery, to
renovate Navigation House. In 2005, it was reopened to the
public as a visitor and interpretation centre for Sleaford and the
Sleaford Navigation.
With thanks to the Sleaford Navigation Trust for permission to use this
extract from the Trust’s Website: www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk
Sleaford Navigation N.B Not to scale. Source: www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk
Timeline
751BC – Mint in Sleaford – Coritani (Corieltauvi) Tribe
42 AD Anglo Saxon Burial Ground – later discovered during rail
Iron Age way construction
800-1499 Mediaeval Period Construction of ‘new’ River Slea
1086 Domesday Book 18 watermills in Sleaford
1120 Market Charter granted
1180 St Denys Church built
1139 King Stephen took possession of Sleaford Castle
1216 King John’s last night spent at Sleaford Castle, after losing
baggage in Wash, before dying at Newark Castle
1300s First record of use of Slea as a navigation - 1346 Gilbert
De Um fraville petitioned Edward III for permission to
mark out the channel of the Kyme Eau with posts and to
scour out the channel. In return he asked to be granted
the right to be able to collect tolls on those vessels using
the navigation.
1537 Lincolnshire Rebellion, led by Lord John Hussey, later
beheaded by Henry VIII
1714-1727 King George I – the beginning of the Georgian Age
1722 Sleaford Workhouse built, on East Road
1727-1760 King George II
1750-1850 Industrial Revolution
1755 Town Hall (Sessions House) built (now Italian Restaurant)
1760-1820 King George III – Mad King George
1768 Joseph Banks sailed on the Endeavour with Captain
James Cook
1773 James Creassy drew up early plans for Sleaford
Navigation – local landowners were worried that the
work would affect drainage of their land, so no further
progress was made.
1776 Bridgewater Canal Manchester opened, heralding start
Of ‘Canal Mania’, peaking between 1789 and 1996,
through to 1850, when the railways took over
1790 7 watermills recorded in Sleaford
1791 Sir Joseph Banks and Benjamin Handley attended a
meeting chaired by Sir Jenison William Gordon, the
outcome of the meeting is to appoint the eminent canal
engineer William Jessop and John Hudson as assistant to
prepare a plan and estimate for the works to construct a
navigation. They published their plan the same year.
1792 Sleaford Navigation Act passed – Sleaford Navigation
Company established
The date inscribed on the Navigation Wharf Portal
1794 Opening of the Sleaford Navigation
1796 Money’s Mill built
1811-1820 Regency period
1820 – 1830 King George IV
1820 Theatre built (Playhouse) on Westgate
1830 – 1837 King William IV
1837-1901 Queen Victoria
1838/39 Navigation House built
1840s Kirk and Parry building on Southgate (now part of KSHS)
1857 Corn Exchange built on Market Place (now Indian and
Italian Restaurant)
Boston Sleaford and Midland Counties railway opened
1878 Sleaford Navigation Bill proposed, leading to the eventual
winding up of the Company of the Proprietors of Sleaford
Navigation
Navigation House became a private residence
1880 Hubbard and Phillips trading in Navigation Wharf
1881 Sleaford Navigation Company closed
1883 Lea and Greens bottling factory in operation (site of
Berkeley Court, Carre St)
1888 Roman Catholic Church built on Jermyn St
1901-1910 King Edward VI
1901-1906 Maltings constructed by Bass, between Mareham
Lane and the railway line
1910 – 1936 King George V
1936 King George VI – later to be Duke of Windsor
1936 – 1952 King George VII
1939 Hubbard and Phillips built the seed warehouse on
Navigation Wharf (National Centre for Craft & Design)
1952 Queen Elizabeth II
1950s Navigation House was now unoccupied and began its fall
into disrepair
1976 Threat to demolish Navigation House, by then owners
1977 Establishment of Sleaford Navigation Society (now
Sleaford Navigation Trust)
1995-2001 Sleaford Pride regeneration project funded by Single
Regeneration Budget money, European grants, local
authorities and private investment
1998 Navigation Stables converted to small business units
1999 Former Navigation Warehouse restored as Sleaford
College
2001 New footbridge installed from Wharfside Mews to
Navigation Yard
2003 Former Hubbard and Phillips warehouse opened by HRH
Princess Royal as ‘Hub, National Centre for Craft and
Design’, now the National Centre for Craft and Design
2005 Navigation House opened as a Heritage Centre
2006 Arthur’s Court flats opened
2010 New lifting footbridge across river, from Eastgate car park
to New Street, and new slipway at Eastgate Green
constructed, to regenerate the Head of Navigation
Sources: Navigation House displays, Sleaford Navigation Trust
(www.sleafordnavigation.co.uk), ‘Sleaford and the Wapentakes of Flaxwell and As-
fordhurn in the County of Lincolnshire’ (Rev Edward Trollope, 1872), History of Sleaford
(Dr Simon Pawley)
Navigation House Visitor Centre
Opening Times
1 April to 31 October: Monday to Friday, 12pm to 4pm, Saturdays,
Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, 11am to 4.30pm.
1 November to 31 March: Saturdays and Sundays only, 12pm to 4pm.
Admission is Free
The ground floor of Navigation House is wheelchair accessible. For the
full Access Statement please visit our website. School and group visits
are welcome by prior arrangement and we also hold a number of
special events throughout the year. For further information, please
contact Navigation House during opening hours or NKDC’s tourism
team on 01529 308102.
For details of events, or for a copy of the ‘Days out and Leisure Guide’,
please contact the Navigation House during opening hours on 01529
305904 or NKDC Tourism Unit on 01529 308102 or email
www.navigationhousesleaford.co.uk
www.heartoflincs.com
/heartoflincs @discover_nk discovernk
