Old Sleaford Heritage Group

08/06/2026

This month’s talk Thursday 11th June at 7.30 pm, usual venue -
The Wright Room, Sleaford Methodist Church ( entrance through the rear car park).

William Sargeant of the Lincolnshire Chair Museum will be giving the presentation on the history of Lincolnshire Chairmaking.

Non members welcome £3.

The AGM will follow the talk.

10/05/2026

Thursday’s talk on 14th May 7.30 pm

‘The Speckled Monster’ by Simon Pawley - Smallpox in C18th Sleaford

Throughout the eighteenth century, there were regular smallpox outbreaks, some local and some national. It was the most feared disease of the eighteenth century and highly infectious: 35% of those who contracted smallpox died of it and those that survived were often pock marked for life. Smallpox affected small as well as big cities and many of them, like Sleaford, built “pesthouses” so that those who had contracted it could be isolated as far as possible from the rest of the population. This talk looks at how Sleaford was affected by smallpox and at the history of its pesthouses.

At the Wright Room at Sleaford Methodist Church (entrance through the rear car park). Non members welcome, £3.

03/04/2026

Our next talk this coming Thursday, 9th April is by Chris Caswell-

Voices from the Void: Unlocking Lincolnshire’s Hidden History with Radar

This talk introduces the science of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and reveals how we use microwaves to map everything from Roman walls in Lincoln to forgotten structures beneath our feet - all without moving a spadeful of soil.

Start 7.30, usual venue, the Wright Room at the Methodist Church off Church Lane, Sleaford (entry through the rear car park). Non members welcome £3

07/03/2026

Our next talk is this coming Thursday, 12th March at 7.30pm

Charlie Brown will be delivering his talk on the Spitfire, Britain’s great WWll fighter plane. “I sold my soul to Supermarine”, 25 years, 2150 flying hours on Spitfires and counting.

In the Wright Room at Sleaford Methodist Church (entry though the rear car park). Non members welcome £3.

09/02/2026

This Thursday’s talk 12th February at 7.30pm

Tom Lane will talk on the archaeology of the western Fenland edge of Lincolnshire from Billingborough to Bourne.

The talk has a strong emphasis on the landscape archaeology and will include the salt industry which operated for over a millennium in the area.

In the Wright Room at Sleaford’s Methodist Church (entry through the rear car park). Non members welcome £3

09/11/2025

This month’s talk

Thursday 13th November 7.30pm

First World War Home Front, dialect, and other poetry of Lincolnshire’s Bernard Samuel Gilbert

Presented by Professor Andrew Jackson

At Sleaford Methodist Church, Wright Room. (Entrance through car park at rear off Church Lane). Non members welcome, £3.

07/10/2025

Thursday 9th October 7.30pm

Sleaford Navigation, Past & Present.
An account of the history, decline and restoration of the waterway. presented by Chris and Steve Hayes of Sleaford Navigation Trust.

In the Wright room at Sleaford Methodist Church, entry through the rear car park. Non members welcome £3

09/09/2025

Our next talk is on Thursday 11th September at Sleaford Methodist Church in the Wright Room at 7.30pm

An Introduction to the Lincolnshire Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) presented by Georgia Shucksmith

A presentation focusing on finds and the archaeology of Sleaford and the local area.

PAS is an organisation run by the UK Government to identify and record small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public in England and Wales, administered by the British Museum.

Non members £3. Entry through the car park at the rear of the building off Church Lane.

11/08/2025

29/07/2025

Next Local history talk is by local historian, Robert Turner, on a fascinating part of Sleaford’s history - Mary Wedd and the Sleaford School of Art. Tuesday 29th July at 7.40 in St Denys Church Rooms - members £1 and non-members £3.
To become a member of Sleaford Museum Trust, go to website: sleafordmuseum.org.uk/membership/