By Tim Lambert
Early Boston
c. 1100 Boston grows into a small market town
1125 Boston has an annual fair
1250 Boston is one of England’s most important ports. Wool is exported and wine is imported.
1281 Boston is badly damaged by a fire
c. 1400 Boston begins to decline as the River Witham silts up and the wool industry moves to other parts of England
1545 Henry VIII grants Boston a charter and it becomes a borough
1552 Boston sends 2 MPs to parliament
1555 Boston Grammar School is founded
1603 Plague strikes Boston
1720s Daniel Defoe describes Boston as ‘large and populous’
1726 Fydell House is built
1766 The Grand Sluice opens
1774 Boston gains its first bank
1776 A body of men are formed to light the streets of Boston with oil lamps
Modern Boston
1801 Boston has a population of 5,926
1819 Maud Foster Mill is built
1825 Boston gains gas light
1845 A waterworks company is formed in Boston
1848 The railway reaches Boston
1884 New Docks are built down river of the town
1901 Boston has a population of 15,000
1910 The first cinema opens in Boston
1913 A new town bridge is built
1919 The council buys Central Park
1924 Boston gains electric light
1927 County Hall is built
1997 Sutterton Enterprise Centre is built
2011 Boston has a population of 59,000