Last year we started renovation work on The Old King’s Head in Kirton near Boston, not only converting the former inn, pub and family home into a luxury B&B, café, deli and community space, but also piecing together the immensely rich historical records of the building.
We’re now halfway through the renovation process and asking members of the public to share their photos and memories of The Old King’s Head with us so that we can produce a detailed history timeline for locals and visitors to use to learn more about the building.
The 16th century building has always held great significance for the community of Kirton and the surrounding Lincolnshire area – and we want to use the much-loved tales of its past to bring this building back to life.
The pictures and information we collect from members of the public will be shared on a new website which is currently being developed for The Old King’s Head to increase awareness of its amazing past and encourage tourists to visit and stay in Kirton.
We would greatly appreciate any stories or photos of the building and those which link to memories of Kirton; this project is for the community and we would love to get as many members of the public involved as possible in this tremendous restoration.
We’re particularly interested in any information the public might have about the inn during the 1700s or information on previous landlords’ and tenants’ escapades from the 1500s up until the present day.
Photos that are submitted don’t need to be particularly high quality in terms of the picture resolution – scans of photos are perfectly acceptable. We just ask that the photos be sent with some accompanying information along with dates of when they were taken to help us piece everything together.
The Old King’s Head is steeped in history; it has stood in the rural village of Kirton for over 400 years and over its lifetime it has seen landlords, owners and tenants come and go, each leaving their legacy in the building as they lived, worked and socialised within its walls.
Producing this timeline is all part of conserving the history of the building for the benefit of those who live and work in the area. We want to share these stories and breathe life back into a building which has been unused for several years but will now become part of everyday life again.
If you have a connection to the building or to the area and would like to send in your photos and stories, please send these to: okh@heritagelincolnshire.org by Thursday 30th April.
The Old King’s Head is still undergoing renovation work but is set to open to the public in summer 2020.
To find out more about our charity work and to keep up to date on the details of The Old King’s Head project, follow Heritage Lincolnshire on Facebook and Twitter or visit our website: https://www.heritagelincolnshire.org/.