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Robert Hotchkin Biography & Facts

Woodhall Spa is a former spa town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, 6 miles (10 km) south-west of Horncastle, 23 miles (37 km) west of Skegness, 15 miles (24 km) east-south-east of Lincoln and 17 miles (27 km) north-west of Boston. It is noted for its mineral springs, historic cinema and its Second World War association with the RAF 617 Squadron, commonly referred to as 'The Dambusters'. Much of the village's Victorian elegance remains, with large parts of the centre being designated as a conservation area since January 1991. History Ancient history A mesolithic flint blade and a neolithic stone axe have been found in Woodhall. From the Bronze Age there is a dagger and a barrow. Roman Period Evidence exists of Roman activity in the area with a field system south of the village and east of Ostler's Plantation. A Sestertius of Marcus Aurelius was found along Horncastle Road. Mediæval Period Kirkstead Abbey Kirkstead Abbey was founded as a Cistercian monastery in 1139 by Hugh Brito, Lord of Tattershall and was originally colonised by an abbot and twelve monks from Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire. The abbey remained in existence until 1537, when it was dissolved; the last abbot, Richard Harrison, and three of his monks were executed by Henry VIII following their implication (probably unjustly) in the Lincolnshire Rising of the previous year. The land passed to the Duke of Suffolk and later to the Clinton Earls of Lincoln, who built a large country house. By 1791 that too had gone and all that remains today is a dramatic crag of masonry - a fragment of the south transept wall of the abbey church - and the earthworks of the vast complex of buildings that once surrounded it, which is Grade I listed, and an ancient scheduled monument. Tower-on-the-Moor The Tower-on-the-Moor, an octagonal, four-storey, red brick-built tower, is the stair turret of what is believed to have been a hunting lodge, built in the mid–15th century for Ralph de Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell whose fortified house, Tattershall Castle, was located 4 miles (6 km) to the south at Tattershall. It is a Grade II* Listed Building and a scheduled Ancient Monument. Documentary sources indicate that the tower was partly dismantled in 1472, when bricks from the Tower on the Moor were used for repairs at Tattershall Castle. One of the older roads in Woodhall Spa, Tor-O-Moor Road is named after the tower. The Tower is adjacent to the 3rd green of the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa Golf Club. It is a notable feature of the course and has been adopted as the emblem of the golf club. 18th Century Woodhall Spa Manor and the Hotchkin Family The building and grounds of Woodhall Spa Manor are intrinsically linked to the development of the village from its formative years. The earliest references to this site show that a small hunting lodge was present here in the late 18th century. The inner library room still retains original Jacobean carving over the fireplace and is believed to be the earliest remaining feature from the hunting lodge days. Woodhall Lodge or Wood Corner, as it was then known, became the property of one Thomas Hotchkin of Rutland, Lord of the Manor of Thimbleby and Woodhall. Hotchkin had inherited many manors throughout Rutland and Lincolnshire but Woodhall Lodge was his particular favourite and where he spent most of his time. Half a mile to the west of the grounds, close to the present Kinema, Thomas Hotchkin had built a spa bath in the late 1830s, having by chance discovered the healing properties of the iodine-rich water in a disused mine shaft on his land. In 1842 White's Directory describes Woodhall Spa as "a modern watering place … with just over 300 souls" and Thomas Hotchkin as living in Woodhall Lodge, "a neat mansion near the spa'. After his passing, four further generations of the Hotchkin Family lived in Woodhall Lodge. At some point during the last century, it was renamed as the Old Manor or Manor House. During the residence of Thomas Hotchkin's great-grandson, Stafford Vere Hotchkin (1876–1953), who helped to redesign the adjacent world-rated golf course which bears his name, there were major additions to the building. Around 1905 the south-west corner and east wings were built, greatly enlarging the footprint of the property, leaving the front entrance wholly Georgian, whilst, to the left and right are the Edwardian additions. The magnificent sweeping staircase, the beautiful hallway and Queens Room fireplaces, and the mahogany panelled entrance to the library all date from this period of high elegance. In 1965, Thomas Hotchkin's great great-grandson, Neil Stafford Hotchkin (1914–2004), sold the property to the National Farmers Union and it was converted into offices as the company's regional headquarters. Around twenty five years later, it was sold to a local businessman, who continued to run it as offices for various Lincolnshire companies. In 2013 new owners renamed it Woodhall Spa Manor and it now serves as a wedding and event venue. 19th Century Woodhall Spa came about by accident in 1811 after John Parkinson of Old Bolingbroke made several attempts to find coal. After spending several thousand pounds and sinking a shaft over 1,000 feet deep, the enterprise was abandoned on account of the now rising spring. The spring flows daily through soft spongy rock at a depth of 520 feet. About 1834, the then Lord of the Manor, Thomas Hotchkin, ascertained by analysis that the water was in fact valuable, being an iodine and bromine containing mineral spring. He spent nearly £30,000 sinking a well and erecting the Spa Baths, as well as building the Victoria Hotel. A description from 1919 of the therapeutic benefits patrons might expect to enjoy after 'taking the waters' ran as follows: The water is used both internally and externally and has been of the greatest efficacy in arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteo-arthritis, articular and muscular rheumatism, gout (especially of joints), neuritis, sciatica and nervous complaints, glandular swellings, catarrh, high arterial tensions, skin diseases, sterility, fibroid tumours and inflammatory diseases of women, as well as in a variety of other complaints, and it can be obtained in a bottled form direct from the Spa or through any chemist. The Victoria Hotel burned down on Easter Day, 4 April 1920, when an electrical fault in the boiler room spread to the linen room above. Railways In 1846 the Great Northern Railway company purchased the land to build a rail link from Peterborough to Lincoln via Boston and Woodhall Junction. Work commenced in 1847 and the line opened on 17 October 1848. Kirkstead Station, later renamed Woodhall Junction, was one of seven between Lincoln and Boston. A branch line to Horncastle, which included Woodhall Spa railway station, was opened on 11 August 1855. The railways brought increasing popularity, and an elegant spa to.... Discover the Robert Hotchkin popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Robert Hotchkin books.