St Vincents Hall
St Vincents Hall is a
History
The house was designed in the Gothic Revival style and built for the industrialist Richard Hornsby, who founded Richard Hornsby & Sons, an engine and machinery manufacturer, in 1868.[1] The Hornsby family sold the property to the Paravicini family[2] before the building was sold to the Air Ministry. The 1920s witnessed many visitors including Tsar Nicholas of Russia's brother fleeing the Bolsheviks.[3]
St Vincents Hall is best known for being the Second World War HQ of
In December 1943 the building became headquarters for the
Architecture
The house is made of rock-faced limestone with ashlar dressings and steeply pitched Welsh slate roofs, with decorative ridge tiles. Ashlar coped gables with moulded kneelers and finials. North front entrance has central projecting gabled wing, with single storey, lean to, porch to the left. The doorway has a pointed arched moulded ashlar surround, with marble shafts, and hood mould. Above is a moulded ashlar parapet pierced with quatrefoils. To the right a 2-light chamfered window, with tracery, above a single plain sash, in a flat headed chamfered surround, with a pointed inner arch. Above again a 3-light, chamfered mullion window, with a taller central light with cusped heads. At the north-west corner a circular or 'candle wick' tower, of 3 storeys, the lower 2 storeys have 3 single light chamfered lancets, with quatrefoil tracery.[1]
Memorials
The house has two memorials to 5 Group Bomber Command and
References
- ^ a b c Historic England. "St Vincent's House, Grantham, Lincolnshire (1261503)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ "St Vincents Hall". Lincolnshire County Council.
- ^ a b " "The night of the bouncing bombs". The Telegraph. 25 December 2004. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ "RAF Grantham ("St Vincent's")". RAF Lincolnshire. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ "No. 5 Group". RAF. Archived from the original on 7 February 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ "The Lincolnshire hub of the Dambusters' operation". BBC. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ "5 Group Bomber Command". Imperial War Museums.
- ^ "Grantham to celebrate 100 years of the RAF by commemorating D-Day, Arnhem and Dambusters". Grantham Journal. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2020.