Louth

Introducing Louth

A bustling market town of narrow lanes lined with Georgian and Victorian architecture, Louth straddles the River Lud between the Wolds to the west and the marshes of the Lincolnshire coast. The town is cleaved into two hemispheres, as the zero longitude line splits the town; it is marked by a plaque in Eastgate and sculptures dot the line as part of the Louth Art Trail. Louth’s other claim to fame is that it was the scene of a dramatic if short-lived revolt against Henry VIII in 1536.

The tourist office (609289; louthinfo@e-lindsey.gov.uk; New Market Hall, off Cornmarket; 9am-5pm Mon-Sat, to 4.30pm Oct-Easter) has maps and can help find accommodation.

While mustering the strength to climb Louth’s main attraction – the tallest parish church spire in England – pop into Louth Museum (601211; www.louthmuseum.co.uk; 4 Broadbank; adult/child £2/1.20; 10am-4pm Tue-Sat Apr-Oct) to see its reproduction of an enormous panorama of Louth, which was painted from the top of the church’s tower in the 19th century and makes a fascinating comparison to today’s view.

With that image burnt into your retina, head for the spire itself. The part medieval, part Tudor St James’ Church (10.30am-4pm Easter-Christmas) was described by Sir John Betjemen as ‘one of the last great medieval Gothic masterpieces’ and is propped up by dramatic buttresses and fortified by battlements. Inside, take a good look down the nave and you’ll see that the left row of pillars – which are older than their opposite twins – are lurching off balance. Strange to think that the famous New World adventurer Captain John Smith (yes, the one in Pocahontas) once worshipped here. A long elbow-scraping climb up to the tower (£1) is rewarded by views better still than you’d hoped.

Louth’s most elegant street is Georgian Westgate, which runs from beside the church. Opposite the mid-17th-century church precincts at No 47 is Westgate Pl. Sneak through its archway and you’ll find an impossibly cute row of terraced houses, one of which bears a plaque commemorating Tennyson’s four-year residence here.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009