Goltho

Goltho is a small hamlet in West Lindsey, Lincolnshire, set among the Lincolnshire Limewoods. It lies less than a mile from Wragby and half a mile from the A158 road, surrounded by scattered farms and quiet lanes. The area includes a national nature reserve where a marked walk passes several historic sites. Anglo-Saxon traces appear in the name, linked to marigolds or a Viking word for a ravine. A Romano-British settlement once stood here in the 1st and 2nd centuries. The place is worth visiting for its layers of history and surviving buildings. Excavations in the 1970s uncovered an early medieval village with a fortified enclosure and a hall. A motte-and-bailey castle was added around 1080, and Goltho Hall became the home of the Grantham family. Sir Thomas Grantham served as Sheriff of Lincoln and sat in Parliament, while his son raised a regiment during the Civil War. The hall was rebuilt in 1875 after the original was demolished. Visitors find the Limewood Walk leading past Goltho Hall, its garden wall and pigeoncote, and the ruined Church of St George. The church, founded about 1640, was damaged by fire in 2013 but remains a Grade II* listed building. The walk also passes the remains of the deserted medieval village and the site of the old motte. The surrounding countryside offers quiet paths through wooded reserves and open farmland.