Celia Fiennes
GNR_20202024-01-17T16:50:58+00:00Celia Fiennes was an early travel writer. She toured extensively through England in the late 17th century. Her diaries describe many of the towns...
The Eleanor Crosses
GNR_20202024-01-16T11:19:38+00:00The Eleanor Crosses constructed in the 1290s to commemorate the passing of the queen were prominent landmarks alongside the Great North Road at Grantham...
Daniel Defoe
GNR_20202023-08-03T12:28:09+00:00Daniel Defoe was an early travel writer who wrote with descriptive detail about what he saw. Most of the towns and cities along the Great North Road are recorded...
Daniel Albone
GNR_20202022-11-14T11:28:11+00:00Daniel Albone’s family ran the Ongley Arms pub alongside the Great North Road in Biggleswade, just south of the bridge over the River Ivel. He became an entrepreneurial designer...
Dick Turpin
GNR_20202024-02-05T14:52:15+00:00Dick Turpin, the “Flying Highwayman”, was famed for his bravery, resolution and generosity. A scoundrel and a thief but also a gentleman who minimised any...
King James I
GNR_20202023-08-14T17:13:31+00:00A meandering but triumphant journey south along the Great North Road marked the start of the reign of King James I in 1603. It was his first visit to England...
Road Building Revolution
GNR_20202024-02-05T14:40:15+00:00The growth of turnpikes after 1700 started to provide funding for investment but it was the road building revolution of the late 18th and the 19th centuries which...
Edmund Boulter
GNR_20202024-01-16T17:25:00+00:00Edmund Boulter was a wealthy businessman and member of parliament who left his mark on the Great North Road. His properties came to include Wimpole and...
John Nevison – Highwayman
GNR_20202023-06-27T17:24:38+00:00John Nevison was one of the most infamous highwaymen operating along the Great North Road. His gang of outlaws met at the Talbot Inn at Newark and robbed...