Grantham

Grantham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road; it lies 23 miles (37 km) south of Lincoln and 22 miles (35 km) east of Nottingham. The population in 2016 was 44,580. The town is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of the South Kesteven District. The villages of Manthorpe, Great Gonerby, Barrowby, Londonthorpe and Harlaxton form outlying suburbs of the town. The UK's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was born and raised in Grantham. The mathematician and scientist Isaac Newton was educated at the King's School. The town was the workplace of the UK's first warranted female police officer, Edith Smith, in 1914. The UK's first running diesel engine was made there in 1892 and the first tractor in 1896. Thomas Paine worked there as an excise officer in the 1760s.