I have reviewed areas of Louth and places but I feel the whole town is well worth a visit. it is pretty, fully of old world charm, with lovely architecture. The people are friendly. The market is great. Turner painted the church. I love it. Few towns can have aged with such good grace as Louth, a place characteristic of Lincolnshire's modest, unassuming but infinitely charming market towns. There is nothing spectacular here only mellow Georgian houses of red brick and pantiles, and an intriguing maze of streets. The river Lud runs through Louth, and plenty of properties have been built on its banks, and by the side of the canal that it leads into.There are some enormous houses, set in huge grounds, on the outskirts. Nothing majorly spectacular except for St James's church one of the most majestic of English parish churches', in Pevsner's view. At 295 feet, its spire is the tallest parish church spire in England. And yet it does not dominate the surrounding countryside in the way that the churches at Boston and Grantham do, since Louth lies in a fold in the hills; and from some directions the sight of magnificent St James's comes as something of a surprise. An old verse once advised 'Boston for business, Louth for Learning', and even today one can sense a certain air of culture about the town: Louth has a reputation as a centre for the arts, theatre and music which is the envy of many other towns in its size. It also retains its ancient market, given by King Edward VI in a charter of 1551 to the grammar school, which is now named after him. Sadly, nothing much remains of the Cistercian abbey which first brought wealth to Haverholme near Sleaford, and when they found that place too swampy for their liking they moved again, in 1139, founding a new abbey a mile east of Louth. It flourished until the Middle Ages, when the Black Death brought about its demise. Louth is chiefly a market town. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays the centre livens up as the Cornmarket is taken over by market stalls. There are auctions of plants, game and household items on certain days. But that's not all. On Friday mornings the Louth Town and Country market takes place in the British Legion Hall on Northgate. This features various craft and produce stalls, such as jewellery, clothing and cakes. Every three weeks or so there is a farmers market, again in the Cornmarket. Ostrich burgers have been available at this in the past, and there are usually good speciality meats, cheeses and local produce to be bought. Lincolnshire sausages and plum bread! The timing of this is not very regular, normally it's the second to last Friday in every month. Louth has an indoor market every day of the week, with entrances from New Street and the Cornmarket. However, the biggest market of the year is the annual Christmas market. This doubles as a fair and a public concert and features a lot of local craft and charity stalls that don't appear at any other time. A great place to spend a day or a few and a great base for other places in the wolds. Good food, good pubs. Where else can you get a chip and mushy pea butty for 50P? read more

See all

What can I say! I love Louth. I was raised in the area, and somehow never moved away - and now I'm raising my children in the shadow of St James' spire, too. It's a lovely town for children - the schools are good, there's a safe feel to the streets, and there are enough child-friendly activities (Spout Yard, the swimming pool and tennis courts, Quackers, etc) so that summer holidays don't become boring. I also like how pretty the town is, and the sense of community. My only bugbear with Louth is how out-of-the-way it iswhen we return from somewhere like London it seems to take forever pootling through the Wolds and fens to get home, and Louth certainly doesn't have good transport links. However, its seclusion keeps it special; it stays quiet and small and friendly. There are thrice-weekly markets in Louth including excellent organic fruit and vegetables and locally reared meat. There's a distinct lack of good supermarket provision, but we can't have everything. The shops are mainly specialised little places, so shopping is fun but time-consuming. I think Louth would benefit from a few more carefully selected chain stores; perhaps a M&S Food, a Laura Ashley or a Monsoon?! That would stop us migrating to Grimsby whenever we need to do proper shopping! read more

I lived here as a child (going to secondary school) and then moved away to Lincoln. However several years later I ended up back there to open a business. Although we only stayed 3 years before moving back to Lincoln again, I would highly recommend Louth as somewhere to live and visit. It is a market town, but remarkably bigger than you think. It has a huge amount of shops, a lovely market 3 days a week and many other attractions including St James', Hubbard Hills and even its own little museum. read more