BOSTON, England, a municipal and par liamentary borough and port of Lincolnshire, situated on the river Witham, about five miles from the sea, 30 southeast from Lincoln. It derived its name (a corruption of Botolph's town) from Saint Botolph, who founded a mon astery here about the year 650. Its chief inter est for Americans lies in the fact that it was the English home of the most influential of the settlers of Boston, Mass. The port had for merly a flourishing trade, but owing to various i causes, and especially the fact that in dry sea sons the river became choked up with sand brought in by the tides, this trade greatly de clined. In 1881 a new channel was constructed so as to bring the town within three miles of the sea by navigable water; and a new dock of seven acres area, capable of admitting ves sels of 3,500 tons at the highest tides, was opened three years later. Boston contains some fine buildings, notably the parish church of Saint Botolph, the Cotton chapel and various other places of worshipp, a grammar school dat ing from 1554, the Aihenzum, the Guildhall and the Assembly rooms, under which are ar ranged the butter-market, poultry-market and the police-station. Saint Botolph's Church is a
very large and handsome Gothic structure, with a tower, known as Boston Stump, 282 feet high, containing a carillon of 36 bells cast at Louvain. In the upper part of the tower, octagonal in shape, lights used to be suspended for the guid ance of mariners at sea and travelers crossing the fens by night. The town is now well sup plied with water brought from a reservoir dis tant about 14 miles. The leading industries comprise iron and brass foundries, the manu facture of farm implements, sails, ropes and bricks, and tanning, brewing and malting. Fishing also gives occupation . to many of the inhabitants, and there is steam com munication with Hull and London. Pop. (1911) 16,673. The borough returns one mem ber to Parliament.