Historic pub reduced to rubble

This once popular historic inn on the A1 south of Grantham, has been demolished in the past year.

Little remains of the 18th Century hostelry, save for the land it stood upon.

It closed as a pub, restaurant, and hotel in 2012 and put on the market for an asking price of £550,000.

Since its sale it has sat empty and new owners, Birmingham-based Godwin Developments, tabled plans in October 2018 to demolish it and build three drive-in units and one drive-to unit.

The inn, despite its history, has never been listed and was unsympathetically extended in the 20th century. These were rejected (and the appeal dismissed) so new plans were submitted in February 2020, just before COVID-19 struck.

The former coaching inn was initially known as the Winchelsea Arms, named for the Earls of Winchelsea. However, by 1802 under the ownership of landlord Charles Blake, it was unofficially referred to by locals as “The Ram Jam”. It appears to have been officially renamed the Ram Jam inn some years later in June 1878.