Louth & Zero Degrees

Louth is a charming Wolds market town and is watched over by the breath-taking church of St James’s with its spire soaring to a height of 295 feet, the tallest parish church in the country.

But in Louth East meets West so you can change from the East to the West in one step. The Greenwich Meridian is the world’s Prime Meridian for measuring longitude and used not only for navigation but establishing time (GMT or Greenwich Mean Time).

The Greenwich Meridian (Zero degrees) passes through the town and is marked on Eastgate with a plaque on the north side of the street, just east of the junction with Northgate.

Three sculpted figures can be seen discovering and contemplating the Meridian Line which is represented by a steel ribbon engraved with text (written by local people), that appears and disappears as it traces the path of the Line through and around the town.

 There are also four lines engraved with text throughout the town both on and off the Meridian. They are part of a series of works produced as the result of a collaboration between sculptor Lawrence Edwards and book artist Les Bicknell.

© Derek Roberts
Louth Market Place