HORNCASTLE, a market-town and parish in the
soke of HORNCASTLE, parts of LINDSEY, county of
LINCOLN, 21 miles (E.) from Lincoln, and 134 (N.)
from London, containing 3058 inhabitants. From its
situation, and the circumstance of a very extensive
castle having been erected here (a portion of the
remains of which is still visible,) this place has, with
great probability, been considered the Bannovallum of
the Romans, mentioned by the geographer of Ravenna.
Its present name is evidently a corruption of Hyrncastre,
as it was denominated by the Saxons, from hyrn,
an angle, or corner (the town being situated within an
angle formed by the confluence of the rivers Bane and
Waring), and castrum, a fort, or castle. The vallum,
or fortification constructed by the Romans having been
considerably strengthened by Horsa, soon after the
arrival of- the two Saxon brothers, was afterwards
demolished by Vortimer, the brave king of the Britons,
and the castle was taken and destroyed, after a victory
obtained by one of his generals over the Saxon
prince, at the neighbouring village of Tetford. At
the period of-the Norman survey, the manor and. soke
(the latter comprising, besides the town, the parishes of
West Ashby, Coningsby, Haltham, Langrick Ville, Mare-
ham le Fen, Mareham on the Hill, Moorby, Roughton,
Thimbleby, Thornton le Fen, High Toynton, Low Toynton,
Wilksby, and Wood-Enderby,) belonged to the king,,
previously to which they had formed part of the
possessions of Editha, Queen of Edward the Confessor.
It does not appear at what time the manor first came
into private hands, but, after various grants and
reversions, it was sold, in the reign of Henry III., to
Walter Mauclerlce, Bishop of Carlisle 5 to whom that
monarch granted three charters, conferring various immunities
on the inhabitants of the town and soke,
whereby Horncastle, from an insignificant village, became
the general mart for the surrounding district: -with the
exception of a short interval during the reign of Edward
VI., it has continued to belong to that see ever since.
The town, which is neat and well built, occupies
a low but pleasant situation at the foot of the Wolds.
From a plan made by Dr. Stukeley, in 1722, it appears
to have been scarcely half so large as it is at
present; and the houses, then built with clay-walls, and
covered with thatch, have been succeeded by respectable
brick edifices; the general appearance of the neighbourhood
has also been greatly improved by the enclosure
of lands, under the authority of an act obtained in 1803.
Here is a subscription library, formed in 1790, and containing
about one thousand volumes; and the-clerical
library, in High-street, comprises some respectable
standard works. Formerly, many of the inhabitants
were employed in tanning leather, but about fifty years
ago this branch of trade here experienced a rapid decline,
so that there are now but two tan-yards remaining.
The prosperity of the town has been in a great
degree advanced by an act obtained in 1792, under the
powers of which a canal was constructed, communicating
with the river Bane, which was thus madenavigable
to the Witham; and by this means a junction has been
formed with the Trent and its numerous ramifications.
Since the completion of this undertaking, in 1801, considerable
commerce has been carried on in corn and
wool, about thirty thousand quarters of the former, and
three thousand packs of the latter, having been annually
sent from this place to different parts of England.
The market is on Saturday; and the fairs are, one concluding
on the 22nd of June, which is chartered for
eight days, but seldom lasts more than three;  the second
terminates on the 21st of August, after having continued
about ten days, although the charter limits its
duration to seven: it is the largest fair for horses in
the kingdom, many thousands being exhibited for sale
during its continuance, and it is resorted to by dealers
from all parts of the country, from the continent, and
from America. The third fair, held on the 28th and
29th of October, was removed hither from Market-
Stainton, in 1768, for a consideration of £200 paid to
the lord of that manor. In the 47th of George III., an
act was passed for establishing a court of requests for
the recovery of debts under five pounds, which is held
here every fourth Thursday, its jurisdiction extending
over "the sokes of Bolingbroke and Horncastle, and
the wapentake of Candleshoe, (except the parishes of
Hagnaby, Welton in the Marsh, Steeping-Magna, and
Firsby,) jn the county of Lincoln, and for the wapentakes
of Gartree, Louth-Eske, Ludborough, Calceworth,
Hill, and Walshcroft, the north and south divisions of
the wapentake of Yarborough, such parts of the wapentake
of Manley as lie east of the river Trent, and
the parishes of Faldingwbrth, Buslingthorpe, Snarford,
Friesthorpe, and Hanworth." The charter granted by
Henry III. to the bishop, as lord of the manor, gave
authority to try felons and to hold a court leet, and exempted
the inhabitants from toll and several other payments
and services, besides protecting them from arrest
by the officers of the king or the sheriff. On the eastern
boundary of the parish is a spot called Hangman's
Corner, where criminals capitally convicted in the court
of the manor were executed; but these manorial rights
and privileges, except the court leet, have been long disused.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £ 14. 4. 2.,
and in the patronage of the Bishop of Carlisle. The
church, dedicated to St. Mary, appears, from the few remaining
portions of the original edifice, to have been
erected about the time of Henry VII.: it comprises a
north and a south aisle, continued on each side of the
chancel: the aisle north of the chancel was rebuilt in
1820, and part of the aisle south of the nave, in 1821;
the interior is exceedingly neat, and there are several
interesting monuments to different members of the
family of Dymoke, of Scrivelsby, holding the office of
hereditary champion of England, Baptists, Independents,
and Primitive and Wesleyan- Methodists, have each
a place of worship. The free grammar school was
founded by Edward, Lord Clinton and Saye, Lord High
Admiral of England, by virtue of letters patent granted
in 1.562; its endowment consists of houses and land at
Horncastle, Hemingby, Sutton, Huttoft, and Winthorpe,
the average rental of which is about £200 per annum;
£80 per annum is paid to a master and £30 to an
usher; in addition to this, each boy pays two guineas
a year for instruction in writing and arithmetic. The
management of the affairs of this school is entrusted to
ten individuals, who are a body corporate, possessing a.
common seal. They are also trustees of another charity
school, founded by Mr. Richard Watson, in 1734, wherein
poor children are instructed to read, sew, and knit, by
a teacher whose stipend is £ 17 per annum, with a residence
rent-free. A National school for boys and girls,
and a school on the Lancasterian plan, are supported by
subscription and afford the means of education to about
four hundred children. A general dispensary, was opened
in 1789. The poor in general derive considerable assistance
from numerous benefactions recorded on a
mural tablet in the church. The remains of the ancient
fortress of Horncastle merely serve to exhibit its
form and magnitude: it appears to have enclosed an
area of about six hundred feet in length, and in breadth
three hundred and fifty, on the east, and three hundred
on the west.. A little south-westward from the town,
near the union of the rivers, was one of those Roman
labyrinths called the Julian bower. Many urns, coins,
fibula, and other vestiges of that people, have been discovered
at different periods..