Horncastle is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, England. It is east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains.
History
Romans
Although fortified, Horncastle was not on any important Roman roads, which suggests that the River Bain was the principal route of access to it.
Roman Horncastle has become known recently as Banovallum (i. e. Wall on the River Bain). Although this Roman name has been adopted by some local businesses and the town's secondary modern school, it is not firmly known to be original. Banovallum was merely suggested in the 19th century through an interpretation of the Ravenna Cosmography, a 7th-century list of Roman towns and road-stations, and may equally have meant Caistor.
The Roman walls remain in places. One section is on display in the town's library, which was built over the top of the wall. The Saxons called the town Hyrnecastre, from which its modern name derives.
Domesday Book
Horncastle is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book with 41 households, including 29 villagers and twelve smallholders, and had of meadow and two mills, all belonging to King William.
Church
Dating from the 13th century, well before the Reformation, the Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. It is a Grade II* listed building in the Early English style, but was extensively restored 1859–1861 by Ewan Christian.
English Civil War
Four miles out is the village of Winceby, where in 1643 the Battle of Winceby helped to gain Lincolnshire for Parliament, although its leader, Oliver Cromwell, was almost killed. Local legend has it that the 13 scythe blades hanging on the wall of the south chapel of St Mary's Church were used as weapons at Winceby, but this is mainly seen as apocryphal. The historical opinion is that they probably date from the Lincolnshire Rising of 1536. Both theories on the scythes appear in the "Church History" Lincoln website.
Blood sports
Horncastle was once a centre for cockfighting and bull-baiting. The Fighting Cocks remains the name of a local pub. Bull-baiting was practised in the area known as the Bull Ring. One historian finds that the practise continued until about 1810. Both these sports were banned in England and Wales under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835.
Market and horse fair
Horncastle gained a Crown market charter in the 13th century. It was long known for its great August horse fair, a famous trading event that continued until the mid-20th century. It ended after the Second World War, when horses had largely ceased to be used on farms. The town remains a centre of the antiques trade.
The annual horse fair was probably first held in the 13th century. It would last for a week or more every August. In the 19th century it was probably the largest such event in the United Kingdom. The slogan, "Horncastle for horses", was a sign of the town's standing in this trade. The fair was George Borrow's setting for some scenes in his semi-autobiographical books Lavengro and The Romany Rye. The last was held in 1948. Livestock markets continued for pigs and cattle, the last cattle market being held in 2000.
In 1894 the Stanhope Memorial, designed by E. Lingen Barker, was raised in the centre of the Market Place in memory of Edward Stanhope MP. It is a Grade II listed structure made of limestone, red sandstone and pink and grey streaked marble.
Notable buildings
The Grade II listed Old Court House in Louth Road was built in 1865. There are 116 other listed edifices in the town, including the three places of worship – St Mary's (Grade II*), Holy Trinity (Grade II) and the Congregational Church (Grade II) – and several sections of the Roman walls (Grade I).
Population
Historically, the civil parish lost population from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, as urbanisation and agricultural changes drew people to cities, where more work was available. However, the population since the late 20th century it has risen, to 6,815 in 2011, its highest so far. The estimated population in 2019 was still higher at 7,123.