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 place-name ‘Horncastle’ is first attested in the
Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ‘Hornecastre’. It appears as ‘Hornecastra’ in the
Pipe Rolls of 1130. The name means “the Roman fort in the tongue of land” between the
River Bain and
River Waring. 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.
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 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). The former
Horncastle Town Hall was built as a drill hall and completed in around 1903. The
Sir Joseph Banks Centre commemorates the botanist who sailed with
Captain Cook on
HMS Endeavour. Banks, who lived at nearby
Revesby Abbey, contributed to botanical science, with around 80 plant species bearing his name, and helped establish
Kew Gardens as a leading institution. ==Population==