Explore historic Horncastle

Often described as the ‘gateway to the Lincolnshire Wolds’, Horncastle is an attractive market town popular with antique hunters, sightseers and shoppers, as Andrew Vaux finds.

Surrounded by the beautiful countryside of the Lincolnshire Wolds – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – Horncastle is steeped in history.

As a former Roman settlement, there are above ground remains of the Roman wall found in various parts of the town. The best-preserved sections are on display within the Library where it’s a major feature within the building.

The Saxons called the town Hyrnecastre, from where its modern name arose. Horncastle is mentioned in The Domesday Book of 1086, when it was listed as consisting of 41 households, including 29 villagers and 12 smallholders, and had 100 acres of meadow and two mills, all belonging to King William.

Horncastle has been a Historic Chartered Market town since 1231 and was once the venue for the world’s largest horse fair.

At its peak in the 1800s, buyers and sellers arrived from all over Europe to trade. Unfortunately, the horse fair slowly declined over the years until ceasing in the mid-1900s. Despite this, trade still continued in the streets of the town, and today markets are still held on Thursdays and Saturdays.

The Joseph Banks Centre is the perfect place to start your visit to Horncastle and the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Tourist information can help you find everything the area has to offer, from heritage to outstanding natural beauty.

You can explore the community-run museum where you’ll uncover stories of people that made history from botanists and explorers, to hangmen and convicts.

Step into a beautiful courtyard oasis where you’ll find a garden dedicated to Sir Joseph Banks and the exotic plants he helped discover. Inside you’ll find displays inspired by Banks’s own collections, plant and insect specimens, as well as botanical artwork.

The centre holds the Lincolnshire Herbarium, created in collaboration with the Natural History Museum.
For further information, visit www.joseph-banks.org.uk

TREASURE HUNTING
Referred to as ‘Such a good spot for a weekend break’ by The Times newspaper, Horncastle is proud to have been voted Britain’s Best Antiques Town, and its quirky antiques and vintage shops are a brilliant place to go treasure hunting.

Even their buildings are worth a visit, with a converted church, old canal warehouses, factories, and the old militia Drill Hall now home to antique shops. 

Horncastle Antiques is probably the town’s largest antiques centre, with three floors across a shop and converted former factory. It’s home to a range of dealers all under one roof. You’ll find a selection of antiques, vintage clothing, furniture, artwork and collectibles. There’s even a small section of antiquities and fossils.

The centre is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 4.30pm.

The historic former militia Drill Hall is a space perfectly suited to an antique centre – being open plan, light, airy and spacious. You’ll find a variety of stock of quality antiques and interior design pieces dating from before 1949.

The centre – open Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm – benefits from free parking to the rear at The Wong car park, and disabled access.

The Trinity Antique and Collectables Centre, in the former Holy Trinity Church, East Street, was established in the early 2000s, and consists of 2,500 square feet of internal space.

There’s a very extensive and varied stock, with prices from 10p to £1,000, ranging from antiques and collectables to retro and vintage, and including pine, oak, mahogany and teak furniture as well as glass, china, silver plate, brass, copper, costume jewellery etc.

The centre has its own car park, situated to the rear of the premises, and is open six and a half days a week, normally Monday to Saturday 9am until 5pm, with Sundays and Bank Holidays opening 1pm until 4.30pm.

ARTISAN SHOPPING
There’s an independent spirit and the town’s artisan shops are run by friendly faces who are passionate about what they do.

Horncastle Hobby House has over 10 years’ worth of experience in supplying yarns for crochet, knitting, and needle felting. The shop prides itself on stocking a wide variety of traditional crafts products, including those for children.

A large display area in the back of the shop stocks a range of sugarcraft equipment along with icing, boards, boxes and cake decorations.

For more information tel: 01507 525926, or email: horncakes@tiscali.co.uk

BushKraft Reclamation in Thornton is a young business that creates standout pieces of furniture and small designer decorative items for the home.

The company uses recycled, reclaimed or repurposed items – predominantly wood and glass – and also uses laser cutting and engraving for a personalised touch if required.

For more information tel: 07714 734700 or email: bushkraft@gmail.com

Just outside town in High Toynton, Field Farm Shop sells home-reared meats, eggs and organic vegetables. Home-bred rare breed Berkshire pigs produce fantastic mouth-watering pork, and this is also used to make Lincolnshire sausages and dry-cured bacon.

Sheep are bred to produce lambs for the farm shop and, as a speciality, there’s also a small flock of Herdwicks, which take longer to finish but offer a different taste to traditional lamb. Meanwhile, free range chickens grow naturally, at their own pace, and roam around the field next to the shop.

All meat is available to buy in individual packs/joints, or as boxes (£20/£50 pork and lamb boxes containing a selection of joints and chops, and BBQ boxes containing home-made burgers and Lincolnshire sausages). In addition to meat and eggs, the shop also provides a range of local and organic vegetables.

The shop is currently open once a month for pre-orders to be collected. For more information visit www.fieldfarmshop.co.uk

AROUND TOWN
For lovers of the outdoors, there are peaceful riverside and woodland walks, as well as open countryside all within easy reach of the town centre. 

The Spa Trail is a 6.7-mile traffic-free route linking historic Horncastle with the nearby resort of Woodhall Spa. It follows the route of the former Horncastle branch line and the first mile or so runs besides the Horncastle Canal along the peaceful Bain Valley.  

The trail is popular with families, cyclists and wheelchair users. Along the way there’s lots to see, including beautiful countryside, birds and wildlife, plus a series of sculptures by local artists dotted along the way. Look out for the Viking longship near the old railway bridge! There’s also a series of stone mileposts in the form of miniature Viking warriors to guide you along the route. 

History lovers will also enjoy the information boards along the route with stories about the railway’s history, local wartime exploits, and the history of the Horncastle canal. 

FOOD AND DRINK
You’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to enjoying meals out, plus food and drink to purchase with Myers Bakery famous as the home of Lincolnshire plum loaf, and a raft of independent cafes and tea rooms to try, plus historic pubs and modern restaurants catering for all tastes. 

Renowned as the home of Lincolnshire’s famous plum loaf, no visit to the county or to Horncastle would be complete without a trip to Myers. 

This family-run business has been based in Horncastle for nearly 50 years and has been baking in the county for well over 100 years. Its small team of passionate individuals love to craft new and exciting recipes. Each and every day they produce some of the finest baked goods in Lincolnshire. 

You’ll also find a huge variety of fresh artisan breads (get their early to avoid disappointment!), plus delicious sweet and savoury pastries, croissants, doughnuts, fresh cream cakes and mouth-watering tray bakes. 

For further information, visit www.myersbakery.co.uk

SO MUCH TO DISCOVER IN HORNCASTLE
There are plenty of fantastic independent shops in Horncastle where you can find a unique gift or treat.

Many of them can be found in the Horncastle Antiques, Vintage and Collectables Trail leaflet which also lists all of Horncastle’s fabulous cafés, pubs and restaurants. Why not plan a day of early Christmas shopping and come and make the most of what Horncastle has to offer?

Horncastle is also rich in history and heritage so take some time to explore by visiting the Joseph Banks Centre and picking up one of the many heritage trail leaflets including the Horncastle Heritage Trail, which starts at the Market Place and follows a trail around 20 new interpretation boards (Market Place board pictured). You will learn snippets of Horncastle history and heritage dating back as far as the Roman times right up to this century.

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Roman Wall, Horncastle Library will be running a week of Roman themed children’s activities, talks and an exhibition, from Monday 28th October to Saturday 2nd November.

On Thursday 31st October (2pm) there will be an entertaining book reading followed by Q&A by local Lincolnshire author, Mick Lake. Mick is the author of books including Lincolnshire Women Who Kill (1722 -2022); Lincolnshire – True Tales from History; and Lincoln – Heroic, Tragic and Bizarre Tales from History. Mick will be reading tales from his books and this event is not to be missed. Definitely a Halloween Treat! The event is free of charge but all proceeds from Mick’s book sales on the day and donations will be made to LIVES. Book your place early to avoid disappointment by calling into the library or email horncastle.library@gll.org 

On Saturday 2nd November at 11am, Dr Ian Marshman will be giving a talk on the Mysteries of Roman Horncastle with an opportunity to view the new interpretation of the Roman Wall in the Library as well as a display model of the Roman Fort. Book your place by calling into the library or email horncastle.library@gll.org

To help you get in the Christmas spirit, the Horncastle Christmas Market returns on Sunday 8th December from 11am until 4pm. Join in the festive fun and enjoy an eclectic mix of seasonal stalls offering everything from scrumptious treats to local handmade gifts and fun activities for the whole family.

To find out more about all this and more, visit www.lovehorncastle.com

Photographs: Mick Fox

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