12 h 51 minAudiobook18 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Where two rivers meet, a Lincolnshire market town carries the traces of Roman walls, weekly trade, and war.
In A History of Horncastle, J. Conway Walter follows one English town from its Roman beginnings through centuries of change. At the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, Horncastle grows around a site whose position shapes its fortunes. The fortified settlement of Banovallum begins a story rooted in the ground beneath the streets.
The focus stays close to the town: its church, its medieval market, and the trade that sustains it. The Civil War brings armies into the surrounding country, with battle at nearby Winceby. Later, a canal and railway connect Horncastle to the wider country, changing how goods and people move.
What you’ll discover
- Roman roots beneath Horncastle Begin with Banovallum, the fortified Roman settlement at the start of the town’s story.
- A town shaped by trade Follow the growth of a market town around its church and weekly business.
- War close to home See how the Civil War touches Horncastle and places pressure on the surrounding country.
- New routes, changing rhythms Trace the canal and railway connections that bring new movement to an established trading town.
- The story behind the streets Gain a longer view of a place that townspeople and visitors can explore on foot.
Who will love it
This book will delight lovers of English local history, family researchers, church and architecture enthusiasts, and anyone who enjoys finding a whole nation's story in the streets, inns, schools and old documents of one town.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The Britons named the rivers first
- Rome left walls, wells and roads
- Saxon names and a royal manor
- Crown papers and the great families
- Saint Mary's Church holds the town's memory
- Chapels grew from small meetings
- Schools and a headmaster's strange regime
- Dispensary, canal and railway built the modern town
- People, oddities and the villages round about
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Histoire de Horncastle
by J. Conway Walter · 1908
Roman wells sit in cellars and lead coffins lie under apple trees in this Lincolnshire town's layered story.
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In short
A History of Horncastle is the story of a small market town in Lincolnshire, set down by J. Conway Walter, who served as rector of the nearby parish of Langton.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Britons named the rivers first
Walter opens by admitting that the earliest days of a place leave few written records. Still, he argues, place names and natural features let a careful reader build a sensible outline. He notes that rivers usually keep the names given by the earliest peoples, while towns and villages take names from later settlers. Horncastle itself has a name that is not British, but its rivers certainly are.
Two streams meet in the valley where the town stands. The one flowing from the distant wolds is called the Bain, from a Celtic word meaning bright or clear. The shorter and faster stream is the Waring, from a word meaning rough. Walter compares these names to coins struck long ago that are still in circulation, since every person who speaks of the Bain or the Waring repeats a word from the British language. He adds that the streams were once wider, with shoals and islands, because gravel deposits suggest a larger flow.
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What is A History of Horncastle about?
It is a local history of the Lincolnshire market town of Horncastle, covering its Roman fort, Norman manor, churches, chapels, schools, canal, railway and notable residents, and ending with a survey of the surrounding villages.
Where does the name Horncastle come from?
Walter says the name is Saxon and means the castle in the corner, the angle where the rivers Bain and Waring meet. The river names themselves are older and come from the British language.
Was Horncastle really a Roman fort?
Walter presents Roman walls about sixteen feet thick, three Roman wells, five roads, many coins and lead coffins as evidence. He suggests the Roman name Banovallum but admits that identification is a conjecture.
The author
J. Conway Walter
1831–1913 · British clergyman and writer
J. Conway Walter was a British clergyman and writer who lived from 1831 to 1913. He served as rector of Langton, near Horncastle in Lincolnshire, England. He wrote about local history. His book A History of Horncastle was published in 1908.
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