Preserving Horncastle's Past, Present and Future

Name: Horncastle History & Heritage Society
Telephone: 01507622749

Founded in 1966 as the town's civic society we are a charity dedicated to protecting Horncastle's past, present & future, whilst promoting its rich heritage.

If you care about Horncastle and its history why not join us and become a member?

THIS WEBSITE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION - IT WILL TAKE TIME TO COMPLETE - PLEASE BEAR WITH US

Talks for 2024

Jan 17th Lincolnshire Troublemakers – Adrian Grey

Feb 21st The Disappearing Policeman – Brian Davey

Mar 20th A Tale of Two Lancs – Mike Chatterton

Apr 17th Folklore around Horncastle and Woodhall Spa – Ian Marshman

May 15th AGM

Jun 19th Vikings – Eric Grigg

Jul 17th The Origins of Wedding Customs and Nursery Rhymes –

Chris Hewis

Aug 21st NO MEETING IN AUGUST

Sept 18th Artefacts found at Baumber - Greg Roberts

Oct 16th The Battle of Winceby – Jonathan Fitzgibbons

Nov 20th No Other Way – a Local Woman’s Bid for Equality. Sara Jessie Stephenson, a Suffragette - Jean Howard

Dec 18th Christmas Party

All talks and meetings take place at Horncastle Community Centre, on Manor House Street.

The talks are on the third Wednesday of each month starting at 7:30pm, refreshments will be available before the talk commences. Please do not arrive before 7.15pm to respect other uses of the venue.

There are usually duplicates from our archive available, either free or to buy.

Price:
Members £2
Non-Members £5

Please pay on the door.

What We Do

The Society works in the following areas:

Museum

In conjunction with the Sir Joseph Banks Society the Society has a display area at the Joseph Banks Centre incorporating Roman pottery, Victorian artefacts and temporary displays of fascinating aspects of our local history. Books, leaflets and DVDs on the history of Horncastle are also available to purchase

Opening times: Thursday to Saturday 10:00 to 16:00

The Centre may be open outside of these hours

Exhibitions

Exhibitions are held at the Sir Joseph Banks Centre, in addition to the website, information will be available on our social media pages and at the Sir Joseph Banks Centre

Planning

The Society is consulted by the District Planning officers on any plan that affects the conservation area of the town and also any large development proposals which could affect the town. In the past we responded to the proposal by Tesco to build off Lincoln Road and expressed our concerns about the effect on the viability of the town centre. Fortunately, this development was refused.

We have opposed the Mareham Road development because of flooding concerns on the town centre. We fought strenuously against the Langton Hill development and continue to monitor the development to ensure that conditions imposed are being met.

We supported the application for a very modern eco house off Bargate Lane because it was an excellent example of modern architecture and would not affect the townscape in that area.

We supported the houses on the Becks which are excellent examples of sympathetic architecture.

We try and encourage developers to enhance rather than detract.

Conservation

We work with the District's conservation officer to protect important buildings in the town. We report problems and Members help carry out periodic reviews of the state of protected buildings for English Heritage.

We successfully campaigned to get some conservation work carried out on the Roman Wall, which removed all of the vegetation growth, ensuring visitors can continue to view the wall in an as complete condition as possible.

We have been successful in helping to get historic paving stones replaced after being removed by utility contractors.

Enhancement

The planters around the town are provided by the Society and planted regularly with some financial support from the Town Council. The planters on the lamp posts in the town centre are also now being maintained and planted by the Society. We provided the horse statues on Jubilee Way. We have also installed several blue plaques around the town highlighting places where historic events have taken place or on buildings connected to famous local people.

Information and Education

We hold regular talks and lectures about the history or people of the town and the surrounding area. We produce books and DVD's and leaflets to educate.