Afternoon talk by speaker Robert Bell on the history of the Horncastle Horse Fair and Livestock Market.
Robert Bell is coming to Lincoln Central Library on Thursday 18 February to talk about the Horncastle Horse Fair and Livestock Market. The afternoon session runs from 14:00 to 15:30, and it's organised by the SLHA.
If you've never heard of it, the Horncastle Livestock Market was once the beating heart of the town's history and the agricultural economy of the surrounding Wolds and Fens. It grew out of a tradition that goes back to the 1230 Market Charter, eventually becoming a major centre for cattle, sheep, pigs, horses and breeding stock. By the eighteenth century, the Horse Fair was the largest of its kind, drawing buyers from as far away as Russia and America. George Burrows even set his book Romany Rye around the journey to the Fair.
Down on the river Wong, the market brought together farmers, auctioneers, butchers, dealers, drovers and other rural trades. It became as much a social meeting place as a commercial one, with auctions, specialist fairs and a Christmas Fatstock Show that showcased Lincolnshire's own livestock breeds. It's a slice of local history that reaches far beyond the town itself.
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Bell is a sixth-generation land agent, chartered surveyor and auctioneer who has spent his life in Horncastle. He qualified through Reading University and trained in Yorkshire, and his firm, Robert Bell and Company, now operates through four offices across mid Lincolnshire. He knows the ground he's talking about. The talk is at Lincoln Central Library on Free School Lane, LN2 1EZ, from 14:00 to 15:30 on Thursday 18 February, and tickets are £3.00.
