Lincoln is an eastern shire on the shores of the North Sea, and is the second largest county in England. The Humber ties between it and East Yorkshire on the north, and Yorkshire bounds it on the north-west; on the west is Nottinghamshire; on the south-west, Leicestershire, Rutlandshire and Northamptonshire; on the south-east, beyond the Nene, are Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. The Humber, the North Sea and the Wash form the boundary on the north and east. From north to south is 75 miles, and from east to west 45; the area is 1,694,907 acres, being next in size to the West Riding of Yorkshire.

The population of Lincolnshire is purely English, except so far as it is mixed with Danish blood. In 1801 it was 208,625; in 1811, 237,634; in 1821, 283,058; in 1831, 317,465; in 1841, 362,602; in 1851, 407,222; in 1861, 412,246; in 1871, 436,599; in 1881, 469,919; and in 1891, 473,912; males, 234,036; females, 239,876. The number of houses in 1891 was, inhabited 103,944, uninhabited 8,898, and building 475. Lincolnshire was, perhaps, early settled by the Iberians, and afterwards by the Welsh, who were driven out by a Belgian tribe. When the Romans landed, the chief tribe here was that of the Coritani, who are said to hare been a branch of the Icen; in the year 70 they were put down by the Romans. The Romans raised banks, cut dykes, of which are the Foss dyke and Carr dyke, made roads, and built towns. The Roman towns were Lindum-Colonia (Lincoln), Aquis (Alkborough), Causennis (Ancaster), Brigae (Brant Broughton), Duro Brivis (Tattershall), Vainona (Wainfleet), Banovallum (Horncastle), In Medio (Kirton-in-Lindsey), Pretorium (Broughton), Ad Abum (Winteringham), Verometum (Willoughby), and Margidunum (Willoughby, near Grantham); Caistor, Gainsborough, Ludborough, Yarborough, Washingborough, Braceborough, Billingborough, Habrough, Blyborough, Brackenborough, Stallingborough, Little Bytham and Flixborough were other Roman settlements. Ermine Street, the Fossway, and the Saltway were great Roman roads.

In the 6th century the shire fell into the power of the tribes now called English, namely, the English, Warings, Frisians, Saxons, Jutes or Goths, Danes, Bructuars, Burgundians and Vandals. The inroads were made by the same families which had already made themselves masters of Kent, the South Saxons, the Southrich, Middlesex, Essex, Gyrvia and East Anglia, and the same as the Middle English. Among them were the Gaining, Uffing, Horsing, Horning, Epping, Willing, Billing, Folking, Ludding, Ailing, Hedding, Haring, Hacking, Newing, Craning, and other well-known families of the north. They formed a number of commonwealths, of which the best known are those of Lindsey and Gainsborough, and the Gyrvians, the aldermen or kings of which were of the blood of Woden. In time the great kings of Northumberland and the Middle English made themselves masters of this shire, or, as it was sometimes named, Southumberland. Latterly it shared the fate of Mercia, and was occupied by the Scandinavians. The fen district was one of the last strongholds of the Saxons against the Norman conqueror. Oliver Cromwell destroyed many of the old castles. The names of 195 parishes end in by, being one-third of the whole number in that form in England; 76 end in thorpe, another northern termination.

Most of the county is watered by the Witham and Ancholme, Trent and their feeders: half of it is in wolds and uplands, the other half a plain almost level with spring tide height. In the west are some hills lying along the side of the Trent, but generally the land is low: the shores are likewise low and sandy, and instead of there being much trade and shipping, as is to be looked for in a shire near the sea, Lincolnshire is best known for its grazing, for which its pasture lands make it one of the richest shires in England, and its arable land is highly farmed.

The Isle of Axholme is to the north-west, between the Trent and the Don; it comprises a district about 19 miles in length and 9 broad, containing 50,000 acres of highly productive land.

Most of the land to the south-east of Lincoln, and likewise the Isle of Axholme and the vale of Ancholme in the north, is of a uniform level: the drainage works are very extensive, chiefly connected with the Witham and Trent.

Owing to the drainage of the land, many former sources of wealth have lessened: geese were formerly bred, and their quills and feathers plucked, and there are still some hundreds reared annually in the south-east fen district. Rabbit-warrens, which used to abound in the sands of the wolds, have been broken up. The taking of wild fowl has very much fallen off; there used to be heronries and decoys; among the wild fowls are swans, geese, ducks, widgeons, teal, ruffs, shovellers, pewits, plovers, terns, grebes, spoonbills, storks, cranes, herons, oyster catchers, rails, coots, moorhens and godwits, besides pheasants partridges, woodcocks and snipes. The fen drains contain much fish, including pike, perch, carp, chub, roach, dace, tench, bream, barbel and eels.

The wolds have been brought under tillage; much corn is raised, and in the north-west district, near Epworth and Crowle, flax, locally called by the name of “line,” from the la tin linurn, is cultivated; Lincolnshire is also rich in aquatic and marsh plants. The feeding of fat beasts for London and the great towns is greatly followed; there are about a million and a quarter of sheep, from which a large quantity of long wool is clipped yearly: a great sheep fair is held at Corby in October. Many horses are bred in the county, and at Horncastle is held one of the greatest horse fairs in England during a week in August.

Much of the soil is diluvial and alluvial, but there are hard rocks of the secondary formation. Near Ancaster are quarries of freestone, and elsewhere of sandstone tit for building, and in the range of hilts extending north and south through the county ironstone abounds, the output from mines and quarries in 1895 being 928,660 tons, value £139,142, and the make of pig iron from six works in this county, with 21 furnaces, and one in Leicestershire, with 4 furnaces, being 349,232 tons; the average number of furnaces “in blast” being 17. The output in the same year of clays was 111,954 tons, chalk 30,364 Ions, limestone 25,449 tons and gravels 4,194 tons. In the Isle of Axholme plaster of paris, sulphate of lime, or gypsum, is dug; lime is burnt in the wolds, and from the steep cliffs of the Humber chalk is got, and whiting is made. The geological formation favours the agricultural character of the county.

The population is mostly employed in husbandry; but there is some work in ship-building, lime-burning, flax-dressing, and sack-weaving, and there are also large agricultural implement factories: at Lincoln are extensive iron foundries, engineers’ shops and agricultural machinery manufactories at Little Bytham are extensive works for the manufacture of a brick called the Adamantine clinker, which is made of a silicious clay which the Romans used for pottery manufactures, and is remarkable for its hardness, strength and imperviousness to water: terra-cotta ware is also manufactured in the county to some extent.

Tidal waves. In the North Sea the flood tide-wave enters from the Atlantic Ocean between the coast of Norway and the British Isles, and subsequently, on quitting the Pentland Frith, separates into two branches, of which the western branch, swelling along the shores of Scotland and England, makes high water in all the rivers and harbours successively till it arrives in the Thames. At three or four miles off Whitby the flood stream runs to the southward till 4h. 10m. after high water at Leith, and at the same distance off Flamborough Head it continues to run half an hour longer: near the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts the streams of the tide run nearly parallel to the shore; and off Wells the flood runs eastward till 9 o’clock, or three hours after high water on shore. The time of high water at Great Grimsby is always 53m. earlier than at Hull, the height being also 1ft. 3m. less; at Spurn Point the time of high water is always 1h. 3m. earlier.

Time of High water at full and change days at places on the coast of Lincolnshire, arranged according to the apparent progress of the tide wave, with the rise of the tide at Springs and Neaps.

By the rise of the tide is meant its vertical rise above the mean low-water level of Spring tides.

Of the rivers the Witham and Trent and the Humber are the principal: the Witham rises in the south-west at South Witham, and flows northerly through Grantham to Lincoln; it then flows south-easterly to Tattershall and Boston, and below Boston reaches the Wash and the sea. The river has been much improved by works constructed by the Witham Outfall Board. The Bain is a small river, navigable to Horncastle, and which falls into the Witham near Tattershall.

The Trent enters the shire in the west, near Newton and Kettlethorpe, and flowing northward, forms the Notts boundary of the county as far as West Stockwith, after which it passes to the eastward of the Isle of Axholme, which then lies between it and the Don; the Trent having joined the Yorkshire Ouse, the two rivers take the name of the Humber, and flow in one wide channel, easterly and south-easterly, to the North Sea: it is seven miles wide at the mouth between Spurn Point in Yorkshire and Great Grimsby in Lincolnshire. The Trent and Humber are navigated by ships and steamers, and are joined by canals to every navigable river in England.

The Ancholme rises at Fillingham in the north-midland of Lincolnshire, and flows northerly to the Humber, near South Ferriby, passing Brigg: it has been made navigable nearly to its head.

The Welland comes in from Northamptonshire, Stamford, and runs easterly to Crowland, and turning in a northerly direction passes through Spalding, and trending to the east debouches into the Foss Dyke Wash.

The Glen rises between Folkingham and Grantham, and falls into the Welland near the Foss Dyke bridge.

Lincolnshire is full of canals and dykes, great and small, so that in many parts the communications by land are very difficult. The dykes were cut for draining the land, and some of them are navigable; the Carr dyke, which was cut by the Romans, runs for 40 miles, north and south, through South Lincolnshire, along the foot of the hills from Lincoln to Peterborough: Foss dyke, made in the reign of Henry I. connects Lincoln with the river Trent at Torksey. The Stainforth and Keadby canal cuts across the Isle of Axholme, from the Don to the Trent. The Louth canal connects the town of Louth with the North Sea at Tetney. The Sleaford Navigation is from the town of Sleaford to the Witham, below Tattenhall. The Grantham canal connects Grantham with the Trent at Nottingham, and is the property of the Great Northern Railway Company.

There are few parts of Lincolnshire many miles from a navigation; and, except part of West Lindsey, there is no part which has not access to the general system of navigation throughout England. Steamers between the ports of London and Hull form a good outlet for foreign trade, and steamboats also run inland from Hull.

Railways.-The county is worked by the Great Eastern, the Midland, the Great Northern, and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railways. The first named, entering the county from March junction, near Parson Drove, runs by Spalding and Sleaford to Lincoln, and thenceby Gainsborough to Doncaster. The Midland, in conjunction with the Great Northern, runs from Peterborough, via Saxby, Bourne and Spalding, to Lynn, and also from Spalding to Boston. The Great Northern enters the county from Peterborough at Stamford, and runs via Essendine to Bourne, and the main line of this railway, also from Peterborough, comes in at Tallington, near Market Deeping, and runs through Grantham to Newark, with a branch from Grantham to Lincoln and one from Boston through Firsby to Louth and Grimsby, with sub-branches to Spilsby, Skegness and Saltfleet. The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire line from Doncaster to Grimsby enters the Isle of Axholme at Godnow bridge, and passes Frodingham, Barnetby and Brocklesby, having a branch from the latter junction to New Holland and Barton, while two branches from Retford lead via Saxilby to Lincoln, and via Gainsborough and Brigg to Barnetby and thence to Grimsby, and are connected by a line from Lincoln through Market Rasen to Barnethy.

In addition to the above, a line called the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast railway, originally designed tc connect Warrington with a new port on the German Ocean at Sutton-upon-Sea, but at present limited to the portion commencing at Chesterfield, from which town it runs via Bolsover and Tuxford, and due east to Lincoln, entering the county near Skellingthorpe, where there is a station. This section of the line was begun at Chesterfield in 1892 and is now (1896) nearly completed as far as Lincoln, while the remaining section eastward, which will run through or near to Greetwell, Stainfield, Minting, Hemingby, Thetford, Driby, Alford and Thirlby to Sutton, is well advanced and will open a tract of country at present without railway facilities, though the principal object of the new line is the opening up of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire coalfields, by providing a new port of shipment and additional railway communication.

A steam ferry plies between New Holland and Hull, and there are several other ferries across the rivers Humber and Trent, and steamers run between Hull and various ports on the latter river.

Lincolnshire forms three divisions or trithings. Lindsey, or the Isle of Lindum, is half the shire, or North Lincolnshire, between the Witham and the Humber: the Isle of Axholme is part of Lindsey. In South Lincolnshire are Kesteven and Holland. Kesteven is to the west and Holland on the shore: the latter is flat, marshy and full of dykes and canals. Each of the three divisions or trithings of the shire had, before the Norman accession, its trithing reeve, and still has its separate magistrates, quarter sessions, clerks of the peace and treasurer, though there is only one lord lieutenant and one sheriff. The assizes are held at Lincoln.

Lincolnshire is in the Midland circuit and is divided into So petty sessional divisions, 2 in the parts of Holland, 4 in the parts of Kesteven and 14 in the parts of Lindsey. The shire contains 740 civil parishes and parts of 5 others.

It contains 737 ecclesiastical parishes and part of one other and is in the province of Canterbury, diocese of Lincoln and archdeaconries of Lincoln and Stow; the Lincoln archdeaconry is sub-divided into the rural deaneries of Aveland, Nos. 1 and 2, Beltisloe, Bolingbroke, Calcewaith, Nos. 1 and 2, Candleshoe, Nos. 1 and 2, Christianity, East Elloe, West Elloe, Graffoe, North Grantham, South Grantham, Hill, No. North Holland, Nos. 1 and 2, Lafford, Nos. 1 and 2, Longo' oby, Loveden, Ness and Stamford. Stow archdeaconry is sub-divided into the rural deaneries of Aslackoe, Isle of Axholme, Corringham, Gartree, Grimsby, Nos. 1 and 2, Hill, Horncastle, Lawres, Nos. 1 and 2, Louth Eske and Ludborough, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, Manlake, Walshcroft, Wraggoe and Yarborough, Nos. 1 and 2.

The municipal boroughs are Boston, population in 1891, 14,593; Grantham, 16,746; Grimsby, 51,934; Lincoln, 41,491; Louth, 10,040; and Stamford, 8,358.

Great Grimsby, at the mouth of the Humber, has an increasing foreign and coasting trade, and has a Custom House; in 1895, 232 steamers, tonnage 28,695, and 556 sailing vessels of a tonnage of 40,251, were registered as belonging to this port: coal was shipped to the extent of about 834,553 tons in 1895, and the fisheries form a very important item in the trade; the number of fishing boats registered in 1895 as belonging to the port being 729, of an aggregate tonnage of 49,275, and employing 4,836 hands: coasting vessels can enter the docks at any time of the tide, whilst the largest steamers will find sufficient depth of water for 12 hours out of the 24: the first stone of the new docks was laid in 1849, and they were opened in 1852, and the extensions in 1884; these docks, which are eighteen miles nearer the sea than Hull, render Grimsby a rapidly increasing rival to Hull. The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway connects it with the general railway system.

Boston is on the river Witham: the trade of this port, from an accumulation of silt in the river, began to decline in the middle of the last century, but was revived by forming a canal, deepening the river and enlarging the harbour, and the river has been further improved by the action of the Witham Outfall Board: the quays are accessible at spring tides to ships of 400 tons; extensive docks have been added and a navigable channel cut from the river to the sea: there is some foreign trade, but local and coasting trades are the principal: a large trade in fish is carried on. It has a Custom House and pilot establishment. Spalding and Wainfleet are within this port.

Gainsborough, with a population of 14,468, is a river port, on the Trent, of some Consequence, having, besides the river traffic, a considerable coasting trade. Vessels drawing from twelve to thirteen feet of water can lie and discharge alongside the wharfs at the town. The Eagre (or bore), a tidal wave from the mouth of the Trent, rising to the height of several feet at spring tides on the surface of the river, passes considerably above Gainsborough bridge: on account of the obstruction it meets with before reaching Gainsborough, the Eagre is there diminished in size.

The great port of Hull, on the north side of the Humber, has much influence on the trade of Lincolnshire; and Goole, likewise on the Humber, has some shard in it.

The watering places in the county ares-Cleethorpes, Freiston, Mablethorpe, Skegness and Saltfleet Haven; there is a mineral spring, with bath and pump rooms, at Woodhall Spa; this is a celebrated iodine water, and generally relieves from rheumatic affections.

Lincoln is a cathedral city, with Roman antiquities; other towns are Alford, population in 1891, 2,843; Barton, 5,226; Bourne, 4,191; Brigg, 3,100; Holbeach, 4,771; Horncastle, 4,374; Market Rasen, 2,497; Market Deeping, 1,079; Sleaford, 4,112; Spalding, 9,014; Spilsby, 1,497; at Crowland are remains of an ancient abbey, also a curious bridge, with three half arches, meeting in one spring; at Little Bytham are many Roman remains of interest.

The registration districts are:

Her Majesty’s Prison, on the Greetwell road, Lincoln, three quarters of a mile from the Cathedral, is a red brick building, faced with Ancaster stone, and was opened June, 1872, at a cost of about £39,000; the principal entrance is by a gateway flanked by castellated towers; on either side the entrance are the governor’s and chief warder’s houses and there is also a chapel with a good organ: the building will now hold 300 prisoners; the average number up to March 31st, 1896, was 168 males and 15 females; the total staff of officers is 25, 22 being males and 3 females. Capt. Cecil Eardley-Wilmot, governor; Rev. Halford Halford Adcock MA. chaplain; Very Rev. Canon William Croft, Catholic chaplain; George Mitchinson M.D. surgeon; George Wilkinson Grisdale, chief warder; Miss Mary Green, matron.

The County Lunatic Asylum, at Bracebridge, near Lincoln, on an eminence on the high road to Sleaford, is a plain building, erected in 1852, in the Italian style, considerably enlarged in 1859, 1866 and 1881, and now holding upwards of 680 patients; the ground belonging to and occupied by the asylum consists of 120 acres, cultivated chiefly by the spade husbandry of the inmates. The recreation grounds, which are tastefully laid out with flower beds, shrubs and trees, occupy about 6 acres: a chapel was erected in 1869 to seat 450: there is also a cemetery of one acre on the estate, with a mortuary chapel. Lifeut.-Col. Francis Ingram Conway-Gordon, chairman to the committee of visitors 5 Robert Toynbee, Lincoln, clerk to the visitors; Alexander H. Leslie Melville, treasurer; John Wilford Marsh, medical superintendent; George Parsons Torrey B.A., L.R.C.P.Irel. assistant medical officer; Rev. Charles Christopher Ellison M.A. chaplain; Edward B. George, clerk of the asylum; John W. Harrison, storekeeper; Miss E. Sollitt, housekeeper; Robert Runscres, head male attendant; Mrs. Sophia Peek, head nurse.

The “Lawn” Hospital is at Lincoln; the original building was opened April 20th, 1820; the present hospital, erected in 1870, is a spacious building, 260 feet long, with a noble front and portico of the Ionic order. In 1854 a statue of Edward Parker Charlesworth M.D. was erected. During the year 1895 the average number of resident patients was 66—33 males and 33 females; the total number under treatment being 94. Arthur Pickston Russell M.B. resident medical superintendent; Coningsby C. Sibthorp, treasurer; Richard Hall, secretary; William Scorer, surveyor; Mrs. E. Stones, matron.

The County Hospital, on the Sewells road, Lincoln, erected in 1878, at a dost of £32,000, raised by subscriptions, is a large building in the Renaissance style. The hospital is available for 125 patients: during the year ending December 31, 1895, there were 915 in-patients and 4,070 out-patients under treatment, and 1,988 were casually relieved; the total income for the year amounted to £4,923 11s. 5d. George Mitchinson M.K.Q.C.P.Irel. and Charles Harrison M.D. physicians; Charles Brook, William John Cant L.R.C.P. Lond. William Arthur Carline M.D., C.M. and E. Mansell Sympson MA., M.D., C.M. surgeons; Lancelot Bew Todd, house surgeon; Rev. Chancellor Leeke, chaplain; William Barr Danby, secretary.

The Stamford, Rutland and General Infirmary, standing on a fine salubrious spot, east of the town of Stamford, erected in 1828, is a substantial building of stone in the modern Gothic style, and has beds for 40 in-patients and 20 fever patients in detached buildings; in 1885 two new wings were added for bath rooms and lavatories. Thomas Porter Greenwood L.R.C.P.Edin. Thomas Edward Carter M.B. and Reginald Anstruther Farrar M.A., M.B. surgeons; St. John Stanwell M.B. house surgeon; V. G. Stapleton, secretary; Miss Sarah Hissett, matron.

Parliamentary Representation of Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire formerly returned six members in three divisions, but under the provisions of the “Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885,” it now returns seven members in seven divisions.

No. 1.-The West Lindsey or Gainsborough division, comprises the sessional divisions in the parts of Lindsey of Epworth, Gainsborough and Lincoln, the municipal borough of Lincoln, and the parish of Bracebridge.

No. 2.-The North Lindsey or Brigg division, comprises the sessional divisions in the parts of Lindsey of Barton-on Humber, Brigg, Grimsby (except so much as is comprised in division No. 3) and Winterton, and the municipal borough of Great Grimsby.

No. 3.-The East Lindsey or Louth division, comprises the sessional divisions in the parts of Lindsey of Louth, Market Rasen and Wragby, the municipal borough of Louth, and the parishes in the sessional division of Alford of East Theddlethorpe (St. Helens), Gayton-le-Marsh, Mablethorpe, South Reston, and West Theddlethorpe (All Saints), in the sessional division of Grimsby of Fulstow, Grainsby, Hawerby-cum-Beesby, Holton-le-Clay, Humberstone, Marshchapel, North Cotes, North Thoresby, Swinhope, Tetney Wraith and Wold Newton, and in the sessional division of Horncastle of Asterby, Baumber, Belchford, Bucknall, Cawkwell, Gautby, Goulceby, Great Sturton, Hemingby, Horsington, Market Stainton, Minting, Ranby, Scamblesby, Steingot, Stixwood, Waddingworth and Wispington.

No. 4.-The South Lindsey or Horncastle division, comprises the sessional divisions in the parts of Lindsey of Alford (except so much as is comprised in division No. 3), Horncastle (except so much as is comprised in division No. 3), and Spilsby.

No. 5.-The North Kesteven or Sleaford division, comprises the sessional divisions in the parts of Kesteven of Lincoln (except the parish of Bracebridge), and Sleaford, and the parishes in the sessional division (in the parts of Holland) of Kirton and Skirbeck, of Amber Hill, Bicker, Brothertoft, Donington, Copping Syke, Drainage Marsh, Ferry Corner Plot, Gibbet Hills, Great Beats, Little Beats, Great Brand End Plot, Little Brand End Plot, Hart’s Grounds, Moyrn Rakes, North Fortyfoot Bank, Pelham’s Lands, Royalty Farm, Seven Acres, South of the Witham and Swineshead.

No. 6.-The South Kesteven or Stamford division, comprises the sessional divisions in the parts of Kesteven of Bourne and Spittlegate, the municipal borough of Grantham, and so much of the municipal borough of Stamford as is situate in the county of Lincoln, and in the sessional division (in the parts of Holland) of Elloe the parish of Crowland.

No. 7.-The Holland or Spalding division, comprises the sessional divisions in the parts of Holland of Elloe (except the parish of Crowland), and Kirton and Skirbeck (except so much as is comprised in division No. 5), and the municipal borough of Boston.

Members of Parliament for the County

Holland division, Harry Frederick Pollock, 1 Cumberland place, Regent’s park N W & 11 St. Helen’s place E C London; Reform, City of London & Hurlingham clubs, London.

North Kesteven division, Rt. Hon. Henry Chaplin P.C., D.L., J.P. Blankney hall, Lincoln; Stafford house, St. James’ & Carlton & Marlborough clubs S W & Turf club W London.

South Kesteven division, William Younger, Auchen castle, Moffat, N.B.; Staveley lodge, Melton Mowbray; White’s club S W London.

East Lindsey division, Robert William Perks, 11 Kensington Palace gardens, London & Littlestone, Kent.

North Lindsey division, Harold James Reckitt, 88 Jermyn street S W London; Winestead hall, Hull; Reform club S W London.

West Lindsey division, Emerson M. Bainbridge, Ashdell grove, Westbourne road, Sheffield; Auchnashellach, Ross-shire; Reform, Bath & National Liberal clubs S W London.

South Lindsey division, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, 12 Belgrave square S W; Normanton park, Stamford; Carlton club S W London.

Military

The troops in this county are included in the North Eastern Command; head quarters, York; Maj.-Gen. R. F. Thynne C.B. commanding.

Lincoln is the depot of Regimental District No. 10, Col. A. Glen, commanding, comprising the Lincolnshire Regiment, the 1st & 2nd Battalions (10th foot), & Royal North Lincoln Militia & the Royal South Lincoln Militia, which form respectively its 3rd & 4th Battalions. The head quarters of the former are at Lincoln & of the latter at Grantham.

The North Midland Volunteer Infantry Brigade

This brigade comprises the following Volunteer Battalions:-1st & 2nd Volunteer Battalions Lincolnshire Regiment, 1st, 2nd & 4th Volunteer Battalions Derbyshire Regiment & 1st Notts V.R.C.

Fairs and Markets

Alford, Whit Tuesday & November 8 for cattle & sheep; July 17 for lambs; August 24 for sheep & September 17 for cattle, sheep & horses; market day, Tuesday.

Barton-on-Humber, Trinity Thursday for horses, cattle & sheep; market day, Monday.

New Bolingbroke, July 10 & 11 for pleasure.

Boston, May 4 for sheep & May 5 for cattle; August 5 for fat cattle; September 15 for foals, cattle & general merchandise; November 18 & two following days for horses; December 11 for cattle; Market day, Wednesday.

Bourne, first Thursday in April for cattle, first Thursday after May 5, last Thursdays in September & October; market day, Thursday.

Brigg, August 5 for cattle & general commodities & Friday before Old May day for hiring servants; market day, Thursday.

Burgh-in-the-Marsh, second Thursday in May & September 26 for cattle; market day, Thursday.

Caistor, Friday & Saturday before Palm Sunday & Whit Sunday, September 18 & Friday & Saturday after October 11 for sheep, oxen & horses; market day, Saturday.

Caythorpe, feast last Sunday in May.

Corby, Monday before October 11 for sheep, cattle & horses & May 13 & November 24 for hiring servants.

Crowland, September 4.

Crowle, last Monday in May & November 23 for cattle; & second Saturday in November for hiring servants; a market for stock every Monday fortnight during March, April & May; market day, Friday.

Donington, May 26, September 4 & October 17 for horses & cattle; market day, Thursday.

Epworth, Thursday after May 1 & September 29; market day, Thursday.

Folkingham, Ash Wednesday, Palm Monday, May 12, Thursday after Old Michaelmas & November 22.

Gainsborough, Easter Tuesday & the Tuesday following October 20, unless the 20th itself falls upon that day, in which event the fair commences upon the 20th; the legal duration of the fairs according to the charter are nine days, but the actual business is transacted on the first two or three days, when horse, sheep, cattle & cheese fairs are held; there are statute fairs for hiring servants, one on May 14 & the other in November, called the “Michaelmas Statute;” cattle market every alternate Tuesday & there is also a fat stock market; market day, Tuesday.

Gedney Hill, second Monday in June.

Grantham, fifth Monday in Lent & two following days; Easter eve, July 11, October 26 & December 17 for fat stock; July 11 pleasure & a cherry fair; market day, Saturday.

Great Grimsby, first Monday in April & Monday before October 11 for live stock; a statute fair about May 14; market days, Monday, Friday & Saturday.

Heckington, second Thursday in September for sheep & cattle.

Holbeach, May 17 & September 17 for horses & foals; & October 11 for pleasure; market day, Thursday.

Horncastle, fifth Thursday in Lent for cattle & sheep; June 21 for horses & June 22 for cattle; second Monday in August for horses & continuing one week, & for sheep on the Thursday & for cattle on the Friday in the same week; second Thursday in September for foals & sheep; & October 28 for sheep & 29 for cattle & horses; market day, Saturday.

Keelby, July 10 for pleasure.

Kirton-in-Lindsey, July 18 & December 11 for cattle.

Laceby, beginning of May for hiring servants, but not on any particular day.

Lincoln, the last whole week in April; market days, Friday & Saturday.

Louth, last two days in April, & the Fridays before September 18 & October 28 & November 23 for cattle, sheep & horses; spring fair, Friday before the fourth Sunday in Lent; market days, Wednesday & Saturday.

Market Deeping, feast or statute fairs occasionally in May & November.

Market Rasen, fourth Tuesday in Lent & September 25 for cattle, sheep & horses; market day, Tuesday.

Messingham, Trinity Monday for pleasure.

Navenby, October 17, principally for swine, & in May for, hiring servants.

Partney, August 1 & 25, September 18 & 19 & the first Wednesday & Thursday after October 11 for sheep & cattle.

Saltfleet, October 3 for stock.

Scotter, July 6 for horses & cattle; July 10 for pleasure & for horses & foals early in July.

Scunthorpe (transferred from Winterton), Tuesday before Palm Sunday & September 23 & May 9 for hiring servants.

Sleaford, Plough Monday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday; August 12, October 1 for cheese; & October 20 for cattle; market day, Monday.

Spalding, first Tuesday after Lincoln fair (April), last Tuesday in June & August, September 25 & the Friday before the London great Christmas market for cattle & general merchandise; also in May for hiring servants; market days, Tuesday & Saturday.

Spilsby, first Monday after July 12 for fat & store cattle, sheep, pigs & horses; market day, Monday.

Stamford, Candlemas fair, for horses, February; for beasts & sheep, one week later; Mid-Lent fair, horse fair, March 23; town fair, March 30; Spring fair, April 13; May fair, May 11; Corpus Christi fair, June 22; St. James’ fair, July 27; St. Simon & St. Jude fair, for horses & sheep, November 10; for beasts, November 11 (N.B.-This fair is also for cheese, unions & other vegetables); cattle markets, first Monday in January, September, October & December; market day, Friday.

Stow, October 10, principally for colts.

Long Sutton, May 13 & 14 & the first Friday after September 25; market day, Friday.

Swineshead, October 2.

Tattershall, September 25 for cattle & sheep.

Tetney, first Monday after July 12 for pleasure.

Wainfleet All Saints, third Saturday in May & October 24 for cattle; market day, Saturday.

Winteringham, July 14 for pleasure.

Winterton fair, transferred to Scunthorpe.

Wragby, May 1 & September 28 for cattle; 29 September for sheep & foals.

Lincolnshire County Councils

Local Government Act, 1888, 51 & 52 Vict. c. 41, Under the above Act each of the three divisions or “parts'' of the county of Lincoln, except certain boroughs, for which see below (a), for the purposes of the above Act, became after the 1st April, 1889, an administrative county (sec. 46), governed by a County Council, consisting of chairman, aldermen and councillors elected in manner prescribed by the Act (sec. 2).

The chairman, by virtue of his office, is a justice of the peace for the county, without qualification (sec. 46).

The police for the county is under the control of a joint committee of the three divisions (Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland), appointed as mentioned under sec. 46, ss. 2 (a).

The coroners for the county are elected by the respective County Councils, and the clerks of the peace for each division appointed by the joint committee, and may be removed by them (sec. 83—2).

The clerks of the peace for each of the “parts” of the county are clerks of the County Councils (sec. 83—1).

The administrative business of the entire county of Lincoln (which, if this Act had not been passed, would have been transacted by the justices of all the Divisions), is transacted by a joint committee of the County Councils of the three “parts” (sec. 46).

(a) The City of Lincoln, for the purposes of this Act, is an administrative county in itself, so also is the borough of Grimsby (1891), and called County Boroughs (sec. 30), of which the municipal corporation has the power of a County Council (sec. 31).

The following table shows the acreage under each kind of crop, and the number of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs in the county of Lincoln, as taken from the Agricultural Returns, 1895.

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SITUATION, BOUNDARIES, AND EXTENT

Lincolnshire is bounded on the north by Yorkshire, being separated from it by the river Humber; on the east by the German Ocean, and by that arm of the sea called Wash; on the west by Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Yorkshire; and on the south by Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, and Cambridgeshire. Its form is an irregular oblong. The circumference of this county is about 160 miles, and its extent in square miles including the Wolds the heath, north and south of Lincoln, the lowland tracts, and a remainder of miscellaneous tract, of 1,112 miles, in all 2888 square miles, or 1,848,320 acres.

CLIMATE AND SOIL

This has long been considered as cold, damn and agueish; but the causes of this have been some years declining. The progress of drainage and cultivation has gradually contributed to render the air more cold and dry. The north-east winds also in the spring are more sharp and prevalent in the lowland districts than farther inland; nor are agues so common as they used to be on the Trent and Humber side. The same effect has also been observed in other districts, in proportion as the country has been more and better cultivated, and fuller of an industrious population.

The black wolds and heaths since being generally inclosed and planted, have also baterially contributed to the same happy effects. The middle part of part of the county, and in the western parts along the Trent, is undoubtedly very healthy. The air and climate varies not so much as is generally supposed, but the higher parts are of course considered the most healthy; the air along the sea shore is supposed to he very salubrious, and hence numbers of persons flock down to the Lincolnshire coast every summer, where are several good inns for their reception. With regard to the face of the country, it must be observed, that there are two ranges of very high land running from north to south through the greater part of the county; that to the east may in some places be termed mountainous, and goes by the name of Wold or the Wolds. Eastward of this lies a very extensive tract of fine feeding land, stretching in breadth to the Humber and German ocean, and many miles in length: it is watered by what are called overflowing springs, which are obtained by boring through a bed of clay that shelves down the chalk-stone rock from the Wolds into the sea; on perforating this clay, fine spring water bursts up, and will in many places rise to the height of ten feet above the surface, if confined in a tube; as these can be obtained at a very moderate expense, they are become general, and some hundreds are continually running in different parts of this fine portion of rich land, contributing greatly to its value as well as to its health fulness. The other or western range, upon which stands the capital of the county, is called the Cliff: these hills are less abrupt than the Wolds; they are divided also into smaller enclosures, and are better clothed with wood. Below these, more westward, is a fine extensive range of rich meadow and pasture ground, along which runs the river Trent.

Lindsey, much the largest division of this county, occupies nearly one half of it, extending from the sea on the east, to Nottinghamshire on the west, and from the river Witham, which intersects the county from east to west, to the river Humber on the north. On this area, which extends upon an average about 45 miles each way, and contains nearly 1,042,500 square miles, the soils are much varied, and its geographical features are marked by many inequalities. High lands, called the Wolds, occupy a long ride of it from Spilsby to the Humber, with a rich tract of marsh land to the east between it and the sea. Another ridge of high land, called Lincoln heath, extends up the western side of this division, from Lincoln to Brigg. At the north-west extremity is the river and island of Axholme, a low tract of land, formerly a morass; but from the operation of embanking and draining is now become one of the most fertile spots in the kingdom. The river Trent bounds the east side of the island, whilst the rivers Idle, Dun, and Torn environ the south and west sides. The property of this district is chiefly among small proprietors. This division, it may be truly said, contains no fen land, and that of Kesteven very little; in short, not one third of the county can come under that denomination: in fact, the fen part of Lincolnshire, that dreadful combination of bogs, swamps, mires, and pestilential climate, engendering agues, cramps, and endless horrid diseases amongst those unfortunate inhabitants that are destined to live in this dismal territory, is a complete bugbear, and ought only to be vociferated from the mouths of the most ignorant of other counties, whose feet never conducted their optical machines further than to look at the smoke of their own chimneys. Whoever pleases to travel over the whole or greater part of Lincolnshire, with an observant eye, and will examine it impartially, will find it a perfect contrast to what is generally represented; he will discover, that striking features of hill and dale present themselves much more frequently than bogs and flatness; and that the wolds in particular contain some as fine prominent swells, vallies, and distant prospects, as are to be found in any part of the kingdom; but it must be acknowledged that these swells, as well as their accompanying dales, are too frequently without timber, which however is not always the case; and even the fens themselves, by the extensive drainage and other recent improvements, have become, generally speaking, as fine land as the county produces, both for agricultural purposes and grazing, and are now considered almost equally healthful to the other parts of the county.

Kesteven is bounded on the north and north-east by the river Witham, which separates it from Lindsey; on the east, by the division of Holland; on the south by the river Welland, which divides it from Northamptonshire; and on the west, by parts, of Nottingham, Leicester, and Rutlandshires. The features of this division are much diversified from the variation of the soils; the west part consists of fine, arable, and grazing land, and is well wooded. The south-west part is distinguished by the handsome seats of several of the nobility, and abounds with woods. The east side of this division is low, and swampy. Kesteven, being mostly enclosed, drained, and cultivated, contains much rich and valuable land. Holland constitutes the south-east side of the county, and is bounded by parts of Cambridge and Northamptonshire on the south; the division of Lindsey on the north; on the east by the North Sea, and on the west by part of Kesteven. Most of the drains or dykes of this district communicate with, and empty themselves into, the rivers Welland and Witham; the channels of which have been newly cut, widened, and altered in various places. Holland is divided into upper and lower; both of the divisions entirely consisting of fens and marshes, some in a state of nature, but others intersected by numerous drains and canals, and crossed by raised causeways, called droves. The lower or south division is most watery, and is only preserved by its mounds from constant inundations. The water of the fens being of a brackish nature, obliges the inhabitants to form reservoirs for preserving the rain. In summer vast swarms of insects fill the air, and are a great nuisance to the cattle. Excellent pasture land is formed out of some of these bogs, and other parts of them yield large crops of corn. By the improvements now going on, the lands will be more drained than ever; and, as the river Witham is made wider and deeper from Boston to Lincoln, they will be better secured against floods.

But to return to the fens; these, in their native state, are not without attractions, as they afford various objects of curiosity to the naturalist. The reeds that cover the waters make good thatch, and are annually preserved in large quantities for this purpose. Among the undrained fens very large flocks of geese are still bred; and here are the principal decoys in England for wild ducks, teal, widgeon, and other aquatic birds. Wild geese, grebes, godwits, whinibulls, coots, ruffs, and reeves, the avoset, or yelper, whose bill bends upwards; knots and dottrels, and a great variety of other species of water fowl, breed here in amazing numbers, and obtain plentiful food from the fishy pools and streams. The general period for working in the decoys lasts from October to February; and ten decoys in the west fen are said to have furnished the enormous number of 31,200 ducks, &c.

The heaths north and south of Lincolnshire are calcareous hills, and command many views over the lower region; the heath, now nearly enclosed, is a tract of high country, a sort of backbone to the whole; the soil a good sandy loam, but with clay enough in it to be slippery with wet, and tenacious under bad management, though it is excellent turnip and barley land. This hill slopes sharply to the west, the declivity is of the same nature, but generally good. Between Sainsborough and Newark, for 25 miles, a large tract of flat sandy soil has been partly enclosed and drained. The wolds extend from Spilsby, in a north-west direction, for about 40 miles, to Barton, near the Humber. They are on an average nearly 8 miles in breadth, and consist of sand and sandy loam, upon a substratum of chalk, particularly about Louth, and in the extensive rabbit warrens between Sayton and Tathwell. But where the friable loams prevail, rich upland pastures are pleasingly intermixed. From Binbrook to Caistor, with the interruption of Caistor Moor, a sandy soil prevails, and thence the same with an intermixture of clay, till they change into the rich loam of Barton Field, a space of 6000 acres. Beneath this line, and parallel with the east shore, an extensive tract of land runs at the foot of the wolds, from north-west to south-east, from Barton to Wainfleet, of various breadths from 5 to 10 miles. This tract is called the Marsh, and is secured from the encroachments of the sea, by embankments of earth, and agriculturally divided into north and south marshes, by a difference in the soil, called Middle Marsh. The first includes a large extent of rich salt lands, the value of which is well known to the grazier. The second consists of stiff, cold, and tenacious clay; and the intervening land is a rich brown loam, stretching across from Belesby to Grimsby.

At present the soil of the island of Axholme may be reckoned the first in England, consisting of black sandy loams, warp lands, brown sand, and rich loams of a soapy and tenacious quality. The fens form one of the most prominent features of this county. In the summer season they exhibit immense tracts, chiefly of grazing land, intersected by wide deep ditches, called droves, which answer the end both of fences and drains. These are generally accompanied by parallel banks, upon which the roads pass, being intended to keep the waters in flood-time from overflowing the adjacent lands.

They not only communicate with each other, but also with larger canals, called dykes and drains, which in some instances are navigable for boats and barges. At the lower end of these are sluices, guarded by gates, termed gowts. During the summer, numerous flocks and herds are seen grazing over the monotonous scene, and many of the pastures afford a rich and luxuriant herbage; but in winter they are mostly under water. For lifting the water out of the lower levels into the higher drains, immense and powerful engines have been employed; but still their full effect is not felt, through the original imperfect plan of drainage. To remedy these defects, it has been proposed to pursue the plans laid down by the ingenious Mr. Rennie.

SCENERY

It was observed, more than twenty years since, by an eminent agriculturist (Arthur Young), “that the discriminating features of this county are strongly marked by nature; and though not among the more beautiful spots in the kingdom, it is upon the whole a better county than general ideas have permitted to esteem it.” He then proceeds to remark, that about Belton there are fine views; from the tower on Belmont, Lynn and the Norfolk cliffs are visible, with Nottingham Castle, the Vale of Belvoir, &c.; and in going by the Cliff towns to Lincoln, there are many fine views. From Fullbeck to Leadentham, especially at the latter place, there is a most rich prospect over the Vale of Trent to the distant lands that bound it. These views over an extensive vale are striking, and of the same features are those of the Cliff road to the north of Lincoln to Kirton, where is a great view both east and west, to the wolds, and also to Nottinghamshire. Near Gainsborough there are very agreeable scenes; but still more beautiful is the view about Trent Fall; from Sir John Sheffield’s hanging wood and the Rev. Mr. Sheffield's ornamented walk, following the Cliff to Alkborough, where some beautiful grounds command a great view of the three rivers, as the soil is dry, the woods lofty, and the country various, this must be esteemed noble scenery, and a perfect contrast to what Lincolnshire is often represented by those who have only seen parts of it that are very different. The whole line of the Humber thence to Grimsby, is also an interesting object from the higher wolds. The view also from the hill above Dalby to Spilsby is a series of rich enclosures spreading over a varied vale. Partney Church, and a village rising on a knoll amidst some wood opposite, with the cultivated grounds, form altogether a very pleasing scenery.

Thurgunby and Stainton also exhibit some beautiful scenes. The old timber upon the former, an estate of Lord Middleton’s, affords a striking feature upon the wolds. The surrounding hills are bold, &c. But we may now add, that this and nearly every other part of the county has since felt the force of improvement, and particularly since agriculture has been brought to a degree of perfection of which there is no precedent.

Among the scenery of this county, Coulby Cliff, near Burton-on-Strather, has been termed a grand and magnificent object, and from its bold oval projection, thought worthy the appellation of the Table Mountain. Its surface in the summer season presents some of the boldest and most enchanting irregularities, sinking into smooth and regular declivities, or gradually rising to a majestic rotundity. At its base is a beautiful field, of moss-like appearance; but this is always covered by the Trent at high water. To this elevation the neighbouring north Cliff of Alkborough, hanging over the Trent, forms a striking contrast by its rough and rugged features. From Burton Hill may be seen the Cathedral of York, the Churches of Market Weighton, Howden, Selby, Thorne, the spires of Draxe and Henningborough, and the alternate relief of lofty woodland. Flixborough, near Burton, is another elevation, and being regular in its ascent, is like a large terrace, covered with scarlet and purple heath, reminding the spectator of the lines in Pope—

“E’en the wild heath displays her purple dyes,

And ’midst the desert fruitful fields arise.

That, crown’d with tufted trees and springing corn.

Like verdant isles the sable waste adorn.“

NAME AND ANCIENT HISTORY

Most probably as far as the name of this county corresponded with the Roman name of its capital, Lindum, or Lindecollina, it is to be presumed that the Saxon Lincolnscyre was a natural imitation, though it seems that when the Romans first took possession of this part of the island they gave it the name of Britannia Prima. The inhabitants they called Coritani. The Anglo-Saxons incorporated Lincolnscyre with the kingdom of Wessex. The Norman Conqueror, who called it Nicolshire, divided it amongst his followers.

population.

According to the official returns of 1811, there were in this county 46,368 inhabited houses, occupied by 50,904 families, of whom 29,881 were chiefly employed in agriculture, and 13,148 in trade and manufactures; and of other families not comprised in these classes, 7839, making a population of 117,022 males and 120,869 females, and a total of 237,891 inhabitants.

RIVERS AND CANALS

The principal rivers which rise in this county, or pass through it, are the Trent, Ancholme, Witham, Welland, Glen, and several smaller streams. The Trent rises in Staffordshire, and taking a north-east course through the counties of Nottingham and Derby, divides the latter from Lincolnshire; it forms the boundary on the northwest side from the village of North Clifford to that of Stockworth, whence it constitutes the eastern boundary of the isle of Axholme. From thence it flows to Aldborough, opposite to which it receives the Don, or Dun, aryl a little below, being joined by the Ouse, both fall into the Humber. From Gainsborough, where the Trent is crossed by a handsome stone bridge, it is navigable for the conveyance of coal, corn, and various articles of commerce to its estuary. The Ancholrae rises in the Wolds, near Market Rasen, and flowing northward by Glandford Bridge, is navigable to the Humber. The Welland rises near Sibertoff in Northamptonshire, and being increased by several rivulets and streams, passes Market Deeping, where, entering the Fens, it leaves a. portion of its waters and sludge, accumulated in its passage through the rich lands of Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, and Rutlandshire. In its course from Market Deeping to Croyland, it divides into two streams, one running to Wisbeach, and the other, by an artificial channel, to Spalding and Surfleet, where, meeting the Glen, it falls into Fossdyke Wash, east of Boston. The Witham only is properly a river of Lincolnshire, and is sometimes called Barlings and sometimes Lang warth river. Its source is near South Witham, a village about ten miles north of Stamford, and thence flows almost duly north, by North Witham and Cottersworth, through Easton Park, and to Great Poston, where another stream joins it from Skillington and Stoke Rochford. At Little Ponton it receives a small brook, and then running op the east side of Grantham, proceeds to Belton Park and Syston, and then turns west to Long Bennington. Here it bends again to the north, and after flowing by Claypole and Beckingham, proceeds through a wide sandy valley to Lincoln. It afterwards flows almost directly east to Grub Hill, where it turns to the south-east, and running in this direction to Boston, mingles with the sea at Boston Deeps. Much of the present bed of this river is a new artificial cut, made for the purpose of widening and straitening the channel, and making it more commodious for receiving and carrying off the water of the contiguous fens. These rivers, with those of the Grant, Ouse, and Nene, in the adjoining counties, from the obstruction they meet in delivering their waters to the ocean, have been frequently the cause of drowning a large portion of valuable land. The Foss Dyke is an artificial trench, about seven miles in length, from the great marsh near the city of Lincoln to the Trent, near Torksey. The long bow-like coast is fronted by sand hills or salt marshes, and like those of the Dutch, secured from the waves by dykes, and is so low as to be visible only at a small distance from the sea. The mouth of the Witham is now the sole inlet fit for the purposes of navigation; and here Boston, the port of the county, is situated. A navigation, partly natural and partly artificial, may be made along the Witham, and the canal goes from hence to Lincoln, at the termination of which in Boston is a large and curious sluice. Another canal has also been cut to Bourn.

Besides the canal from Boston by Brothertoft Farm, on the Witham, and that from Witham to Boston, finished in 1796, there is another from Grantham, that runs thirty-three miles to Nottingham, and falls into the Trent near Holme Pierrepont. The Ancholme Cut is navigable from Bishop’s Bridge to the Humber at Ferraby Sluice. Besides these, there are canals from Horncaslle to the Witham at Dogdyke; from Louth to the Humber; from Grantham to Nottingham, thirty-three miles; this was completed in 1796, and cost 100,000l. Caistor Canal joins the Ancholme, in the parish of South Kelsey. The Stainforth and Keadley Canal commences at the river Dun, and runs parallel with that river, opposite to Thorn, and continuing in a line nearly east, passes Crowle and Keadley, and then joins the Trent. A branch from this across Thorn Common to Hangman Hill, joins the river Dun. The total length of this canal is from fourteen to fifteen miles.

The Ca__ Dyke, a canal of great antiquity, passes through ___ and on its way to the river Witham. At West D ling it enters Lincolnshire, running in a direct line to the river Glen, which it passes near Catesbridge, from whence it may be traced to Bourn, where, after crossing the river Eau, it proceeds through the fens to the Little Ouse, and lastly to Billinghay; from thence it falls into the Witham at Bardney. This great canal receives from the hills all the draining and flowing waters, which but for this catch-water drain would serve to inundate the fens.

AGRICULTURE

An Agricultural Society has been established at Folkingham ever since February, 1796, being the first in the county. The purport of this was to collect the practical farmers together, and to turn the conversation upon topics well adapted to promote improvements: this led to a disposition to turn desultory discourse into some more formal attempts to make a regular subject the object of discussion. Resolutions were at leugth formed, and though no great progress was at first made, the result evidently shewed, that this Society only required sufficient time to arrange and mature the science and principles upon which they set out.

The soil is so various in Lincolnshire as to include all sorts of land that are to be found in the whole kingdom, in considerable portions, from the sharpest sand and lightest moor to the strongest clay. Here are also loams of every possible description, and some that rival the best in the kingdom. The calcareous class, in chalk, limeston, and gypsum, peat of many sorts, from a wretched thin covering of bad sands to the deep treasures of ponderous bog. The county is naturally divided into the Wolds, the Heaths, and the Fens. The last divison, however, has lately become almost unnecessary in consequence of the drainage that has taken place. The Fens formerly occupied the south-east parts of the county, and were a swampy and unprofitable waste. The heaths, now enclosed re north and south of Lincoln, and the Wolds extend rather diagonally from Spilsby to very near the Humber, being in length about forty miles, and in some parts about ten in breadth. Both the Heaths and the Wolds are calcareous hills. The Fens are lands that have been formerly covered from it. Twenty-five years since many of these lands were sold at 3l. per acre, but afterwards rose to 20l. an acre. Water is generally brackish in the low lands. At Haxey, in the island of Axholme, the water is uncommonly hard, impossible to wash with. Mixed with milk in boiling it turns in to a curd. Upon the Wolds, near Brockelsby, they make artificial ponds for ther sheep. What are called the blow wells are deep flowing pits of clear water, which run in considerable streams. Some of these are thirty feet deep. There are also many excellent springs, and in the sandy parishes, between Spilsby and Tattershal, plenty of water breaks out of the hills in springs, which, if not cut off, finds its way into the fens below.

Many of what are called the Fens are in a state of waste, excepting that they serve for the breeding and rearing of geese, which are considered the Fenman’s treasure. These creatures live in the present state of these lands, where nothing else will. They breed numerous young, and quickly become saleable; the feathers are highly valuable, and the quills of a large flock amount to a very considerable sum. The rabbit warrens of this county, formerly much more extensive than at present, have gradually yielded to the plough.

WOODS AND PLANTATIONS

These have been rendered extremely profitable, by the introduction of the berry-bearing poplar, from Nottinghamshire, and the Dishley willow. Neglected, miserable, boggy, and deserted spots have been converted into productive gardens. Lord Yarborough took the lead of all the planters in this county, for ten years successively, when he planted 100 acres per annum.

MANURES

Sticklebacks, fish that are used for this purpose, are so numerous in the East and West Fens, that a man has made 4s. a day by selling them at a halfpenny per bushel. They also come from the sea into Boston haven, and the use of them, when they are to be had, is extremely profitable, as they are the most advantageous of all manures. They have even been found to exceed what are called whale-refuse. Pigeon dung is used in some places; lime, of course, in many, with rape-cake, marl, bones, silt, composts, &c. The most singular mode of manuring is practised on the Wolds, that of spreading dry straw on the land, and burning it. Gorse has also been cut and burnt on other lands, for manuring turnips, and answered very well.

FARMS AND FARMERS

Those in the Holland fen are from 100 to 400 acres; these are of the largest class. On Lincoln heath side, and across to the fen on the other side, they are sometimes very large, as high as 400l. a-year. About Brockelsby they run from 500 to 1000 acres, and about Louth the same; here rents have amounted to 3000l. a-year. In the manor of Reevesby, all enclosed, there are 62 farms for the rental of 1397l. for 340l acres. This singular division of farms arose from a determination in Sir Joseph Banks not to distress the people by throwing them together, for which it has been said he loses much in rental, and sees a property ill cultivated! The Wold farms are from 200l. to 500l. a-year. When the ground was let in smaller lots they could not manure those hills so well, and the turnip culture has thriven only in the hands of the larger farmers. Upon the whole, the size of farms in general in Lincolnshire are moderate. The occupiers of small ones, it is asserted, are incomparably less at their ease than the occupants of large ones, as they work much harder than labourers, whilst agriculture in general suffers for the want of produce under their hands.

FARM HOUSES

These have improved considerably in this county within the last thirty years; they are now mostly of brick and tile, and yield to none for the convenience of offices, out-houses, &c. Besides cottages for his tenants, Lord Carrington has built several new farm houses, barns, &c. The old farm houses are of timber, walled with clay called stud and mud, and covered with reed; some with wheat and rye straw, which, when new, costs one-third less than brick and tile.

COTTAGES

A cottage here consists of a room below and a room above; the entrance is into a small room for washing, a sort of common open store room By this means the keeping room is much warmer than if the house door opened directly into it. The other room is a little dairy, in which beer is also kept by the stair-case being reversed; each cottage has a closet under the adjoining staircase. At Reevesby, during the late war, a brick cottage for two families cost no more than 80 guineas. New cottages abound in the newly enclosed fens.

Those in the low rich country are commonly built of what is called stud and mud, the stud pieces as large as a man’s arm. Other cottages have also been built of brick and slate. Round Folkingham, &c. according to act of Parliament, three acres of land at least are assigned to every cottage, including a garden, upon which, for the most part, the cottagers keep a cow. A cottage of stud and mud may now be built for less than thirty pounds.

It is impossible to speak too highly in praise of the cottage system of this county, where land, gardens, cows and pigs, are so generally in the hands of the poor. Upon views only of humanity and benevolence, it is gratifying to every honest heart to see that class of people comfortable upon which all others depend. Besides, wherever this system is found, poors’ rates have been low. Still the great object which ought to engage every head and hand is to devise the means of rendering the system universal.

TITHES

Though compositions have been pretty common in this county, and some exonerations have been granted for giving land, a general desire still prevails among the farmers, that some law should pass for the commutation of all tythe, and with their brethren in every other part of the kingdom, consider this as one of the heaviest of obstacles to good husbandry. The late vast rise of rent is no argument in favour of tithes, as this was owing to a superior husbandry. Agriculture had made a vast progress; but this progress, it is argued, would have been much greater had tithe been commuted.

LEASES

It has been the general practice not to grant leases in this county. Sir Joseph Banks has had no objection to granting leases, but he has never been asked for them. Seeing a tenant of his improving his laud by hollow draining, he gave him a lease of 21 years as a reward and encouragement. The best agriculturists seem unanimous in their opinion, that had the custom of granting leases been as common here as in Norfolk or Suffolk, the improvements would have been much greater and more rapid than they have been.

TENURES

Tenures in this county are much copyhold in the low parts, but not much in the higher land; and a considerable quantity in church leases, some let for three lives, and others for twenty one years, renewable every seven; and many crown lands let for years. Lord Exeter has property on the Lincoln side of Stamford that seems held by some tenure of ancient custom among the farmers, resembling the rundale of Ireland. The tenants divide and plough up the commons, and then lay them down to become common again; and shift the open fields from hand to hand in such a manner that no man has the same land two years together, which has made such confusion, that if it were not for ancient surveys, it would be impossible to ascertain the property.

CATTLE

The neat cattle of this county are proverbially large. The cows, when fat, weigh from eight to nine hundred weight; the oxen from ten to twelve and upwards. They have been remarked as being large in the head, horns, bones, and bellies; thick, short, and fleshy in the necks and quarters; narrow in their hips, plates, chines, and bosoms; high in their rumps, and their shoulders not well covered; their eyes small, &c. Horses of the black cart kind are generally bred in the fens, and are sold off from the mares quite young. The horses bred in the neighbourhood of Sutton for the saddle, are remarkable for bone and activity, being able to trot 16 miles an hour with the accustomed riding weight. Many of the cows give six or seven pounds of butter in a week. In breeding of sheep, as well as of larger cattle, a fair trial has been given to every kind of live stock. However, the native sheep of this county is a large horned animal, adapted for the rich grazing and marsh land of the place; it generally weighs well when fat, and bears a heavy fleece of coarse, but long stapled wools.

IMPLEMENTS

These are in great variety in Lincolnshire. The plough is the common one of the fen tract, and a most excellent tool it is; the mould board of a good sweep; the throat a segment of an elipsis; and the form of the share of great merit, always well steeled and sharpened with files; the coulter a sharpened steel wheel. Some persons have affixed to this plough a bean drill of great simplicity for drilling upon the centre of the preceding furrow while the next is turning. Another tool used here is called the expanding horse-shoe, used constantly for beans, cabbages, potatoes, &c. A waggon cart is also used here called a cartoon, the body of which tills up and delivers the load like a cart. It is comparatively of light weight. Scufflers have also been found very effective. Lamb hurdles are contrivances against the loss of lambs in the ditches of the breeding pastures. The contrivance for covering corn-stacks seems also to have originated here. Another useful invention here is a boat for conveying sheep, 52 feet long and 12 in breadth; and when sheep are not the cargo, by leaving the stanchions, nets and troughs at home, the boat may be adapted to any other use. In the east fen an ingenious and very useful sledge is used for going on the ice, being a small frame that slides on four horse bones, the driver pushing himself forward with a pitch-fork. Thrashing mills, chaff-cutters, &c. are also to be found in great varieties. It may be added, that the wood apparatus, introduced by J. Cartwright, Esq. at Brothertoft, is extremely ingenious.

FENCES

In Holland Fen white thorn fences are deemed the best; few of these used to be seen in Deeping Fen. The quicks are in general very clean; various modes of planting and securing them are in use. In some places the Leicester method is pursued with one fence of a very small trench, planting the quick upon the surface of the field for the sake of moisture, while the other side of the same field is made a double ditch, three feet deep. The former is found as good at three years growth as the other is at seven.

All the seeds, grasses, and plants are to be found in cultivation in this county.

ROADS

In the hundred of Shirbeck to Boston, and thence to Wisbeach, roads are generally made with silt, or old sea sand, deposited under various parts of the country ages, and when moderately wet are very good, but dreadfully dusty and heavy in dry weather. In a thaw they are like mortar. Taking the county in general, the roads were much inferior to others previous to the late improvements.

ROMAN ROADS

The following are the Roman roads branching off from, and stations connected with, Lincoln. The Ermine Street, sometimes called High Street, and Old Street, left the station on the north, and continued nearly in a straight line to the river Humber, on the southern bank of which were the Roman settlements, or villages, Ad Abum, Winteringham, and Horkstow. About five miles north of Lincoln, another road, or military way, branched off from the former, at nearly right angles, and passed westerly by Scampton, Stow, and Marton, where it forded the Trent, and near which was Agelocum. On the east of Lindum, or Lincoln, the road called the Fossway, branched off towards the sea-coast. The same road entered the city on the southern side, and in a south-westerly direction communicated with Crocolana, probably at or near Brough, in Nottinghamshire. The Ermine Street joined the last road near the southern border of the station, and communicated with the station of Causennis, supposed to have been at Ancaster. From Bourn this road proceeds through Cowthorpe and Hanthorpe to Stenfield, and passes thence on the left of Folkingham to Sleaford.

CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL DIVISIONS

The county of Lincoln, it has been already observed, is divided into three parts or provinces, viz. Holland, Kesleven, and Lindsey; the division called the parts of Lindsey is much the largest, comprehending all the county from Fossdike and the Witham northwards; the north-western part of Lindsey contains the river island of Axholme, formed by the rivers Trent, Dun, and Idle; the division of Kesteven contains the western part of the county from the middle to the southern extremity: part of the fens are in the district of Kesteven, but the much greater part is in the remaining and smaller one of Holland, which occupies the south-eastern quarter of Lincolnshire, being contiguous to the shallow inlet of the sea called the Wash.

These divisions are subdivided into twenty-seven hundreds, and five sokes. Lindsey division containing, fifteen hundreds, and two sokes, viz. Aslacoe wapentake; Bolingbroke, soke; Bradley Haverstoe wapentake; Calceworth, hundred; Candleshoe wapentake; Corringham, ditto; Gartree, ditto; Hill, hundred; Horncastle, soke; Lawress, wapentake; Louth Eske, hundred; Ludborough, wapentake; Manley, ditto; Walshcroft, ditto; Well, ditto; Wraggoe, ditto; Yarborough, ditto; and Lincoln liberty.

Kesteven division is subdivided into nine hundreds, and three sokes, viz. Aswardhim wapentake; Aveland, ditto; Bettisloe, ditto; Boothby, ditto; Flexwell, ditto; Langoe, ditto; Loveden, ditto; Nep, ditto; Winnibrigs and Threw, ditto; Grantham town and soke; and Stamford town.

Holland division contains three hundreds, viz. Elloe wapentake; Kirton, ditto; and Shirbeck, ditto.

These hundreds and wapentakes contain 630 parishes; one city, Lincoln; and 32 market-towns, viz. Boston, Grantham, Grimsby, Stamford, Alford, Barton, Binbrook, Bolingbroke, Bourn, Burgh, Burton, Caistor, Crowland, Crowle, Deeping, Donningtou, Falkingham, Gainsborough, Glandford Brigg, Holbeach, Horncastle, Kirton, in Lindsey, Louth, Market Raisen, Saltfleet, Sleaford, Spalding, Spilsbury, Stainton, Tattershall, Wainfleet, and Wragley.

Lincolnshire is in the province of Canterbury and the diocese of Lincoln.