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Caistor, Castor, or Caster, Lincolnshire

Historical Description

Caistor, Castor, or Caster, a union and a market-town, a township, and a parish, in Lincolnshire. The town stands on the side of a hill, on the Wolds, one of the highest situations in the county, 3 miles ENE of Moortown station on the M.S. & L.R., and 9 SE of Glanford Brigg. It was called by the ancient Britons Caer-Egarry, and by the Saxons Thong-Ceastre. A Roman station of great importance, being one of the nine chief stations in its country, was on its site, and a castle was built at it by the Saxon Hengist Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, was betrothed here to Vortigem; and Egbert, in 827, here subdued Wiglof, king of Mercia. The town presents a pleasant appearance, and is well watered by four springs, called the Cypher Well, the Pigeon Spring, Stot's Well, and the Spa. It has a head post office, and is the head of a county court district and a seat of petty sessions. The land around Caistor is fertile and well cultivated, and iron ore of good quality is found. At Hundon there is an establishment for fish-hatching, which has achieved considerable success. There are two banks in the town and several good inns. There is also a public hall in the High Street, which was erected in 1887, and a reading-room opened in 1879. The market day is Saturday, and fairs for horses, oxen, and sheep are held on the Fridays and Saturdays before Palm Sunday and Whit Sunday, September 16, and the Friday and Saturday after October 11. The grammar school was founded in 1630 by Francis Rawlinson, rector of South Kelsey, as a free school, and has about £275 a year from endowment. The parish includes the hamlets of Audleby, Fonaby, and Hundon, and the chapelries of Clixby and Holton-le-Moor. Acreage, 3304; population of the civil parish, 1788; of the ecclesiastical, 1990. The living is a vicarage, united with those of Clixby and Holton-le-Moor, in the diocese of Lincoln; net yearly value, £150 with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Lincoln. The church stands on the site of the ancient castle, has Saxon, Norman, and Early English features and a fine tower, contains a brass of 1460, and was restored in 1862. There are ancient stone monuments of the Knights of Hundon and the Maddison family. There are also Congregational, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan chapels.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyLincolnshire 
Ecclesiastical parishCaistor St. Peter and St. Paul 
Poor Law unionCaistor 
WapentakeYarborough 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

Findmypast, in conjunction with the Lincolnshire Archives, have the following parish records online for Caistor:

BaptismsBannsMarriagesBurials
1584-19111755-17781584-19111584-1907

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Caistor, Castor, or Caster from the following:


Maps

Online maps of Caistor, Castor, or Caster are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Lincolnshire papers online:


Villages, Hamlets, &c

Fonaby
Himdon
DistrictWest Lindsey
CountyLincolnshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Postal districtLN7
Post TownMarket Rasen

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