the names of those which have been lost, are the Royal Oak, the Peal of Bells, Cock and Breeches, Chequers, Hammer and Pincers, Dolphin, Pack Horse, Woolpack, Fox and Goose, Marquis of Granby, Blue Bell, Horseshoes, Axe and Cleaver, Three Maids' Heads, Queen's Head, the George, and others which are only traditionally remembered.[1]
Several of these were almost contiguous. For instance, on the west side of the market, on the site of No. 1, now (1908) occupied by Mr. R. W. Clitherow, formerly stood a good-sized publichouse, which was destroyed by fire. Being rebuilt, it became the private residence of Mr. H. Sellwood, Solicitor, father-in-law of the late Poet Laureate, Lord Tennyson. Separated from this, northward, by only two houses, was the Black Horse Inn, still existing, and next to this, on what is now part of the shop of Messrs. Lunn and Dodson, was the Peal of Bells, and not more than half-a-dozen yards distant, on the opposite side of the street, was the very old Saracen's Head, still existing.
On the north side of the Market Place, next to what is now Mr. Cammack's cycle depot, was the Queen's Head Inn, now gone; and at the north-east corner of the Market Place, one door removed from St. Lawrence Street, was the Nelson Inn, still existing; while at the south-east corner stood the large George Inn, no longer existing; and near the churchyard, under the same roof with the old vicarage, was a much patronized dram shop, kept by a Mrs. Clayton, long since removed.
Of some of these we are able to give particulars, not without interest. The Cock and Breeches was kept by Roland Oliver, a breeches maker, whose daughter migrated to London, and, as Mrs. Hibbert, kept an inn, the Elephant, in Fenchurch Street, City. At the Queen's Head were, early last century, barracks for volunteers or soldiers, with their drill sergeants; who performed their drill and practiced with "Brown Bess" in a chalk pit, on the west side of the Edlington Road, now disused, but still represented by a deep depression in the field below the footpath to Thimbleby, and at the back of the gardens of Mr. Frank Heane, of the Garth House, and other adjoining residents.
At this same inn, the Queen's Head, some 20 years or more ago, on removing the bricks of the kitchen floor, the workmen found a skeleton, probably that of a man who had been murdered for his money at the August fair, and in connection with this, it was remembered that a farmer living at Stourton, who used to frequent this inn, had some years before attended the fair, but never returned home, nor could enquiring friends find any trace of him.
The Nelson Hotel, on the same side of the Market Place, was formerly kept by an old man named Vesey, who was said to have been, in his earlier years, a great smuggler on the coast, but coming to Horncastle, he reformed, and was appointed constable. The sign of this inn is a portrait of the great hero of Trafalgar and the Nile, originally well painted by the artist, Northouse, but it has recently been repainted in the worst style, and almost "improved" out of recognition.
The George stood on the sites now occupied by the Post Office, and the adjoining shop of Messrs. Salter, Shoemakers, the original archway of the inn yard still remaining between them. This was formerly one of the principle inns of the town, equal in size to the Bull and the Red Lion; and from it, before the railway line was opened to Horncastle, the landlord, Mr. Hackford, ran a coach, to meet the train at Kirkstead. An incident, in connection with the
- ↑ For these details, as well as many others, I am indebted to family records in the possession of the late Mr. John Overton, which I have had the privilege of consulting on many occasions. JC.W.
