BEFORE the invasion of Britain by the Romans, whilst yet the island was
divided into independent states, the present scite of Horncastle with its
immediate neighbourhood was doubtless appropriated, like the rest of the
country of the Coritani, to the pasturing of herds and flocks. In the
formation of settlements no other circumstances influenced the Britons
than the conveniences which might be afforded them in their accustomed
occupations. Vallies fertilized by streams, and the contiguous hills
would supply food for their cattle and sheep, whilst the neighbourhood of
forests invited to the pursuits of the chase. The rich tracts of open
grass land stretching along the banks of the river Bane, and its
tributary stream, would be populously occupied by the pastoral
inhabitants of this district. Hence it may be presumed, that when the
weak efforts of the Coritani for independence had left them vanquished by
the victorious arms of the Romans, under Ostorius Scapula, and finally a
tributary state by the more efficient achievements of Suetonius Paulinus,
this portion of the country was soon secured by fixing on the present
scite of Horncastle a military station. From the almost imperishable
masses of the ancient wall which still remain, and by the numerous coins,
urns, and other vestiges of the Roman people which have been found in
this place, and are still met with in turning up the soil, it evidently
became in process of time a station of considerable importance. It is
difficult however to make any definite suggestions as to the period at
which the fortifications were erected, no inscription having been found
to throw light upon the subject.
To secure by effectual barriers against insurrections, the conquests
which had already been made, whilst yet the bordering people to the
north, the fierce and powerful Brigantes, remained unsubdued, might be
deemed by the Romans a sufficient inducement for raising frequent and
effectual military works among the inhabitants of this state: for it was
not until Petillius Cerealis was appointed by the emperor Vespasian to
the command in the province of Britain, that this hitherto unbridled
nation were either conquered or involved in all the calamities of
warfare. Though there be no precise data by which the decision may be
guided, as to the time of the earlier military erections which were
formed at this place; yet it cannot be ascribed to a much later period
than the above occurrences so intimately connected. At all events, it
may not be considered posterior to the effects which resulted from the
wise policy of Agricola. Immediately on his arrival to assume the
command, he placed along the frontiers of the several subjugated
districts, a chain of fortresses: these were constructed with so much
care and judgment, that the inhabitants of those parts where the Roman
arms had not then penetrated, could never consider themselves secure from
the vigor of the conqueror. {4a} The people, soon after this, completed
their submission to the yoke by yielding to the allurements of Roman
manners. Their ferocity was tamed: from a savage people running wild in
woods, they became cultivated, acquiring knowledge, and dwelling in
towns; and finally sweetened their slavery, by indulging in the pleasures
of polished life.
From the circumstances of this station being situated on the river Bane,
several antiquaries have concurred in fixing here the BANOVALLUM of the
Roman geographer Ravennas. This opinion has been the more readily
adopted from the etymology of the name; the latter part of the word being
Latin, and the whole collectively signifying a fortification on the Bane.
It is indeed probable that the Romans were induced at first to make a
station at this place, from its convenient situation, easily rendered
defensible by a _vallum_, or temporary barrier, drawn across the aperture
of the two rivers from one bank to the other, and thence came its
designation. Afterwards they built the indissoluble stone wall, whose
vestiges after the lapse of ages are manifest nearly the whole compass
round. {4b} It is to be regretted that Ravennas gives no distances: he
merely places BANOVALLUM next after LINDUM, so that nothing decidedly
certain can be gained from his work.
But, though it cannot be positively ascertained that this spot was the
Roman BANOVALLUM; yet, as the name most evidently points out a
fortification on the river Bane, there appears little reason to question
it; both from its contiguity to the colony of LINDUM, with which place it
had communication by means of a military road; as also from its
situation; particularly as no other remains of the Romans have been
discovered on that river, nor yet any near to it, except some coins at
the village of Ludford, where the Bane has its source; and traces of an
encampment at Tattershall, more than a mile distant from its banks. {5a}
In what circumstances this station was involved from the final
subjugation of the Britons by Agricola, under whose paternal government
the province felt some portion of enjoyment in cultivating the arts of
peace, is not known: but, from the evidence of antiquities, it is
perceptible that it continued a place of importance down to the period
when the Romans in the decline of their empire had withdrawn from
Britain; though probably, in the security of a long abstraction from war,
its military strength was somewhat disregarded. No sooner however had
the necessities and the mistaken policy of the enervated inhabitants,
again left to themselves, called to their assistance the warlike Saxons,
against the eruptions of the northern barbarians, than we find this place
agitated, in common with the rest of the country, by all the calamities
which were connected with the desperate contests which ensued: the
Britons having to struggle for liberty, against the eagerness for
dominion on the part of the victorious Saxons. These people, according
to the practice which prevailed amongst them of changing the names of
Roman stations, gave to this place the appellation of HYRNCASTRE or
HORNECASTRE, from its situation in an angle formed by the junction of the
two rivers, which denotes a fortification in a corner, of which the
present name HORNCASTLE is evidently a corruption.
The Roman fortress was at that time either destroyed, or in a very
dilapidated state: for Horsa, the Saxon general and brother of Hengist is
stated to have enstrengthened the fortress of Horncastle. This
fortification however did not continue long; for Horsa being defeated in
an engagement with the Britons, under the command of Raengeires, at the
neighbouring village of Tetford, Vortimer king of the Britons caused it
to be beaten down and rendered defenceless. {5b}