OUR BOOKS AND DVDs

You can buy our merchandise at the Joseph Banks Centre or Perkins newsagents in Horncastle – or why not buy online?  Click the button on this page to go to our web shop.  [Feature in development]

Our online prices include a contribution towards postage and packaging. 

We ship to UK addresses only.  For a quotation to supply goods to non UK addresses, please go to our Contact Us page.

HORNCASTLE FOR HORSES: THE GREAT AUGUST HORSE FAIR

In the early 1800s Horncastle’s Great August Horse Fair was said to be the largest in the world.  Buyers came from as far as Russia, Hungary and even America. ‘Horncastle for horses’ was a well known phrase across the land, so strong was the link between the animal and the town.

This booklet was produced to accompany the Society’s exhibition and celebrations to mark 75 years since the last Horse Fair in 1948. It’s illustrated with photographs and engravings of the Fair from the Society’s Town Archive, helping evoke the spirit of the fair and what it would have been like to visit.

Price £5, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, or Perkins Newsagents, Horncastle.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

THE LIFE & TIMES OF HOLMLEIGH CHILDREN’S HOME, HORNCASTLE 1934-1968

A booklet sharing the story of Horncastle’s former children’s home, Holmleigh. It’s richly illustrated with photographs and information from the Society’s Town Archive.

The Holmleigh Children’s Home was created in 1934 by the Lindsey County Council after they took over responsibility for the county’s workhouses. They were appalled by the conditions in which they found the workhouse children, who were now in their care. So they decided to transform the workhouse site at Horncastle into a children’s home to serve the whole county, with purpose built cottage homes in a pleasant green environment then on the edge of the town, where they could give the area’s most unfortunate children a more homely start in life. A5 soft cover, 40 pages.

Price £5, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, or Perkins Newsagents, Horncastle.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF HORNCASTLE IN PHOTOS 1952-2022

Thanks to funding from Arts Council England’s Let’s Create Jubilee Fund, the Society was able to create a free booklet of all the photographs contributed to our interactive exhibition to celebrate Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. The incredible collection of photographs covers all aspects of life in Horncastle and offers a fascinating glimpse into changing fashions, pastimes and ways of life.

FREE, whilst stocks last, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours.

MEMORIES OF MAREHAM LE FEN – from 1920 onwards

A booklet based on the diaries and memories of Alfred Bontoft. It typifies life in villages and small towns at this period. It also details the trials and tribulations of being a butcher a that time. It is well illustrated and will evoke memories of times gone by for many people.

Price £3.99, available from the Joseph Banks Centre, Perkins newsagents, the Royal Oak, Mareham and the village shop, Mareham.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

HORNCASTLE YESTERDAY AND TODAY

This DVD was produced as a sequel to our very successful Millenium book Horncastle Then and Now, which is now out of print.  Through computer animations and re-enactments of historical events, we aim to entertain and inform.  Hear the recollections of some of the more elderly residents alongside the thoughts and aspiration of younger people.

Price £9.99, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, or Perkins Newsagents, Horncastle.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

HORNCASTLE’S GREAT WAR

Produced in September 2016, this book contains the stories of all the soldiers commemorated on the war memorials in the town. It also contains fascinating details about life in Horncastle at the time of World War One. There are extracts from soldiers’ letters home and information about the fund-raising the people of the town carried out to support the ‘lads’.  Also featured are articles on munition workers, agriculture and women at war as well as Belgian refugees and Spanish Flu.

Price £15, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, or Perkins Newsagents, Horncastle.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

‘MOST BRUTE & BEASTLY SHIRE’ – The Lincolnshire Rising, 1536

Written by Nicholas G Fox BSc(Hons) MSc

This 2019 publication written by one of HH&HS members, Nick Fox, explains the rebellion which erupted in Lincolnshire, caused by the religious reforms of Henry VIII.  Nick sets out Horncastle’s key part in the shocking events that took place in this thoroughly researched and well illustrated book.  If you saw “Wolf Hall” on BBC One, which mentions Horncastle and the Rising, you’ll want to know more.

Price £5, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, or Perkins Newsagents, Horncastle.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

LIFE IN A VICTORIAN VILLAGE

Local author Jean Shaftoe has compiled this fascinating account from the books and manuscripts of Henry Winn, who lived at nearby Fulletby.  He was a celebrated historian of the Victorian period.  Published in 2021.

Price £15, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, or Perkins Newsagents, Horncastle.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

A VICTORY OVER PREJUDICE

The life and times of Edward Harrison, 1759 – 1838, by Bob Pendell.

Dr Harrison was a medical reformer and a pioneer in curing spinal deformities.  He founded the Horncastle Dispensary, the Medical Society of Horncastle, the Lincolnshire Benevolent Medical Society and Harrison’s Spinal Institution.  This is the fascinating story of his life, published in 2011.

Price £5, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, or Perkins Newsagents, Horncastle.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

SONG OF THE FORUM, or A DAY AT HORNCASTLE FAIR

We have reprinted a lost poem discovered in our Archive. It’s an epic 86 verses!

HORNCASTLE AT WAR – through the eyes of a nine year old boy

Our brand new book, by Len Blades, tells the story of our town during World War Two as it seemed to him as a young boy.  This rare and fascinating account has been reprinted by HH&HS, with the permission of Len’s family.  Featuring a new set of historic images, it’s a companion volume to our 2025 exhibition, “Horncastle at War” at the Joseph Banks Centre, marking 80 years since VE Day.

Price £7.50, available from the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours.  Or drop us an email at in**@*****************rg.uk to arrange another method.

Coming soon – we’re working on the ability to sell books on our website.  Please check back later!