THE TOWN.
The parish of Tattershall contains about 1555 acres of land, and the hamlet of Tattershall Thorpe about 2589 acres, the principal part of which is the property of the lord of the manor.
The town has derived considerable benefit from the navigable canal, which passes through it from the river Witham to the town of Horncastle. A fine bridge of three arches having been thrown over the Witham, in the place of the ferry, with a turnpike road to Sleaford, has also contributed to the improvement of the place.
From a manuscript account of the diocese of Lincoln, taken in the year 1588, it appears that at that period Tattershall contained 236 families, and the hamlet of Tattershall Thorpe 68. By the returns made in the year 1821, it appears that the number of houses in Tattershall was 120, and of inhabitants 627: Tattershall Thorpe, at the same time, contained 39 houses, and 269 inhabitants.
There are two fairs holden annually at this place; one on the fifteenth of May, the other on the twenty-fifth of September. The market is now held on Friday weekly.
In the market place stands an octagonal column or shaft, which was once surmounted by a cross. The cross has however long since been removed and an urn substituted in its place. On three of the shields with which this column is ornamented these arms are sculptured, viz. Cromwell, Cromwell and Tateshall quarterly, and Cromwell and Tateshall impaling Deincourt. The arms on the fourth shield are obliterated.
TOWER ON THE MOOR.
On an extensive moor, about four miles north of Tattershall, and about six miles south west of Horncastle, stands the remain of a brick building, called from its situation the Tower on the Moor. It was built by the Lord Treasurer Cromwell, and is supposed to have been an appendage to the castle at Tattershall, from which place it is plainly visible, by reason of the flatness of the intervening country. [96]
Of this tower only an octangular turret remains, to which fragments of the walls adhere; it is about sixty feet in height, and contains winding stairs of brick, now in a very ruinous condition. Traces of the fosse, by which it was surrounded, are still visible.