Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Town and Soke of Horncastle [1820] / in the county of Lincoln, and of several places adjacent

by George Weir

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. [97]

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.

GEOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SOKE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD OF HORNCASTLE.

GEOLOGY.

Although the Soke of Horncastle does not possess much variety in its geological structure, yet a considerable diversity is to be found in the formation of the adjacent elevated country, called the wolds. On the annexed map the denudations of the various strata in this district are traced out, and distinguished by different colours: the order of stratification is also exemplified by a section, of imaginary elevation, but on the same scale as the map with respect to horizontal distance. The section too shows a greater extent than the map to the east, where, on account of the dip of the strata towards that quarter, it is necessary to commence the description, although in point of distance it cannot be properly considered within the prescribed limits of this work.

The tract of marsh land between the sea and the wolds, (No. 1.) consists principally of unstratified clay, with admixtures of sand, and various marine depositions. These circumstances, together with the old sea banks, evidence that this mass of earth has been left by the gradual receding of the ocean.

On the west of these marshes is the rough elevated denudation of chalk, (No. 2.) which forms the highest stratum of the wolds, and gently dips underneath the marshes; for in boring in them for water the chalk is always found. The chalk is of two colours, white and red, each lying in regular strata, which alternate frequently, the red bearing but a small proportion to the white. In the white, compact seams of flint, of a light grey color, from two to six inches thick, are often met with. In the chalk several extraneous fossils are found.