The construction of the line was begun in April of the following year, 1855; the contractors being Messrs. Smith & Knight. The original capital of the company was £48,000, in £10 shares, but the ultimate cost was about £60,000. The G.N.R. Company undertook the working, paying half the receipts to the shareholders; and as, for the distance (about 7½ miles), the expenditure was, compared with that of many such undertakings, small, so, as an investment, the enterprise proved a profitable one, few lines yielding so good a return for the outlay; the £10 shares still (in 1907) sell at nearly half as much again (£14 17s. 3d., July, 1907).

A brief account may well here be given of the opening ceremony of this important event in the town’s history, condensed from the public journals of the day. The line was examined by the Government Inspector, Colonel Wynn, and a few days later Mr. Seymour Clarke, the G.N.R. manager, stated that it could not be in a more efficient condition. The opening ceremony was fixed for Aug. 12th, 1855. At an early hour the town was crowded with visitors and shops were closed. At 7 a.m. 2,500 lbs. of beef were distributed among the poorer people. Peals of bells were rung, the Horncastle and Spilsby bands added their music of popular airs. The streets and station were profusely decorated, under the direction of Mr. Crowder, florist, Mr. John Osborne, parish clerk, Mr. Archbould, head gardener to Sir H. Dymoke, Mr. Nelson from Stourton Hall, and a local committee. Flags displayed the arms of the town, those of Sir H. Dymoke, Mr. J. Banks Stanhope, the Bishop of Carlisle, then lord of the manor, the Rose of England, and the Union Jack. About noon a procession was formed in the Bull Ring, to meet the Directors of the G.N.R., by Mr. F. Harwood, master of the ceremonies, in the following order:

Navvy bearing bronzed pickaxe and shovel.
Banner.
Navvies, four abreast.
Banner.
Two navvies, bearing silver-gilt wheelbarrow.
Banners.
Horncastle Brass Band.
Contractor. Engineer.
Secretary. Solicitor.
Auditor. Auditor.
Banners. Directors, two abreast. Churchwarden, Dr. B. J. Boulton. The Vicar, Rev. W. H. Milner. Banners.
Banners. Shareholders and their friends, four abreast. Spilsby Brass Band. Parish Clerk, Mr. J. C. Osborne, in his robes, preceded by his Standard Bearer. Banners.
Banner. Members of the various Clubs, with Banners. Banner.
Banner. 1,000 School Children, 4 abreast. Banner.
The Public.

The procession marched from the Bull Ring to the Railway Station, where the elders of the party on the platform, and the children, with their banners, ranged on the opposite side, awaited the arrival of the train bringing the G.N.R. Directors, and as it drew up the bands played “See the Conquering Hero comes.”

The procession, augmented by the directors, then re-formed, and marched through the town; in the Bull Ring the National Anthem was sung. A large marquee was erected in the grounds of Mr. R. C Armstrong (now Mrs. Howland’s garden), adjoining South Street, in which the contractors, Messrs. Smith & Knight, provided for the directors and shareholders, and other guests, in all over 200, a splendid dinner, served in excellent style, by Messrs. Wilson and Serpell, of the Bull Hotel. The Honble. Sir H. Dymoke presided, as Chairman of the Horncastle and Kirkstead Railway Co.; being supported on his right by Mr. Hussey Packe and Mr. C. Chaplin, Directors of the G.N.R., Major Amcotts and Sir M. J. Cholmeley, and on his left by J. Banks Stanhope, Esq., M.P., Director of the Horncastle Railway, and Rev. W. H. Milner, Vicar. Congratulatory speeches were made, and the day closed with a fine display of fireworks.

Opened under such favourable auspices, and supplying a felt need, the railway has continued to be a success; improvements have been made, from time to time, in the stations at Horncastle and Woodhall Spa. The line continues to be a single one, but it is sufficient for the local requirements, and the shares, as before mentioned, at the present time (1907) find a ready sale at an advance of about 50 per cent. on their original price. We might add that if the railway could be continued to Spilsby, and then connected with the different lines running to the Skegness, Mablethorpe and other health resorts on the coast, its utility, and doubtless its paying value, would be largely increased, as it would shorten the distance by many miles.

CHAPTER X.
WORKHOUSE OR UNION.

We now notice the chief of those public institutions, and the buildings connected therewith, which have been established in the town, within more recent times, for its welfare, or its adornment; in order to bring its corporate efficiency into more complete accord with the advanced requirements of what may be called modern municipal life. Among these the foremost place, from its general importance, is naturally due to the Union, or Workhouse; and here it is necessary to make some preliminary remarks.