The historic county of Lincolnshire, stretching from the Humber in the north to the Wash, was for more than a millennium the second largest in England. The Roman occupation through four centuries brought civilisation, and towns such as Lincoln, Caistor and Horncastle were developed and fortified. The Saxons established settlements and cleared forests for farming, to be replaced by violent Viking invaders who in turn were succeeded by the Normans. These new masters built strategic castles at Lincoln and Stamford to become centres of regional power and administration. Lincolnshire’s coastal situation encouraged commerce with Europe, and in the Middle Ages Boston was the preeminent port in the country, primarily for the wool trade. Throughout the booms and recessions which have characterised agriculture, the county has remained over the centuries one of the foremost areas in England for arable farming. Also covered are the Grimsby fishing industry, the coming of the railways and steelmaking at Scunthorpe, and the county at war is contrasted with the leisure activities at Skegness and Mablethorpe. This is the essential reference book for the local historian, and a most attractive book on Lincolnshire’s history for the general reader, resident or visitor.
