Page:A History of Horncastle from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.djvu/155

136 was built, facing the Wong, at a cost of £500, having four cells, for 12 prisoners, and a residence for a superintendent and constable.

Some years later fresh premises were rented for the magistrates, on the south side of the High Street, adjoining the George Hotel, now extinct, though then a leading establishment. That site is now occupied by the Lincoln and Lindsey Bank.

In 1843 the magistrates' office was transferred to what is now 19, Bull Ring, part of the shop of Messrs. Robinson, Drapers. All these premises proving inadequate for their purpose, the present Court House was built in 1865, on the site of the former parish stocks, the site, a slight rising ground, being called "Stocks' Hill," at a cost of £3,000. The architect was Mr. C. Reeves, of London, the builder Mr. Huddleston, of Lincoln. The furniture was supplied by Messrs. Pike & Wright, of Horncastle; gas fittings by Mr. Murrell, of Chelsea.

In this handsome building, of white brick, there is accommodation for many branches of public, local and county business. As a possession the Court House is the property of the Board of Works, in London, the county authorities paying to them a rent of £10, for the use of it by the magistrates.

This handsome structure was erected under the following circumstances. The Right Honble. Edward Stanhope, who had represented the Horncastle Division in Parliament, with much distinction, from the year 1874, died rather suddenly, as the result of hard work, in his official capacity, on Dec. 22, 1893, to the great grief of the entire constituency; when it was universally felt that his services merited some public recognition. Various meetings were held, and at length, on Jan. 22nd, 1897, at a gathering in the Masonic Hall, a committee was appointed to carry out the scheme. The design of the Memorial was intrusted to the architect, Mr. E. H. Lingen Barker, of Hereford, Messrs. Walter & Hensman, of Horncastle, being the contractors for the work.

The ceremony of inauguration was performed by J. Banks Stanhope, Esq., formerly M.P. for the Division, on Feb. 2nd, 1899, in the presence of the Earl and Countess Stanhope, and other distinguished persons on the platform, and a vast crowd from the neighbourhood filling the entire Market Place. This was followed by a public luncheon in the Corn Exchange.

The site chosen was the centre of the Market Place, as that, along with the market dues, had been made over to the town as a free gift, by the Right Honble. gentleman, as Lord of the Manor. The following is the official description of the monument, as published at the time of its erection. The structure is 31-ft. 6-in. in height. It stands on a massive foundation of concrete; with three tiers of Yorkshire stone steps, each 15-in. wide, running round the base leading up to the monument proper, their shape being octagonal. With the exception of two strings of Dumfries' red stone, the lower part is of Monk's Park stone. Above this is a moulded string course, and on each face are shafts of Aberdeen red granite, with moulded caps and bases. The panels are filled with diaper work; and in each alternate panel are arms of the Stanhope family, and the arms of the town, with an inscription to the memory of the Right Honble. E. Stanhope, and a medallion, with bust, in relief, of the same. These panels are surmounted by moulded and carved cinquefoil panels, surmounted by carved finials. Above these, again, are eight