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Old Bolingbroke is a village in Lincolnshire.

Which can be found to the south-west of Spilsby or approximately fifteen miles north of Boston via the A16.
Horncastle can be found to the east via the A16 and the A158.

Bolingbroke is a fifth or six century Saxon name which refers to the stream that today still runs through the village
( Bolingbroke - "the home by the brook of Bulla's people" )

Old Bolingbroke which can be found lying in a dip of the Lincolnshire Wolds has to be one of the most peaceful villages in Lincolnshire, today its present air of quiet calm is very different from when it was a thriving village with a busy and important market, as recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086.

Bolingbroke Castle was built around 1220-30, the earliest known recorded-written references to it are 1232 and 1243. The castle was built by Randulph de Blundeville Earl of Chester on flat land which is surrounded by hills on three sides. This indicates that defence from attack was possibly not the major reason for building this castle as it was clearly very vulnerable from the hills on three sides.

It was however a strong well constructed place, with a deep moat around one-hundred feet across enclosing a walled area two-hundred feet in diameter. The curtain wall was twelve feet thick, defended by five towers and a gate house. There was no keep in common with Beeston Castle which was also built at roughly the same time by the Earl.

Archaeological excavations have found a lifting mechanism for a bridge over the moat into the gate house, there was also a postern gate (effectively this would have been - the back door) in the Auditor's Tower. Outside the castle there would have been an outer bailey or "rout yard", which would have been used for corralling beasts and grazing. This yard is still today surrounded by a low bank and a narrow ditch on two sides. Other features which resemble fish ponds can also be seen, these would have been used to provide the inhabitants of the castle with fresh food.
The large earthwork which can be found in the centre of the rout yard is certainly post-medieval, and was possibly once the site of a fort which may have been built to defend the castle during the siege of 1643. Outside the castle grounds was the town, which was eventually to became one of the most important market towns in the county.

The annual fair was held on St. Peter's Day - a weekly fair was held on a Tuesday.

On Randulph's death the castle was passed on to his niece's husband John de Lacy, who was later also to became the Earl of Lincoln. On his death the castle then became the property of his daughter Alice and her husband Earl Thomas of Lancaster.

Earl Thomas of Lancaster was executed in 1322 and Alice died in 1348, there was no immediate heir so Bolingbroke castle then became the property of her first husband's brother Henry.

Earl Henry's daughter Blanche married the famous John of Gaunt in 1359 who thus joined the Lancastrian family - becoming the Ist Duke of Lancaster. He and Blanche are known to have lived at the castle during the 1360s and 70s, although Blanche aged 24 sadly died there of the plague on the 12th September 1369. John who was by then a very wealthy and powerful figure, totally loyal to his nephew King Richard II, a loyalty which was to secure him many favours including permission, which was only three years before his death to finally marry his beloved mistress Katherine Swinford, giving legitimacy to their four children.

Katherine's tomb can be seen in Lincoln Cathedral.

John of Gaunt and Blanche's son Henry - later to be King Henry IV was born at Bolingbroke Castle in 1366. Unfortunately unlike his father he did not enjoy the trust of King Richard II, and in 1397 Henry was exiled by King Richard II for quarrelling with the then Duke of Norfolk, all his estates and wealth were seized by the King on the death of his father John of Gaunt.

The enraged Henry was then to plot his revenge, which he achieved in 1399 when he returned to England and took King Richard prisoner. The King was deposed and horribly killed in 1400, clearing the way for Henry of Bolingbroke to be crowned King Henry IV. He became the first King linked to the House of Lancaster and reigned through skill, violence and brute force, he also managed to survive numerous attempts on his life.

King Henry IV never visited the castle again before his death in 1413, but the castle continued to be used as an administrative centre for the Lancastrian dynasty, although it was to play no part in the mid to late 15th century Wars of the Roses.

Bolingbroke gradually over a period of time became a backwater and by Tudor times records show that the auditors only visited the castle once a year to review the accounts.

A castle was simply not the place to be seen living in any more, especially as new and lavish mansions were being built and were at the time all the rage, as such the castle a casualty of fashion and neglect became very dilapidated.

By 1600 four of the five towers were uninhabitable, the castles main domestic buildings had all gone and only the gatehouse and the King's Tower which was rebuilt in a fashionable octagonal shape between 1444 and 1456 were still in use. But in 1636 a survey was to find that all of the five towers were beyond repair.

History had not finished with Bolingbroke Castle. Although it was no longer a desirable home and militarily obsolete due to the power and range of modern artillery, it was still a strong place, the civil war broke out in 1642 and the castle was soon to play its only real moment of glory in war.

The next summer a great Royalist army under the command of the Marquis of Newcastle bore down from the north, throwing garrisons into the towns and castles that they captured, two-hundred men were placed into Bolingbroke Castle in September of that year thus securing the surrounding countryside for the King. However the Marquis of Newcastle's advance eventually faltered and he was forced to make a hasty retreat back the way he had come, leaving the garrison at Bolingbroke which was supported by the stronghold at Newark to resist the inevitable Parliamentarian counter attack from Boston. The garrison had strengthened the castle and may well have built an earth fort in the rout yard, which would make an all out assault very costly for an enemy. A siege began on October 9th bringing about the Battle of Winceby on the 11th. A relief force from Newark was destroyed in a bloody half-hour battle by Parliamentarians under the command of Oliver Cromwell and Sir Thomas Fairfax. But despite this disaster the castle held out and finally surrendered on the 14th of November.

Although final victory was achieved over the Royalists by the Parliamentarian forces in 1651 there were widespread fears of uprisings and the use of castles and similar buildings for fortification by rebels or malcontents. It was therefore decided and ruled to render such places militarily indefensible by knocking down and in some cases blowing up there defences. As such in 1652 Bolingbroke Castle was "slighted", a section of curtain wall and much of the upper walls were removed and thrown into the moat, as such the castle would have no military value. Some of this stone was taken by the townsfolk, today surviving cottages which can be seen in "The Row" are known to have been built from it.

After the civil war Bolingbroke was to drift into obscurity and by the 18th century was to be almost forgotten. The one enduring activity in the town though was pottery, an industry which began in the 15th century and did not suffer a decline until the early19th century. Even today fragments of Bolingbroke Ware often surface in village gardens.

New Bolingbroke was built a few miles to the south in the early 19th century and so to avoid any confusion the original village was renamed Old Bolingbroke. Although the rights to the market were transferred to New Bolingbroke in 1821 the village of Bolingbroke still had a very thriving community with numerous businesses.

The population was to decline during the 20th century partly hastened by the coming of the railway to nearby Spilsby and by 1992 the recorded number of residents had fallen to just 249, and is probably less now. A restricted amount of new building may at last increase the population although with the exception of the Post Office and the Black Horse pub all the older shops and businesses have long gone.

During World War Two RAF bomber crews from nearby bases such as East Kirkby often drank at the village pubs and a large corrugated tin building was used as a cinema, which we are told still exists today.

Sadly by the 19th century much of the castle had disappeared under the turf. The highest remaining portion of stonework from the gatehouse is known to have fallen down in May 1815.

In 1949 the Duchy of Lancaster placed the site into the guardianship of the Ministry of works who undertook a major project to uncover the castle remains in the 1960s. The Ministry of Work's successor English Heritage then handed the castle over to the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire in 1995, and today it remains open welcoming visitors throughout the year - free of charge.

Nearby can also be found,

Horncastle, West Ashby, Somersby, Harrington, Sutterby, Ashby Puerorum, Bag Enderby, Langton, Low Toynton, Greetham, Aswardby, Langton, Dalby, High Toynton, Scrafield, Hagworthingham, Sausthorpe, Partney, Scremby, Mareham on the Hill, Winceby, Lusby, Asgarby, Mavis Enderby, Raithby, Hameringham, Spilsby, Ashby by Partney, Scrivelby, Hareby, Hundleby, Halton Holegate, Moorby, New Spilsby, Toynton, Great Steeping, Miningsby, West Keal, Toynton all Saints, Halton Fenside, Wilksby, East Kirby, East Keal, Hagnaby, Toynton St Peter, Firsby, Mareham le Fen, Keal Cotes, Toynton Fenside,
Little Steeping, Revesby, Stickford, Bratoft, Fendike Corner, Burgh le Marsh, Candlesby, Carrington,

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