Tattershall is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A153Horncastle to Sleaford road, east from the point where that road crosses the River Witham. At its eastern end, Tattershall adjoins the village of Coningsby, with the two being separated by the River Bain and is and 1 mile south-east from the hamlet Tattershall Thorpe. Tattershall has a unique history dating back to Roman times. Robert Eudo, in 1201, by means of a present of a well-trained goshawk, obtained from Richard II of England a grant to hold a weekly market here; and his son Robert obtained from Henry III of England a license to build a castle here, together with a grant of free-warren in all his Demesne lands. Tattershall was a settlement in Domesday Book, in the hundred of Horncastle and the county of Lincolnshire. The 2011 census recorded a Tattershall civil parish population as 2,834, with the combined Tattershall and Coningsby area having a population of 6,698.
Community
Local public houses are the Black Horse on the High Street and the Fortescue Arms in the Market Place. The Fortesque Arms dates from the 15th century and is a Grade II listed building. Barnes Wallis Academy is a secondary modern school on Butts Lane for pupils aged from 11 to 16. The school also serves Coningsby and Woodhall Spa. The remaining wreckage of the Boeing jumbo jet that was blown-up on 21 December 1988 over Lockerbie in Scotland is stored at a scrapyard near Tattershall. The remains include the plane's nose and cockpit. Tattershall Carrs forms the last remaining remnants of ancient wet woodland, dominated by alder that once ringed the margins of the Fens. Bomb shelters on a former RAF site at Woodhall Spa have been converted into bat roosts.
An octagonal 15th-century buttercross stands in the Market Place. It is both a Grade I listed structure and an ancient scheduled monument. A charter to hold a weekly market was granted by King John in 1201 in return for an annual fee of a trained goshawk. Markets are no longer held but the buttercross remains at the centre of a shopping area.
Tattershall railway station
was a station on the line between Boston and Lincoln until closure. The Old Station House, a stationmaster's house and ticket office, is a Grade II listed building as is the former goods shed. The former railway line has been converted into a cycle path at a cost of £2 million. The path was officially opened in October 2008.
Adjacent to the castle is the Grade I listed Perpendicular-style Holy TrinityCollegiate Church, endowed by Ralph de Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, but built after his death. It received its charter from Henry VI in 1439 but building was not begun until 1472, reaching completion around 1500. The church has medieval stained glass, a collection of brasses and an intact rood loft. It was restored between 1893 and 1897. Near the font is a plaque marking the grave of the Tattershall resident Tom Thumb, reputedly tall, who died in 1620 aged 101. Tom Thumb's small house can be seen on the roof of a larger house in the Market Place. The churchyard contains a war grave of an officer of the Dorsetshire Regiment who died during the Second World War. Ralph de Cromwell, founder of the church, also is buried here.
Adjacent to the Market Place are the remains of Tattershall College which was built by Lord Cromwell for the education of the choristers of Holy Trinity Church. The College was an example of the Perpendicular style of Gothic architecture. In the late 18th century it was converted to a brewery, and later left empty - today it is a ruin. The walls that remain are supported by modern brick. Heritage Lincolnshire currently manages the site, which is Grade II* listed, and an ancient scheduled monument.
