Photos Needed for History of Horncastle Exhibition for Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Volunteers from Horncastle History & Heritage Society are appealing for people to share their old photos to help create a ‘People’s History of Horncastle’ exhibition at the Joseph Banks Centre as part of the town’s celebrations of the Queen’s Jubilee, made possible with a grant from the Lincolnshire Community Foundation and Arts Council England as part of the Let’s Create Jubilee Fund.

The exhibition opens tomorrow (May 5), with a timeline of the town between 1952 and 2022, and will run until Saturday June 12, open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Dr Ian Marshman, said: “This will be no ordinary exhibition, as we will be opening with a lot of blank space on the walls.

"We want everyone in the town to be part of it, and we need everyone to share their photos to bring Horncastle’s modern history to life. It will be great to see the exhibition grow and develop and we encourage you to pop in regularly over the next few weeks.”

Anyone can share a photo for the exhibition, provided you know what year it was taken between 1952 and 2022.

Photos also need to have been taken in Horncastle, and should include at least one person, and you must have their permission to share it.

The Society is also asking for a caption describing what is happening in the photo to be included.

Dr Marshman added: “It is easy to look at our historic town and think nothing ever changes here, but when you look back at the past 70 years which the Queen has reigned over, life in Horncastle has changed beyond recognition.

"In 1952 when the Queen’s reign began, Horncastle was still in decline from its mid-Victorian heyday.

"The town was half the size it is today, with a population of 3,800, much smaller than it had been in the 1850s, and people were moving away to find work.

“Most residents still lived and worked right here in the town, fewer people had cars, and many older homes had facilities that hadn’t improved much since the Victorians.”

You can email a photo to [email protected] or by bringing an original photograph in to be scanned at the Joseph Banks Centre during opening hours, Thursday to Saturday 10am to 4pm.