Horncastle RDC

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HORNCASTLE (Rural district council)

Incorporated into : 1974 East Lindsey

Official blazon

Arms : Or a Castle of two Towers Gules on a Chief wavy Vert a Mitre Gold between two Lincolnshire Shorthorn Bulls' Heads caboshed proper.
Crest : On a Wreath of the Colours out of a Wreath of Laurel Vert a dexter Arm embowed in Armour the hand grasping a dexter Gauntlet all proper the upper arm charged with a Sun Or.
Motto: 'DEFEND THE RIGHT'

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted on January 30, 1956.

The principal emblem is a double-towered castle alluding to Tattershall Castle, one of the District's most famous landmarks. The wavy line refers to Tennyson's brook at his birthplace at Somersby, and the green "chief" above it with the Bulls' heads alludes to the character of the District as one of the finest growing and cattle raising areas in the whole country. The golden mitre refers to the area's ancient monastic history and in particular to the abbeys at Kirkstead, Revesby and Tupholme, also to the fact that Archbishop Stephen Langton, who presented Magna Carta for King John's signature in 1215 was born at Langton by Wragby, and that John of Dalderby who was responsible for the building of the central tower of Lincoln Cathedral about the year 1307, was Bishop of Lincoln from 1300 to 1320.

The laurel-wreath, which, like the bull's head, appears in the Lindsey CC arms, refers to the Poet Laureate, Tennyson, and the arm with the gauntlet in the hand refers to the office of King's Champion, held by the Dymoke family of Scrivelsby and their predecessors the Marmions since the early 14th Century . The golden sun on the arm was a badge of Richard II, at whose Coronation in 1377 a Dymoke officiated for the first time.

From the terms of the Dymokes tenure of the manor by this office comes the motto "Defend the Right".