Only a few fragments of the 4th-century walls remain; for example, the original Roman wall is visible on the southern boundary of the parish church of St Peter and St Paul.[1] The area occupied by the fortress is now classified as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[1] The church of St Peter and St Paul, which is enclosed within the fortress, has an Anglo-Saxon tower.[4] The market square lies at the heart of a conservation area which contains 56, mainly Grade II, listed buildings. In numerical terms, the number of listed buildings makes Caistor the most important conservation area in the West Lindsey area; many of the buildings are Georgian or Victorian. Notable buildings in the town include Caistor Grammar School, founded in 1633,[5] and Sessions House, built in 1662.
In 2010 the remains of a 4th-century Roman cemetery were found during the development of a new Co-op supermarket.[6][7][8]
Opened in 1940, RAF Caistor was built as a relief airfield for RAF Kirton in Lindsey, and also used for flying training from its grass runways. Closed in 1945, it later reopened as a nuclear missile base.
Between 1959 and 1963 Caistor was manned by 269(SM) Sqn. equipped with three Thor missiles. The site has now returned to agricultural use, and little remains of the military facilities.[11][12]
Transport
The nearest railway station is Barnetby railway station. The town was formerly served by the stations at both North Kelsey and Moortown. Both are now closed but the station buildings survive as private residences.
Audleby is a hamlet just north of Fonaby. It is recorded in the Domesday Book with 33 households, which at the time constituted a significant settlement. Today it is listed as a deserted medieval village (DMV).[13] Audleby House on Brigg Road is a Grade II listed building.[14]
Fonaby
Fonaby is a hamlet and deserted medieval village just north of Caistor, mentioned in the Domesday Book as having 18 households and three acres of meadow, and held by William I.[15][16]
Gary Turner, sideshow performer and World Record holder, was born in Caistor.
Local tradition
According to a local tradition, one of Jesus's12 apostles, Simon the Zealot, came to England, where he is supposed to have been martyred somewhere in the vicinity of Caistor. He was reputedly crucified on the orders of a Romanprocurator called Catus Decianus on 10 May AD61. (However, there are competing theories as to what became of Simon the Zealot.)[18]
^Chitty, Susan (1997). Playing the Game: Biography of Sir Henry Newbolt. Quartet Books. ISBN978-0-7043-7107-1.
^David Gervais (article 'Newbolt, Sir Henry John (1862–1938)’) (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.((cite book)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"RAF Caistor", Raf-lincolnshire.info. Retrieved 8 September 2010
