Market Rasen (/ˈreɪzən/RAY-zən) is a market town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately 13 miles (21 km) north-east from Lincoln, 18 miles (29 km) east from Gainsborough, 14 miles (23 km) west of Louth, and 16 miles (26 km) south-west from Grimsby. It lies on the main road between Lincoln and Grimsby, the A46, and is famous for its racecourse. In 2001, the town had a population of 3,200.[2] In the 2011 census, the population of the civil parish was 3,904.[3]
History
The place-name 'Market Rasen' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Rase, Rasa, and Resne. The name derives from the Old Englishræsn meaning 'plank', and is thought to refer to a plank bridge. The river name 'Rase' is a back-formation.[4]
Originally "Rasen", as it is known locally, was called "East Rasen", "Rasen Parva" or "Little Rasen".
St Thomas's church
In the 19th century, touring theatrical companies performed in theatres in the town. David Grose opened 'a very neat and comfortable theatre' in 1834. In May 1844, the Giffords performed in the town.[5]
Market Rasen's community fire and police station opened in December 2005.[7]
Geography
The River Rase flows through the town and crosses Waterloo Street at Crane Bridge.[8]
In 2011, it was one of the towns chosen for the Portas Review of small-town retailing businesses.[9]
Education
Market Rasen's secondary school is De Aston School, a co-educational 11–18 former comprehensive school now an academy member with approximately 1,300 pupils, including day pupils and formerly boarders.[10][11] It was founded in 1863 as a small grammar school as part of a legal settlement following a court case involving funds from the medieval charity of Thomas de Aston, a 13th-century monk.[12]
On 27 February 2008, a significant earthquake had its epicentre approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-west of Market Rasen, near the neighbouring parish of Middle Rasen. The earthquake, which according to the British Geological Survey measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale, struck at a depth of 11.6 miles (18.7 km)[14] and was felt across much of the UK from Edinburgh to Plymouth, and as far away as Bangor in Northern Ireland and Haarlem in the Netherlands.[15]
The 10-second quake was the largest recorded example in the United Kingdom since the 1984 Llŷn Peninsula earthquake struck North Wales, measuring 5.4.[15][16]
There were no recorded local injuries and only one recorded injury elsewhere in the UK, in South Yorkshire, when a chimney was dislodged from a house roof, falling down through the house's roof and landing on the male resident, who was in bed at the time, causing a broken pelvis.[15]
