2-979-086 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Halstead Hall, near Horncastle, 1857. Possibly arson attack. 'About an hour before midnight on Sunday, the 17th of December last, the inhabitants of the village of Stixwould were aroused from sleep by an alarm of fire. The stackyard at Halstead, about three-quarters of a mile from the village, was enveloped in flame, and the produce of more than one hundred acres of valuable com was, in a very brief period, completely destroyed...As the wind was almost a hurricane from S.W., and the yard had been fired right in the wind's eye, it was impossible to save more than the two comstacks, and the fine old barn and outbuildings...A reward of £100 has been offered for the discovery of the incendiary. Hitherto no clue has been found, although Mr. Hitchins, the able Coroner for this part of Lincolnshire, held an inquest, and made a most searching investigation'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.