Market Rasen

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Market Rasen


Image:Lincolnshire outline map with UK.png Image:Red pog2.svg Market Rasen shown within Lincolnshire
Population	3,200
OS grid reference	TF108891
District	West Lindsey
Shire county	Lincolnshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MARKET RASEN
Postcode district	LN8
Police	Lincolnshire
Fire	Lincolnshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Gainsborough
European Parliament	East Midlands
List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire

Coordinates: 53°23′14″N 0°20′08″W / 53.38713, -0.3355

Market Rasen is a town in Lincolnshire, England within West Lindsey district. It is known for its racecourse, rugby club, golf club and has a population of around 3,200 people^[1]. It lies just off the A46, between Grimsby and Lincoln.

Image:Aston Arms, Market Rasen.jpg

The Aston Arms

The River Rase flows through the town and can be crossed via Jameson Bridge, Caistor Road Bridge, and Crane Bridge. The town apparently takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon version of this name, meaning "plank".

Originally, "Rasen", as it is known locally, was called "East Rasen" and also "Rasen Parva" or "Little Rasen". With the coming of the railway in 1848 Little Rasen quickly outgrew its neighbours West and Middle Rasen, and is now by far the largest of the three.

The centre of the town has a homogeneous 19th century red brick appearance of mainly Georgian and Victorian architecture, centred around an active Market place dominated by a decent medieval church - much "restored" in the 19th century.

The only Secondary school is De Aston School, a rural co-educational 11-18 Comprehensive with approximately 1,190 pupils, both day pupils and boarders. 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. Until recently, the school's Foundation Governors also owned the Chapel at the site of the charity's Almshouses at Spital on the Street, a few miles away to the west.

Market Rasen is twinned with the town of Mamers, in the Sarthe region of Pays de la loire, France.

1 Trivia
2 Not so trivial
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Trivia

Local stories tell of a ghost which roams the older buildings on the De Aston school grounds, though it has yet to be seen.
Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist was married in the town in April 1971.
The 1973 Elton John hit Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting is rumoured to have been inspired by the Aston Arms on the market square although there are similar claims for pubs in Louth and Grimsby (all places where writer Bernie Taupin once lived).
Ex-De Aston pupil Rod Temperton wrote the title track on the biggest selling album of all time.
Market Rasen's Community Fire and Police Station (opened December 2005) is one of the first purpose built combined Fire and Police Stations in the UK. The former Police Station was built in 1849 and was the third oldest police station still in operational use in the country.
Kitchen Garden Produce of nearby Owmby by Spital supply Tesco with all of their shallots across the UK.
A local resident has been heard to state that "time stands still in Market Rasen". This would help to explain its old-world charm.

[edit] Not so trivial

At the height of the cold war, this sleeply little country town must have been one of the most dangerous places on the planet. As this map shows, within 25km (about 15 miles) of Market Rasen there were at least 6 military installations that were part of Britain's nuclear deterrent, and therefore it seems highly probable that the region was a target for potential obliteration.