Market Rasen

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Market Rasen
Market Rasen shown within Lincolnshire
Population	3,230
OS grid reference	TF108891
- London	130 mi (209 km) S
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
European Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Gainsborough
List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire

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

Market Rasen is a town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the River Rase 13.8 miles (22 km) northeast of Lincoln, 18 miles (29 km) east of Gainsborough and 16.3 miles (26 km) southwest of Grimsby. Market Rasen has a population of 3,200 people ^[1].

1 Description
2 History
3 Education
4 February 2008 earthquake
5 Notable inhabitants
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Description

The town is known for Market Rasen Racecourse, as well as its rugby and golf clubs. It lies just off the A46 road.

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".

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 medieval church albeit much "restored" in the 19th century.

Market Rasen is twinned with the town of Mamers, in the Sarthe region of Pays de la loire, France.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] History

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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Education

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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] February 2008 earthquake

Main article: 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake

On 27 February 2008, a significant earthquake occurred, centred on the neighbouring parish of Middle Rasen, approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Market Rasen. The earthquake, which according to the British Geological Survey measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale, struck at 00:56 47.8s at a depth of 18.6 kilometres (11.6 mi)^[2] and was felt across much of the UK from Edinburgh to Plymouth and as far away as Bangor in Northern Ireland and Haarlem in Holland.^[3] The 10-second quake was the biggest recorded example in the United Kingdom since the 1984 Lleyn Peninsula earthquake struck North Wales, measuring 5.4M. ^[4]^[5]

[edit] Notable inhabitants

Bernie Taupin, Elton John's lyricist was married in the town in April 1971.^[6]
Rod Temperton wrote the title track on the biggest selling album of all time, Michael Jackson's Thriller.^{[citation needed]}