The manor continued in the possession of the Bishops of Carlisle, until the reign of Edward the sixth, when under the authority of a licence from the crown, it was sold by Bishop Aldrich to Edward Lord Clinton, who, during the time he held it, compounded with the copyhold tenants, and enfranchised their estates; but after Mary had ascended the throne, he was compelled to re-convey his purchase to the see of Carlisle, to which, since that time, it has continued to belong. {8d} Bishop Aldrich died at this place in March, 1555, the second year of the reign of Queen Mary: from which it appears, that the estate had either been restored previous to his decease; or, in the conditions of the sale he had reserved to himself the privilege of residing in the manor house. {8e} In the sixteenth year of the reign of Charles the second, the several charters which had before been granted to the possessors of this manor were again acknowledged, and the privileges further extended. {9a} Queen Elizabeth had a lease of this manor from the then possessing bishop, in which she was succeeded by James the first, who assigned it to Sir Edward Clinton, knight; but owing to a neglect of enrollment, it proved void. {9b} For nearly a century the lease was held by the late Right Honorable Sir Joseph Banks, Baronet, and his ancestors, and it is now held in trust for the benefit of his devisees. The large tract of fen land, situated between this place and Boston, at a very early period belonged to the lords of this manor, in conjunction with the lords of the manors of Bolingbroke and Scrivelsby; but by the grants which they gave to the neighbouring abbies at Revesby and Kirkstead, their right therein became comparatively small. {9c} On the enclosure of these fens, pursuant to Act of Parliament, in 1801, about six hundred acres were annexed to the parish of Horncastle, eighty-one acres of which were allotted to the lord of the manor; the remainder to the owners of common-right houses. The parochial extent of Horncastle, exclusive of the fen allotment, is about one thousand three hundred acres, two hundred and fifty of which are contained in the manorial estates. The house where the bishops used to reside, a spacious structure, but destitute of architectural merit, was situated at the north-west corner of the ancient fortress. It was demolished about the year 1770, when the present manor house was erected on its scite. HORNCASTLE DURING THE CIVIL WARS IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES THE FIRST.