Community Assembly of Market Rasen

Serving, supporting and protecting our local community

The Community Assembly of Market Rasen is located in a market town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands in the British Isles. The River Rase runs through (east to west) with Lincoln in the north-east, Gainsborough in the east and Louth to the west. Market Rasen lies south-west of Grimsby where the main road leads to Lincoln.

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 English ræsn meaning plank , and is thought to refer to a plank bridge. The river name Rase is a back-formation, originally Rasen , as it is known locally. It has also been known as East Rasen, Rasen Parva or Little Rasen.

Horseracing was first introduced to the area in the 1800s with organised meetings established by the White Hart Friendly Society. This was often linked to Feast Week celebrations where meetings were held on various temporary sites around the town. The Market Rasen Racecourse was established on Willingham Road in 1924, following the formation of a local race company.

On Wednesday 6 May, 1964 at 11.41pm, a Vickers Valiant B1 crashed near the B1202, about 400 yards south of the railway station on the southern part of the town, close to the fire station. The aircraft engine was on fire and it crashed, resulting in a square mile of debris. The crash highlighted critical structural failures that caused the RAF to ground and eventually retire the entire V-bomber fleet. All five crew members on board were killed in the incident.

In 2008, a significant earthquake had its epicentre just 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-west of Market Rasen, near the neighbouring parish of Middle Rasen. It was felt from Edinburgh to Plymouth, and as far away as Bangor in Northern Ireland and Haarlem in the Netherlands. No local injuries were recorded.