Bolingbroke, now called Old Bolingbroke, is a village near Spilsby in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, England. The village of New Bolingbroke

New Bolingbroke

New Bolingbroke is a village in the Lincolnshire Fens about east of Coningsby, in the East Lindsey district. It was established by John Parkinson, who was a steward to Sir Joseph Banks.-Church:...

 lies 6 miles (9.7 km) to the south-west.

The Prime Meridian

Prime Meridian

The Prime Meridian is the meridian at which the longitude is defined to be 0°.The Prime Meridian and its opposite the 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.An international...

 passes to the west of Old Bolingbroke.

Bolingbroke Castle

William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln

Earl of Lincoln

Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England.-Earls of Lincoln, First Creation :*William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Lincoln and 1st Earl of Arundel Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England.-Earls of Lincoln, First...

 (born circa 1096) built Old Bolingbroke Castle

Bolingbroke Castle

Bolingbroke Castle is a ruined castle in Bolingbroke Lincolnshire, England.-Construction:Most of the castle is built of Spilsby greenstone, as are several nearby churches. The local greenstone is a limestone that proved to be porous, prone to rapid deterioration when exposed to weather and a...

 in the 12th century, a motte and bailey castle, with a wet ditch. In the early 13th century, a new castle was constructed at the present site by Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester

Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester

Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln , known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester , was one of the "old school" of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favours...

. Later John of Gaunt, the son of Edward III

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

, acquired the castle; and in 1367 it became the birthplace of John's son Henry, known as Henry Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV of England

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

. The castle underwent a Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 siege in 1643, as the Royalists

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

 used it to garrison troops prior to the Battle of Winceby

Battle of Winceby

The Battle of Winceby took place on 11 October 1643 during the English Civil War near the village of Winceby, Lincolnshire about 4 miles east of Horncastle.-Prelude:...

(11 October 1643). The last remaining structure fell down in 1815. The site eventually became a grassy hillock, which archeologists excavated in the 1970s.