(amongst others, by the present writer in his earlier book on Caistor), but it can have no historical foundation. The Egbert of the inscription was obviously a person of importance who probably founded a church here and he may well have been an Ealdorman whose jurisdiction extended over this part of Lindsey.
The nature of this large and elaborate titulus or dedication stone, implies that the Church, and hence the place in which it stood were of some importance and a very good case has been made out for identifying Caistor with the mysterious Sidnacester, the site of the early bishops' see of Lindsey, which existed in the eighth and ninth centuries, before the diocese of Lincoln came into existence. Sidnacester has, for nearly 300 years, been identified with Stow and the fine church there is often called "the mother of Lincoln Minster," but, for a number of reasons Caistor has a better claim to the title.
When we come to Domesday Book we find that the Bishop of Lincoln claimed the Church of Caistor, and the men of the Wapentake of Yarborough bore witness that King William had given it to St Mary of Lincoln and that there belonged to it 2 bovates of land, two villeins and a mill, with the soke of one carucate of land in Hundon. The association is still preserved by the prebendal stall of Caistor in Lincoln Cathedral, the holder of which was, until 1847, patron of this benefice.

AS WE HAVE SEEN, it is extremely probable that a relatively large and important church existed here twelve hundred years ago when the dedicatory inscription was set up by the unidentified Egbert, and there is good reason for suggesting that this may have been the cathedral of the Anglo-Saxon diocese of Lindsey. The last bishop of Lindsey was Sigeferth whose name occurs in 997 but the diocese as an effective unit had come to an end almost one hundred years earlier and the last bishop de facto was Berhtred who was consecrated in 838 and ruled over the diocese for some 22 years. If, indeed,