Market Deeping, in Lincolnshire, is a small market town at the cross roads of the A15 and A16. To the south lies Peterborough, to the north, Bourne. East is Spalding and west lies Stamford. Market Deeping, together with Deeping St. James, made up the ancient Saxon settlement of East Deeping. The boundary between the two parishes can be found near the library. The boundary runs through the ‘Boundary’ fish shop and restaurant. East Deeping (Est Deeping) is mentioned in the Doomsday book and sits immediately to the north of the river Welland which forms the boundary between Lincolnshire and Cambridge. The town itself is now bypassed on both the A15 and the A16.
Later East Deeping, one assumes because of the separation of the two parishes, was referred, to as Deeping St. Guthlac and Deeping St. James. The church of St. Guthlac in the north of the town was built during Saxon times but little remains of the original. To the east of Market Deeping lies Deeping St. James, named because of the foundation of a priory in 1134, the priory was dissolved in 1534.
Market Deeping had various market charters granted in the 13th and 14th centuries. The last one was granted to Joanna Wake in 1304 for her and her heirs to hold a weekly market on Wednesday in her manor of East Deeping, as it was then called, and also to hold an annual fair on the vigil of the feast of St. Michael and six days following. This fair, Towngate Feast, was still being held well into the 20th century. Joanna Wake later married the Black Prince and was the mother of Richard II. The coats of arms of the Wakes and the Black Prince can be seen on the font in St. Andrew’s church, West Deeping.
Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, also had the living if the Deepings and had a manor at Maxey (just over the border in Cambridgeshire) and another residence at West Deeping. It was Margaret Beaufort who raised the money for the building of a tower on church of St. Guthlac. On the tower of the church are two ‘sun dials’ although one of them should perhaps be called a ‘moon dial’. On the south side of the tower the dial reads “The day is Thine” on the north side the ‘moon dial’ reads “The night cometh”.
The wealth of the Deepings came, in the past, from the traffic on the river Welland. The river was used to carry stone for the building of many of the houses in the Deepings and also Collyweston slate for the roofs. The river was used as the roads were, in the past, often impassable due to flooding in the winter. Stone would have been carried, in the winter months, from the quarries around Stamford (7 miles to the west) to the place were it was to be worked. It would be dressed in the spring for building during the summer months. Stamford was once a thriving producer of wool and cloth and exported its goods far and wide bringing great wealth to that town. The cloth and wool would have been carried in bulk along the river Welland to the Wash (a journey of approximately 35 miles). The river Welland enters the Wash close to the outfall of the river Witham. Boats could have thus travelled down the river Welland into the Wash and up the river Witham to the port of Boston and then around the world. During the early 17th century a canal, approximately six and a half miles long, was built linking Stamford to Market Deeping. Remains of this canal can still be seen immediately to the west of Market Deeping. The canal is thought to be the earliest, post Roman, canal built in England.
The Welland is today a relatively slow flowing river and is a delightful amenity for the Deepings. There is an abundance of wildlife with large numbers of dragon flies and damsel fleas, also swans, kingfishers and many varieties of ducks including, at some times of the year, tufted ducks. In the early part of the year many pairs of little grebe visit but, as these are shy little creatures, you have to be quick to see them before they dive below the water. These ‘Dab Chicks’, as they are called, are only slightly bigger than the many ducklings that are often present at the same time. In times past the river would also have many people fishing but this went into decline for a few years. Happily one now sees more and more people happily fishing the river for the perch, pike, chub and other species whose numbers also seem to be increasing. This latter fact is not helped by the presence of Herons Cormorants that feed on the fish.
Market Deeping has a number of restaurants that will suite most tastes. The Bull and the Stage, the two old stagecoach inns in the centre of the old market place, are both pleasant places to have a refreshing drink. Both inns provide meals throughout the day. The Bull evens boasts its own ghost, to entertain you, in the quaintly named ‘dug out’ bar. I’ve never seen the ghost but then perhaps I haven’t supped enough of Adams ale! Rigby’s is another place in the old market place where you can get a drink and something to eat.
There were two breweries in the town and also a world famous essential oil distillery. The latter has since been demolished and houses built in its place. One of the breweries has become the headquarters of ‘Sense’ a charity concerned with those affected by Rubella (German measles). An old maltings, close to the town centre, has been converted into flats. This building itself is worth a visit if only to see the superb way an old working building used for malting barley has been converted into another type building that still retains its great architectural beauty.
There are two supermarkets in town and a variety of other shops. In Deeping St. James there is a traditional bakers shop offering a variety of breads baked on the premises. The church of St. James is also worth a visit although little remains of the original priory. There is, on the river bank close to the church, a boat house said to have been built in the 16th or 17th centuries. Also, in the same area is an ancient ‘lockup’ used, it is said, to house drunks over night.
The local library has a number of books about the Deepings including a comprehensive history that was written by a local head teacher in the 1970s. This book, together with others can be purchased from the library. The Deepings also has a Community Centre where you will be able to obtain information about local events as well as leaflets about the various walks that can be made around the town. It is possible to walk the length of the river Welland, on the south bank, from Market Deeping to Deeping St. James. You will see the remains of two lock pens and an abundance of wildlife. If, at Low Locks in Deeping St. James, you cross the weir to the north side on Eastgate Deeping St. James, it is possible, if you are fit and have the time, to walk to the end of the road take the path along the river, cross under the railway line and see, on your left, the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust’s Deeping Lakes nature reserve. During your walk you will have seen two rivers join the Welland. One is in fact a part of the Welland that was taken off to the West of the Deepings as a flood defence. The other is the river Folly which joins up to the Caer Dyke to the south of Deeping.
Author: Keith Simpson, Deepings Heritage.
Please note that a footpath map and walking maps can be obtained from the Deepings Community Centre.