Market Deeping

Hello and welcome to Market Deeping.

My Grandmother was born in Market Deeping in 1900. My Great Grandfather owned and ran a pub on Brigdefoot called 'The Black Swan' pub, which was located on Bridgefoot.

I have come to love Market Deeping and the people very much. This section is dedicated to them and the town.

Market Deeping & Lincolnshire

Market Deeping: Best Viewed With Internet Explorer
St. Guthlac's Church: Very Interesting Old Church But The Bell's Can Be A Real Pain!
Welcome To Stamford: Well Worth A Look
The above pub is the Bull Pub which is the oldest pub in the town. It was thought to bave been built with the early markets of 13 Century but the first recorded occupiers were Thomas and Frances(nee Emerson) Harrison dating to 1761.
I don't have much info on this pub at the moment but it is the Vine Pub and is a very friendly pub with great beers and spirits. Mine Host will take care your drinking needs.

Market Deeping

The stone bridge that carries that A15 over the River Welland at Market Deeping was opened in July 1842 and the firm that built it was made bankrupt by the contract. The total cost was £8,000 but this also included the purchase of several houses in the vicinity that were removed in order to widen the approaches to the bridge and the first vehicle to cross was the Lincoln Royal Mail stage coach. There had been a middle row of houses in the market place, now used as a car park, but these had just been demolished and some of the bricks were used for the far wall of the bridge where they can still be seen.

There had been a wooden bridge at this point since the 16th century and is mentioned in the survey of 1563 as either the Wheat Bridge or the Blind Bridge and there is a further mention in parish documents when repair work was carried out in the years 1585-87. By 1998, modern traffic flows through Market Deeping were so great and the subsequent road conditions so dangerous that Lincolnshire County Council opened a new by-pass to relieve the congestion at a cost of £8 million.

The market for which this place was famous had already started to decline by 1885 and then in the late 20th century, it was finally moved off the streets to a nearby pedestrian precinct. Three annual fairs were also once held here but they are also no more. These had been held for cattle on the second Wednesday after May Day and on October 10th, along with one "chiefly for wood" on the last Wednesday in July. It was most probably the loss of these fairs that led to the town's decline in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a process that has in recent years been dramatically reversed because today, Market Deeping flourishes. The rest of this town's name, together with the other Deepings, serves as a reminder of a place in the deep meadows liable to flooding by the River Welland from time immemorial.

Church Street, Market Deeping, is regarded as one of the prettiest in Lincolnshire with old stone buildings on either side, many dating back to the 17th century and as you drive north on the A15, the embattled tower of St Guthlac's Church is directly ahead. These houses tell the story of the village over the years and one, known as the Old Curiosity Shop, was for a long time a popular call for collectors of antiques but has now been converted for use as a private house. This street is so evocative of times past that it once had three different antique shops, attracting dealers from London, the Continent and beyond. The street also contains three of the town's remaining public houses. A century ago there were nine, one for every 134 of the population whereas the ratio today is one for every 620 residents. The White Horse is still open but its rival the Black Horse of 1885 has been renamed the Vine and the New Inn round the corner in the market place is today called the Deeping Stage. In 1836, Market Deeping was the pick up point on several stagecoach routes although it never had its own service based in the town. The Express called here as it galloped between London and Barton-on-Humber, as did the Royal Mail coach while The Perseverance stopped here on its journeys to and from London and Boston and Jackson's stage coach went through the town on its daily runs between Boston and Stamford. The King's Head has gone from the market place but the Bull Inn remains with an incongruous inn sign showing Crowland Abbey and a parchment of some unrecognisable script.

The church is mainly 15th century but much of it is earlier and a blocked arch in the north wall of the chancel is probably Saxon. The porch is 13th century work and shelters a modern door enriched with the original ironwork of slender leaf pattern. In two richly canopied niches by the altar are modern figures of St Hugh of Lincoln and St Guthlac, patron saint of this church, who came to Crowland more than twelve centuries ago to plant Christianity here. Ten charming medallions in two of the chancel windows tell the story of his life. Several other non-conformist places of worship have been lost the town, the Independent Chapel built in the High Street in 1812, the Wesleyan Chapel of 1866, a building that was formerly a warehouse, and the Primitive Methodist Chapel of 1876.

The Old Curiosity Shop is a name perpetuated by Charles Dickens in his novel of 1840 and who can possibly forget the fate of Little Nell who lived there. It was also the name given to this old cottage that can be found in Church Street, Market Deeping, and is believed to be the oldest property in the neighbourhood after the church and rectory. It is now a private residence but is still known as the Old Curiosity Shop, a name introduced by a local antique dealer who traded from the premises during the last century when there were three antique shops in the vicinity at various times.Prior to that, the building was a saddler's shop with samples of harness hanging outside and a tannery opposite. The age of this property is not known exactly but a survey of 1563 indicates that it was then in use as a family home although it could possibly predate that by at least a hundred years.

Street Map of Market Deeping