Deeping St James

Deeping St James

The High Locks at Deeping St James

Many visitors to South Lincolnshire miss Deeping St James, which straddles the road alongside the River Welland south of Bourne, because it lies off the main A16 road between Stamford and Spalding. But a diversion can be rewarding for this village has one of the most beautiful riverside walks in the county.

The High Locks provide a picturesque setting along this stretch of the river which is also a favourite haunt for anglers. There has been a footbridge at this point for centuries and the present iron structure was built in 1905 and strengthened in 1949 because it was showing signs of wear. But that too is rusting and fast becoming unsafe and is also considered to be unsuitable because it is not wide enough for wheelchairs and may be a road hazard for cyclists and pedestrians who encounter the main road on leaving at the far end. A new bridge which would be twice as wide with a design that would eliminate any road safety hazards is currently being planned.

The river runs alongside the main street and both banks are accessible for much of its length with a pavement on one side and a footpath on the other. There was some concern during the 19th century about the safety of the footpath after John Robert Lambert accidentally fell into the water and drowned. The Stamford Mercury subsequently reported on Friday 12th March 1875: "As further proof of the necessity for an immediate improvement in this locality, it is said that one man who has resided near the river there for many years has rescued eleven persons who have fallen in." The footpath is now much improved and quite safe and has become one of the most pleasant walks in the district, especially on a sunny day, taking in a mix of properties with differing architectural styles and a wealth of stone houses dating back to the 18th century, a set of locks and a quaint crossing erected by villagers to safeguard ducks from passing traffic.

Ducks that live on the River Welland at Deeping St James are important to the villagers who have received official permission to erect this sign at the roadside at the point where the birds like to cross. A tiny fairy tale thatched cottage at Deeping St James, looking like a slice of cake. The initials on the plaque over the door are probably those of the man who built it, together with the date and present name of the property: H.S. 1819 Clematis Cottage.

Water mills on the River Welland between Stamford and Market Deeping made it difficult for commercial traffic and merchants appealed to Queen Elizabeth I in 1571 to construct a new cut which would make the river navigable to the sea. The work was approved in 1620 and subsequently brought much prosperity to the Deepings with wharves, landing stages and jetties to handle cargoes often brought in by convoys of five barges at a time, each carrying twenty tons, and drawn by horses along the tow paths that can still be seen today. During the 19th century, the Baker family of Deeping St James owned five barges which were built in the yard of their house overlooking the river to the west of the bridge and the barge owner had a special protruding window built into the front of his house in order that he could sit in comfort and view his barges as they came along the river.

Near to the High Locks and overlooking the river is the Crown and Anchor public house, built of red brick and blue slate and dating back to the mid-19th century and so named because it was either built on Crown property or as a symbol of loyalty to the monarchy while the Anchor undoubtedly refers to the boating tradition along the River Welland nearby. There was an ale house on this site for centuries but the present pub was built in 1850. There have been many landlords although Arthur Penney, who was also a butcher and carpenter, kept it in 1871and his family were tenants for 75 years, the last being his daughter, Clara, who remained there until retiring in 1946. Tales abound in the village that more than one man was drowned after leaving the Crown and Anchor on dark and stormy nights and lost their footing as they staggered home across the river footbridge.

Another public house that once stood nearby was the Indian Queen, an old timber framed, stone and thatched property that was occupied by George William Gee, a harness and saddle maker in the early 19th century who also ran a brewhouse from the premises. Subsequent landlords also had other occupations and John York, who was mine host in 1881, ran a drapery and greengrocery business as well as the pub. The building was badly damaged by fire in October 1897 but re-opened after repairs and the last landlord was James Rippon who retired in 1910 when it became a private house. The property was completely rebuilt in 1973 when old papers found in the roof space revealed that the cottage was 500 years old.

In April 1880, the landlady of the Indian Queen was Mrs Frances Bellamy who was fined £3 with costs and her licence endorsed by Bourne magistrates for permitting drunkenness on the premises but she protested her innocence and was so distressed by the verdict that she went home and hanged herself in her bedroom with a silk handkerchief.
(See This Mortal Coil).

The Indian Queen

The Priory Church at Deeping St James was founded as part of a Benedictine Priory and consecrated in 1139. It is a church of unexpected size with an early 18th century tower and a spire that can be seen ten miles away. The porch is Early English and is adorned with a hood mould and dog-tooth decoration indicating a date between 1200 and 1300.

The church has an array of large Decorated windows but inside is a great surprise: a long transitional south arcade, seven bays long, of such grandeur that it has been described by Nikolaus Pevsner in his description of the church in Buildings of England: Lincolnshire as "astounding". This is the nave of the priory, botched up, knocked about but quite magnificent. Near the pulpit is a walled up arch, probably 11th century, and could have been intended as the entrance to a transept, a chapel or a covered way leading to the priory, while the pulpit itself was given in 1873 in memory of the Rev J M Cooper, by his widow.

There is also a comparatively new Roman Catholic church in the village, Our Lady and St Guthlac, officially opened in May 1969, a modern building which replaced the one in Chapel Lane. It was built at a cost of £25,000 and designed as a neighbourhood centre, the nave having a mono-pitched roof supported by a steel frame with laminated timber roof beams and an electronically operated bell built into a steel tower while the outside of the building is finished in hand-made facing bricks.

The baptismal font from the old church was brought in and renovated and there is room for 200 people. The previous church was once the private chapel of the Waterton family who lived at the Manor House in Deeping St James from 1877 until the Great War of 1914-18. It was a small building, built in 1880 in the grounds of the hall, and in the 1920s it became a school run by a religious brotherhood. When they left, it was used as an outhouse before becoming the village's Roman Catholic church.

PHOTO ALBUM

The 12th century Priory Church and the interior (below).


The house with the oriel window (left) and the Crown and Anchor (right), one of the hostelries alongside the River Welland although now closed.
DEEPING ST JAMES IN PAST TIMES

The High Locks photographed circa 1900

The lockup and the village church beyond in this postcard picture from circa 1910.

Bridge Street, Deeping St James, in 1910, with the Indian Queen public house on the extreme left.

Church Street from a picture postcard taken circa 1910.

The High Street, Deeping St James, pictured circa 1900, looking towards Market Deeping, with the Three Tuns public house, now demolished, on the right. Behind the wall on the left was the gasworks and the row of thatched cottages in the distance was pulled down to make way for the widening of Tinkers' Lane, now known as Godsey Lane.

Heavy rain during the summer of 1912 brought severe flooding to Deeping St James after the River Welland overflowed its banks, resulting in many streets being under water. Surrounding farmland was also affected on the eve the corn harvest with hundreds of acres becoming waterlogged, a reminder that we have no control over the weather and that the threat of inundation is always with us.

The Deeping Gate or pack horse bridge from a picture postcard circa 1920.

The River Welland at Deeping St James below the High Locks, from a picture postcard circa 1930.
	DEEPING MILL Deeping St James once had a tower mill used for grinding corn which stood on a site between what is now Hereward Way and Manor Way but was demolished in 1960. The tower mill is a type of vertical windmill consisting of a brick or stone tower on which sits a wooden cap or roof which can be rotated to bring the sails into the wind and was an important source of power for Europe for nearly 600 years from 1300-1900, so contributing to 25 per cent of the industrial power of all wind machines before the advent of the steam engine and coal power.

THE MAN WHO GAVE HIS NAME TO THE BUTTERFLY BUSH

The Rev Adam Buddle, a distinguished botanist, was born at Deeping St James in 1665 and studied theology at St Catherine's Hall, Cambridge, where he took a BA degree in 1681 followed by his MA in 1685. He became friendly with John Ray, also a theologian, who came from Black Notley near Braintree, Essex. Ray had written several books, some religious (The Wisdom of God) and some botanical (A Catalogue of English Plants, published in 1670), and was probably the first English taxonomist, that branch of biology concerned with the classification of organisms based on structure and origin. It was through his friendship with Ray that Buddle started on his quest of studying native mosses, grasses and plant species and soon established a reputation for his subject, being consulted by the experts of the time.
By 1696, he had married and was living at Hadleigh in Suffolk where his two children were baptised and in 1703, he was appointed rector of the parishes of North Farmbridge where he remained for many years. During this period, Buddle wrote and compiled an entirely new and complete reference work called English Flora in 1708, some three years after the death of John Ray. The book was never published but the manuscripts now form part of the Sloane collection at the Natural History Museum in London while the British Museum holds examples of his herbarium specimens. His work demonstrates accuracy, knowledge and diligence and it is therefore a great pity that his flora was never published.
Carolus Linnaeus (1701-78), the Swedish naturalist and founder of modern scientific nomenclature for plants and animals, subsequently named the species Buddleia, commonly known today as the butterfly bush because of its attraction for butterflies, in honour of Buddle's work in taxomony, notably Buddleia globosa, the first of many Buddleias to follow. Adam Buddle died on 15th April 1715, aged 50, at Gray's Inn, London, where he was a reader, and he is buried at St Andrew's Church, Holborn, London.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

A few days ago, William Mavom, roper and heckler, of Deeping St James, near Bourne, was found dead in a ditch between Market Deeping and Langtoft. Verdict: accidental death. - news report from the Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury, 13th December 1799.

Marriage: At Deeping St James on Tuesday last, Mr John Mills, cordwainer, to Miss Mary Love. This union drew together a numerous concourse of spectators, partly because of the circumstances of the lady having been asked out in church to another swain a few weeks previous (but her love growing cold, ere the knot was tied, the fine was paid and she was once more free) - and partly to the circumstances of the passing bell tolling them to church with a heavy knell and a dumb peal was rung after the conclusion of the nuptial ceremony. - news report from the Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury, 22nd December 1815.

Deaths: On Saturday se'nnight [seven nights ago], aged 32 years, Mrs Gee, wife of Mr William Gee, harness maker, of Deeping St James, and on the same day, Mrs Wright, wife of Mr Thomas Wright, farmer, of Deeping St James. It is remarkable that the marriages as well as the deaths of the above two persons took place on the same day. - news item from the Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury, 13th July 1832.

An old woman named Sarah Gamble died lately at Deeping St James after receiving relief from the parish for several years. In a search of her dwelling, was found the sum of seventy-five pounds in cash. - news item from the Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury, 10th January 1834.

Died at her daughter's at Market Deeping, Mrs Elizabeth Taylor, aged 87 years. She had generally appeared a wretchedly needy creature although it has been discovered that she concealed property about her person to a considerable amount. - news item from the Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury, 23rd May 1834.

REVISED JUNE 2016