On the river Welland, on the southern borders of Lincolnshire, sit the Deepings: Market Deeping, Deeping St. James, West Deeping and Deeping St. Nicholas. Originally part of an Anglo Saxon settlement these are now thriving communities with many beautiful old buildings.

A boat house in Deeping St. James is thought to have belonged to the priory that existed there between 1134 and 1534.

The Church of St. James has little of the original priory features but is a fine building with an elegant spire. St Guthlac Church in Market Deeping still retains some of its Anglo Saxon features and has a tower that was built with money donated by Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII.

There is the fine church of St. Andrew at West Deeping and the remains of a water mill (now a private dwelling). There are the remains of two locks on the river in Deeping St. James. These formed part of a navigation of the river Welland that was constructed in the 17th century. This, together with a six-and-a-half-mile canal that connected the Deepings with Stamford, carried many boats and resulted in much wealth for the merchants of the Deepings. The Stamford canal was in use from 1673 until 1863 and was probably the earliest, post-Roman commercial canal in England.

Where to Visit in and around The Deepings...