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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 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 One of the most interesting buildings at Deeping St James is the old Baptist chapel, now a private house. In 1838, the vicar, the Rev Frederick Tryon, decided rather late in the day that he could not accept the Church of England's ancient teaching regarding infant baptism and he took drastic action by ordering building materials for the construction of a new chapel. As the building went up in Bridge Street on a site overlooking the River Welland, his parishioners thought at first that a new vicarage was intended but eventually discovered that it was a Particular Baptist foundation and it was opened the following year.
On 18th December 1840, a local newspaper reported a mass baptism by total immersion of Baptist members in the River Welland that excited tremendous interest in the neighbourhood. The report noted that the Reverend Tryon had seceded from the Church of England and had become a dissenter and Miss Florence Day, in her book History of the Deepings, records that he was a remarkable man in many respects who not only started his own school but also stuck to his little church, his active connection only ceasing on his death in 1903 when in his 90th year although long after that, his daughter could be seen going about her business around the Deepings on her tricycle. The chapel has recently been sold and tastefully converted for use as a private residence but a stone tablet over the main door bearing the opening date 1839 and the Latin motto Cave Adullam or Beware of Flattery has been retained. 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.
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 also This Mortal Coil).
The pack horse bridge was built over the River Welland at Deeping St James in 1651. It has three
segmental arches, all nearly semi-circular in shape with triple arch rings
built in three orders, an unusual feature but one found in several bridges
built in the 17th century. The middle arch has a brick vault and appears
to have been partially rebuilt. The roadway is 13 feet wide but there are
recesses or alcoves over each of the cut-waters where, as the name implies, horses loaded with goods could wait to enable carts and carriages pass for this bridge was built only for the horse drawn-traffic
before the advent of the internal combustion engine. The bridge links the village with Deeping Gate and although there is insufficient room for two cars to pass,
it carries an increasing number of vehicles each day which has necessitated strengthening work to be carried out on the stonework in recent years although a weight restriction now operates to prevent it from being used by heavy vans and lorries.
There is another photograph of the bridge taken from the other side in
August 2003.
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. The church also contains a rare graveside shelter, made of wood and reputedly used by the parson to keep dry during rainy burial services. This artefact is also worthy of a mention by Pevsner and was better known as a funeral hudd. It was in fact a portable, covered canopy rather like a sentry box, that was moved to the graveside to protect the priest from inclement weather during the service at the graveside, probably by the verger assisted by strong lads from the village because they were very heavy and needed at least two people to lift them with the two sets of handles provided on either side. They originated in Georgian times and were peculiar to the fens. Several others survive as exhibits in various parish churches in South Lincolnshire apart from Deeping St James, including Quadring, Friskney and Donington, and another at Pickbeck dated 1725. There has however been much speculation over whether these hudds were ever used. Would the parson, for instance, who was usually a comparatively young man, have taken cover while elderly ladies stood out in the rain or would he have invited them to come inside the hudd? 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. The Waterton family who lived here are only remembered today by the Waterton Arms, a public house in the main street whose sign carries their crest, but perhaps that is as it should be because their claim to early connections with the Deepings in centuries past is a tenuous one and owes more to fiction than fact.
REVISED MARCH 2005 See also the Deeping Lockup & The Exotic Pet Refuge
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