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West Deeping

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Archives & Libraries

  • Stamford Library
  • High Street
  • Stamford, Lincs, PE9 2BB
  • Tele: 01780 763442
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Cemeteries

  • A small cemetery of only a quarter acre was formed in 1883 in the north-west of the village. It was under the control of the Burial Board of the Parish Council.
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Census

  • The parish was in the Barnack sub-district of the Stamford Registration District.
  • Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
  • The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year
Piece No.
1841H.O. 107 / 617
1851H.O. 107 / 2094
1861R.G. 9 / 2314
1871R.G. 10 / 3310
1881R.G. 11 / 3194
1891R.G. 12 / 2554
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew.
  • The church is built of stone, in a 14th century style.
  • The church was restored in 1874-7.
  • There is a photograph of St. Andrew's Church on the Wendy PARKINSON web site.
  • David HITCHBORNE has a photograph of St. Andrew's Church on Geo-graph, taken in August, 2013.
  • Here is a photo of St. Andrew's Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):

 

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Church Records

  • Parish registers exist from 1657, but I.G.I. entries go back to 1562.
  • The parish is in the Aveland and Ness Deanery and marriage indexes are available.
  • The Independents built a small chapel here. For information and assistance in researching this church, see our non-conformist religions page.
  • Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Barnack sub-district of the Stamford Registration District.
  • Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration beginning in July 1837.
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Description & Travel

West Deeping is both a village and parish 90 miles north of London. They are between Stamford and Market Deeping on the A16 trunk road. The parish is bounded on the west side by Tallington parish and on the east by Market Deeping. The area is about 1,200 acres of flat fenland, drained by many small canals and the River Welland.

Sadie Newman has offered to provide census and parish register lookups for West Deeping on a "time available" basis.

The village sits on the north bank of the River Welling. If you are planning a visit:

You can see pictures of West Deeping which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

From the Stamford Mercury newspaper, the week of 6 Jul 2001:

"Blink and you would miss West Deeping, which would be a pity. Although this tiny village may have less than a 100 homes it has a fascinating history. West Deeping is little more than a main Road- the old Roman causeway -Ling Street. There has been a settlement in West Deeping since prehistoric times and it is also recorded in the Doomsday book.

In 1841, records show that there were no fewer than 42 agricultural labourers living in the village along with three shoemakers, a tailor, dressmaker, butcher, baker, a couple of wheelwrights and carpenters, two grocers, millers and four stone mason! Forty years later there was still a similar number of trades' people and near to the Red Lion pub - one of three in the village at the time - was the post office and a grocers shop.

Ten years on again, and there was still the butcher, blacksmith, millers, shoemakers and a laundress. The general store keeper also baked bread and kept the post office; the number of agricultural labourers was declining. The businesses gradually closed and even the village store and post office shut up shop in 1991. Now residents either shop in nearby Stamford or Market Deeping or rely on regular visits from mobile produce sellers.

At the spiritual heart of the village is St Andrew's Church that dates back at least 750 years.

If you want to know more on this West Deeping, you may be interested to know that a local villager, Virginia Hall has just published a book that she has spent five years researching called " A portrait of West Deeping". She is selling the book, according to the article, from her home at Rose cottage, King Street, West Deeping at a cost of £9.00.

Brian GREEN has a photograph of Maxey Mill on Geo-graph, taken in January, 2007.

Paul BRAGG has a photograph of The Red Lion Inn on Geo-graph, taken in May, 2009.

Here are the proprietors of The Red Lion shown in various Directories:

YearPerson
1842William GOODLEY, vict.
1868William CHERRY, farmer
1872William CHERRY, vict.
1882Charles SWIFT, vict.
1900Alfred Wortley BRIGHTMAN
1913Frederick THORPE
1919Robert GOODLIFFE
1930Robert GOODLIFFE
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference TF109086 (Lat/Lon: 52.663783, -0.361633), West Deeping which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

  • The name Deeping is from the Old English Deoping, or "Deep or Low place". In the 1086 Domesday Book, the village is given as West Depinge.
    A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991.
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in county Lincoln and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
  • The parish was in the ancient Ness Wapentake in the South Kesteven district in the parts of Kesteven.
  • For today's district governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.
  • On 1 April, 1931, this Civil Parish was reduced in size by 129 acres given to Langtoft Civil Parish.
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • The common land was enclosed here in 1813.
  • In 1816, Richard FIGG left the interest of £17 13s. and 4d to be distributed to the poor in bread.
  • In 1881, the poor had 10 acres of land and three cottages.
  • Bastardy cases were heard in the Bourne petty session hearings.
  • See our Stamford Poor Law Union page.
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Population

YearInhabitants
1801216
1831301
1841306
1871328
1881285
1891265
1901318
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Schools

  • In 1881, Miss SHAW was the local schoolmistress.
  • See our Schools page for more information on researching school records.