The Beginning of a Post

St Guthlac's Church, Market Deeping

I find myself ill again and raging against the rather frail shell I live in. I had intended to write a blogpost for January but time and energy have both escaped me. There are plenty of things I wanted to research and write about but I have not been able. Instead, I am leaving myself a note - a springboard from which I can begin my next blogpost.

After researching the oldest buildings in the Soke of Peterborough (a really interesting journey - see the other blogposts) I'm going to turn my attention to the Deepings. The area sits to the north of the River Welland and starts at West Deeping, heading east through Market Deeping, Deeping St James and Deeping St Nicholas, gobbling up older, smaller locations like Frognall, Towngate and Hop Hole as it spreads out across Deeping Fen. There is some fascinating history sitting in the silted land, from large Roman engineering in the west, to a priory and a (relatively) recently dried up lake covering much of the land to the east (see the blogpost on Deeping Fen).

I'm going to be searching for the oldest buildings in the area, but also some of the oldest features. This will include a little bit of the Roman engineering, medieval crosses, and buildings that have features in them that appear older than the building itself. Researching this will take time and brain power, which I have in short supply at present, but if I set myself the task I will get there eventually.

My prediction is that the churches of West Deeping, Market Deeping and Deeping St James are all the oldest buildings in the area (all worth visiting but West Deeping really stands out for me). I suspect the old cottage with the blue plaque on Church Street Market Deeping is one of the oldest domestic buildings in the area but there are some beautiful old buildings in West Deeping and two or three old mills to check out too, and I would be thrilled to find an unexpectedly old feature hiding in plain sight.

So if you're reading this and you know (or suspect) there is an old house or feature near you in the Deeping area, do drop me a message below or email me.

The image below is one of the hidden features in the centre of Market Deeping. It contains an old doorways and windows and a dated wooden beam!

Both images belong to the author