Deeping St Nicholas

Deeping Fen is a low-lying area in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England, which covers approximately 47 square miles (120 km2). It is bounded by the River Welland and the River Glen, and is extensively drained, but the efficient drainage of the land exercised the minds of several of the great civil engineers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Drainage schemes were first authorised during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but from 1632, a group of adventurers took control of the drainage, in return for which they were granted land. They faced the problem that the outfalls of the River Welland and the River Glen were not sufficiently low to enable proper drainage by gravity, and most schemes included improvement to the rivers. John Perry, an engineer of some repute, who had set the standard for engineering reports in 1727, began work in 1730, and was followed by John Grundy, Sr., a pioneer in applying scientific principles to civil engineering problems. His son, John Grundy, Jr., was another capable engineer, who was retained as a consultant after he resigned as full-time Surveyor of Works. In 1800 the civil engineers William Jessop and John Rennie assisted local engineers with plans for improvements, the chief of which was for a steam pumping station. This plan was not implemented immediately, but two steam engines fitted with scoop wheels were installed at Pode Hole in 1823. The pumping station was the largest in the Fens at the time, and remained so for many years. Steam gradually gave way to diesel engines and scoop wheels were replaced by centrifugal pumps, and the diesel engines were then replaced by electric motors. However, the beam engine and scoop wheel at Pinchbeck Marsh, which ran from 1833 to 1952, was not scrapped, and can be visited by the public. From 1801 the fen was managed by trustees, appointed under the terms of an act of Parliament obtained in that year, and this remained the case until 1939 when the administrative structure was replaced by the Welland & Deepings Internal Drainage Board.

Littleworth railway station is a former railway station in Deeping St Nicholas, Lincolnshire, on the Peterborough to Lincoln Line. It opened in 1848 and was closed for passengers in 1961.Some of the station buildings and goods shed are still standing and are used as commercial premises. The line is still open and is used by passenger services between Peterborough, Spalding and Lincoln.

Hop Pole is a hamlet in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Deeping St James and Deeping St Nicholas, and on the A1175 Littleworth Drove road. No separate population statistic is available for Hop Pole. The best available report is for the whole Deeping St Nicholas civil parish with a total of 1323 people within 505 dwellings. There are approximately 40 homes in Hop Pole, around 105 people pro-rata. Hop Pole falls within the drainage area of the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board. Hop Pole had three pubs: The Oat Sheaf Inn (closed 1957 and since demolished), The Blue Bell Inn (closed 2012 and now a motorhome stop-over site) and the Hop Pole Inn (closed in 1928 following the death of its long-serving landlord, Charles Stainsby).

North Drove railway station was a station serving Pode Hole in Lincolnshire, England. It was on the route of the Spalding and Bourne Railway (opened 1866), later part of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway.

Pode Hole is a village in South Holland, Lincolnshire, England. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) from Spalding and a similar distance from Bourne. The village lies at the confluence of several drainage channels, where two pumping stations discharge water into Vernatt's Drain from land in Deeping Fen to the South and West. Water from Pinchbeck South Fen to the North is also lifted into Vernatt's Drain. The village arose to service the pumping stations. The village is largely a ribbon development stretching from the pumping stations and the Fishermans Arms public house along Bourne Road toward Spalding. The village post office and small shop is now also a bed and breakfast, and an outside catering service. No separate population statistic is available for Pode Hole. The best available report is for the whole Pinchbeck civil parish, which covers several settlements north and east of Spalding with a total of 5,153. At the 2011 census population details can be found under the civil parish of Pinchbeck. The name may well be a reference to a marshy location, possibly with a population of frogs and toads. Pode Hole farm, near Thorney probably derives its name the same way. Pode Hole has one of the earliest rain gauge records of precipitation, beginning in 1726.Pode Hole falls within the drainage area of the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board, successors to the original Deeping Fen commissioners.

South Holland is a local government district of Lincolnshire, England. The council is based in Spalding. Other notable towns and villages include Crowland, Sutton Bridge, Donington, Holbeach and Long Sutton. The district is named after the historical division of Lincolnshire known as the Parts of Holland. The neighbouring districts are Boston, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, Peterborough, Fenland and King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

Stowgate is a small settlement in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately 2 miles (3 km) north-east from Deeping St James, and is linked to the Deepings group of villages. Stowgate contains very few houses, most of which are farmhouses. The settlement grew up around Stowgate Farm – the farmhouse of which still exists – which was divided into a number of smaller farms intended to provide housing and agricultural land for those who contributed to war effort. These farms still exist. Stowgate contains a Bernard Matthews turkey farm.

Spalding was a rural district in Holland in Lincolnshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Spalding rural sanitary district. Spalding itself constituted a separate urban district. It was expanded in 1932 under a County Review Order, by including Crowland Rural District (which consisted of a single parish). It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, going on to form part of the South Holland district.

Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. Latin: Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland contains two sites of historical interest, Crowland Abbey and Trinity Bridge.

The New River is a drainage system in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. Rising just east of Sisson's Farm near Crowland it flows very roughly eastwards, following the general line of the River Welland but a little to the south. It skirts the settlements of Crowland and Cowbit before flowing into the Welland at Cradge Bank near Little London. The land enclosed between the Welland and the New River is referred to as Washland, Crowland Wash and Cowbit Wash being the principal areas. Washland was designed to be sacrificially flooded as a relief of high river levels. The current land usage, and the rights of the drainage authorities to flood it can be traced back at least to an act of parliament of George III, and amended in 1847. The arrangement is not theoretical. Cowbit Wash was flooded annually to protect Spalding until the creation of the Coronation Channel allowed excess water to bypass the town. Even now the option to overspill onto the Wash is available.Although it is customary to say the washes lie between the Welland and the New River, it is more accurate to say that there is an extra bank to the Welland to the south of the New River. It is this bank that restrains the spreading floodwaters: the New River lies in the bottom of this basin to remove the waters. This earthen bank can be seen on the left of the Cloot House photograph above. The availability of a suitable geological feature on which to build this bank determined the shape of the washes, and its location can be traced back through antiquity. To quote Wheeler: The right bank of the Welland between Crowland and Spalding is placed at a distance from the channel of the river varying from a quarter to half a mile leaving an area of about 2500 acres which is covered with water whenever the Welland is in flood. The depth of water in this land in high floods is as much as 5 feet. Originally, no doubt, the land by the side of the Wellland was little better than a Morass, and the banks were placed on the nearest firm ground.

Trinity Bridge is a unique three-way stone arch bridge that stands at the heart of Crowland, Lincolnshire, England. While it once spanned the confluence of the River Welland and a tributary, the rivers have been re-routed, and it now spans nothing significant.

Crowland Abbey (historically often spelled Croyland Abbey; Latin: Croilandia) is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building.