Deeping (St. James)

DEEPING (St. James), a parish, in the union of Bourne, wapentake of Ness, parts of Kesteven, county of Lincoln, ¾ of a mile (E.) from Market-Deeping; containing 1733 inhabitants. This place is of considerable antiquity, and in 1139 a convent of Benedictine monks was founded here by Baldwin Wac or Wake, and dedicated to St. James, as a cell to Thorney Abbey, as part of which establishment, it was in the 32nd of Henry VIII. granted to Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. The parish is situated on the river Welland, which is navigable for small craft: the lands were subject to the frequent inundations of the river, but have, at a very great expense, been secured from encroachment. The number of acres by measurement is 3968; the principal part is in a very profitable state of cultivation. In the village is an ancient stone cross, the pedestal of which is about twelve feet square, and decorated in the panelled faces with armorial bearings; in 1819, it was converted into a lock-up house. The highways, bridges, &c., are repaired from the proceeds of a trust estate bequeathed in the reign of Edward VI., by Robert Tyghe, for these and for charitable purposes. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 19. 9½.; net income, £191; patron and impropriator, Sir T. Whichcote, Bart.: the glebe contains 74½ acres. The church, originally a chapel, erected by the monks of Croyland Abbey, and made parochial by Richard de Rulos, is a handsome edifice with a tower surmounted by a spire. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a national school is supported by part of the proceeds of the trust estate, which produces about £200 per annum. At the eastern end of the village is a chalybeate spring, strongly impregnated.