The Stamford Canal book - Preface
IIn the autumn of 1992 Tony Hurley, community archaeologist for South Kesteven in Lincolnshire, was obliged to visit an extensive site on the north bank of the River Welland just to the east of Stamford. A planning application had been received asking for permission to turn the riverside fields into a golf course. Tony Hurley found 'archaeological features' and signs of earthworks on the site which seemed to be the relics of a canal, Tony, a supporter of the newly established Grantham Archaeological Group (GAG) described to their members, what he had seen and suggested that it might be of interest to the Group.
The leader of GAG at that time, Garland Grylls (a retired architect), who had earlier set up the Grantham Canal Society (later to become the Grantham Canal Restoration Society), had developed an interest in the history of early canals and the details of their structures. During the course of his studies into the subject, Garland and the Grantham Canal Society had examined various documents. One of these documents was a survey, prepared in 1810, by B. Bevan. Using this document, held in the county Archives offices at Lincoln, the Grantham Canal Group were able to trace the remains of the canal between Stamford and Market Deeping and the River Welland navigation in Deeping St. James.
The Bevan survey also showed the route of a proposed canal from Market Harborough to the Wash with a branch to the River Welland at Spalding. This venture, which was never developed, included the incorporation of the existing canal from Stamford to Market Deeping. At the time that Garland had originally studied Bevan's survey he had not known of the existence of the Stamford Canal. He had assumed that it, too, was a future project to extend the spread of the new canals through the industrialized midlands of England.
Garland was rescued from his erroneous thinking when Barry Barton, a chartered Civil Engineer and Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Panel for Historical Engineering Works, who was already interested in the Stamford Canal, pointed out that a petition had been submitted to the Crown by the people of Stamford in the sixteenth century. The petition asked for permission to improve the navigation of the River Welland either by the removal of the watermills that had been built between Stamford and Market Deeping or creating of a new cut from Stamford to Market Deeping to bypass the watermills. A 'Navigation Act' was indeed signed by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571.
Putting this information together with that from Tony Hurley, GAG decided to investigate the Stamford Canal further and, on 23rd August 1992, a small group of members set out on the first of four walks that were to be taken over the next couple of years. The Group looked forward to the prospect of a gentle but serious investigation into this recently discovered canal. This first walk allowed them to see most of the route of the canal from Stamford to Market Deeping. They later followed the course of the River Welland downstream through two further locks in Deeping St. James.
Garland Grylls later brought the Stamford Canal to the attention of 'Deepings Heritage', a Civic Society based in the Deepings. The people of the Deepings had been aware of the canal's existence for generations. The existence of the two weirs and adjacent lock pens, in the river in Deeping St. James, has been a constant reminder to the residents of both Market Deeping and Deeping St. James. Elderly local residents have said that their parents have told of the days, in the late 19th, early 20th century when strings of barges came up river, through Deeping St. James to Market Deeping. The remains of the Stamford Canal itself along the A16, to the west of Market Deeping, are a continual reminder of the existence of the canal. This book will, we hope, ensure that the history of this historic waterway is also in the public domain.
Together with Garland and others, Deepings Heritage formed a small group to collate the research, of the various people interested, with a view to publishing a book about the Stamford Canal, its inception and demise. We are grateful lor the research of Garland Grylls; Cheryl Gallimore; Richard Platt; Barry Barton and Brian Jones. Others later provided information to help us to complete this book. They include Ken Otter, Keith Simpson and Geoffrey Lawrance. Modern photographs have been the work of Keith Simpson who also brought together the various pieces of research and edited them into this book.
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