Lock 10, Thorpe’s Mill, was the last one on the Stamford Canal. (or the first!) It was constructed between the road and the mill to bypass the mill-stream and a bridge would have been necessary to get to the mill.
Just below the mill the main arm of the River Welland rejoined the mill stream and continued down past the Market Deeping wharves, under the Peterborough road bridge and on towards Deeping St James High Lock and the weir there.
Obviously the horses would have been hard pressed to pull the lighters on this stretch due to the flow of water against them, so they probably only pulled 2 at a time until going through the lock when one horse could pull 4. Then the second horse would go back for more.
From the tonnage reports, there must have been a steady flow of barges up and down daily between Stamford and Deeping St James, dropping off and picking up goods at most villages and mills along the way.
Some old pictures of the Market Deeping wharves below Thorpe’s Mill have been found!
A quiet day down by the wharf above the main road bridge
Messing about on the river
The same scene above and below, looking downstream in 2020!
This bridge was actually built just as the canal was closing!
< Back Lock 10 at Thorpe’s Mill, Market Deeping
The Stamford Canal << The earliest proper canal in England? <<
