Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The main town had a population of 30,556 at the 2021 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town is between the cities of Peterborough and Lincoln.
The Spalding Flower Parade was held annually from 1959 to 2013, and has been held again each year since 2022. The parade celebrates the region's large tulip production and the cultural links between the Fens and the landscape and people of South Holland. At one time, it attracted crowds of more than 100,000.
History Ancient Archaeological excavations at Wygate Park in Spalding have shown that there has been occupation in this area from at least the Roman period, when this part of Lincolnshire was used for the production of salt. It was a coastal siltland. At Wygate Park salt-making seems to have come to an end by the mid-7th century BC climatic change and flooding may have made such activities difficult, causing the practice to die out.
The settlement's name is derived from an Anglian tribe, the Spaldingas, who settled in the area during the 6th century. They may have retained their administrative independence within the Kingdom of Mercia into the late 9th century, when Stamford became one of the Five Boroughs of the East Midlands under Danish control after years of invasion and occupation.
Domesday Book Spalding was a settlement mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, in the hundred of Elloe and the county of Lincolnshire. It had a recorded population of 91 households in 1086, putting it in the largest 20% of settlements recorded in Domesday, and is listed under 3 owners in Domesday Book.
Land of Crowland (St Guthlac), abbey of Households: 7 villagers. 4 smallholders. Land and resources Ploughland: 1.5 ploughlands. 3 men's plough teams. Valuation: Annual value to lord: 1 pound in 1086; 1 pound in 1066. Other information Phillimore reference: Lincolnshire 11,2
Land of Ivo Tallboys Households: 40 villagers. 33 smallholders. Land and resources Ploughland: 9 ploughlands. 4 lord's plough teams. 13 men's plough teams. Other resources: 6 fisheries. 2 salthouses. Valuation: Annual value to lord: 30 pounds in 1086; 23 pounds 2 shillings and 7 pence in 1066. Other information Phillimore reference: Lincolnshire 14,97
Land of Guy of Craon Households: 5 villagers. 2 smallholders. Land and resources Ploughland: 1 lord's plough teams. 1 men's plough teams. Other resources: 2 salthouses. Valuation: Annual value to lord: 2 pounds in 1086; 2 pounds in 1066. Other information Phillimore reference: Lincolnshire 57,54
Victorian Era In John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887), Spalding was described as a: market town and par. with ry. sta., Lincolnshire, on River Welland, 14 m. SW. of Boston, 12,070 ac., pop. 9260; P.O., T.O., three Banks, two newspapers. Market-day, Tuesday. Spalding is an important railway centre, while the river has been made navigable to the town for vessels of from 50 to 70 tons. It is in a rich agricultural district, and has a large trade, by river and by rail, in corn, wool, coal, and timber. It has also flour, bone, and sawmills, breweries, and coach works. There are remains of a priory of 1501, a fine old church (restored 1860), a grammar school, a corn exchange, and a spacious market place.
Second World War Around 5,000 children were evacuated to the town in 1939; 116 London County Council teachers came with the children. Around 400 children stayed until the end of the war. The worst raid was in the early hours of Monday 12 May 1941, with 5 people killed; 14 high explosive bombs hit Bicker, Lincolnshire on the same night, but not one exploded. Another raid was on the afternoon of Sunday 2 August 1942, with much damage but no-one was killed. These were the town's only two serious raids, with 34 high explosive bombs on the town, and 116 in the wider Spalding area.Peterborough Standard Friday October 1944, page 4
River Welland
Draining of the Fens
The River Welland flows north from Crowland, through Spalding and passing the village and port of Fosdyke before leading out to the Wash, bisecting Spalding from east to west; the town has developed as a linear settlement around the river. Land had been reclaimed from the wetlands in the area since mediaeval times, and Spalding was subject to frequent flooding. The Coronation Channel, opened in 1953, diverted the excess waters around Spalding and ended the flooding. The area around the banks has been developed for residential and business use. Although this area has become heavily built up, there is much recreational use of the river and fishing is still popular.
Water Taxi
In July 2005 a "Spalding Water Taxi" service was launched, running from Easter to late October. Its route is from just off Spalding's High Street, upstream along the river, turning into the Coronation Channel, and then to Springfields Outlet Shopping & Leisure, and back. It is mainly used as a recreational tourist attraction.
Vernatt's Drain
Around the northwest of Spalding is a large waterway called Vernatt's Drain, named after one of the Adventurers who drained the Fens in the 17th century. Philibert Vernatti was made a baronet on 7 June 1643.
A South Holland council nature reserve is situated on part of the old Boston railway line at Vernatts Drain. The Drain runs from the pumping station at Pode Hole to Surfleet Seas End.
Fulney Lock is the point where the Welland is no longer tidal. Spalding falls within the drainage area of the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board.
Demography The town (including the large village of Pinchbeck, to the north and the hamlet of Little London to the south) had a population of about 31,588 at the 2011 census and an estimated population of 36,737 in 2020 according to government data.
In the past concerns have been expressed about the exploitation of farm and industrial workers from eastern Europe, as well as increased pressure on local services as a result of unplanned population increase; in 2007 the local MP, Mark Simmonds, said that "the real scale [of modern slavery in the area] is unknown, but it is out of control".
Healthcare The Johnson Hospital, named after prominent local figures, the Johnson family of Ayscoughfee Hall, is in Spalding. The maternity ward was closed in the 1990s, and it served as a casualty hospital. The elderly and care patients were cared for at the Welland Hospital. Limits on expansion due to the historic nature of the building and space limitations (it is in a densely developed area) and lack of funding are causing financial trouble for the hospital and it relocated in 2000 to a new site in the town.
A new nurse-led hospital was built in 2009 off Pinchbeck Road in the north of the town, near the Pinchbeck Industrial Estate. The hospital is known as "The Johnson Community Hospital", keeping the historic connection with the Johnson family. The Princess Royal formally opened the new hospital in January 2010. This has drawn facilities from existing scattered sites into a modern central unit. The Johnson Hospital has 32 in-patient beds in the Welland Ward, including the four beds of the Tulip Suite for palliative care. There are two major local doctors' surgeries: Munro Medical Centre, West Elloe Avenue, and the relocated Church Street Surgery at Beechfield Medical Centre in Beechfield Gardens. Smaller surgeries are in surrounding villages.
The nearest major acute hospitals to Spalding are the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston (18 miles north) and Peterborough City Hospital in Peterborough (22 miles south-west).
Education
Primary schools Ayscoughfee Hall - a private school, situated near the river Spalding Parish Church of England Day School- Clay Lake St John the Baptist School (C of E) - Hawthorn BankA school with close links with St John's Church - St John the Baptist School St Norbert's Roman Catholic Primary School - Tollgate Monkshouse Primary - Pennygate St Paul's Primary - Queen's Road Spalding Primary School - Woolram Wygate Wygate Park Academy - Witham Road
Secondary schools Spalding's two secondary modern schools (11-16) were the Gleed Boys' School and the Gleed Girls' Technology College. In 2012 they were combined as the Sir John Gleed School (now called Spalding Academy). On leaving Sir John Gleed School, many pupils transferred to nearby sixth forms or attended Boston College or New College Stamford, which both have Further Education centres in the town. In 2016, South Lincolnshire Academies Trust (SLAT) took over management of the Sir John Gleed School from CFBT, and it was renamed Spalding Academy.
The town's state grammar schools (still selective by eleven-plus exam) are Spalding Queen Elizabeth Royal Free Grammar School (11-16 for boys) and Spalding High School (11-16 for girls), both of which have mixed sixth forms (16-18).
There are also schools for children with special learning needs: formerly these were the Priory School (for those with mild to moderate learning difficulties) and the Garth School (for those with more demanding educational needs) however in 2022 they merged as Tulip Academy.
Sixth Form Colleges A vocational 6th form was established and launched in September 2008 as part of the Gleed Campus. It is not an automatic transition as with other schools in the area, like the Grammar, High, and the Deepings however Spalding Academy currently has no sixth form although pupils from Spalding Academy can and do transfer to the Grammar and High for A-Levels or Bourne Academy part of the same .
Industry and commerce
Flowers and vegetables
Spalding is located at the centre of a major region of flower and vegetable cultivation, due to the rich silty soil, which mainly comprises drained, recovered marshland or estuary. There are many garden centres and plant nurseries, as well as a thriving agricultural industry and various vegetable packing plants. The main vegetables are potatoes, peas, carrots, wheat, barley, oats, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts. The vast majority of these are sold to large concerns such as supermarkets, with little being available for sale locally.
Tulips
Known as The Heart of the Fens, Spalding has been long famous as a centre of the bulb industry. It has had close links with the Netherlands (origin of the Geest family, who were former major local employers).
The annual Tulip Parade took place on the first Saturday in May, from 1959 and was a major tourist attraction. Its procession of floats on various themes, was each decorated with tulip petals, a by-product of the bulb industry. In years when the tulips are late, daffodils or hyacinths were sometimes used in their place. When the tulips were early, crepe paper had to be substituted. The flower industry has become less important since the early 21st century. The bands of brightly coloured tulip fields in bloom in spring that covered the fenland have decreased markedly. At its peak, the Parade attracted more than 100,000 visitors, but by 2012, fewer than 40,000 attended. That year, the Lincolnshire County Council and South Holland District Council announced they would not fund the parade beyond 2013."Spalding Flower Parade held for last time", BBC News, 4 May 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013
Spalding was chosen to host the World Tulip Summit in 2008, alongside a broader "Tulipmania" festival which coincided with the date of the fiftieth Flower Parade.
The Spalding Tulip Parade was revived in 2023 by Stephen Timewell and many volunteers, and paid for through crowdfunding.
Main companies FESA UK Ltd: Based in Spalding since the late 1980s, are fresh produce importers and packers, part of the Spanish cooperative group Anecoop. They provide employment to a large proportion of the local population at their 130,000 square foot (12,000 m2) facilities in Clay Lake.