:Spalding Common
{{Short description|Area near Spalding in Lincolnshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| official_name = Spalding Common
| coordinates = {{coord|52.761744|-0.180551|display=inline,title}}
| map_type = Lincolnshire
| static_image_name =
| static_image_caption =
| population =
| population_ref =
| shire_district = South Holland
| shire_county = Lincolnshire
| region = East Midlands
| constituency_westminster = South Holland and The Deepings
| civil_parish = Unparished
| post_town = SPALDING
| postcode_district = PE11
| postcode_area = PE
| dial_code =
| os_grid_reference =
| london_distance_mi = 95
| london_direction = S
| type =
}}
Spalding Common is an area south-west of Spalding in Lincolnshire, England, near Little London. Part of Deeping Fen, it includes farmland that was drained following parliamentary enclosure in 1801. Along its eastern edge, suburban housing has emerged since the late 19th century. Residents are served by a community hall, which opened in 1956. A primary school, Goodfellows School, operated from 1871 to 2004, and there was a baptist chapel at the Common from 1870 to 1966.
History
= Prehistory =
Remains of an Iron Age and Roman settlement, including a small cemetery, were discovered on a site at Spalding Common during housing development in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Rush |first=Richard |date=2024-08-07 |title='Small cemetery' among Iron Age and Roman discoveries at new build site - The Voice |url=https://spaldingvoice.co.uk/small-cemetery-among-iron-age-and-roman-discoveries-at-new-build-site/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |language=en-GB}}
= Fenland =
Spalding Common is part of Deeping Fen.Neil Wright, Spalding: An Industrial History, 2nd ed. (Lincoln: Society of Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, 1975), pp. 25–26.W. H. Wheeler, A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire (Boston : J.M. Newcomb; 1868; repr. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 121. Another section of Deeping Fen had been enclosed and partly drained in the 17th century by a group called the Adventurers, but the common lands north-east of this, by Spalding and Pinchbeck, remained undrained and unenclosed; until the beginning of the 19th century, part of Spalding Common was used as a reservoir for water drained from other parts of the Deeping Fen.David Grigg, The Agricultural Revolution in South Lincolnshire, Cambridge Studies in Economic History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966), p. 30.
Spalding Common was enclosed by an Act of Parliament in 1801.W. H. Wheeler, A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire (Boston : J.M. Newcomb; 1868; repr. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 36. This was part of a wider process of enclosure and draining of the common lands around Deeping Fen; Spalding Common was the first of these lands to be fenced and drained, with portions sold off to pay for later works. On the edge of the Common, Little London emerged as a settlement along the turnpike road to Deeping. In 1848 the Common was described as "a large tract of inclosed fen ... now well drained and in a profitable state of cultivation".[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp156-159 "Spalding–Spexhall"], in A Topographical Dictionary of England, 7th ed. (London: S. Lewis, 1848), pp. 156–159. Late-19th-century Ordnance Survey maps show that Spalding Common was south-west of the built-up area of Spalding and west of the River Welland.Ordnance Survey, [https://maps.nls.uk/view/101591351 "Lincolnshire Sheet CXLII.NW"], Six-Inch Map of England and Wales, Surveyed: 1887, Published: 1888. Retrieved 28 January 2024 – via National Library of Scotland.
= Housing and amenities =
By 1892, housing had emerged in the area.{{Cite book |last=Pratt |first=Edwin A. |url=https://archive.org/details/transitioninagri00pratuoft |title=The Transition in Agriculture |publisher=John Murray |year=1906 |location=London |pages=280}} In 1924, Spalding Urban District Council purchased land at Spalding Common to build 22 council houses,{{Cite news |date=5 January 1924 |title=Housing at Spalding |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004144/19240105/073/0006 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Guardian |page=6 |quote=Sanction has been received for the erection of thirty houses, and this week the Council decided to purchase land at Spalding Common from Coun. J. J. Chilvers. Plans have not yet been presented, but it is hoped that the twenty-two houses to be erected will be let at a rental which will not impose a very heavy burden upon the tenants.}} of which 20 were completed by 1925.{{Cite news |date=9 May 1925 |title='Chancellor's' Lucid Statement and Review |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004144/19250509/052/0005 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Guardian |page=5 |quote=I think that when we remember the Spalding Common Scheme is nearing completion that we may claim to be progressive in housing matters...}}{{Cite news |date=4 July 1925 |title=Danger Signals for Spalding Common |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004144/19250704/105/0007 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Guardian |pages=7 |quote=Coun. Chilvers called attention to an important matter at Spalding Common, where there were twenty new houses built,...}} Another housing development, at Goodfellows Road, was completed in 1939.{{Cite news |date=7 January 1938 |title=Tenders Accepted |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004315/19380107/147/0009 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Guardian |page=9 |quote=The Spalding Urban District Council accepted on Wednesday night the following tenders: Erection of houses on Goodfellows-road site and the construction of roads, sewers and appurtenant works, there, Messrs. G. Thurston and Son, Pinchbeck.}}{{Cite news |date=21 April 1939 |title='Unnecessary and Extravagant Public Expenditure' |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004315/19390421/096/0005 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Guardian |pages=5}} In the late 1980s, planning permission was granted to build over 20 homes on a site off Spalding Common;Planning permission was granted to P. L. Ely (Contractors) Ltd in 1985 and 1987 for the development of the homes; see South Kesteven District Council, Planning Applications: [https://planning.sholland.gov.uk/OcellaWeb/historyDetails?reference=H16-0243-85&from=historySearch H16-0243-85] ([https://planning.sholland.gov.uk/OcellaWeb/viewDocument?file=dv_hs_files%5CH16-0243-85%5C89724a72-26a0-11df-b1d6-001e0be85c60.pdf&module=hs documents]). Retrieved 28 January 2025. the developer began advertising homes at the site, known as Fantail Close, in 1989.[https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004052/19890317/350/0031 The Spalding Guardian], 17 March 1989, p. 31. Retrieved 28 January 2025. A development of 135 homes at the former Millfield Nursery commenced in 2022 and is due to be finished in 2025.{{Cite web |title=Fantail Views/Millfield Nursery |url=https://seagatehomes.co.uk/current-developments/fantail-views/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527193029/https://seagatehomes.co.uk/current-developments/fantail-views/ |archive-date=27 May 2024 |access-date=28 January 2025 |website=Seagate Homes}}
Spalding Common Baptist Church opened in 1870, but closed in 1966; the building has since been demolished.{{Cite web |title=The Baptist Church at Spalding Common |url=https://www.heritagesouthholland.co.uk/article/baptist-church-spalding-common/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=South Holland Life Heritage and Crafts including Chain Bridge Forge |language=en-GB}}{{Cite book |last=East Midland Baptist Association |url=https://archive.org/details/itallbeganherest0000east |title=It all began here : the story of the East Midland Baptist Association |date=1986 |publisher=London : The Association |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-9502582-4-9}} Goodfellows School opened at Spalding Common in 1871, and became a Church of England primary school in 1941; it closed in 2004; its buildings were demolished in 2019 and a care home was built on the site.{{Cite news |date=6 February 2019 |title=Last Look at School for a Former Pupil |url=https://spaldingvoice.co.uk/last-look-at-school-for-a-former-pupil/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128171539/https://spaldingvoice.co.uk/last-look-at-school-for-a-former-pupil/ |archive-date=28 January 2025 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Voice |quote=The former Goodfellows School in Spalding Common which opened in 1871 is making way for a new care home. ... It closed in 2004 ... [it became] solely a Church of England primary school in 1941.}} By 1921, there was a Post Office at Spalding Common.Post Office, [https://archive.org/details/BPOG1920-1/page/45/mode/2up?q=%22Spalding+Common%22 Supplement to Post Office Guide: Amending Post Office Guide, No. 244, Published in July 1920] (London: HMSO, January 1921), p. 45. Spalding Common Community Hall opened in March 1956{{Cite news |date=9 March 1956 |title=(no title) |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004052/19560309/057/0003 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Guardian |pages=3}} on land purchased in 1955 by the Spalding Common Community Fund, which had been founded in 1953 to raise money for the project;{{Cite news |date=11 March 1955 |title=Community Centre Plans for Spalding Common |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004052/19550311/045/0003 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Spalding Guardian |pages=3}} in 1975 the hall was destroyed in an arson attack,{{Cite news |date=4 May 1976 |title=Temporary Loan for Hall Scheme |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004965/19760504/163/0009 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Lincolnshire Free Press |pages=9}} and a replacement opened in December 1976 at a cost of £20,000.{{Cite news |date=21 December 1976 |title=New Hall is Opened by 'Auntie Lil' |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004965/19761221/009/0001 |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Lincolnshire Free Press |pages=1}}
Transport and community
Residents are served by the buses between Spalding and Peterborough,{{Cite web |date=2024-12-05 |title=37 - Peterborough - Spalding |url=https://bustimes.org/services/37-peterborough-spalding |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=bustimes.org |language=en-GB}} Bourne, Market Deeping and Stamford.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-12 |title=301 - Bourne / Spalding - The Deepings / Stamford |url=https://bustimes.org/services/301-bourne-spalding-the-deepings-stamford |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=bustimes.org |language=en-GB}} The Spalding Western Relief Road is also proposed to run to a roundabout nearby if built.{{Cite web |last=Rush |first=Richard |date=2019-03-13 |title=Planning application for first parts of Spalding Western Relief Road submitted - The Voice |url=https://spaldingvoice.co.uk/planning-application-for-first-parts-of-spalding-western-relief-road-submitted/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Griffin |first=Joe |date=2023-01-09 |title=Relief road latest progress and plans as road closures continue |url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/spalding-western-relief-road-update-8009088 |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Lincolnshire Live |language=en}}
As of 2025, Spalding Common Community Hall operates at 25 Spalding Common.{{Cite web |title=Spalding Common Community Hall |url=https://www.lincsymca.co.uk/in-your-community/village-halls/directory/spalding-common-community-hall/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=YMCA Lincolnshire |language=en}}
There is also a local volunteer group who litterpick around Spalding named "The Wombles of Spalding Common".{{Cite web |date=2024-08-14 |title=Spalding volunteer group warns of worsening litter crisis |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgl2yxe20x7o |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Clucas |first=Andrew |date=2022-01-26 |title=Military help for the Wombles of Spalding Common - The Voice |url=https://spaldingvoice.co.uk/military-help-for-the-wombles-of-spalding-common/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |language=en-GB}}
References
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