__NOTOC__ Pinchbeck is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

district of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England. The civil parish population was 5,153 at the 2001 census, 5,455 at the 2011 census and 6,011 at the 2021 census. It is situated north from the centre of Spalding. UK Pinchbeck

The name Pinchbeck is derived from either the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''pinc+bece'' (Minnow Stream) or ''pinca+bece'' (Finch Ridge). A family long associated with the area took its name from the village, one member of which was

Christopher Pinchbeck Christopher Pinchbeck, also called Catarrón (c. 1670 – ) was a London clockmaker and maker of musical automata. He was born in Clerkenwell, England, but worked in Fleet Street. He is the most famous member of the Pinchbeck family, which took ...

, a watchmaker responsible for the invention of the

Pinchbeck alloy Pinchbeck is a form of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc mixed in proportions so that it closely resembles gold in appearance. It was invented in the early 18th century by Christopher Pinchbeck (died 1732), a London clock-and watch-maker. Since ...

, which was once used for imitating gold in cheap jewellery. The

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

village church is dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and is around 900 years old. It has a wide

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with mid-12th-century arches, and a 15th-century single hammer-beam roof supported by large gilded angels carrying the

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

s of the Pinchbeck family. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

is by restorer Herbert Butterfield. Village schools are Pinchbeck East C of E School Primary School and Pinchbeck West St Bartholomew's C of E Primary School.

Pinchbeck Marsh

Pinchbeck falls within the drainage area of the Welland and Deepings

Internal Drainage Board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management wit ...

. The board maintains Pinchbeck Engine House, a museum which houses a drain engine, built to drain Pinchbeck Marsh in the early 19th century. The marsh is also the location of the highest point in the

Parts of Holland The Parts of Holland is a historical division of Lincolnshire, England, encompassing the southeast of the county. The name is still recognised locally and survives in the district of South Holland, Lincolnshire, South Holland. Etymology The place ...

, an historic division of Lincolnshire. At only 8 metres above sea level, the high point at is the lowest of those listed for the historic counties and subdivisions in 1964. Visiting this lowest peak near

Vernatt's Drain Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland, Lincolnshire, 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 S ...

is of interest to participants in the sport of

Hill bagging Peak bagging or hill bagging is an activity in which hikers, climbers, and mountaineers attempt to reach a collection of summits, published in the form of a list. This activity has been popularized around the world, with lists such as 100 Peaks o ...

and

Highpointing Highpointing is the activity of ascending to the point with the highest natural elevation within a given area, known as the highpoint. Those who pursue the activity are known as highpointers. Highpointing has been considered a subset of peak bagg ...

Parish

There is a parish council, the lowest tier of local government. It has 15 members, 13 of whom are elected to represent Pinchbeck ward and two of whom represent Crossgate ward. ''

Kelly's Directory Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in Britain that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses ...

'' for Lincolnshire, 1896, records that the Pinchbeck civil parish included the hamlets of Crossgate (half a mile north of the village), Cuckoo Bridge (5 miles S), Guthram Cote (4 miles SW; Guthram Gowt on 2025 Ordnance Survey mapping), Mill Green (2 miles SW), Money Bridge (2 miles W), and

Pode Hole __NOTOC__ Pode Hole is a village in South Holland, Lincolnshire, England. It is from Spalding and 10 miles from Bourne. The village lies at the confluence of several drainage channels, where two pumping stations discharge water into Vernatt' ...

(4 miles SW).

Freedom of the Parish

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Parish of Pinchbeck.

Individuals

* Maurice Chappell: : 11 November 2019.

References

External links

*
Pinchbeck East C of E Primary SchoolBurtey Fen Collection
at MapIt {{authority control Villages in Lincolnshire Civil parishes in Lincolnshire South Holland, Lincolnshire Areas of Spalding