History of the town

There are several local books covering Holbeach and copies can be obtained at the Library.

In brief

Holbeach is an old south Lincolnshire market town just off the A17 between Kings Lynn and Spalding. The town has traces of Roman occupation from about 54AD. A shopping area probably existed from about 1252 when King Henry III granted a market charter and the fine parish church of All Saints came a little later in the 14th century. Holbeach Market continues to operate in the shadow of the church, every Thursday and Saturday.

Throughout its history land reclamation has added to the district as salt marsh has been drained and brought the high quality silt land under cultivation. One small reclaimed area is the cross roads with traffic lights at Market Hill. The old Holbeach river ran here, and still runs underground.

There was a railway between Spalding and the Norfolk coast, with a station at Holbeach until 1959. The old station house and platform still exist. Local government reorganization in 1974 killed off the old East Elloe council and Holbeach became part of South Holland District council, controlled from Spalding.

A large number of flower bulbs, tulips and daffodils were grown in the area until the trade declined about 20 years ago, though some are still to be seen. Many Churches still hold flower festivals every year with spectacular floral decorations which continue to be popular with visitors.

The main industry continues to be agriculture and food processing. The University of Lincoln has a campus in Holbeach, covering aspects of Food manufacture, Agriculture and Horticulture.

The many waterways in the area provide excellent fishing and attracts numerous anglers from as far away as Sheffield and other industrial areas. Local caravan sites and guesthouses benefit from this pastime.

History of the Forum.

The forum was formed in 2006, with help from Groundwork Lincolnshire, to fight a district council plan to start charging for the use of former free car parks in the town.

Our remit has considerably enlarged since those early days.

The general decline in town centre trading, brought about by centralized out of town shopping centers and large supermarkets has affected Holbeach just like hundreds of market towns throughout the country. The formation of the forum is an attempt by local businesses to address this problem and to give the town a unique very local identity. We recognize that to keep our town a vibrant community we must ensure local businesses offer levels of service, quality and price that matches and even beats that available elsewhere. In many areas we already do but it is necessary to inform the public about the many benefits of local trading.

There is no quick fix available but the fight is well under way and real progress is being made.

Whilst free parking is still ongoing, we have secured a parking clock concession that allows free two hour parking in Boston road car park. Charges have been removed from St John’s road car park. Clocks are available free from the forum. This car park continues to be used much less than when it was free so we fight on. We also wish opening hours extended into the evenings.

Traffic flow, control and volume through the town are also of concern to us and we are talking to Lincolnshire County Council, though progress is slow. We are actively attempting to influence many other matters and details are shown in the latest news page on this site.

The forum was instrumental in bringing about the present parish plan and continues to work, with many others, to implement it. Both district and parish councils send representatives to our meetings and whilst we continue to be a pressure group on behalf of Holbeach businesses, we have established a good working relationship with them.

The area of the Forum include the districts of Holbeach Town, Holbeach St Matthew, Holbeach St Marks, Holbeach Hurn, Holbeach St John, Holbeach Drove, Holbeach Clough, Fleet & Fleet Fen.