A Brief History of Gypping in the Marsh

Evidence of Early Settlement

Gypping in the Marsh is an extremely ancient village, but the stone arrowheads and axes that have been found in the marshes surrounding the village show that early man was a visitor to the area before a settlement even existed. Early man was probably attracted to the area by the abundance of wildlife that would have thrived in the marshy environment, which would have provided him with good eating in those hunter-gatherer times.

We cannot be certain when the first settlement was established at Gypping in the Marsh, but we can be fairly sure why the site was chosen. Gypping in the Marsh lies on a patch of ground that is slightly higher than the surrounding marshland and would have provided early settlers with an ideal, relatively dry location to place their homes.

In addition to this, Gypping in the Marsh lies at the confluence of the River Gypping and the River Scrote, which would have provided early settlers with good transport links.

Archeological finds show us that a settlement had certainly been established at Gypping in the Marsh by the Iron Age... and it is likely that a settlement existed here even earlier than that.

A view of the fens on the edge of Gypping in the Marsh

The Viking Invasions

Located as it is close to the east coast of England and lying as it does on a river that leads to the sea, Gypping in the Marsh would have suffered at the hands of early Viking raiders from Scandinavia. However, as time progressed the Viking invaders became settlers, and slowly became integrated with the earlier inhabitants of Gypping in the Marsh. It is likely (although uncertain) that the name "Gypping" is of Norse derivation, probably meaning roughly "to deprive of by cunning or deceit".

Medieval Gypping in the Marsh

The Domesday Book tells us that the settlement was not large at the time of the Norman Conquest, and although Gypping in the Marsh appears to have been a relatively prosperous place during the Medieval period, it did not grow much in size. Despite the transportation links provided by the Rivers Gypping and Scrote, the marshy land surrounding the village would have made land transportation difficult.

The Granting of the Earldom of Gypping

After the Civil War and Cromwell's Commonwealth, the restoration to the throne of Charles II saw the Earldom of Gypping being granted to the first Earl. The first Earl, who was also granted a substantial parcel of land in and around the village, began the construction of Hemlock Hall just to the north of the village, where his descendents still live today.

The Draining of the Marshes

Under the direction of the third Earl of Gypping and with Dutch technical knowledge and assistance, the draining of the marshes was begun in the 1700s in an attempt to improve the land surrounding the village and make it more suitable for agriculture. This drainage work, which involved the canalisation of the Rivers Gypping and Scrote, resulted in the landscape that we see today around Gypping in the Marsh: large, flat fields, drained by many dykes small and large. Thanks to the resulting shrinkage of the land, the water levels of the Rivers Gypping and Scrote are now actually above the level of the land. Their watercourses are constrained by high retaining banks, the maintenance of which is of course extremely important.

Despite the extensive drainage work, it proved impossible to drain all of the marshes. As a result of this, Gypping in the Marsh still retains a good proportion of true marshland, which provides an excellent habitant for the wildlife that is abundant in the area.

The Industrial Revolution

Thanks to its extremely remote location, Gypping in the Marsh did not grow much even during the Industrial Revolution; in fact in some decades its population actually decreased, as changes in agricultural techniques led to former farm labourers leaving the land and moving to the rapidly-growing industrial cities of the Midlands. Gypping in the Marsh did gain a rail link in the form of a minor branch line that passed nearby, but despite this, a lack of readily-available raw materials meant that industry passed the village by.

The Twentieth Century and the Present Day

The twentieth century was a period of slow but steady growth for Gypping in the Marsh, despite the loss of the railway line in the 1960s. Agriculture flourished thanks to the area's fertile soils, leading Gypping in the Marsh to become known today as the cabbage capital of Lincolnshire.

Gypping in the Marsh remains a small, remote village with a steady pace of life. Small industries now abound around the area, providing locals with useful employment opportunities. Despite this, Gypping in the Marsh's relative isolation means that the village looks set to retain its slow, quiet pace of life... just as the locals like it.

A Land Rover sinking into a marsh in a flat landscape

A Land Rover sits rusting majestically in Gypping Marsh