Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The town had a population of 34,113 at the 2017 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town is located between the cities of Peterborough and Lincoln, as well as the towns of Bourne, March, Boston, Wisbech, Holbeach and Sleaford.

The town was well known for the annual Spalding Flower Parade, held from 1959 to 2013. The parade celebrated the region's vast 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. Since 2002 the town has held an annual pumpkin festival in October.

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 BCE 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 Domesday Book, 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.

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 & Festival Gardens, 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 Bank
 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. 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: the Priory School (for those with mild to moderate learning difficulties) and the Garth School (for those with more demanding educational needs).

Sixth Form Colleges
A vocational 6th form was established and launched in September 2008 as part