The Last Local Family Butcher?
In 1937 Spalding had over 20 butchers with at least 5 in Winsover Road. As I write it appears that by 1927 the town of Spalding will only have one traditional butcher.
Andrew Parsons of Bennett's Butchers in Spalding has announced the intention to close this business on November 28th 2026. As such Spalding will see the last family butchers that had long-standing roots in the town close with only Simpsons Butchers remaining in Hall Place.
Bennett's Butchers was started by Mr. Henry Bennett in London Road, Spalding in 1899. At this site it was both a butchers and a beer house (as defined by the Beerhouse Act 1830) and so you could drink a pint whilst buying your meat - but strictly no wine or spirits.
By about 1914 the butchery dominated the business and this was moved to Winsover Road. In 1920 Henry Bennett's son formally joined the business, he in turn retired in 1977 handing over the mantle to his son-in-law Terry Parsons. Andrew Parsons, in turn, followed his father.
The loss of any long-standing family business in an old market town is always something that should be recognised. For with that loss is a break in succession of the nature of the town, its history and stories of which family butchers have featured heavily.
Family butchers were key to the development of Spalding as a market town and its subsequent expansion as a major hub of the food industry. Indeed by the 1870's an increase of the sale of livestock in the streets of Holbeach risked the growth of that town at the expense of Spalding which had a declining livestock market at that time. This led to considerable investment in livestock markets in Spalding by 1876 ( as described in my book Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire and Beyond available on Amazon ). The better railway facilities saw market dominance sway towards Spalding as it served an expanding Midlands with meat. As we reached the 1880's marketing of meat products by family butchers became key with joints and cuts supplemented by an array of sausages, pied, aislet and chine. The pork butcher developed in his own right with key unique products and recipes for their products. Over time the pork butcher became a rarity with the last two that I recall in the town being "Piggy" Scupham's in the Market Place and Pilkingtons near the Taku footbridge over the River Welland.
Bennett's were one of the last butchers in the town to slaughter their own meat, meaning there was often a clear line of site from farmer to butcher to consumer, or what is often describes as "field to fork". In 1938 when Spalding livestock market moved from the streets to a newly constructed market the first lamb sold at the market was bought by Master Bennett, the son of W. Bennett of Winsover Road. It is perhaps a sign of the great change in the town that the site of the olde livestock market is now occupied by a supermarket.
Bennett's Butchers maintained a long tradition of quality local meat and meat products. Indeed their pork pies, aislet and sausages were a favourite of mine and possibly one of the biggest flavours I missed when I moved to Northumberland. They also kept alive the sausage recipe of Brownings of Deeping St Nicholas, a recipe far older than their business and my wife's favourite.
As Bennett's close it is not just the shop, the jobs, the succession that Spalding loses, its also access to local meat, unique recipes and many decades of expertise.
Wishing Andrew Parson's his family and employees well with their futures with what is an understandable, correct, difficult and sad decision to close.
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