Wainfleet is said to stand on the site of the old Roman town of ‘Vainona’ and although it is now several miles from the sea, it was once a thriving and important port.
Situated on the River Steeping, Wainfleet consists of two parishes – All Saints and St. Mary, and offers a wide range of fascinating places to visit.
Wainfleet is probably best known as the home of one of Britain’s famous breweries, Bateman’s, with its award winning ‘Honest Ales’. The mill tower with its beer bottle weather vane can be seen from a distance, and at the Visitor Centre you can experience the brewing process and taste the end result, see the largest bottle collection in the UK and test your skills at traditional pub games.
In Wainfleet you can find yourself amongst a most unusual group of buildings in Barkham Street, built in 1847 for the Bethlem Trust. The three storey terraced row is identical to a street built for the Trust in Deptford, London, but little consideration was given to Wainfleet's surrounding architecture.
The Magdalen College School, now housing the library, museum and café is an imposing site. William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England, who also founded Magdalen College, Oxford, established the school in 1484. It has had a chequered history even to the point of being used in the 18th century for cock fighting rather than for scholars.
