Pinchbeck is a village and
civil parish in the
South Holland district of
Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north from the centre of
Spalding. The name Pinchbeck is derived from either the
Old English pinc+bece (Minnow Stream) or
pinca+bece (Finch Ridge). The village took its name from that of a family long associated with the area, one member of which was
Christopher Pinchbeck, a watchmaker responsible for the invention of the
Pinchbeck alloy which was formerly used for imitating gold in cheap jewellery.