A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire ... Second edition, greatly enlarged

Preface

THE first edition of the " History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire" was published in 1868. The fact that this has long been out of print, and that the publisher is frequently applied to for copies, appears to Avarrant the issue of a second edition. In the preface to the first edition it was stated, as a reason for its publica tion, that the author, having had occasion to examine documents relating to the outfall of the drainage of the Fens, had been induced by the interest of the subject to extend his researches into the various reports and papers which relate to the general history of the reclamation and drainage of this district, and had collected together sufficient facts and statistics to enable him to complete a short History of the Fens of this part of the County of Lincoln. During the six and twenty years that have elapsed since this was written, the author has had further opportunities of making himself acquainted Avith a large number of Acts of Parliament, Reports and other documents which haA'e come into his possession or which are to be found in charge of the officers of the several drainage districts ; at the British Museum, the Record Office, the Library of the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding, and the Stock Library at Lincoln.

These documents, scattered about in different places, are practically inaccessible to persons requiring information on the subjects to which they relate. UpAvards .of one hundred and sixty Acts have been passed relating to the drainage, reclamation and enclosure of this part of the Fenland. The greater part of these Acts are now out of print and difficult to procure. With the information obtained from these sources, it has been possible to giA-e a much more complete history of the early condition and reclamation of the Fenland than was contained in the first edition. In fact, the book has been entirely rewritten, and noAv contains a record of eA-ents and statistics Avhich, it is hoped, will render it useful as a Avork of reference to the officers and commissioners haA'ing control over the drainage Avorks, and also to the inhabitants who find the funds for maintaining the same, and, as a source of information, to those interested in the Fenland!

PREFACE.

. The first part of the book is devoted to the early history of the Fenland from the time of the Britons up to the reclamation carried out in the middle of the last, and the beginning of the present, century. In the subsequent chapters a history of each district is given separately, including an abstract of the Acts of Parliament under Avhich the Avorks have been carried out, the constitution of the Trusts, the rate of taxation and the cost of management. These chapters include matter relative to the Court of Sewers, with a description of its history and functions ; the enclosures and drainage system of the parishes in North and South Holland, including the South Holland Drainage and Embankment Districts ; to the river Witham and the six districts into which the level is divided; to the Black Sluice and Holland Fen ; to the rivers Welland and Glen, with an account of Bicker Haven and CroAvland Washes ; to Deeping Fen and Crowland ; to the Estuary and the proposed schemes of reclamation ; to Boston Harbour and the Witham Outfall.

The Drainage system of the Fenland is described in a separate chapter and an account is given of the several kinds of pumping machinery in use, and the cost of construction and working. In the chapter on Agriculture the history of this industry is traced from the time of the Saxons ; the rent and value of land at different periods, both before and since the reclamation, the rate of Avages and the price of produce at different times, the crops groAvn, and the tenures under Avhich the land is held, are all fully dealt with. Roads, waterways, bridges, railways and means of transit are described, as also the various changes made in the management of the highways, turnpike roads and main roads, with the cost of their management. The concluding chapters deal with geology, water supply, natural products, climate and health.

In the Appendix will be found a list of the names of places, rivers, and principal drains, with the different ways of spelling the same and their derivation. The spelling of many of the names in old records varies frequently from that used in the present day, and in some cases the old names have become obsolete and difficult to trace. The author has endeavoured, as far as he was able, to give a guide to these. The area and rateable value of each parish is also given and the changes that have been made in the Fen Allotments under the DiA'ided Parishes Act. A glossary of words used in the Fenland ; the titles and dates of all the Acts of Parliament relating to the drainage, reclamation, navagation and roads ; a list of the books and reports relating to the Fenland ; an abstract of the verdict giving the names and situation of the public seAvers in North Holland are also given. In South Holland it has not been the practice of the Court to

PREFACE.

. have similar verdicts made, so that the position of these seAvers is not given. The rainfall, and statistics as to floods, temperature, Avind and tides, the levels of all the principal sills of the sluices and sea banks above Ordnance datum, and borings taken at various places, showing the strata, are also included. The illustrations comprise a general map of the Fenland ; and separate maps of each district, shoAving their past and present Drainage Systems. These maps haA'e been prepared from those found in old reports and from the Ordnance Map, and, as far as practicable, are all reduced to the same scale. The author takes this occasion of thanking the many friends from whom he has dem-ed assistance and who have allowed him the use of reports and other documents in their possession. He begs especially to acknowledge the valuable information as to the river Witham and the East and West Fens which he was enabled to obtain from several volumes of pamphlets, reports and papers, collected by Sir Joseph Banks and now in the library at Revesby Abbey, Avhich were kindly placed at his disposal by the late Right Honorable Edward Stanhope.

The author hopes that the time and trouble which he has devoted to collecting and recording the information contained in this book will be accepted by the reader as a set-off against its literary defects. CONTENTS. Preface. Chapter i. Early history of the Fens. 2. The Court of Sewers. 3. The North Holland parishes. 4. South Holland, including the South Holland Drainage District and the South Holland Embankment Trust. 5. The River Witham. 6. The Witham Drainage Districts. 7. The Black Sluice. 8. The Black Sluice Districts. 9. The Welland and the Glen, Bicker HaA'en and Crowland Washes. 10. Deeping Fen, Bourne South Fen and Thurlby Fen. ir. The Estuary and proposed schemes of reclamation. 12. Boston Harbour and the Witham Outfall. 13. The Drainage system of the Fenland, AA'ith a description ofthe pumping machinery. 14.

Agriculture of the Fenland. Rent and value of land. Rate of Avages. Value of produce. 15. Waterways, roads, bridges, and railways 16. Geology and Avater supply. 17. Natural history and products, climatology and health.

Appendix

. 1. Names of places, Avith the area and rateable value of the parishes. 2. Books and reports relating to the Fenland. 3. Titles and dates of Acts of Parliament relating to the Fenland. 4. Glossary of words used in the Fenland. 5. Rainfall, floods, temperature, Avind and tides. CONTENTS. 6. Levels of the sills and sluices, sea banks, &c, &c, reduced to Ordnance datum. 7. Borings, shoAving strata. ILLUSTRATIONS. 1. Sketch map of the ancient Fenland. 2. General map of the South Lincolnshire Fenland at the present time. 3. Brands used for marking cattle in the Fens. 4. South Holland. 5. South Holland before the enclosure of the marshes 6. The Witham from Lincoln to Boston in 1762, before improvement. 7. The First, Third and Sixth Districts of the river Witham. 8. The East Fen in i66r, before the construction of the AdA'enturers' Drains. 9.

The Fourth District of the Witham and Skirbeck Hundred, including the East Holland toAvns and Boston Deeps. 10. The Black Sluice LeA'el and parishes in Kirton Hundred 11. Bicker Haven. 12. Deeping Fen and CroAvland Washes at the present time. 13. Deeping Fen in 1645. 14. Deeping Fen in 1763. 15. Diagram, showing the geological strata and relative level of surface of land and sea level. 16. Diagram, shoAving annual rainfall. BOUNDARY OF THE LINCOLN SHIRE FENLAND. ACREAGE LEVEL OF THE LAND

Chapter I

Early History of the Fens. I""* HE Great Level of the Fens comprises a tract of land on the East Coast, extending southwards from the highlands in Lincolnshire, for a distance of about 60 miles, and occupying portions of six counties. It is only the history of the part in South Lincolnshire that is dealt Avith in this book, or the area that is bounded approximately on the north by the Steeping river and the catch water drains, and by Revesby, Tattershall, Kirkstead, Bardney and Lincoln ; on the west by the Car dyke, and on the south by Bourne, Market Deeping, CroAvland and the old South Holland or Shire drain, to the Nene, and on the east and north by the river Nene and the coast of the Wash to Wainfleet. This tract comprises the lands adjacent to the Witham, knoAvn as the Six Witham Districts, including the East, West and Wild more Fens ; the East Holland towns, or the parishes from Wainfleet to Boston, lying along the east coast of the Wash ; the parishes lying betAveen the Witham and the Glen ; the Black Sluice LeA'el, with Holland Fen ; Deeping Fen and the lands on the north of the Welland ; the South Holland District ; and the land along the coast from Fosdyke to the Nene.

The Witham District, the Black Sluice LeArel, Deeping Fen, the South Holland Drainage District and some smaller districts are managed under special Acts of Parliament. The rest of the area remains under the jurisdiction of the Court of Sewers. The whole of the Holland division of Lincolnshire is in the Fenland, which also extends on the north of Sibsey, by an irregular line into the Lindsey division, and on the west of SAvineshead into Kesteven. The area of the South Lincolnshire Fenland is about 363,043 acres, of which 118,726 acres is in Lindsey and Kesteven. The greater part of the land, amounting to 277,795 acres, consists of rich alluvial deposit, the surface of which averages from if to 5 J feet below the level of high water in spring tides, and the remaining 85,248 acres of fen or peat, the surface of Avhich is from 6\ to 12-f feet below high-water level, the average being about y\ feet below.

The area of loAvland drained by steam power is 124,600 acres. The PHYSICAL CONDITION ATTRACTIVE FEATURES OF THE FENLAND. towns and villages are situated entirely on the alluvial land, the level of tfie ground on which they are situated being the highest in the neighbourhood and A^arying from ii to 3 feet below high Avater. The ground on which the churches stand is generally about the level of ordinary spring tides. Scattered about are plots of ground, formerly called islands, Avhich are more elevated than the rest ofthe district, of which Stickney, Sibsey and Gedney are examples. The high ground in these places is above even the highest tides, as is also that in Boston, Spalding, Donington, Kirton, Holbeach, Fleet, Pinchbeck and Gosberton. The Fens have obtained a Avorld-Avide notoriety ; and a general, though very erroneous, impression prevails among those who do not knoAV the county, that this part of Lincolnshire is a dull and dreary land, to be avoided by all except those Avhom necessity or the calls of business compel to visit its unattractive scenery.

But it will be found, on closer investigation, that the Fenland has many attractive features, Avhile the rich grazing and corn lands stand unrivalled for their productiveness, and are cultivated by inhabitants, Avhose condition, general intelligence, physique and health Avill bear very favourable comparison with those of any other part of Great Britain. An inspection of the tombstones in the village churchyards, or of the parish registers, will show that life is frequently prolonged to an unusual age, while a visit to one of the Fenland toAvns on a market day, or at a fair, will convince the visitor that more robust or healthier Avorking men, or comelier damsels, are not to be met under similar circumstances in any other part of Great Britain. If the country lacks the interest that is derived from a A-ariation of hill and dale, it is recompensed by other features.

The air generally is clear and transparent ; a day's fog is very rare and the inhabitants enjoy " as sunny skies, as beautiful starlit nights and as magnificent cloudscapes as any people in England." The sunsets frequently are of surpassing grandeur and beauty. The heavy snoAvdrifts and storms of other parts are mitigated in the Fenland and Avhen many parts of England lying along the river valleys are frequently suffering from floods and inundations the Fenland is free from such disasters, its drainage being thoroughly under control. A journey through the Fenland provides a constant source of interest. In the northern part, the county-city of Lincoln stands out pre-eminently for the varied relics which it contains of past ages, and for the beautiful cathedral, which, toAvering high above the Fens, is A'isible for many miles.

Along the Witham, besides ruins of Kirkstead Abbey, will be found near Tattershall a most perfect specimen of brickwork in the castle built by CroniAvell, treasurer to Henry VII; and scarcely is this lost sight of, Avhen the magnificent tower of Boston Church rises high above the level plain, with its beacon lantern standing like a guardian over the Fenland. PREVIOUS TO THE ROMAN NVASION Motley's Dutch Republic, Passing along through the villages Avill be found churches Avhich, either from their size, the beauty of their design, or their'historical associations, stand out as monuments of the piety of the ancient Fenmen, and will Avell repay a Adsit of inspection. As the southern extremity of the Fen is reached the ruins of CroAvland Abbey and the unique triangular bridge recall all that we owe of religion and learning to St. Guthlac and his pious successors.

As the Cathedral of Lincoln is conspicuous on the north, so Peterborough attracts attention in the south. The general characteristics of the district are not without their interest. In the late summer or early autumn the Fenland roads and the wide drains are flanked on each side either by the golden Avaves of the ripening corn, moving gently in the breeze, and extending far aAvay on the horizon, or by rich pasture fields, in Avhich are grazing cattle and sheep of a quality and size indicative of the richness of the land on Avhich they are reared. The Avhole, a picture of luxuriant nature, Avhich justifies the remark of Cobbet, Avhen he made his excursion through the Fenland, that "eA'erything taken together, here are more good things than man could haA'e the conscience to ask of God." No trustworthy record of the state of the Fens previous to the invasion of the Romans, shortly before the Christian era, exists.

The condition of the Fenland and the history of its inhabitants can therefore, only to be gathered from scattered remarks in Tacitus and other Roman Avriters. Generally it may be assumed that originally the whole of that part of the east of England extending from the Trent to Huntingdon, except the high land about Lincoln, was one vast morass, into Avhich the Avaters of the Trent, the Witham, the Welland, the Nene and the Ouse discharged themselves, and which, being below the leA^el of high tides, Avas subject to constant inundation by the sea. Gradually the land rose by the deposition of alluvial matter and the constant groAvth of vegetation, leaving, hoAvever, large creeks, or arms of the sea, Avhich afterwards became pools of stagnant Avater. On the accreted land, interspersed amongst the pools and meres, Avere spots of high ground, on Avhich the few and scattered inhabitants liA'ed, their only means of communication with the mainland, in winter, being by coracles, or wicker boats covered with skins.

These islands, although no longer standing out prominently amidst a vast area of submerged territory, may, as already mentioned, still be traced by their higher elevation and by the terminations of their names. " The original inhabitants of the Fens most probably migrated from tbe opposite coasts of Holland and Belgium, from the delta formed by the mouths of the Rhine, the Scheldt and the Meuse, a district resembling the Fenland, inasmuch as it consisted of Avide morasses, in Avhich oozy islands were interspersed among lagoons and shallows, a district partly beloAv the level of the tides and subject to constant OA^erfloAV from the rivers, and to frequent inun dations from the sea." In Cæsar's account of Britain it is stated that the Fen coast Avas peopled by Belgæ, drawn thither by the love of war and plunder.

Strabo says that the latest emigration of Gauls and Belgæ took place only a few years before Cæsar's invasion. It is a singular fact in the early history of ci%dlization that, Avhile land was plentiful and people feAV, selection should have been made for purposes of settlement of low and swampy tracts of land, which could only be inhabited by maintaining a constant struggle with the riA'ers and the sea. The ancient Egyptians carried out most extensive works of reclamation. The Romans, not content with appropriating land all over the Avorld, added to their territory at home by draining lakes and reclaiming marshes. Holland is a wonderful example of land gained from the sea, and held by the enterprise and skill of man. In more recent times our own colonists, Avith all the vast territory of America to choose from, yet selected the low sAvampy plains bordering on the Mississippi as one of their principal settlements, Avhich could only be made profitable after an enormous cost had been incurred in embanking and confining the river.

The Fenland affords another example of this singular pecu liarity and we can only Avonder why the Britons, Romans, Saxons and Danes should all successiA'ely have made settlements amongst the meres and sAvamps of the Fens. SELECTION OF LOW LANDS ron SETTLEMENTS. The tribe of Britons Avho occupied Lincolnshire Avere knoAvn as the Iceni, from the Avord Ychen, oxen. They Avere closely connected Avith the Coritani, who occupied the east coast up to Cambridge and Huntingdon, and Avhose name was derived from Cor, a sheep. The joint tribe being known as the Cor-Iceni. Their principal occupation and chief means of subsistence was pasturage, the rich marshes and higher land in the Fens affording excellent feeding ground for their herds. They hVed almost entirely on flesh, milk and birds, and greAv little or no corn, until taught by the Romans.

Lindcoit (Lincoln) Avas the principal town of the Cor-Iceni and is referred to by Ptolemy as a place of importance. Bardney is supposed to haA'e been their chief Druidical station, its name " Bard's Island," denoting its origin. The remains of two British encampments have been discovered, one on the moor near Tatter shall and the other at ReA'esby, Avhere the contour of the land at the present day shows traces of Avhat are supposed to have been British settlements. THE COR-ICCNI. Henry's Great Britain. Kemble's Saxons in England. Olivet's Religious Houses on the Witham. The Romans first came to Britain about sixty years before the Christian era. Soon aftenvards they found their way into the Fen district. In a.d. 61 Suetonius Paulinus subdued the Coritani and Iceni, and Roman military colonists began to settle in this county.

At the end of the first century, a Roman colony was founded at TH E ROMAN PERIOD. 60 B.C. Henry's History A.D. 64 LIN DUM COLON A.D. 359 VAINONA Lincoln. The soldiers are said to haA'e cruelly oppressed the inhabitants and, not content Avith turning them out of their houses and depriA'ing them of their lands, insulted them Avith the name of slaves. Prasutagus, the king of the Iceni, a prince renowned for his opulence and grandeur, was killed, all his possessions Avere seized and plundered by the Roman soldiers, his Queen was beaten with stripes for remonstrating, his daughter violated and his relations taken as slaves. The chiefs of the Iceni were deprived of their possessions and the inhabitants Avho Avere left complained that the Roman governor lorded it over their persons, and the Procurator over their fortunes.

At last the Iceni, inflamed Avith resentment, flew to arms and, being joined by the Trinobantes, poured in a torrent on the Roman colony at Camalodunum, put to the sword all who fell in their hands and laid all the buildings in ashes. Afterwards Boadicea, who was queen of the Iceni, headed a further revolt against the Romans, but was subdued by Suetonius Paulinus. After this the Romans made great changes in the country of the Cor-Iceni, by introducing the cultivation of corn and by building forts and stations. Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) was one ofthe nine colonies held by the veteran soldiers of the legions on condition of rendering military service. The place was strongly fortified, the eastern wall running nearly in a line with the transepts of the present minster, Avhich stands partly within the site ofthe fortress.

In time it became one of the most considerable towns which the Romans occupied in Britain, and is mentioned several times by Ptolemy and Antoninus. Lincoln, in fact, became a minature Rome, governed by similar laAvs and adorned with temples, courts, theatres and statues. The rich lands bordering on the Fens, under the tillage of the Roman colonists, proved very productive, and this county was one of the most plentiful provinces of the empire, and a market for export to other conquered countries. A fleet of 8oo vessels, which had been built on the Rhine, for transporting food for the use of the armies, was sent to Britain to fetch corn ; and the colonies on the upper Rhine were preserved from famine chiefly by corn sent from Britain. The principal port used by the Romans in their traffic Avith the continent was Wainfleet ( Vainona) and this place was connected with Lincoln by a road passing through the Fens to Horncastle (Banovallum).

Another road Avent to Burgh, which was also a Roman station. Boston then had no existence either as a town or port. The whole country between Washingborough and Boston was at the time of the Roman invasion a A'ast swamp and it is extremely improbable that any defined channel existed of sufficient size to be navigable. Wainfleet, on the other hand, was the first sheltered land their vessels would make after leaving the open ocean and, being protected by Gibraltar Point, the boats would lie in a safe haA'en. After the cut or canal had been made betAveen Lincoln and Dogdyke the A'essels A\'ould, no doubt, pass up the Deeps and reach Lincoln through Boston. After having subdued the country, the policy of the Romans appears to have been to try to make the inhabitants forget their nationality and become Roman citizens.

For this purpose, Tacitus tells us in his life of Agricola that in order to reclaim the natives from the rude and unsettled state which prompted them to war and to make them reconciled to quiet and tranquility, they were incited by priA'ate instigation and public encouragement to erect temples, courts of justice and dAvelling houses. Liberal education was proA'ided for the sons of the chieftains, so that they became ambi tious and acquired a taste for those luxuries Avhich stimulate vice. The captiA'es taken in Avar, and the mere menial of the natiA'es Avere made slaves, and were occupied in carrying out Avorks of improve ment. Galgacus, a British chieftain, in a harangue to the Britons on the eve of one of the battles betAveen the natives and the Romans, thus addressed his followers : — " Our children are torn away by leA'ies to serve in foreign lands, our estates and possessions are consumed in tributes, our grain in contributions, our bodies are worn down amidst stripes in clearing woods and draining marshes."

ROMAN TREAT' MENT OF THE INHABITANTS. THE ROMAN BAN KS Dugdale's Embanking and Draining. They Avere also employed in the formation of roads for the purpose of connecting together the chief military stations and ports. A description of those made in the Fenland will be found in the chapter on roads. Tradition has ahvays given credit to the Romans for the con struction of the sea banks running along the coast, which protect the Fens from inundation from the tides, and are known at the present day as " the Roman Banks." Dr. Stukeley con sidered that these banks were made in the time of Severus, which seems not obscurely hinted at by Herodian III, who observed in speaking of this general, " But he had it in his particular care to make passes over the Fens, that the soldiers might stand firm and fight upon hard ground; for many places in Britain are marshy through the frequent overfloAving of the ocean, over Avhich the inhabitants Avill swim and Avalk, though up to their middle in Avater."

While there is no trustAvorthy eA'idence to prove that such is the case, every fact seems to point out the Romans as the only people who could possibly have carried out such a large undertaking. The length of these banks on the Lincolnshire coast, extending from Wainfleet to the outfall of the Witham, and on the coast betAveen the Witham and the Welland, and also betAveen the Welland and the Nene is not less than 50 miles. The average height may be taken at ten feet. The construction of a work of such magnitude would require a vast army of men, and an organization Avhich could only be supplied by the Roman government. These banks are not works of a character that could be carried out in portions and spread over a great number of years. The enclosure of a large tract of marsh covered by the spring tides is a work that requires great vigour and must be carried on continuously, or the earth put into the bank during one set of tides will be Avashed away again.

Even with the experience of the present day, there have been attempts at enclosure which have utterly failed : the banks have been carried a certain distance, but the final closing in has been found so difficult and costly that the attempt has been abandoned. It is known from history that the Romans, either previous to the time Avhen the Lincolnshire banks Avere constructed, or soon afterwards, carried out very large Avorks of a similar character, a detailed account of Avhich is given by Dugdale. From Pliny we learn that in the year 593, B.C., when C. Anicius Gallus and M. Cornelius Cethegus were consuls, the senate being in counsel concerning the provinces, there Avas a motion made concerning the improvement of a great level of Avaste land lying under water, about 40 miles from Rome, in Latium The senate thought they should deserve the praise of good Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Rt man Em pire. husbands for the commomvealth, if, in this opportunity of leisure, they should gain such a quantity of rich land to Italy.

Neither was this employment thought too mean for the legions, though con sisting of free-men ; for the Roman and Italian infantry, as Avell accustomed to the spade and basket as to the sword and buckler, worked for the common good in time of security. The consuls, (anno 566J had giA'en a precedent, who, lest their soldiers should be idle, employed them in making of highways. Hereupon it was decreed that one consul should attend the enemy and the other undertake the draining of the Pompeian marshes. By order of the senate the Pompeian Fens Avere laid dry by Cornelius Cethegus the consul, and were made good ground. The Fens about Placentia were secured by banks from the inundations of the Po. The .country in Gallia Cisalpina lying flat and tOAvards the sea, which was a fenny marsh was, by the help of banks and trenches, drained and made useful for tillage.

The Emperor Claudius employed 30,000 men for the space of eleven years in draining the Fucine lake in Italy. It is also recorded that Probus preA'ented the irregularities of the soldiers by employing the legions in constant and useful labours. When he commanded in Egypt, he executed many considerable Avorks for the splendour of that rich country. The navigation of the Nile Avas improA'ed, and temples, bridges, porticoes and palaces Avere constructed by the hands of the soldiers, Avho acted by turns as architects, as engineers, and as husbandmen. It was reported of Hannibal that, in order to preserve his troops from the dangerous temptations of idleness, he had obliged them to form large plantations of olive trees along the coast of Africa He thus converted into tillage a large and unhealthy tract of marsh ground near Sirmium.

Another powerful motive that Avould lead to the embanking of the Fens doubtless arose from the security they afforded to the natives, who, as related by Marcellinus, " not dwelling in the towns but in cottages Avithin fenny places, compassed with thick woods, having hidden Avhatsoever they had most estimation of, did more annoyance to the wearied Romans than they received from them." In fact the Fens formed a sort of camp of refuge for the Britons, as later they did for the Saxons, where it would be impossible for any military force to folloAV and dislodge them ; and it is evident the Romans could neither pasture their cattle on the marshes nor enjoy any security for their property until the natives were hunted out of their retreats. That the native inhabitants were also employed in these embankments may be gathered from the expression used in the speech of the British Chief, Galgacus, already quoted, in Avhich he Fen Mounds. complained that their bodies Avere Avorn down in clearing Avoods and draining marshes.