History of the fens of South Lincolnshire : being a description of the rivers Witham and Welland and their estuary; and an account of the reclamation and drainage of the fens adjacent thereto

Chapter I. Introduction And Early History Of The Fens

CHAPTER n.

THE RIVER WITHAM AND THE FENS ADJACENT THERETO.

CHAPTER m.

THE EAST, WEST, AND WILDMORE FENS.

CHAPTER IV.

HOLLAND FEN AND THE BLACK SLUICE DISTRICT.

CHAPTER V.

THE RIVER WELLAND, CROWLAND, AND DEEPING FEN.

CHAPTER VI.

THE ORIGIN AND CONSTITUTION OF THE COURT OF SEWERS.

CHAPTER Vn.

BOSTON HARBOUR AND HAVEN.

CHAPTER VIH.

THE ESTUARY, WITH AN ACCOUNT OP THE VARIOUS SCHEMES WHICH HAVE BEEN BROUGHT FORWARD FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE OUTFALL IN CONNECTION WITH THE DRAINAGE AND NAVIGATION.

PLAN OF TflE FENS AND THE ESTUARY.

Preface

The author having lately had occasion to examine the documents relating to the Outfall of the Drainage of the Fens, was induced by the interest of the subject to extend his researches into the various works which bear upon their general history and reclamation, and collected together a number of facts and statistics sufficient to enable him to complete a short history of the Fens of this part of the County of Lincoln, which appeared in a series of papers contributed to the Stamford Mercury during the Autumn of last year. He considers that an account of the means which have been adopted for the drainage and enclosure of 250,000 acres of land, a space larger than some of the English counties, which from having been little better than a mere morass, has become one of the richest tracts of agricultural land in the country, must of itself be interesting, however badly the subject may be treated by the author. These papers pretend to no originality or literary merit whatever, but are simply a collection of facts compiled from various works that in any way treat of the subject, many of which are out of print; and the reports of engineers, and other official documents, not accessible to the general public. No complete account of the later history of these Fens exists. The earlier history has been partially described by Sir W. Dugdale, in his treatise on Embanking and Draining, and much interesting matter, bearing on the subject, is

VI.

to be found in Elstob's History of the Bedford Level, and Ingulpli's History of Crowland. Mr. Thompson has also devoted a short space to the Fens ; hut the design of his work, being confined to a History of the Town of Boston, embraces only a brief outline of the Fen history. From these and various other sources the author has collected his information, and whenever practicable has preferred to use the language of the author he has quoted to that of his own. The History is intended to commence with a full account of the last successful attempt to reclaim the Fens, but in order to render the subject more clear the first chapter will be devoted to a sketch of the original formation of the district and the various changes it has undergone ; the second chapter will be devoted to the KiverWitham and the Fens adjacent thereto ; the third to the East, West, and Wildmore Fens ; the fourth to the Holland Fen and the Black Sluice district • the fifth to the Welland and Deeping Fen; the sixth contains an account of the origin and constitution of the Court of Sewers; the seventh relates to Boston Harbour and Haven; and the last to the Estuary, and the various schemes which have been brought forward for "its improvement in connection with the drainage and navigation.

The accompanying Plan, reduced from the Ordnance Map, has been corrected and adapted by the author specially for this book.

Boston, February, 1868.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION AND EARLY HISTORY OP THE FENS.

The Great Level of the Fens comprises all that vast tract of land on the east coast, extending southwards, from the high lands in Lincolnshire, for a distance of about 60 miles, and occupying portions of six counties. It is only the history of the northern portion that will be sketched out in these papers, or that part bounded on the north by the Steeping river and the villages of Toynton, Revesby, and the city of Lincoln ; on the west by the Car Dyke ; and on the south by the river Welland ; and comprising the East, West, and Wildmore Fens, the lands adjacent to the Witham, known as the six districts, Holland Fen and the Black Sluice Level, and Deeping Fen and the lands on the north of the Welland.

The Fens have obtained a world-wide notoriety, and a general though very erroneous impression prevails, among those who have not visited this county, that Lincolnshire is a dull and dreary land, to be avoided by all whom necessity or the calls of business do not compel to visit its unattractive scenery. But although the fens include an area of about 500,000 acres (equal in extent tO' some of the English counties), there yet remains of Lincolnshire about one and a quarter millions of acres, which can vie with any other part of England for the picturesqueness of its scenery and the salubrity of the climate ; while the rich grazing and corn lands of the fens stand unrivalled for their productiveness, and are cultivated by inhabitants whose condition, general physique, and health will bear very favourable comparison with any other district of Great Britain.

The original formation of tlie soil of these fens, although recent in the geological classification, takes us back to a time anterior to the existence of man, when the whole of this district was beneath the waters of the sea. For a depth of nearly 600 feet nothing has b^n discovered but an aqueous deposit of clay mixed with shells and stones. At the time when this history commences, this deposit had accumulated to such a height as to be above the ordinary tides, and only the lower portion of the Fens, or the parts nearest to the sea, were under ordinary circumstances overflowed by their action. Possibly trees had already grown to a considerable size on the higher portion, or that furthest removed from the sea ; and on spots here and there in the lower parts, which had risen higher than the rest — as we see in the villages of Stickney and Sibsey at the present day ; — and these were doubtless inhabited by the aborigines of the island. The rest was covered with coarse grass, sometimes available for pasturage, and at others inundated in turns by the overflowings of the rivers and the tides. The land at this time was peopled by the Britons, a rude, uncultivated race of men. Their rehgion was one that sought the solitudes of woods and dark groves for the observance of their mysterious and sometimes sanguinary rites, and probably the priests availed themselves of the secret recesses of the Fens for the erection of their altars.

In the year 55 e.g. the Roman Generals, ever seeking fresh conquests to add laurels to their arms, first sought out and invaded the island of Britain, and having once obtained a footing found the country so profitable that they remained here for a period of nearly 500 yeai'S. While we look to the sober pages of historical facts for a correct knowledge of the doings of bygone days, it is pleasing to aljow our imagination to be assisted in realising the events those facts disclose by a perusal of the works of writers of fiction, who have endeavoured to render our ancient history a true and living picture. All who take a delight in this class of literature will call to mind the charming and vivid description of Esca, the British chieftain, a slave at Kome, and the old Eoman general, who was reminded by the presence of his Saxon attendant of his buried loves and hopes in the far off woods of conquered Britain, where all his glorious deeds of arms were saddened by the recollection of the fair haired maiden he had seen and wooed in the British forest.

The Romans having once firmly established themselves in the island, maintained their conquest by the presence of a large force, which was stationed at several military depots, scattered throughout the country. Of these Lincoln became the head quarters of the midland district, or that part of the country then inhabited by the Coritani. The thorough knowledge and appreciation of agricultural arts, ever so prominent in the Romans, would lead them at once to see the value of the large tract of fen land lying so near their station ; and the experience they had acquired in enclosing and drahiing, about this time, similar tracts of marsh land in the south of Italy, and also in the Belgian Provinces, and in constructing through the Pomptine fens a large cut, which served the double purpose of a sewer and a canal, would at once suggest to them the feasibility of reclaiming the great level of the fens. The labour necessary in carrying out the work would provide ample employment for their soldiers and captives ; it being ever a practice with the Roman generals to keep the legions from idleness and discontent by constant employment ;"= and by

* Probiis prevented the irregularities of the soldiers by enii)loyino; the legions in constant and useful labours WIumi he commanded in Enypt, Probus'executed many considerable works for the si)lendour of that rich coun'try. Tlie navij^^ation of the Nile was improved, and temples, bridj^es, porticoes, and jjalaces were constructed by the hands of the soldiers, who 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 In one of the

hottest days of summer, as he severely urged the unwholesome labour of draining the marshes of ISirmium, the soldiers, impatient of fatigue, on a sudden threw down their tools, grasped their swords, and broke out in a^ fiuious mutiny, and finally murdered the unfortunate Emperor. Gibbon, cap. XII this salutary rule they had ever at their disposal a mighty force which enabled them to carry out those vast engineering works, the traces of which, even at the present day, are to be found in every country which they subdued.

Another powerful motive that would 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 within fenny places, compassed with thick woods, having hidden whatsoever they had most estimation of, did more annoyance to the wearied Romans than they received from them." In lact the fens formed a sort of camp of refuge for the Britons, as later they did to the Saxons, where it would be impossible for any militaiy force to follow 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.

Having once undertaken the reclamation of the watery waste, the Romans proceeded in the most skilful and artistic manner, pursuing a course that has been taken as a model b}' the engineers of modern times, being adopted by Mr. Rennie in his scheme for the drainage of the East and "West Fens. The work divided itself into two parts — the embanking, to shut out the sea water ; and the draining, to void the rainfall falling on the surface of the enclosed land, and also poured on to it from the higher gi'ound adjacent. To etiect this latter object a large catchwater drain was made, skirting the borders of the fens, intercepting the water from the high lands, and preventing it pouring on to and inundating the fen. This cut commenced near Lincoln, communicating with the Witham, and extended along the whole western side of the fens till it joined the Welland, and thence continued to the Nene. It was made navigable, and afforded communication between Peterboro' and Lincoln, and also with

BhipB corainf? by soa, by moans of tho rivers None or Wltham, and gavo an caHy moans of IranKporting military stores and proviHi(jMS to their inland depots. The canal is known by tho name of the Car Dyke, and its course may be clearly traced at tho present day. Ample testimony to the wisdom that designed it is provided by the va,rioufi projects that have been brought forward by modern engineers for utilising such parts of it as passed through tho fens then immediately under their consideration. Tho course of another artificial cut or drain may be traced in the " Westlode," which drained the low lands towards Crowland and Deeping Fen and emptied into the Welland.

The drainage of the interior of the fens was provided by other cuts, the remains of which are scarcely to be traced now, but there is no doubt tho Old Hammond Beck was one of these. Those interior drains, which discharged their contents into the rivers, were protected by sluices, but the rivers themselves wore embanked and tho tides allowed to have their free course, ships navigating the Witham as far as Lincoln.

The sea was shut out from overflowing the low lands by thoso stupendous embankments which surround tho level, and on the integrity of which, at this very time, depends the safety of all this district. One breach in these banks, and in a few hours property to an enormous amount would immediately bo destroyed, and the land rendered a scene of desolation. These embankments, as viewed at the present day, give but little idea of the magnitude of tho labour involved in their construction. To form a more correct estimate, it must be borne in mind that since that time the land has been raised several feet in height, and tho base of them, whicli at the period of their erection stood above the surrounding ground, now forms part of it. The banks enclosing the portion of the great level to which this history is confined extend to a length of upwards of 50 miles— at so great an expMiditnro of time nnd labour was this land reclaimed from tlio sea.

The groat care of the Komans, after havini;" thoroughly embanked and drained the land, was to provide the moans of easy communication by the construction of roads. These were not formed on the principle followod by the reclaimers of the fens of our gonoration. ayIui dot inod it suthciont to leaYe a wide space and call it a rond, but wore constructed in Iho most solid nnd substantial manner, with brick and stones cemented together, and laid in regular courti'es. with a concrete foundation, and so solidly and Ih-mly were they built that traces are constantly being discovered in a complete state of preservation. The chief road passing through this disti'ict was a loop line of the Great Nortliroad, or Ermin-sti*eet, which after crossing the river None, pursued a N.E. course through Thurlby, Bourn, towards Sleaford, and thouoo through Kuskington, Dorrington, Blankney, and Metheringham, to Lincoln, whore it joined the main lino.

Another road, across the country from the salt mines in "Worcestershire is supposed to have passed through the fens by Bolingbroke, Stickford, Sibsey, and so to Boston, and across the Witham by a ferry near Redstone Gowt, thence to K'rton and Donington, and so on in a straight line till it joined the branch above-described. The remains of tliis roiid may bo cleai'ly traced in the Bridge-end causeway, and by a foundation of stone and gravel which has been laid bai"e throughout its course ; as also by milestones, one of which, near the Pincushion inn at "Wyberton, remained in existence until quite recently.

The land, tluis embanked, drained, and provided with roads, soon became fertile and covered with vegetation and ti'ees, which appeixr from the remains thjvt have been discovered to have nourished more vigorously in those days than they have under the more recent reclamation. BeRides thus affording employment and subsistence to the Roman colonist, this part of the country doubtless also provided materials for export to the mother countr}', both manufactured and in their natural state. Of the latter kind, some of the British oysters, which were held in such great esteem by the epicures of the imperial city, were probably taken from their beds in the '* Metaris Estuarim," known in modern days as Boston Deeps ; and of the former it is supposed by some antiquaries that the salt pans, the remains of which have been discovered on many parts of this coast, are due to the art and industry of the Romans. The practice of manufacturing salt, by evaporating sea water in pans or reservoirs dug on the margin of a tid;il stream, is exceedingly ancient, and the known skill and ability with which the Romans availed themselves of every opportunity of turning to good account the gifts of nature, may fairly lead us to suppose that they would adopt so simple a means of providing themselves with a supply of a commodity as valuable and scarce as salt was in those days. It is certain from the menlion in many old Saxon chronicles of the numerous grants of land in which salt pans are mentioned, that their successors knew of this method of making salt, and that it was highly prized by them, great quantities being used for salting meat for their winter store of food.

After an occupation of upwards of 400 years, about the year A.D. 420, the Romans were obliged to withdraw their legions from Britain to assist in the defence of their own country. The same cause that effected the decline and fall of the Roman empire led to the occupation of this island by uncultivated and warhke Saxons. The movement amongst the Teutonic Nations of central Europe, which scattered them in all directions in quest of plunder and conquest, while leading the great body of that nation to the rich booty to be obtained in the cities of Italy, also sent the Saxons across the water to the neighbouring shores of Britain, which, deprived of its protectors, fell an easy prey to their predatory bands. Having once conquered the island they permanently settled hero.

The Fens, lately so flourishing, soon became once more a scene of desolation. Tradition says that the Saxons, in their contests with the Britains, cut the banks and drowned the land on purpose ; but even if this were not wilfully done, it is easy to conceive how soon the banks and sluices would go to decay and ruin, if neglected, and how rapidly the whole fen would become a mere morass covered daily by the tides, if they were not kept up. That no such attention and vigilance would be bestowed on them by the invaders we can easily conceive by the knowledge that history gives us of their character and barbarous habits at the time of their incursion. While the rudest dwellings sufficed to content them, war and plunder, perpetual quarrels and tights, occupied all their time ; and while it is doubtful if they were possessed of knowledge and skill sufficient to maintain the engineering works constructed by their predecessors, it is certain they would hold in contempt the arts and practice of agriculture, for which purpose alone the fens were adapted.

For 20l) years after the departure of the Romans the waters were allowed to have full dominion over the fens. The rivers, obstructed in their outfalls, prevented the rain-fall from flowing away, and the water, stagnating on the ground, made the whole a vast morass ; the coarse grasses and herbage that sprang up in the summer months decayed away in the winter, and assisted in forming that layer of peat which is found more or less throughout the whole surface of the fens, but much deeper in the upper part, or that furthest removed from the sea. The eruption of the tides, through the broken i)anks, swept away at once all the signs of former prosperity, and the numerous trees, washed up by the roots, that have been found buried in the fen soil, attest to the power with which tho torrent of waters devastated the land. Thus while tho upland waters assisted in raising the surface by tho formation of peat, tho tides brought in a great quantity of silt and alluvial soil, which was deposited to a depth of from 12 to 18 feet at tho parts near the mouths of the rivers, gradually diminishing towards tho interior and higher grounds to a depth of from one to three feet. Numerous discoveries which havo been made in excavations at dillcrent times in all parts of tho Great Level bear witness to the correctness of this theory as to the formation of the upper stratum of tho fens, of which tho follov;ing are selected as samples : — In the excavations made for the erection of the Black Sluice, at Boston, in 1847, the first 12 feet was found to bo warp, fermed by a deposit of a reddish brown clay, Icfft evidently by the sea ; this rested on another layer of warj), live foot in thickness ; which was followed by a stratum of peat 12 to 18 inches in thickness, in which were contained tlie remains of oak and oihor trees ; below the peat was a layer of sand, and below this was the clay found everywhere beneath tho fens, and which has been bored through, in Boston, to a d(iptli of 555 feet. A well sunk at Sutton displayed a similar stratilication ; the first 10 feet was clayey warp, then came 8 to 4 feet of moor or peat ; then ^0 feet of soft moor mixed with shells and silt ; then, for a distance of 05 feet, clay mixed with chalk stones ; and below that gravel.

In digging for the foundations of tho Grand Sluice, Boston, in 1764, at about 18 feet below the surface, the roots of several trees standing as they had grown were found ; and also at about the samo depth, a layer of shells of a kind similar to those found in tlie marsh creeks at the present time. In the excavations for Mjiud Foster sluice, in Skirbeck, there was found at IG feet below the surface a smith's forge with all the tools belonging to it. In lO'JO, on the Welland, about 10 feet below the surface, the remains of old tan vats were discovered, and great quantities of hoins and shoe solos of strange and unusual forms ; also a number of boats. (EUtob's History of the Bedford Level.) At' Lynn a cartwheel was found 16 feet below the surface. In other parts of the fens great trees, swarths of grass, and other indications of cultivation have been found buried in silt and warp. While thus those discoveries clearly show that the surface has been raised near the outfalls of the rivers to a height of from 10 to 18 feet, the remains of trees, &c., crop up nearer to the surface the further they are removed from the coast. Thus at Bardney, Mr. Edwards in his survey in 17(39 gives the ibllowing account of the formation of the groimd : — *' Bodiam sands, near Bardney, lie about three feet and a half below the surface of the adjacent lands. They consist of a thin bed of sand upon a bed of strong blue clay, full of large coggles and stones, on which bed was found a great number of oak, yew, and alder roots and trees which had grown thereon. The soil on each side is moory and full of subterranean wood to three and a half feet thick. The oak roots stand upon the sand, and tap-root in the cLi}''. Some of the trees are live feet in diameter at the boll, and more than ten feet from out to out at the root." One large tree was discovered at Bardney containing 1410 feet of timber. This tree was found three feet below the surf\ice, lying upon clay and gravel, and covered with peat. In Friskuey, Wainlleet, and Wrangle, and in the East Fen, great numbers of fir trees with their roots have been discovered in the moory soil, one foot below the surface in the low parts, and from two to six feet in the higher lands. They lie in all directions, and appear to have been torn up b}- the operation of water.

In the excavations for tlie foundation of the engines and sluice now being constructed at Lade Bank, in the East Fen, at four feet below the surl\ice a layer of peat about six inches in thickness was exposed ; below this was throo foot of soft blue clay, and thon again a layer of poat with piocoH of trees buried in it. This last lajer nssted on a bed of hard cliiy iiitorsporsed with chalk stones, and tliis continued as far as tlio borings extended, about thirty feet below the surface.

From tho formation of the soil and these discoveries, it is evident that the whole surface of tho fens must have boon coneiderably raised by decaying vegetation and aqueous deposits spread over a long series of years. The trees prove that this deposit took place after tho land had boon protected from tho salt water ; and tho shoo solos, smith's forgo, and other articles of civilised life all denote a period posterior to tho occupation of the island by tho llomans.

Tho first returning signs of prosperity prol)ubly date from a period of 'ZOO years after tho departure of tho Romans, when Pope Gregory, touched by the beauty of the fair complexion and blooming countenances of some English youths exposed for sale in the streets of Rome, and finding their native religion was tluit of Paganism, expressed his conviction that it was a pity that tho prince of darkness should enjoy so fair a prey, and that so beautiful a frontispiece should cover minds destitute of internal grace and righteousness. Ho theroforo sent Hi. Augustine, with forty other monks, to spread the knowledge of Christianity amongst the Saxons and Britons ; and so successful was their mission that the doctrines of Christianity soon became deeply rooted throughout the whole of England. f Hume's History of Kmfland). Amongst other monks who followed the footsteps of St. Augustine was one Guthlac, a holy man of God, who, seeking a place more desolate than any other whereto ho might retire and pursue his holy meditations, came to Crowland, and finally settled there. His reputation for holiness soon attracted other monks, and ultimately a monastery waa

'established. The fens around are described by his biographer *' as immense marshes, now a black pool of water, now foul running streams, and also many islands and reeds and hillocks, and witli manifold windings, wide and long, it continues up to the North Sea." The fenny nature of the soil gave this place its name, as the meaning of the word is '* crude" and "muddy" land. Ciowland soon became a place of note in the kingdom, and about the year 716 Ethelbakl, king of the Mercians, having been instructed by the counsels and prevailed upon by the prayers of the devout anchorite Guthlac, his dearly-beloved confessor, gave, granted, and delivered unto Almighty God and the blessed Virgin and Saint Bai-tholomew out of his demesnes, for the purpose of founding a monastery of black monks, the whole island of Crowland, the same to be set apart for the site of an abbey ; and also gi'anted from his treasury the sum of £oOO towards the building of the same, and an annual payment of £100, with libeii-y to the monks to enclose as much of the mai-sh land as they should see fit. Other monasteries were established by the Saxons on the Witham. St. Botolph, in the year 654, built one on a desert piece of gi'ouud, near its mouth, supposed to be the site of the present town of Boston, and another was established at Bardney about the year 697. Saint Guthlac became the patron saint of the fens, and the numerous churches that are dedicated to his memory attest the esteem and popularity of the first Christian reclaimer of this part of England. In a niche in the wall of the parish church of Fishtoft is a statue of St. Guthlac, its patron saint ; and there is a tradition connected with this statue that so long as the whip, the usual insignia of the saint, remained in his hand, the parish of Fishtoft should not be infested with rats and mice, (lliompson^s History).

A love of desolation and seclusion, the old Chronicles tell us, was St. Guthlac's motive in seeking the fens for his residence.

His followers probably were attracted by other motives, amongst which may have been the valuable fisheries to be found in the fen rivers, which, anterior to their coming, had been of little benefit to the natives, for we are informed that the Saxons learnt the art of catching fish from the Romans. The art once acquired, fish became such a favorite food that the supply never equalled the demand. Turner, in his History of the Anglo-Saxons, thus refers to the value of fisheries: — "The Saxons eat various kinds of fish, but of this description of food the species that is most profusely noticed is the eel. They used eels as abundantly as swine. Two grants are mentioned, each yielding one thousand eels, and by another 2000 were received as an annual rent ; 4000 eels were an annual present from the monks of Ramsey to those of Peterboro'. We read of two places, purchased for £21, wherein 16,000 of these fish were caught every year ; and in one charter twenty fishermen are stated to have furnished during the same period 60,000 eels to the monastery." In the dialogues composed by Elfric to instruct the Anglo-Saxon youths, giving an account of the fisheries, the following are mentioned as forming the food of the people : eels, haddocks, skate, lampreys, and whatever swims in the river ; and as the products of the sea, herrings, salmon, porpoises, sturgeons, oysters and crabs, mussels, cockles, and such like. Both the Witham and Welland were celebrated for their fish, and doubtless afforded many a dainty meal to the abstemious abbots and monks residing in the various establishments founded on their banks.