THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
The seventeenth century was a period of intense draining and embanking with the aim of combating flooding from the sea and uplands. King James 1 became involved and the area which concerned him first was the low-lying land north of Boston, the East and West Fens, lying between the sea and the higher ground of the Wolds. However, the ridge of high silt land along the Wash meant that floodwater from the fens could not pass through to discharge into the sea, therefore the only other solution was discharge south into the outfall of the River Witham.
Although I described in the section on the 16th Century that nothing changed in the state of East Fen for over two hundred years, the fen commoners may or may not have been ignorant of what was going on in the background as schemes for draining their precious fen came and went. By the end of the 17TH Century, despite major attempts to drain the fen, still nothing had changed. But let us start at the beginning.
THE EAST AND WEST FENS FROM 1600
William Henry Wheeler’s A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire quotes from William Camden’s history from 1602, part of his great work Britannia, a topographical and historical survey of all of Great Britain and Ireland, where he sets out the state of the fens:
The East Fen is quite in a state of nature, and exhibits a specimen of what the country was before the introduction of draining. It is a vast tract of morass, intermixed with numbers of lakes, from half a mile to two or three miles in circuit, communicating with each other by narrow reedy straits. They are very shallow, none above four or five feet deep, but abound with pike, perch, ruffs, bream, tench, dace, eels, &c. The reeds which cover the fens are cut annually for thatching not only cottages, but many very good houses. The multitudes of stares that roost in these weeds in winter break down many by perching on them. A stock of reeds well harvested and stacked is worth two or three hundred pounds. The birds which inhabit the different fens are very numerous. Besides the common wild duck; wild geese, garganies, pochards, shovellers, and teals breed here, pewit, gulls, and black terns abound: a few of the great terns or tickets are seen among them. The great crested grebes, called gaunts, are found in the East Fen. The lesser crested, the black and dusky, and the little grebe, cootes, water hens and spotted water-hens, water-rails, ruffs, red-shanks, lapwings or wypes, redbreasted godwits and whimbrels are inhabitants of these fens. The godwits breed near Washingborough, three miles east of Lincoln; the whimbrels only appear for a fortnight in May and then quit the country."
Joan Thirsk in her book English Peasant Farming says:
There were meres and pools in East Fen, through and round which wide droveways had been made to allow men to ride out and gather in the hay from places inaccessible to livestock. In the driest parts of the fen, the grazing season was long, lasting for as much as nine months in the year.
See Maps numbers 5, 6 and 7 showing the Deeps referred to above as meres and pools.
W H Wheeler also summarises the state of the fens:
In summer these fens provided valuable pasturage for the stock condition of the farmers who had rights of common in them. In winter on, being lower than all the surrounding ground, and no means of drainage being provided, they became covered with water over the greater part.
There were a few scattered inhabitants who lived in huts built on the patches of high ground, and who gained a living by attending to the cattle sent on in the summer; by rearing geese; and by fishing and fowling, the fens affording vast supplies of both fish and wild fowl.
From an old parchment plan in the library of Revesby Abbey, ancient but not dated, but probably made during the early part of the 17th century, it appears that previous to the construction of the Adventurers' drains, the drainage of these fens was affected by the Goodyke Drain, which received Toynton Beck and Silver Pit Drain, on the north; 'by the Old South Lode and Valentine's Drain on the south; all of which emptied into Wainfleet Haven. Hilldyke drain received the water from Hagnaby Beck and from the Sibsey River, (now Stone Bridge Drain), also from the Barlode Drain and from the Old Mill Drain, which had the same course as the present Mill Drain. It emptied into the Witham at New Gote, about a mile above Boston.
Wheeler describes how in 1603, shortly after the accession of James I to the throne, a series of destructive floods burst the embankments of the fens on the East coast, and swept over farms, homesteads, and villages, drowning large numbers of people and cattle.
SIR ANTHONY THOMAS AND THE ADVENTURERS
In 1629 the Court of Sewers at Boston found that the lands of the West and East Fens were overflowed with water and that they were capable of recovery. A tax of ten shillings an acre was levied for repairs to the natural outfalls and other works. A group of Adventurers led by Sir Anthony Thomas were authorised in 1631 to drain the East Fen, the West Fen and the Wildmore Fen.
That 1631 Court of Sewers was held at Boston. W H Wheeler quotes from the hearing into the scheme to drain the West and East Fens:
“Where lastly that the Severals of certain Lords and
Owners of grounds belonging to Toynton next Spillesby, called the
Demesns, lying between the East Fen on the south, and certain
meadow called the East Fen on the north, and abutting upon a drain called Toynton Beck towards the east, and upon Hare Hills towards the west, were surrounded grounds also for the winter season," and that these lands were capable of recovery. They therefore deemed that a tax of ten shillings an acre should be levied for the repairs of the natural outfalls at Waynflete Haven, Black Gote, Symon Gote, Maud Foster Gote, New Gote and Anton Gote, as also any other cuts or drains that should be found necessary to be made or enlarged”.
Commissioners were appointed to divide and set out the lands decreed to Sir Anthony Thomas and John Warsopp, out of the fens to be drained by them on the north east side of the river Witham. The Commissioners were directed to take care that 1,500 acres of the drained land and fourpence reserved on every acre be tied for
the perpetual maintenance of the works; and that 1,600 acres of the lands decreed to the Undertakers in the East Fen and 400 acres in the West Fen should be conveyed to the use of the poor cottagers and inhabitants.
The Adventurers under Sir Anthony Thomas commenced operations in 1631, and enlarged the drain which had been previously made, or as described in
Dugdale’s book (see below), "made a great and navigable stream, three miles in length, from Cowbridge to the Haven, near Boston, and at the end of it the old Maud Foster Gowt was replaced by ' a very large gowt of stone and timber.'" This sluice had a water way of 13ft., and the bottom of the drain was made 30ft. wide. In 1807 a stone was found near Mount Bridge, bearing the following inscription, ' Anthony Thomas Knight buylded this sluice, 1635.' They also made ' many other petty sewers, gutters and streams, having their courses to the said main river, and over them were erected many bridges and other works, done with so much diligence ' that three years after the commencement, (1636) a decree was made by the Court of Sewers “that, on a view of the late surrounded grounds, viz., East and West Fen, Earle's Fen, Armetre Fen, and Wildmore Fen, and other the drowned commons and adjacent surrounded grounds, lying on the north and north east of the river Witham, within the extent of the said Commission, they adjudged the same to be so drained as that they were fit for arable, meadow, and pasture. And that out of 3,000 acres of pits, deeps and holes which formerly existed, therenow only remained 1673 acres."
The Adventurers had spent some £30,000 on the work, and received 16,300 acres (66 km2) of the drained land. They subsequently spent £20,000 on improvements and buildings, and the land would generate some £8,000 per year in rent.
H C Darby in his book The Changing Fenland summarises what was happening:
In 1631, Sir Anthony Thomas and other adventurers, in spite of the opposition of the people of a “forward and cross nature” began to drain the East, West and Wildmore Fens. The work was adjudged to be completed in 1634 when the land was said to be “fit for arable or meadow or pasture”, save for a small area of pits, holes, deeps and hollow places, which were permitted to be covered with water”
Not long afterwards, however, there were disturbances and disagreements with the Commissioners of Sewers, and complaints that Sir Anthony was but “an unworthy undertaker” lacking in ability and efficiency”.
Opinion was general that the countryside could only return to it’s former state and “be all thrown out to the commons”. With the coming of civil war, the dispossessed fenmen, a little before the Edgehill fight, in 1642, resorted to force and broke sluices, spoiled crops, demolished houses and recovered possession of their lands. After the civil war was over, efforts were made by some of the original participants “to be reinstated of their possession”.
The proceedings were very confused, but the net result was that the commoners triumphed; the Commission of Sewers resumed charge of the district and took over those drains and sluices that had survived. But the drainage remained in a very unsatisfactory state until well into the eighteenth century.
Although it seems that only West Fen and Wildmore Fen were the subject of the efforts of Sir Anthony Thomas, because villages including the Toyntons had rights of common there, it is possible that the Ascoughs were involved in the riots.
In his book Fenland Riots and the English Revolution, Keith Lindley explains that the Undertakers were experiencing their first confrontations with the hostile commoners. At the End of June 1639 there were reports of “divers insolences” committed by the inhabitants of the area including Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints. Seventeen offenders were
The contract with Sir Anthony Thomas in 1631 included his being given10,000 acres of East Fen, with additional 1,000 acres when the works were completed. In late 1640 or 1641, the commoners resorted to direct action in the East and West Fens. They “assembled in great troops to level enclosures and destroy crops”. But it was still the West Fen that was the source of repeated attacks, it seems that Thomas had not yet made attempts to drain the East Fen.
Lindley confirms that there was renewed rioting in the West and East Fens in 1642 with between 400 and 500 rioters. By the time of the Civil War (1642 – 1651) “Commoners in East and West Fen had regained all their former commons having successfully driven out the Undertakers.
In 1661, the Privy Council had failed to resolve the differences between the Commoners and the Undertakers. A Bill by Sir Anthony Thomas’ son to return lands previously agreed failed in the Commons. All was then quiet for the rest of the century.
W H Wheeler continues:
The works that had been carried out by the Adventurers appear to have consisted of diverting the water from the West Fen and the South of the East Fen, from the Witham at Anton's Gowt to the new Maud Foster Gowt, and by constructing drains on the north to prevent the high land water from flooding the fens, and by opening out and improving the outfall to Wainfleet Haven. In the West and Wildmoor Fens, the old Nunham Drain, which discharged at Anton's Gowt, was improved, and a new drain extended from it in a westerly direction to Dogdyke.
For seven years the Adventurers' tenants enjoyed their occupations, building houses, sowing corn, and feeding cattle thereon; at the end of that time, the Commoners “finding that done, of which they themselves despaired, made several clamours, but finding no relief in time of peace, they resolved to try if force and violence would compass that which neither justice nor reason could give ; and to that end, a little before Edgehill fight, in 1642, they, being incensed by some then in faction, took arms, and in a riotous manner they fell upon the Adventurers, broke the sluices, laid waste their lands, threw down their fences, spoiled their corn, demolished their houses, and forcibly retained possession of the land." The new sluice, erected at Maud Foster, was probably destroyed at this time, as 80 years later reference is made in an order of the Court of Sewers to the erection of a new sluice at a place ' where a gote formerly existed.'
This vociferous opposition came from those who judged that their livelihood was affected by the works, the fen commoners. The land had previously been extra-parochial on which people from adjacent villages (including the Toyntons) had grazing rights. A 1646 pamphlet with the title The Anti-Projector must be one of the earliest grass roots denunciations of a capitalist development project, and makes exactly the same points that indigenous tribes today make when fighting corporate land grabs:
“The Undertakers have always vilified the fens, and have misinformed many Parliament men, that all the fens is a mere quagmire … of little or no value, but those who live in the fens, and are neighbours to it, know the contrary.
For first the fens breed infinite number of serviceable horses, mares and colts, which till our land and furnish our neighbours.
Secondly, we breed and feed great store of young cattle, and we keep great dairies, which afford great store of butter and cheese.
Thirdly, we mow off the fens fodder, which feeds our cows in winter, which being housed, we gather such quantities of compost and dung, that ir enriches our pastures and arable land.
Fourthly, we keep great flocks of sheep upon the fens.
Fifthly, food for uplands cattle.
Sixthly, we have great store of osier, reed and sledge for many uses on which the poor can work.
Lastly, we have many thousand cottagers, which live on our fens, which otherwise must go begging. So, if the Undertakers take from us a third part of our fens, they destroy not only our pastures and corn ground, but also our poor, and utterly disable us to relieve them.
The Adventurers, finding that the Sheriff and other local authorities could not afford them protection, petitioned the Houses of Lords and Commons. With the former they were successful, the Lords passing the Bill for the relief and security of the drainers, because of the advantage accruing to the King by the improvement of his lands, from fourpence to ten and twelve shillings per acre yearly; and for repaying by the Undertakers. Being opposed by the Commoners they failed to obtain an Act from the
Commons.
Having heard both parties, the House of Commons ordered that the Sheriff and Justices of the Peace should prevent and suppress riots, if any should happen, but expressly declared that they did not intend thereby to prejudice the parties interested in point of title to the lands, or to hinder the Commoners in the legal pursuit of their interest. Upon this the parties commenced proceedings at common law against the Adventurers, in which they were successful. So, between 1642 and 1649 the Crown's share of fenland in numerous parishes was also seized by the inhabitants, and returned to common.
Ultimately, the drainage works in any case proved a failure. R C Wheeler’s Maps of the Witham Fens quotes from an unnamed Map No 8 from about 1661(See MAP NO 5 in the section MAPS OF EAST FEN):
“The Descriptions of Wildmore Fenn, West Fenn and East Fenn, with all the towns (including the two Toyntons) that have right of Common in them, as also all the most ancient Drains, sikes (small streams) and Goats (or gowt, a small sluice) to them belonging, which the inhabitants have found by long experience and most profitable for these Fenns and much better than those made by the undertaker that has done much damage”.
And W H Wheeler states that around 1650, 'The Court of Sewers again resumed charge of the district [i.e., the Fourth District], taking over such of the drains and sluices as remained after the destruction caused by the Fenmen. The drainage for a long time after this remained in a very unsatisfactory state'.
In his book The Fens and Floods of Mid-Lincolnshire it is J S Padley who records:
After all it appears that the commoners were eventually successful, as is shown by a Petition presented by them to the House of Commons in 1662, wherein they state “that from that time your petitioners did, and have enjoyed their respective commons." A letter from Sir William Killigrew, dated June 25, 1653, states that " My Lord General Cromwell should saye the drayninge of the fens was a good worke, but that the drayners had too greate a proportion of land for their hazard and charges, and that the poore were not enough provided for, and that the drayners did not pay for the land which they had cutt through."
This makes me believe that the East Fen remained untouched, as is evident from Dugdales map of 1661 (MAP NO 6 in the Section MAPS OF EAST FEN, in William Stukeley’s map of 1723 (MAP NO 7) and Grundy’s map of 1774 (MAP NO 8) which all show The Deeps of East Fen in their original state.
The outcome of the failed schemes was that when the monarchy was restored in 1661, management of the Fens returned to the Court of Sewers, and East Fen in particular remained in a “poor state” until the mid eighteenth century.
THE HISTORY OF IMBANKING AND DRAINING
I have already quoted from the most important publication of the seventeenth century that describes drainage schemes in fenland. It is called: The history of imbanking and drayning of divers fenns and marshes, both in foreign parts and in this kingdom, and of the improvements thereby extracted from records, manuscripts, and other authentick testimonie by Sir William Dugdale 1605-1686. His work on fen management was first published in 1662, with maps supplied by Wenceslas Hollar. R C Wheeler’s Map No 7 of “A Description of Wildmore Fen, West Fen and East Fen etc” (MAP NO 6 in the section MAPS OF EAST FEN) is dated 1661, but is from the 1724 edition of the book. Other sources note the map is dated 1664. It shows the two villages as Upper Toynton (All Saints) and Lower Toynton (St Peter) and indicates the two churches. Holler even sketches the edge of the higher ground of the Wolds on the northern boundary of the fen.
The whole publication is available on the net at:
quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A36795.0001
The following extracts from Dugdale’s history are to some degree a repetition of those above. However, here I have concentrated on those parts that apply only to East Fen. I have also updated some of the old English words. It is important because it gives a good idea of the state of the fens in the seventeenth century, having been written at the time. However, he was far more optimistic about how the fens could be drained, so it has to be read with that in mind.
In his introduction, Dugdale describes the current state of the fen:
Next for the richness of the soil, being gained from the waters, doth it not for the most part exceed the high grounds thereon bordering, as much as other meadows do, which are ordinarily let for x shillings per Acre? And do we not see that in the Marshes beyond Wainfleet in Lincolnshire, where the grounds are severed and trenched, it is hard to find a poor man, though they sit at great Rents? For their Cattle, being always sound and thriving, are therefore merchantable; or if they come to a mischance, yet fit for food.
He goes on to describe how previously wetlands have been successfully drained:
many thousands of Acres, which do now yield much benefit, yearly, by Rape, Cole-seed, Grass, Hay, Hemp, Flax, Wheat, Oats, and other Grain; nay by all sorts of excellent Plants, Garden-stuff, and fruit Trees, which in former times were Drowned Lands.
And continues to relate the schemes to drain the fens, of which East Fen is one:
And this was it, which gave encouragement to two late Sovereigns of Blessed Memory; (viz. King James, and King Charles the first) to become the sole Adventurers for the Drayning of those vast Fenns of Cambridgeshire, and the five other adjacent Counties; (a worthy Work, and never totally attempted till their times;) well discerning, that by a complete performance thereof, the costly and troublesome meeting of Commissioners for Sewers; the frequent great Taxes, for the maintenance of divers Banks and Drains, with many unhappy controversies and emulations relating thereto, might be, in a great measure prevented.
It is interesting that Dugdale imagined that the Deeps of East Fen would remain as he describes as follows:
As for the decay of Fish and Fowl, which hath been no small objection against this public work, there is not much likelihood thereof: for notwithstanding this general Drayning, there are so many great Meeres and Lakes, still continuing, which be indeed the principal harbours for them, that there will be no want of either; for in the vast spreading waters they seldom abide, the Rivers, Channels, and Meeres being their principal Receptacles; which being now increased, will rather augment than diminish their store. And that both Fish and Fowl are with much more ease taken by this restraint of the waters within such bounds, we daily see; forasmuch as all Nets for Fishing, are better made use of in the Rivers and Meeres, than when the waters are out of those narrower limits: And that Decoys are now planted upon many drained Levels, whereby greater numbers of Fowl are caught, than by any other Engines formerly used; which could not at all be made there, did the waters, as formerly, overspread the whole Country.
The East and West FensNorthwards of this Fenny part of the Country, called Lindsey Level, are divers other Marshes lying towards Wainfleet, the greatest whereof are called by the name of the East and West Fenns.
Upon a Writ of Ad quod Dampnum in 41 Eliz. concerning the Drayning of these Fens, it appears that the East Fen (lying betwixt the parts of Holland and Lindsey) was found to contain five thousand Acres or thereabouts; and that the one half thereof, being the Skirt, Hills, and Out-rings, might conveniently be drained; but the other half, consisting of deeps for the most part, could not be recovered: and moreover, that the Commons and Severals pertaining to the Towns confining on the said Fen, did then amount to the number of three thousand and four hundred Acres, or thereabouts;
And that all these grounds, as also the grounds mentioned in a Verdict heretofore given up at a Session of Sewers held at Boston aforesaid, 16 January 1629. Viz. the East Fenne, extending in length from the severals of Wainfleet on the East, to the severals of Stickney on the West: and in breadth from the severals of Wainfleet, Friskeney, etc and the severals of Stichford, Keales, Toynton, Halton, Stepping and Thorpe on the North, were for the most part surrounded grounds.
(Surrounded Grounds usually denoted land that was seasonally flooded by fresh water e.g. run off from the higher ground of the Wolds).
And lastly, that the severals of certain Lords and Owners of grounds, belonging to Toyntons next Spilsby, called the Demesns, lying between the East Fen on the South, and a certain Meadow called the East Fen on the North, and abutting upon a Drain called Toynton Beck towards the East, and upon Hare Hills towards the West, were surrounded grounds also for the winter season.
And that it was therefore decreed; that for & towards the natural outfall of Wainfleet Haven, Black Gote, (Gote is a drainage channel) Symons Gote, Maudfoster Gote, New Gote, and Amton Gote, and all or part of the same; as also any other ancient Drains as the Undertakers should think or find most necessary to be used; should be enlarged and made deeper as need should require, with all other necessary works for drayning of the said grounds, within the extent of the several recited Commissions of Sewers, bearing date as above is expressed. And that every Acre of Land and Common mentioned in the said Verdict, and express the said view, within the extent of the said Commissions, to be overflown with fresh waters, which might receive benefit by the said Drayning, should be taxed and charged with the sum of x shillings per Acre, to be paid at or before the xiiij day of May then next coming, unto William Locton and Gervase Scroope Esquires, or to any one of them: The said Tax being set upon the said lands and Commons, to the end that if it should not be paid, the Commissioners of Sewers might be legally authorised to make bargain for land with Sir Anthony Thomas Knight, and the rest of the Undertakers: And the said Tax to remain in the hands, under the Locks and Keys of two of the said parties named, and two of the same Undertakers, the sum being first certainly known to the said Undertakers, by authority of the Court to be rateably paid over to the said Sir Anthony Thomas and the rest of the Undertakers, to be nominated by him, their Heirs and Assigns, after the said Drayning should be done, wholly, or in part proportionable.
And therefore, being credibly informed, that for the effecting of the said works of Drayning of those surrounded grounds,* one great and navigable stream and River, ought to be cast from out of the said East Fenn and grounds; and so leading from thence by the space of three miles, or thereabouts, unto the Haven of Boston aforesaid;
said Sir Anthony Thomas etc. were thereupon appointed Undertakers of the said works accordingly: it being also decreed, that in consideration of such their performance, they, their heirs and assigns, should have the one half of the said East Fenn; as also a third part in three parts to be divided of all the said severals, which lie in or adjoining to and upon the said East Fenn: and, moreover that he, the said Sir Anthony and the rest of his fellow undertakers, for the considerations aforesaid, should have a full fourth part in four parts to be divided, of all the said surrounded grounds, lying in the West Fenne, and in the said severals thereto adjoining, butted and bounded as aforesaid; to have and enjoy in several after the said Drayning should be sufficiently completed: All which parts to be set forth by six or more of the Commissioners of Sewers, presently after the said Drayning should be finished, as aforesaid, in the most fit and convenient places of the said grounds, whereby the Owners and Commoners of the other parts might hold and enjoy their several and respective interests, with the least prejudice, and to and for their best advantage.
And the said Commissioners did also decree, that from and after the perfecting of this work of Drayning, the said Lands so assigned to the before-specified Sir Anthony Thomas and the rest of the Undertakers and their heirs, should be bound by good and sufficient security, to and for the costs and charges to be expended for the perpetual maintenance of the said works; that is to say, one thousand five hundred Acres, whereof five hundred Acres of the said West Fenn to be part; and a thousand Acres of the best grounds of the said East Fenn, to be the rest, yearly to be let out; to the intent and purpose, that two thousand pounds might be levied and kept in the hands of the Mayor of Boston aforesaid, for the time being, to be employed for and about the repairs of the said works; and the profits of the said grounds to be to the use of the said Undertakers, until the value of five hundred pounds should be spent in and about the repairs of the said works; and then the said profits to be employed and made two thousand pounds, to be bestowed from time to time, upon the said works for ever, when occasion should serve.
Provided also, that the said Undertakers should compound with the several owners and farmers of grounds, through which the said new Stream, River, and Gutters were to pass, for setting and casting their works thereon
Whereupon the said Sir Anthony and his Participants began the work in September following, and prosecuted it with so much diligence, that at another Session of Sewers held likewise at Boston, upon the 10th July, by Thomas Houghton Esquire, Mayor of the Borough of Boston, Sir Raphe Madison Knight, Walter Norton, Richard Finsham, George Pulton, Rouland Hale, Iohn Knight Esquire, and Thomas Bedford Gent.
Upon their view of those late surrounded grounds, viz. East and West Fenns, North Fenn, Earles Fen, Armetre Fen, and Wildmore fen, and other the drowned Commons and adjacent surrounded several grounds, lying on the North and North East of the River of Witham, within the extent of the said Commission, undertaken by Sir Anthony Thomas Knight, and his participants, they adjudged the same to be so drained, as that they were fit for arable, Meadow, or Pasture: And that there was not above sixteen hundred seventy and three Acres remaining drowned, of three thousand Acres of Pits, Holes, Deeps, and hollow places; (which were permitted to be let covered with waters) besides the Rivers, Drains, Sewers, and Water-courses, within the whole Level, undertaken by the said Sir Anthony and his Associates, to be drained within four years not then expired until Michaelmas next following, according to the before-specified Law of Sewers made at Boston on the 6th May; and of another Law of Sewers, made likewise in pursuance thereof, at Boston aforesaid 7th April.
And in another Session of Sewers held also at Boston aforesaid,* upon the 11th of August the next ensuing year, recital being made of the former Decrees, whereby the one half of the said East Fen, and a third part of the severals adjoining thereto; and a fourth part of the West Fen, as also the fourth part of all the surrounded grounds, as well Several as Common formerly taxed, lying in the said West Fen, were decreed to the said Sir Anthony and his Participants for the Drayning thereof; the Commissioners did fully ratify the same proportions, as they were then set out by particular metes and bounds.
THE BEDFORD LEVEL
The Bedford Level is a long way from East Fen, so a description of the attempts at draining this part of fenland is only included here as a record of what was going on in other regions. What is interesting is that at the same time a Commission of Sewers was being held in 1631 in Boston to consider schemes for the East and West Fen, another was sitting in Kings Lynn in Norfolk to look at plans to drain the Bedford Level.
The source which I believe is important is: The design for the initial drainage of the Great Level of the Fens: an historical whodunit in three parts by Margaret Albright Knittl. It records the following events:
By 20 February 1630 a turning point had been reached. Charles, I himself wrote to the Commissioners of Sewers for Lincolnshire that ‘we have taken into our own hands the care of the draining of the said Level of the six counties because we found from them [the Commissioners] no respect nor conformity to our pleasure signified unto them by our letters, but rather such a proceeding as could not but induce distraction, and in the end the overthrow of the whole business’. What more reasonable at this juncture than for Charles or his advisers to turn to Vermuyden?
In her article Knittl discusses the employment of Sir Cornelius Vermuyden (1595-1677) a Dutch engineer, who became involved in the drainage of the fens from 1630. It was the Earl of Bedford who was to be the head of a major scheme to drain the Bedford Level in 1631. And although on 13 June 1636 a Commission of Sewers found Bedford’s contract satisfactorily completed (on11 August 1636 he was awarded the 95,000 acres promised him and began to divide it out to his participants and they to their sub-participants) those lands that had theoretically been drained were under threat. Knittl says “However, to turn these decrees into law and make them irreversible they required the king’s assent. That assent was never given. Yet many new ‘owners’, including the King, were already cutting the necessary division ditches to demarcate land they took to be theirs. This is when complaints, disturbances and riots bloomed, as was inevitable in a project which brought with it such profound changes to existing communities and economies.
Then on 12 April 1638 a large, newly-appointed Commission found the drainage incomplete (not illegal!).
The commoners fought back by rioting, by levelling the dikes, and by taking the engineers to court. Their lawsuits were paid for "out of a common purse to which each villager contributed according to the size of the holding", though Charles I attempted to prevent them levying money for this purpose, and to prosecute the ringleaders. However, Charles' days were numbered, there was obviously much argument between Bedford, the King and Parliament and when civil war broke out in the 1640s, the engineering project was shelved, and the commoners reclaimed the entire fen from the developers. Not until 1649 would the draining of the Great Level be taken in hand again Vermuyden reappear on the scene.
W H Wheeler includes the following report by Vermuyden from 1642: “A discourse touching the draining of the great fens lying within the several counties ……… as it was presented to His Majesty”.
Of the two maps that Knittl includes in her article, one particularly demonstrates how these works were concentrated in the Bedford Level, so far away from East Fen.
The seventeenth century was a period of intense draining and embanking with the aim of combating flooding from the sea and uplands. King James 1 became involved and the area which concerned him first was the low-lying land north of Boston, the East and West Fens, lying between the sea and the higher ground of the Wolds. However, the ridge of high silt land along the Wash meant that floodwater from the fens could not pass through to discharge into the sea, therefore the only other solution was discharge south into the outfall of the River Witham.
Although I described in the section on the 16th Century that nothing changed in the state of East Fen for over two hundred years, the fen commoners may or may not have been ignorant of what was going on in the background as schemes for draining their precious fen came and went. By the end of the 17TH Century, despite major attempts to drain the fen, still nothing had changed. But let us start at the beginning.
THE EAST AND WEST FENS FROM 1600
William Henry Wheeler’s A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire quotes from William Camden’s history from 1602, part of his great work Britannia, a topographical and historical survey of all of Great Britain and Ireland, where he sets out the state of the fens:
The East Fen is quite in a state of nature, and exhibits a specimen of what the country was before the introduction of draining. It is a vast tract of morass, intermixed with numbers of lakes, from half a mile to two or three miles in circuit, communicating with each other by narrow reedy straits. They are very shallow, none above four or five feet deep, but abound with pike, perch, ruffs, bream, tench, dace, eels, &c. The reeds which cover the fens are cut annually for thatching not only cottages, but many very good houses. The multitudes of stares that roost in these weeds in winter break down many by perching on them. A stock of reeds well harvested and stacked is worth two or three hundred pounds. The birds which inhabit the different fens are very numerous. Besides the common wild duck; wild geese, garganies, pochards, shovellers, and teals breed here, pewit, gulls, and black terns abound: a few of the great terns or tickets are seen among them. The great crested grebes, called gaunts, are found in the East Fen. The lesser crested, the black and dusky, and the little grebe, cootes, water hens and spotted water-hens, water-rails, ruffs, red-shanks, lapwings or wypes, redbreasted godwits and whimbrels are inhabitants of these fens. The godwits breed near Washingborough, three miles east of Lincoln; the whimbrels only appear for a fortnight in May and then quit the country."
Joan Thirsk in her book English Peasant Farming says:
There were meres and pools in East Fen, through and round which wide droveways had been made to allow men to ride out and gather in the hay from places inaccessible to livestock. In the driest parts of the fen, the grazing season was long, lasting for as much as nine months in the year.
See Maps numbers 5, 6 and 7 showing the Deeps referred to above as meres and pools.
W H Wheeler also summarises the state of the fens:
In summer these fens provided valuable pasturage for the stock condition of the farmers who had rights of common in them. In winter on, being lower than all the surrounding ground, and no means of drainage being provided, they became covered with water over the greater part.
There were a few scattered inhabitants who lived in huts built on the patches of high ground, and who gained a living by attending to the cattle sent on in the summer; by rearing geese; and by fishing and fowling, the fens affording vast supplies of both fish and wild fowl.
From an old parchment plan in the library of Revesby Abbey, ancient but not dated, but probably made during the early part of the 17th century, it appears that previous to the construction of the Adventurers' drains, the drainage of these fens was affected by the Goodyke Drain, which received Toynton Beck and Silver Pit Drain, on the north; 'by the Old South Lode and Valentine's Drain on the south; all of which emptied into Wainfleet Haven. Hilldyke drain received the water from Hagnaby Beck and from the Sibsey River, (now Stone Bridge Drain), also from the Barlode Drain and from the Old Mill Drain, which had the same course as the present Mill Drain. It emptied into the Witham at New Gote, about a mile above Boston.
Wheeler describes how in 1603, shortly after the accession of James I to the throne, a series of destructive floods burst the embankments of the fens on the East coast, and swept over farms, homesteads, and villages, drowning large numbers of people and cattle.
SIR ANTHONY THOMAS AND THE ADVENTURERS
In 1629 the Court of Sewers at Boston found that the lands of the West and East Fens were overflowed with water and that they were capable of recovery. A tax of ten shillings an acre was levied for repairs to the natural outfalls and other works. A group of Adventurers led by Sir Anthony Thomas were authorised in 1631 to drain the East Fen, the West Fen and the Wildmore Fen.
That 1631 Court of Sewers was held at Boston. W H Wheeler quotes from the hearing into the scheme to drain the West and East Fens:
“Where lastly that the Severals of certain Lords and
Owners of grounds belonging to Toynton next Spillesby, called the
Demesns, lying between the East Fen on the south, and certain
meadow called the East Fen on the north, and abutting upon a drain called Toynton Beck towards the east, and upon Hare Hills towards the west, were surrounded grounds also for the winter season," and that these lands were capable of recovery. They therefore deemed that a tax of ten shillings an acre should be levied for the repairs of the natural outfalls at Waynflete Haven, Black Gote, Symon Gote, Maud Foster Gote, New Gote and Anton Gote, as also any other cuts or drains that should be found necessary to be made or enlarged”.
Commissioners were appointed to divide and set out the lands decreed to Sir Anthony Thomas and John Warsopp, out of the fens to be drained by them on the north east side of the river Witham. The Commissioners were directed to take care that 1,500 acres of the drained land and fourpence reserved on every acre be tied for
the perpetual maintenance of the works; and that 1,600 acres of the lands decreed to the Undertakers in the East Fen and 400 acres in the West Fen should be conveyed to the use of the poor cottagers and inhabitants.
The Adventurers under Sir Anthony Thomas commenced operations in 1631, and enlarged the drain which had been previously made, or as described in
Dugdale’s book (see below), "made a great and navigable stream, three miles in length, from Cowbridge to the Haven, near Boston, and at the end of it the old Maud Foster Gowt was replaced by ' a very large gowt of stone and timber.'" This sluice had a water way of 13ft., and the bottom of the drain was made 30ft. wide. In 1807 a stone was found near Mount Bridge, bearing the following inscription, ' Anthony Thomas Knight buylded this sluice, 1635.' They also made ' many other petty sewers, gutters and streams, having their courses to the said main river, and over them were erected many bridges and other works, done with so much diligence ' that three years after the commencement, (1636) a decree was made by the Court of Sewers “that, on a view of the late surrounded grounds, viz., East and West Fen, Earle's Fen, Armetre Fen, and Wildmore Fen, and other the drowned commons and adjacent surrounded grounds, lying on the north and north east of the river Witham, within the extent of the said Commission, they adjudged the same to be so drained as that they were fit for arable, meadow, and pasture. And that out of 3,000 acres of pits, deeps and holes which formerly existed, therenow only remained 1673 acres."
The Adventurers had spent some £30,000 on the work, and received 16,300 acres (66 km2) of the drained land. They subsequently spent £20,000 on improvements and buildings, and the land would generate some £8,000 per year in rent.
H C Darby in his book The Changing Fenland summarises what was happening:
In 1631, Sir Anthony Thomas and other adventurers, in spite of the opposition of the people of a “forward and cross nature” began to drain the East, West and Wildmore Fens. The work was adjudged to be completed in 1634 when the land was said to be “fit for arable or meadow or pasture”, save for a small area of pits, holes, deeps and hollow places, which were permitted to be covered with water”
Not long afterwards, however, there were disturbances and disagreements with the Commissioners of Sewers, and complaints that Sir Anthony was but “an unworthy undertaker” lacking in ability and efficiency”.
Opinion was general that the countryside could only return to it’s former state and “be all thrown out to the commons”. With the coming of civil war, the dispossessed fenmen, a little before the Edgehill fight, in 1642, resorted to force and broke sluices, spoiled crops, demolished houses and recovered possession of their lands. After the civil war was over, efforts were made by some of the original participants “to be reinstated of their possession”.
The proceedings were very confused, but the net result was that the commoners triumphed; the Commission of Sewers resumed charge of the district and took over those drains and sluices that had survived. But the drainage remained in a very unsatisfactory state until well into the eighteenth century.
Although it seems that only West Fen and Wildmore Fen were the subject of the efforts of Sir Anthony Thomas, because villages including the Toyntons had rights of common there, it is possible that the Ascoughs were involved in the riots.
In his book Fenland Riots and the English Revolution, Keith Lindley explains that the Undertakers were experiencing their first confrontations with the hostile commoners. At the End of June 1639 there were reports of “divers insolences” committed by the inhabitants of the area including Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints. Seventeen offenders were
The contract with Sir Anthony Thomas in 1631 included his being given10,000 acres of East Fen, with additional 1,000 acres when the works were completed. In late 1640 or 1641, the commoners resorted to direct action in the East and West Fens. They “assembled in great troops to level enclosures and destroy crops”. But it was still the West Fen that was the source of repeated attacks, it seems that Thomas had not yet made attempts to drain the East Fen.
Lindley confirms that there was renewed rioting in the West and East Fens in 1642 with between 400 and 500 rioters. By the time of the Civil War (1642 – 1651) “Commoners in East and West Fen had regained all their former commons having successfully driven out the Undertakers.
In 1661, the Privy Council had failed to resolve the differences between the Commoners and the Undertakers. A Bill by Sir Anthony Thomas’ son to return lands previously agreed failed in the Commons. All was then quiet for the rest of the century.
W H Wheeler continues:
The works that had been carried out by the Adventurers appear to have consisted of diverting the water from the West Fen and the South of the East Fen, from the Witham at Anton's Gowt to the new Maud Foster Gowt, and by constructing drains on the north to prevent the high land water from flooding the fens, and by opening out and improving the outfall to Wainfleet Haven. In the West and Wildmoor Fens, the old Nunham Drain, which discharged at Anton's Gowt, was improved, and a new drain extended from it in a westerly direction to Dogdyke.
For seven years the Adventurers' tenants enjoyed their occupations, building houses, sowing corn, and feeding cattle thereon; at the end of that time, the Commoners “finding that done, of which they themselves despaired, made several clamours, but finding no relief in time of peace, they resolved to try if force and violence would compass that which neither justice nor reason could give ; and to that end, a little before Edgehill fight, in 1642, they, being incensed by some then in faction, took arms, and in a riotous manner they fell upon the Adventurers, broke the sluices, laid waste their lands, threw down their fences, spoiled their corn, demolished their houses, and forcibly retained possession of the land." The new sluice, erected at Maud Foster, was probably destroyed at this time, as 80 years later reference is made in an order of the Court of Sewers to the erection of a new sluice at a place ' where a gote formerly existed.'
This vociferous opposition came from those who judged that their livelihood was affected by the works, the fen commoners. The land had previously been extra-parochial on which people from adjacent villages (including the Toyntons) had grazing rights. A 1646 pamphlet with the title The Anti-Projector must be one of the earliest grass roots denunciations of a capitalist development project, and makes exactly the same points that indigenous tribes today make when fighting corporate land grabs:
“The Undertakers have always vilified the fens, and have misinformed many Parliament men, that all the fens is a mere quagmire … of little or no value, but those who live in the fens, and are neighbours to it, know the contrary.
For first the fens breed infinite number of serviceable horses, mares and colts, which till our land and furnish our neighbours.
Secondly, we breed and feed great store of young cattle, and we keep great dairies, which afford great store of butter and cheese.
Thirdly, we mow off the fens fodder, which feeds our cows in winter, which being housed, we gather such quantities of compost and dung, that ir enriches our pastures and arable land.
Fourthly, we keep great flocks of sheep upon the fens.
Fifthly, food for uplands cattle.
Sixthly, we have great store of osier, reed and sledge for many uses on which the poor can work.
Lastly, we have many thousand cottagers, which live on our fens, which otherwise must go begging. So, if the Undertakers take from us a third part of our fens, they destroy not only our pastures and corn ground, but also our poor, and utterly disable us to relieve them.
The Adventurers, finding that the Sheriff and other local authorities could not afford them protection, petitioned the Houses of Lords and Commons. With the former they were successful, the Lords passing the Bill for the relief and security of the drainers, because of the advantage accruing to the King by the improvement of his lands, from fourpence to ten and twelve shillings per acre yearly; and for repaying by the Undertakers. Being opposed by the Commoners they failed to obtain an Act from the
Commons.
Having heard both parties, the House of Commons ordered that the Sheriff and Justices of the Peace should prevent and suppress riots, if any should happen, but expressly declared that they did not intend thereby to prejudice the parties interested in point of title to the lands, or to hinder the Commoners in the legal pursuit of their interest. Upon this the parties commenced proceedings at common law against the Adventurers, in which they were successful. So, between 1642 and 1649 the Crown's share of fenland in numerous parishes was also seized by the inhabitants, and returned to common.
Ultimately, the drainage works in any case proved a failure. R C Wheeler’s Maps of the Witham Fens quotes from an unnamed Map No 8 from about 1661(See MAP NO 5 in the section MAPS OF EAST FEN):
“The Descriptions of Wildmore Fenn, West Fenn and East Fenn, with all the towns (including the two Toyntons) that have right of Common in them, as also all the most ancient Drains, sikes (small streams) and Goats (or gowt, a small sluice) to them belonging, which the inhabitants have found by long experience and most profitable for these Fenns and much better than those made by the undertaker that has done much damage”.
And W H Wheeler states that around 1650, 'The Court of Sewers again resumed charge of the district [i.e., the Fourth District], taking over such of the drains and sluices as remained after the destruction caused by the Fenmen. The drainage for a long time after this remained in a very unsatisfactory state'.
In his book The Fens and Floods of Mid-Lincolnshire it is J S Padley who records:
After all it appears that the commoners were eventually successful, as is shown by a Petition presented by them to the House of Commons in 1662, wherein they state “that from that time your petitioners did, and have enjoyed their respective commons." A letter from Sir William Killigrew, dated June 25, 1653, states that " My Lord General Cromwell should saye the drayninge of the fens was a good worke, but that the drayners had too greate a proportion of land for their hazard and charges, and that the poore were not enough provided for, and that the drayners did not pay for the land which they had cutt through."
This makes me believe that the East Fen remained untouched, as is evident from Dugdales map of 1661 (MAP NO 6 in the Section MAPS OF EAST FEN, in William Stukeley’s map of 1723 (MAP NO 7) and Grundy’s map of 1774 (MAP NO 8) which all show The Deeps of East Fen in their original state.
The outcome of the failed schemes was that when the monarchy was restored in 1661, management of the Fens returned to the Court of Sewers, and East Fen in particular remained in a “poor state” until the mid eighteenth century.
THE HISTORY OF IMBANKING AND DRAINING
I have already quoted from the most important publication of the seventeenth century that describes drainage schemes in fenland. It is called: The history of imbanking and drayning of divers fenns and marshes, both in foreign parts and in this kingdom, and of the improvements thereby extracted from records, manuscripts, and other authentick testimonie by Sir William Dugdale 1605-1686. His work on fen management was first published in 1662, with maps supplied by Wenceslas Hollar. R C Wheeler’s Map No 7 of “A Description of Wildmore Fen, West Fen and East Fen etc” (MAP NO 6 in the section MAPS OF EAST FEN) is dated 1661, but is from the 1724 edition of the book. Other sources note the map is dated 1664. It shows the two villages as Upper Toynton (All Saints) and Lower Toynton (St Peter) and indicates the two churches. Holler even sketches the edge of the higher ground of the Wolds on the northern boundary of the fen.
The whole publication is available on the net at:
quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A36795.0001
The following extracts from Dugdale’s history are to some degree a repetition of those above. However, here I have concentrated on those parts that apply only to East Fen. I have also updated some of the old English words. It is important because it gives a good idea of the state of the fens in the seventeenth century, having been written at the time. However, he was far more optimistic about how the fens could be drained, so it has to be read with that in mind.
In his introduction, Dugdale describes the current state of the fen:
Next for the richness of the soil, being gained from the waters, doth it not for the most part exceed the high grounds thereon bordering, as much as other meadows do, which are ordinarily let for x shillings per Acre? And do we not see that in the Marshes beyond Wainfleet in Lincolnshire, where the grounds are severed and trenched, it is hard to find a poor man, though they sit at great Rents? For their Cattle, being always sound and thriving, are therefore merchantable; or if they come to a mischance, yet fit for food.
He goes on to describe how previously wetlands have been successfully drained:
many thousands of Acres, which do now yield much benefit, yearly, by Rape, Cole-seed, Grass, Hay, Hemp, Flax, Wheat, Oats, and other Grain; nay by all sorts of excellent Plants, Garden-stuff, and fruit Trees, which in former times were Drowned Lands.
And continues to relate the schemes to drain the fens, of which East Fen is one:
And this was it, which gave encouragement to two late Sovereigns of Blessed Memory; (viz. King James, and King Charles the first) to become the sole Adventurers for the Drayning of those vast Fenns of Cambridgeshire, and the five other adjacent Counties; (a worthy Work, and never totally attempted till their times;) well discerning, that by a complete performance thereof, the costly and troublesome meeting of Commissioners for Sewers; the frequent great Taxes, for the maintenance of divers Banks and Drains, with many unhappy controversies and emulations relating thereto, might be, in a great measure prevented.
It is interesting that Dugdale imagined that the Deeps of East Fen would remain as he describes as follows:
As for the decay of Fish and Fowl, which hath been no small objection against this public work, there is not much likelihood thereof: for notwithstanding this general Drayning, there are so many great Meeres and Lakes, still continuing, which be indeed the principal harbours for them, that there will be no want of either; for in the vast spreading waters they seldom abide, the Rivers, Channels, and Meeres being their principal Receptacles; which being now increased, will rather augment than diminish their store. And that both Fish and Fowl are with much more ease taken by this restraint of the waters within such bounds, we daily see; forasmuch as all Nets for Fishing, are better made use of in the Rivers and Meeres, than when the waters are out of those narrower limits: And that Decoys are now planted upon many drained Levels, whereby greater numbers of Fowl are caught, than by any other Engines formerly used; which could not at all be made there, did the waters, as formerly, overspread the whole Country.
The East and West FensNorthwards of this Fenny part of the Country, called Lindsey Level, are divers other Marshes lying towards Wainfleet, the greatest whereof are called by the name of the East and West Fenns.
Upon a Writ of Ad quod Dampnum in 41 Eliz. concerning the Drayning of these Fens, it appears that the East Fen (lying betwixt the parts of Holland and Lindsey) was found to contain five thousand Acres or thereabouts; and that the one half thereof, being the Skirt, Hills, and Out-rings, might conveniently be drained; but the other half, consisting of deeps for the most part, could not be recovered: and moreover, that the Commons and Severals pertaining to the Towns confining on the said Fen, did then amount to the number of three thousand and four hundred Acres, or thereabouts;
And that all these grounds, as also the grounds mentioned in a Verdict heretofore given up at a Session of Sewers held at Boston aforesaid, 16 January 1629. Viz. the East Fenne, extending in length from the severals of Wainfleet on the East, to the severals of Stickney on the West: and in breadth from the severals of Wainfleet, Friskeney, etc and the severals of Stichford, Keales, Toynton, Halton, Stepping and Thorpe on the North, were for the most part surrounded grounds.
(Surrounded Grounds usually denoted land that was seasonally flooded by fresh water e.g. run off from the higher ground of the Wolds).
And lastly, that the severals of certain Lords and Owners of grounds, belonging to Toyntons next Spilsby, called the Demesns, lying between the East Fen on the South, and a certain Meadow called the East Fen on the North, and abutting upon a Drain called Toynton Beck towards the East, and upon Hare Hills towards the West, were surrounded grounds also for the winter season.
And that it was therefore decreed; that for & towards the natural outfall of Wainfleet Haven, Black Gote, (Gote is a drainage channel) Symons Gote, Maudfoster Gote, New Gote, and Amton Gote, and all or part of the same; as also any other ancient Drains as the Undertakers should think or find most necessary to be used; should be enlarged and made deeper as need should require, with all other necessary works for drayning of the said grounds, within the extent of the several recited Commissions of Sewers, bearing date as above is expressed. And that every Acre of Land and Common mentioned in the said Verdict, and express the said view, within the extent of the said Commissions, to be overflown with fresh waters, which might receive benefit by the said Drayning, should be taxed and charged with the sum of x shillings per Acre, to be paid at or before the xiiij day of May then next coming, unto William Locton and Gervase Scroope Esquires, or to any one of them: The said Tax being set upon the said lands and Commons, to the end that if it should not be paid, the Commissioners of Sewers might be legally authorised to make bargain for land with Sir Anthony Thomas Knight, and the rest of the Undertakers: And the said Tax to remain in the hands, under the Locks and Keys of two of the said parties named, and two of the same Undertakers, the sum being first certainly known to the said Undertakers, by authority of the Court to be rateably paid over to the said Sir Anthony Thomas and the rest of the Undertakers, to be nominated by him, their Heirs and Assigns, after the said Drayning should be done, wholly, or in part proportionable.
And therefore, being credibly informed, that for the effecting of the said works of Drayning of those surrounded grounds,* one great and navigable stream and River, ought to be cast from out of the said East Fenn and grounds; and so leading from thence by the space of three miles, or thereabouts, unto the Haven of Boston aforesaid;
said Sir Anthony Thomas etc. were thereupon appointed Undertakers of the said works accordingly: it being also decreed, that in consideration of such their performance, they, their heirs and assigns, should have the one half of the said East Fenn; as also a third part in three parts to be divided of all the said severals, which lie in or adjoining to and upon the said East Fenn: and, moreover that he, the said Sir Anthony and the rest of his fellow undertakers, for the considerations aforesaid, should have a full fourth part in four parts to be divided, of all the said surrounded grounds, lying in the West Fenne, and in the said severals thereto adjoining, butted and bounded as aforesaid; to have and enjoy in several after the said Drayning should be sufficiently completed: All which parts to be set forth by six or more of the Commissioners of Sewers, presently after the said Drayning should be finished, as aforesaid, in the most fit and convenient places of the said grounds, whereby the Owners and Commoners of the other parts might hold and enjoy their several and respective interests, with the least prejudice, and to and for their best advantage.
And the said Commissioners did also decree, that from and after the perfecting of this work of Drayning, the said Lands so assigned to the before-specified Sir Anthony Thomas and the rest of the Undertakers and their heirs, should be bound by good and sufficient security, to and for the costs and charges to be expended for the perpetual maintenance of the said works; that is to say, one thousand five hundred Acres, whereof five hundred Acres of the said West Fenn to be part; and a thousand Acres of the best grounds of the said East Fenn, to be the rest, yearly to be let out; to the intent and purpose, that two thousand pounds might be levied and kept in the hands of the Mayor of Boston aforesaid, for the time being, to be employed for and about the repairs of the said works; and the profits of the said grounds to be to the use of the said Undertakers, until the value of five hundred pounds should be spent in and about the repairs of the said works; and then the said profits to be employed and made two thousand pounds, to be bestowed from time to time, upon the said works for ever, when occasion should serve.
Provided also, that the said Undertakers should compound with the several owners and farmers of grounds, through which the said new Stream, River, and Gutters were to pass, for setting and casting their works thereon
Whereupon the said Sir Anthony and his Participants began the work in September following, and prosecuted it with so much diligence, that at another Session of Sewers held likewise at Boston, upon the 10th July, by Thomas Houghton Esquire, Mayor of the Borough of Boston, Sir Raphe Madison Knight, Walter Norton, Richard Finsham, George Pulton, Rouland Hale, Iohn Knight Esquire, and Thomas Bedford Gent.
Upon their view of those late surrounded grounds, viz. East and West Fenns, North Fenn, Earles Fen, Armetre Fen, and Wildmore fen, and other the drowned Commons and adjacent surrounded several grounds, lying on the North and North East of the River of Witham, within the extent of the said Commission, undertaken by Sir Anthony Thomas Knight, and his participants, they adjudged the same to be so drained, as that they were fit for arable, Meadow, or Pasture: And that there was not above sixteen hundred seventy and three Acres remaining drowned, of three thousand Acres of Pits, Holes, Deeps, and hollow places; (which were permitted to be let covered with waters) besides the Rivers, Drains, Sewers, and Water-courses, within the whole Level, undertaken by the said Sir Anthony and his Associates, to be drained within four years not then expired until Michaelmas next following, according to the before-specified Law of Sewers made at Boston on the 6th May; and of another Law of Sewers, made likewise in pursuance thereof, at Boston aforesaid 7th April.
And in another Session of Sewers held also at Boston aforesaid,* upon the 11th of August the next ensuing year, recital being made of the former Decrees, whereby the one half of the said East Fen, and a third part of the severals adjoining thereto; and a fourth part of the West Fen, as also the fourth part of all the surrounded grounds, as well Several as Common formerly taxed, lying in the said West Fen, were decreed to the said Sir Anthony and his Participants for the Drayning thereof; the Commissioners did fully ratify the same proportions, as they were then set out by particular metes and bounds.
THE BEDFORD LEVEL
The Bedford Level is a long way from East Fen, so a description of the attempts at draining this part of fenland is only included here as a record of what was going on in other regions. What is interesting is that at the same time a Commission of Sewers was being held in 1631 in Boston to consider schemes for the East and West Fen, another was sitting in Kings Lynn in Norfolk to look at plans to drain the Bedford Level.
The source which I believe is important is: The design for the initial drainage of the Great Level of the Fens: an historical whodunit in three parts by Margaret Albright Knittl. It records the following events:
By 20 February 1630 a turning point had been reached. Charles, I himself wrote to the Commissioners of Sewers for Lincolnshire that ‘we have taken into our own hands the care of the draining of the said Level of the six counties because we found from them [the Commissioners] no respect nor conformity to our pleasure signified unto them by our letters, but rather such a proceeding as could not but induce distraction, and in the end the overthrow of the whole business’. What more reasonable at this juncture than for Charles or his advisers to turn to Vermuyden?
In her article Knittl discusses the employment of Sir Cornelius Vermuyden (1595-1677) a Dutch engineer, who became involved in the drainage of the fens from 1630. It was the Earl of Bedford who was to be the head of a major scheme to drain the Bedford Level in 1631. And although on 13 June 1636 a Commission of Sewers found Bedford’s contract satisfactorily completed (on11 August 1636 he was awarded the 95,000 acres promised him and began to divide it out to his participants and they to their sub-participants) those lands that had theoretically been drained were under threat. Knittl says “However, to turn these decrees into law and make them irreversible they required the king’s assent. That assent was never given. Yet many new ‘owners’, including the King, were already cutting the necessary division ditches to demarcate land they took to be theirs. This is when complaints, disturbances and riots bloomed, as was inevitable in a project which brought with it such profound changes to existing communities and economies.
Then on 12 April 1638 a large, newly-appointed Commission found the drainage incomplete (not illegal!).
The commoners fought back by rioting, by levelling the dikes, and by taking the engineers to court. Their lawsuits were paid for "out of a common purse to which each villager contributed according to the size of the holding", though Charles I attempted to prevent them levying money for this purpose, and to prosecute the ringleaders. However, Charles' days were numbered, there was obviously much argument between Bedford, the King and Parliament and when civil war broke out in the 1640s, the engineering project was shelved, and the commoners reclaimed the entire fen from the developers. Not until 1649 would the draining of the Great Level be taken in hand again Vermuyden reappear on the scene.
W H Wheeler includes the following report by Vermuyden from 1642: “A discourse touching the draining of the great fens lying within the several counties ……… as it was presented to His Majesty”.
Of the two maps that Knittl includes in her article, one particularly demonstrates how these works were concentrated in the Bedford Level, so far away from East Fen.