113-460: The Car Dyke was, and to a large extent still is, a long ditch which runs along the western edge of the Fens in eastern England for a distance of over 57 miles (92 km). It is generally accepted as being of Roman age and, for many centuries, to have been taken as marking the western edge of the Fens. The name derives from carr , a fourteenth-century word for marsh or drained land . The Car Dyke
226-554: A local act of Parliament obtained in 1808. There are then six short sections which are listed as scheduled monuments , with gaps due to the construction of houses and a community centre on the line of the remains. Its course then turns to the south-east, running parallel to the B1190, as it heads through Branston Booths , passing the end of Branston Delph and Carr-Dyke Farm, one of many similarly named farms along its length, to reach Potterhanworth Booths . Much of its route has become part of
339-560: A boatload of dressed quarry stone, identified with the mediaeval period, has been discovered in the canal bed. In some sections the topography suggests that its use as a canal was unlikely or at least difficult: the segment which ran through the Soke of Peterborough rises from the River Nene to a ridge at Eye before falling to the River Welland . This it does in steady gradients, quite unlike
452-524: A catchwater drain. The 57-mile (92 km) northern part of the Car Dyke from Lincoln to Peterborough is reasonably easy to follow with earthworks extant upon the ground or from cropmarks visible from the air. It is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of Roman Britain and was shown on the first edition maps by the Ordnance Survey produced in 1824. Much of it is still marked on the modern 1:25,000 map and
565-626: A court of assize, and in view of the special powers of the liberty justices, a judge of assize had no power to act in the Soke of Peterborough. Until the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries , the abbot had been empowered to appoint justices of the peace for the Hundred, or Liberty, of Nassaburgh. When Peterborough Monastery was dissolved in 1539 Abbot Chambers was made the first Bishop of Peterborough , and
678-551: A dialect word for loading and unloading) is of established Roman-era origin. At the northern end, the first recognisable remains are to the north of the B1190 road through Washingborough, where the south bank runs between gardens and allotments. Material from the north bank was used to construct new banks for the River Witham in the early 19th century, as part of a project to replace the original locks at Kirkstead and Barlings with new locks at Stamp End and Bardney , authorised by
791-503: A drain to the north of the Engine Drain. To the north of Setchel Drove, Car Dyke runs along the eastern edge of Bullocks Haste Common, where there was a Romano-British settlement. The site is a scheduled monument, but the northern section has been ploughed, and the remains are only visible from aerial photographs. The site continues to the south of Setchel Drove, where there is a series of dykes and field systems, with Car Dyke running through
904-452: A feature well adapted to a catchwater drain. Those near Washingborough still survive to a height of over 3 feet (1 m), and would have prevented surface water entering the canal. Evidence of seventeenth-century improvements to form part of local drainage schemes has been identified, overlying material from the Roman period. Archaeological investigation funded by English Heritage on a section of
1017-517: A number of Christians sought the isolation that could be found in the wilderness of the Fens. Later classified as saints, often with close royal links, they include Guthlac , Etheldreda , Pega , and Wendreda . Hermitages on the islands became centres of communities which later developed as monasteries with massive estates. In the Life of Saint Guthlac , a biography of the East Anglian hermit who lived in
1130-530: A renewal of the commissions in continuation of the ancient assize jurisdiction, and an announcement was made at the Easter Quarter Sessions in 1921 that "whatever may have happened as a result of a recent case in the Court of Criminal Appeal by authority of this Commission now granted, this Court will continue to exercise this ancient jurisdiction in the same manner as it has done under similar commissions since
1243-488: A road across the Fens to link what later became East Anglia with what later became central England; it runs between Denver and Peterborough . They also linked Cambridge and Ely . Generally, their road system avoided the Fens, except for minor roads designed for exporting the products of the region, especially salt, beef and leather. Sheep were probably raised on the higher ground of the Townlands and fen islands, then as in
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#17328441438931356-656: A separate commission of the peace for every administrative county and county borough and not for any other area. Accordingly, an amendment was accepted by the Lord Chancellor and the following paragraph was included in the Act: SAVING FOR SOKE OF PETERBOROUGH: The Justices for the Soke of Peterborough shall, by virtue of the Commission of the Peace and without any further commission, have within
1469-555: A severe shock attended by a rumbling noise in Bourn after midday. This was felt in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. Houses tottered, slates, tiles and some chimneys fell. As it was a Sunday, some people ran out of the churches "in great consternation". In 1792 another shock was also felt in Bourne and neighbouring towns. There is evidence of human settlement near the Fens from
1582-497: A similar depth but was somewhat wider at around 66 feet (20 m). Stukeley argued that the two parts of the Car Dyke were connected together, and acted as a transport route supplying grain to Lincoln, York and military settlements further north. No evidence of rivers or artificial cuts to form the link between Peterborough and the Great Ouse at Setchel Fen has been found, and this idea has been rejected. The map of Roman Britain shows
1695-526: A single permanent Crown Court . Under an amendment by Lord Exeter to the Local Government Act 1888 , the Soke became a separate administrative county in its own right, distinct from the remainder of Northamptonshire. An elected county council , consisting of a chairman, 10 aldermen , and 30 councillors , took over the administrative functions of the Quarter Sessions and had its meetings at
1808-464: A waterway heading south-eastwards from Peterborough, known as Cnut's Dyke, but it stops before it reaches Ramsey. Although Dannell provides evidence that Cnut's Dyke is of Roman origin, his Cnut's Dyke is also known as King's Dyke, an old course of the River Nene. Bond states that there is no evidence to support a Roman date for Cnut's Dyke, and that it was probably built in the tenth century, to facilitate
1921-574: Is a ditch that runs through the counties of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. The main section starts close to the River Witham at Washingborough , near Lincoln and runs in a generally southerly direction to Fengate on the River Nene , near Peterborough . A second artificial watercourse, also known as Car Dyke, runs for 5 miles (8 km) from Setchel Fen on the Old West River, part of the River Great Ouse system, southwards to Waterbeach on
2034-491: Is a project in place aiming at building an indoor stadium for ice sports. If successful, it will have the largest sheet of ice in the country with both a bandy pitch and a speed skating oval . Many historic cities, towns and villages have grown up in the fens, sited chiefly on the few areas of raised ground. These include: Ancient sites include: Some authors have featured the Fens repeatedly in their work. For example: Soke of Peterborough The Soke of Peterborough
2147-466: Is another Car Dyke Farm. Soon its course is joined by Rippingale Running Dike, and between Haconby and Morton there is another Cardyke Farm, before the Car Dyke passes through a small village called Dyke , where there is another scheduled section. At Bourne the dyke makes right-angled turns to the east and then the south, to join Bourne Eau , which continues westwards to the centre of the town, where
2260-548: Is known as The Old Tillage, and is crossed by the Fen Line railway just before it reaches the River Cam. The section between the rivers Nene and Welland may be restored to navigation as a section of the new Fens Waterways Link for leisure craft. An engineering study has been made, but because of concerns for its historic status it is not the preferred route, with the Cat's Water Drain being
2373-457: Is little agreement as to the exact dates of the establishment and demise of the forest, but it seems likely that the deforestation was connected with the Magna Carta or one of its early 13th-century restatements, though it may have been as late as 1240. The forest would have affected the economies of the townships around it and it appears that the present Bourne Eau was constructed at the time of
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#17328441438932486-523: The Black Sluice . Also this area includes the market town of Spalding and the ancient village of Sempringham . The above were all redrained at one time or another after the Civil War (1642–1649). These areas cover the northern most part of the Fens from Boston right up as far north west as Washingborough near Lincoln along the course of the River Witham and to the north east it extends up as far as
2599-565: The Mesolithic on. The evidence suggests that Mesolithic settlement in Cambridgeshire was particularly along the fen edges and on the low islands within the fens, to take advantage of the hunting and fishing opportunities of the wetlands. Internationally important sites include Flag Fen and Must Farm quarry Bronze Age settlement and Stonea Camp . The Romans constructed the Fen Causeway ,
2712-562: The Midlands in use at a cluster of Roman-era coal-burning forges sited between Cambridge and The Wash and these provide evidence of trade and transport along the Car Dyke. Return cargoes were grain to supply the garrison at York, prepared for transport and storage by drying in coal kilns, and pottery. At its northern end accounts of Roman Britain describe it as an extension of the Foss Dyke , an accepted transport route. Near Morton , Lincolnshire,
2825-559: The River Cam . The northern section is around 57 miles (92 km) long, and is by far the longest artificial waterway constructed by the Romans in Britain, while it is also longer than any known Roman navigational canals on continental Europe. There are no known contemporary records relating to its construction or use. The ditch is obviously artificial, since it runs from north to south, whereas all
2938-438: The River Welland on the southern edge of the town, it passes into Cambridgeshire, and skirts the eastern edges of Northborough and Glinton . As it approaches the northern edge of Peterborough , it turns to the east, where there is another scheduled section at Peakirk , beyond which its course is covered by housing. From Fen Bridge to Whitepost Road, 2.75 miles (4.4 km) of Car Dyke is scheduled, with two small gaps where
3051-536: The Townlands . It is clear that there was some prosperity there, particularly where rivers permitted access to the upland beyond the fen. Such places were Wisbech , Spalding , Swineshead and Boston. All the Townlands parishes were laid out as elongated strips, to provide access to the products of fen, marsh and sea. On the fen edge, parishes are similarly elongated to provide access to both upland and fen. The townships are therefore often nearer to each other than they are to
3164-437: The dean and chapter of Peterborough Cathedral . The soke had its own magistrates, who were appointed by the lord paramount, acting under a commission of oyer and terminer , and gaol delivery , as well as under the ordinary commission, and the magistrates for the liberty retained the power of hanging a criminal in cases of murder, which in fact they exercised so late as 1812. The Local Jurisdictions Act 1820 , though giving
3277-580: The deforestation , as the town seems to have joined in the general prosperity by about 1280. Though the forest was about half in Holland (Lincolnshire) and half in Kesteven , it is known as Kesteven Forest. Though some signs of Roman hydraulics survive, and there were also some medieval drainage works, land drainage was begun in earnest during the 1630s by the various investors who had contracts with King Charles I to do so. The leader of one of these syndicates
3390-579: The fen violet will be seeded. The Fens Waterways Link is a scheme to restore navigation to some of the drainage works. It is planned to bring the South Forty-Foot Drain and parts of the Car Dyke into use as part of a route between Boston and Cambridge. The Fens is the origin of English bandy and Fen skating . It is the base of Great Britain Bandy Association and in Littleport there
3503-650: The fire authority , under the Fire Services Act 1947 , the county council also retained Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade , one of the few of its kind. The Soke county council was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms in 1950. The design placed the crossed keys of Saint Peter from the arms of the Diocese of Peterborough on the silver and blue barry field of the arms of the Cecil family, Marquesses of Exeter, who held
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3616-572: The militia , it was entirely independent of that county. Quarter sessions for the liberty were held at the Sessions House in Peterborough, and petty sessions at the same place. The civil government of the liberty was vested in the Marquess of Exeter , as Lord Paramount of Peterborough and custos rotulorum ; around 40 magistrates appointed by the crown; and a high bailiff of the city appointed by
3729-545: The non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire (population 436,441 in 1981), as had first been proposed in 1947 and an area broadly corresponding to the Soke, called the City of Peterborough, became one of its six districts . When the new Cambridgeshire county council was granted arms in 1976 it included references to those of the Soke; two keys around the neck of the dexter supporter and the motto, Corde Uno Sapientes Simus , or "With One Heart Let Us Be Men of Understanding". In 1998
3842-486: The watch committee of the new city council . The Liberty Constabulary and City Police were amalgamated in 1947 to form the Peterborough Combined Police Force. The liberty justices in quarter sessions had long-held powers in excess of those of most other quarter sessions. They could try and decide many serious crimes, including treason and murder, which normally could only be heard and determined in
3955-582: The 17th century described the Fenland as entirely above sea level (in contrast to the Netherlands), the area now includes the lowest land in the United Kingdom. Holme Fen in Cambridgeshire, is around 2.75 metres (9 ft 0 in) below sea level. Within the Fens are a few hills, which have historically been called "islands", as they remained dry when the low-lying fens around them were flooded. The largest of
4068-404: The 19th century, destroying any evidence of boundary features, before the days of detailed mapping and aerial photography . One conclusion, though given the conflicts in the surviving evidence one not reached by everyone, is that overall the dyke was used primarily as a boundary, (as part of it in south Lincolnshire undoubtedly was in the medieval period) but that parts were adapted to serve also as
4181-450: The 1:2,500 map. The southern section from Peterborough to Waterbeach is not so easy to follow. The 2001 map of Roman Britain shows the dyke from Peterborough terminating to the north of Ramsey , with an isolated section running on the same alignment northwards from Waterbeach on the River Cam . The short section between Waterbeach and the Cam (also known as The Old Tillage , a name deriving from
4294-617: The 6th century but was revived in the mid-10th-century monastic revival. In the 11th century, the whole area was incorporated into a united Anglo-Saxon England . The Fens remained a place of refuge and intrigue. It was here that Alfred Aetheling was brought to be murdered and here where Hereward the Wake based his insurgency against Norman England . Fenland monastic houses include the so-called Fen Five ( Ely Cathedral Priory , Thorney Abbey , Croyland Abbey , Ramsey Abbey and Peterborough Abbey ) as well as Spalding Priory . As major landowners,
4407-577: The Car Dyke turns to the south and weaves its way between housing. Soon it is back in open countryside, passing to the east of Thurlby where 210 yards (190 m) of earthworks in Park Wood are scheduled, before crossing the River Glen just to the east of Kate's Bridge. Its course is lost as it passes through the housing estates of Baston , as it has in Market Deeping and Deeping St James . As it crosses
4520-416: The City of Peterborough became a unitary authority , but it continues to form part of Cambridgeshire for ceremonial purposes. Because of intervening development and a new town project in Peterborough, the present district has a much larger population than the Soke had. For parliamentary purposes, the city formed a borough "by prescription," returning two Members of Parliament (MPs) from 1541, with
4633-583: The County Record Office in Cambridge. The major part of the draining of the Fens was effected in the late 18th and early 19th century, again involving fierce local rioting and sabotage of the works. The final success came in the 1820s when windpumps were replaced with powerful coal-powered steam engines , such as Stretham Old Engine , which were themselves replaced with diesel-powered pumps, such as those at Prickwillow Museum and, following World War II ,
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4746-750: The Fen Tigers tried to sabotage the drainage efforts. Two cuts were made in the Cambridgeshire Fens to join the River Great Ouse to the sea at King's Lynn – the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River , the latter being known also as the Hundred Foot Drain . Both cuts were named after the Fourth Earl of Bedford who, along with some gentlemen adventurers ( venture capitalists ), funded
4859-464: The Fens during the early 8th century, Saint Guthlac was described as attacked on several occasions by people he believed were Britons , who were then living in the Fens. However, Bertram Colgrave, in the introduction to one edition, doubts this account, because of the lack of evidence of British survival in the region. British place names in the area are "very few". Monastic life was disrupted by Danish (Anglo-Saxon) raids and centuries of settlement from
4972-436: The Fens include Boston , Downham Market , King’s Lynn , Mildenhall , March , Spalding , and Wisbech . The Fens are very low-lying compared with the chalk and limestone uplands that surround them – in most places no more than 10 metres (33 ft) above sea level. As a result of drainage and the subsequent shrinkage of the peat fens, many parts of the Fens now lie below mean sea level . Although one writer in
5085-462: The Fens is involved in environmental stewardship schemes, under which 270 miles (430 km) of hedgerow and 1,780 miles (2,860 km) of ditches are managed, providing large wildlife corridors and habitat for endangered animals such as the water vole . In 2003, the Great Fen Project was initiated to return parts of the Fens to their original pre-agricultural state. The periodic flooding by
5198-447: The Fens were once permanently flooded, creating lakes or meres , while others were flooded only during periods of high water. In the pre-modern period, arable farming was limited to the higher areas of the surrounding uplands, the fen islands, and the so-called "Townlands", an arch of silt ground around the Wash , where the towns had their arable fields. Though these lands were lower than
5311-571: The Guildhall; but this formal change hid a great deal of continuity, as Justices of the Peace were often elected councillors, the Clerk of the Peace became the Clerk to the Council and so on. During its life the county council gradually acquired more powers, such as taking over the functions of school boards in 1902, boards of guardians in 1930 and various town planning and housing responsibilities from 1949. As
5424-549: The Liberty of Peterborough, like that of the Isle of Ely , was in each instance treated as a separate county. Under the 1856 act a police force, the Liberty of Peterborough Constabulary , was appointed by and under the control of the magistrates of the soke. In 1874, the City of Peterborough was granted a charter of incorporation , under which a separate Peterborough City Police was overseen by
5537-739: The Lindsey Level inhabited by farmers by 1638, but the onset of the Civil War permitted the destruction of the works until the act of Parliament that led to the formation of the Black Sluice Commissioners, the Black Sluice Drainage Act 1765 ( 5 Geo. 3 . c. 86 ). Many original records of the Bedford Level Corporation, including maps of the Levels, are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies Service at
5650-521: The Nene, including Stanground and Fletton , are in the Diocese of Ely. The term soke refers to a general legal term in medieval England referring to various concepts, including a jurisdiction of land or rights to hold a court or receive fines. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the lord of the hundred had the power, or liberty, of holding a court and administering justice within its boundaries, and this system
5763-543: The North Sea, which renewed the character of the Fenlands, was characterised conventionally by the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica as "ravaged by serious inundations of the sea". The modern approach is to allow a little farmland to be flooded again and turned into nature reserves . By introducing fresh water, the organisers of the project hope to encourage species such as the snipe , lapwing and bittern . Endangered species such as
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#17328441438935876-534: The River Witham. In Metheringham Fen it turns to the east, and there are two short scheduled section after Blankney Wood, divided by the buildings of Oak Tree Farm. It then resumes its southward passage, and after Carrdyke Farm, there is another scheduled section. It passes to the east of Martin and the western end of Timberland Delph, before following a large S-shaped course to the east of Timberland . Immediately afterwards there are two more scheduled sections, one to
5989-413: The Roman emperor Hadrian visited Britain and the sections dating from this period may be associated with his plan to settle the Fens. The exception is in the south-east of the Fens where the landscape was manually strip mined for coprolite , a source of phosphate used to enrich agricultural soils. The coprolite was found in a seam of Cambridge Greensand , and the industry thrived in the latter half of
6102-487: The Roman period, water levels fell once again. Settlements developed on the new silt soils deposited near the coast. Though water levels rose once again in the early medieval period, by this time artificial banks protected the coastal settlements and the interior from further deposits of marine silts. Peats continued to develop in the freshwater wetlands of the interior fens. The wetlands of the fens have historically included: Major areas for settlement were: In general, of
6215-609: The Wash , and are an area of nearly 1,500 sq mi (3,900 km ) in the south east of Lincolnshire , most of Cambridgeshire (which also includes parts of the old historic county of Huntingdonshire ), and western most parts of Norfolk and Suffolk . Most of the Fens lie within a few metres of sea level . As with similar areas in the Netherlands , much of the Fenland originally consisted of fresh- or salt-water wetlands. These have been artificially drained and continue to be protected from floods by drainage banks and pumps. With
6328-442: The administrative county of Northamptonshire. In 1948 the boundaries of the constituency were adjusted to correspond to those of the Soke and they remained much the same until 1970. In the unreformed House of Commons in order to be either a candidate or an elector for a county seat, a man had to own (not rent) freehold property valued for the land tax at two pounds a year (women could neither vote nor stand for election). This
6441-595: The amendment the Lord Chancellor said that in murder cases this ancient jurisdiction had survived all these years only because it had never been exercised and he added, "if the justices ever appear to act upon the powers they possess, I shall be the first to come and remove those powers for them." The courts of assize and quarter sessions were eventually abolished in England and Wales by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by
6554-410: The ancient privileges of jurisdiction of the liberty justices and at the same time excluded the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire from exercising his authority in the soke. The commissions of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery were not renewed by the monarchs immediately succeeding Queen Victoria and in 1920 the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed a conviction recorded at Peterborough Quarter Sessions. It
6667-405: The breakdown was as follows: The Soke had a very small population for a county and so, in 1965, the administration was merged with that of the neighbouring small county of Huntingdonshire , to form the slightly more viable administrative county of Huntingdon and Peterborough (population 202,622 in 1971). Under the 1974 local government reorganisation , Huntingdon and Peterborough became part of
6780-495: The canal at a constant level (due to surveying difficulties or lack of budget to excavate deeper). Natural barriers may therefore have been left in place to partition the canal into sections, maintaining the required depth of water, with goods transhipped or boats dragged across the barriers. They may also have been a deliberate precaution against the whole section drying out in summer. The archaeologist Grahame Clark established that gravel causeways at Cottenham originated only after
6893-403: The canal had gone out of use for transport, no earlier than the fourth century, as a precaution against flooding. The dyke acts as a catchwater drain in parts, intercepting runoff from the higher ground to the west. However, the southern half of its passage through Lincolnshire and its northern end, near Washingborough , have a raised bank on each side; the one on the upland side would not be
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#17328441438937006-425: The chairmanship of the council for most of its existence. The crest was an ermine lion from the Cecil arms rising from a mural crown emblematic of local government. The lion held two wheatears, symbolising agriculture. The Latin motto adopted by the council was Cor Unum , part of the Cecil motto Cor Unum, Via Una or "One Heart, One Way". The Local Government Act 1894 divided the Soke into three districts ;
7119-407: The characteristics of a canal designed for transport. Its course makes it clear that this outcome was carefully planned. At some level sections in Lincolnshire it has causeways of never-disturbed ground crossing it and it passes in gradients, up and down the sides of slight ridges. Given the length of the canal, however, modern surveyors suggest that the original engineers may not have been able to keep
7232-547: The combined capacity to pump 16,500 Olympic-size swimming pools in a 24-hour period or to empty Rutland Water in 3 days. As of 2008, there are estimated to be 4,000 farms in the Fens involved in agriculture and horticulture, including arable, livestock, poultry, dairy, orchards, vegetables and ornamental plants and flowers. They employ about 27,000 people in full-time and seasonal jobs. In turn, they support around 250 businesses involved in food and drink manufacturing and distribution, employing around 17,500 people. Over 70% of
7345-421: The construction and were rewarded with large grants of the resulting farmland. The work was directed by engineers from the Low Countries . Following this initial drainage, the Fens were still extremely susceptible to flooding, so windpumps were used to pump water away from affected areas. The Company of Adventurers were more formally incorporated in 1663 as the Bedford Level Corporation . However, their success
7458-455: The construction of Ramsey Abbey . An assessment by Historic England states that in the Romano-British economy Car Dyke was significant both as a transport system and as a means of drainage, saving large parts of the Fens from flooding. Its importance is indicated by the large and organised labour force, either a civilian undertaking organised by Iceni tribal leaders or from the military, needed to build it. Excavations have found coal from
7571-426: The construction of the A1139 Frank Perkins Parkway. It reaches the River Nene at Fengate . The southern section runs for 5 miles (8 km) from Setchel Fen, on the south bank of the Old West River to the River Cam at Waterbeach. There are no remaining earthworks on Setchel Fen, although the Ordnance Survey show a proposed course across the southern part of the fen, and a continuation of the route has been reused as
7684-446: The county the same jurisdiction as before the coming into force of Section 10 of this Act the Justices for the Liberty of Peterborough had within the Liberty by virtue of the commissions of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery customarily issued to those Justices, but as respects any matters within their competence as Justices of the Peace, shall act as such and not as Justices of Oyer and Terminer or Justices of Gaol Delivery. In accepting
7797-408: The course is cut by Guntons Road and Gunthorpe Road. The overall width of the channel, including the berms, banks and scarps, is between 44 and 77 yards (40 and 70 m). The remains are in good condition, despite the fact that Car Dyke has been reused as part of the modern land drainage system. It then passes through Peterborough where parts of its course are visible, but much has been obliterated by
7910-413: The days of Charles I ." In fact, the justices of the liberty did not exercise their full powers, although they were always jealous of their special and historic privileges. In 1949, the Marquess of Exeter moved an amendment in the House of Lords to the Justices of the Peace Bill . This was necessary to safeguard the special position of the liberty jurisdiction as the new Bill provided there should be
8023-496: The distant farms in their own parishes. After the end of Roman Britain, there is a break in written records. It is thought that some Iceni may have moved west into the Fens to avoid the Angles , who were migrating across the North Sea from Angeln (modern Schleswig ) and settling what would become East Anglia . Surrounded by water and marshes, the Fens provided a safe area that was easily defended and not particularly desirable to invading Anglo-Saxons . It has been proposed that
8136-430: The dyke near Waterbeach suggests that the effect of both deliberate re-cuts in the late Roman period to improve land drainage, and the natural flows of surface water along some sections of the route, resulted in the change of use from transport to agricultural improvement . It is possible to trace features that could be interpreted as boundaries all round The Fens which are either of Roman date or natural. In c.120 AD
8249-467: The early 19th century. There may have been some drainage efforts during the Roman period, including the Car Dyke along the western edge of the Fenland between Peterborough and Lincolnshire, but most canals were constructed for transportation. How far seaward the Roman settlement extended is unclear owing to the deposits laid down above them during later floods. The early post-Roman settlements were made on
8362-565: The edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds to the seaside town of Skegness . These were drained in the 18th and 19th centuries. At the end of the most recent glacial period , known in Britain as the Devensian , ten thousand years ago, Britain and continental Europe were joined by the ridge between Friesland and Norfolk . The topography of the bed of the North Sea indicates that the rivers of
8475-420: The existent city (1541) and municipal borough (1874) of Peterborough, and the two rural districts of Peterborough and Barnack . The administrative county had an area of approximately 83 ½ square miles (216.37 km ) with only one, minor, boundary change in its lifetime. The county's population recorded at each census since 1901 was as follows: In 1961, the last year for which figures are available,
8588-417: The fen-islands was the 23-square-mile (60 km ) Kimmeridge Clay island, on which the cathedral city of Ely was built: its highest point is 39 metres (128 ft) above mean sea level. Without artificial drainage and flood protection, the Fens would be liable to periodic flooding, particularly in winter due to the heavy load of water flowing down from the uplands and overflowing the rivers. Some areas of
8701-417: The following year Henry VIII granted three Commissions of the Peace to the coterminous Liberty of Peterborough. They were: The last commission gave to the justices of the liberty, power to enquire more fully "... by the oath of good and lawful men of the Liberty of Peterborough, by whom the truth of the matter may be better known and by other ways, means and methods by which they shall or better know, of
8814-536: The highest parts of the drained fen are now only a few metres above mean sea level, only sizeable embankments of the rivers, and general flood defences, stop the land from being inundated. Nonetheless, these works are now much more effective than they were. The Fens today are protected by 60 miles (97 km) of embankments defending against the sea and 96 miles (154 km) of river embankments. Eleven internal drainage board (IDB) groups maintain 286 pumping stations and 3,800 miles (6,100 km) of watercourses, with
8927-488: The land between the rivers. The internal drainage was organised by levels or districts, each of which includes the fen parts of one or several parishes . The details of the organisation vary with the history of their development, but the areas generally include: Bourne Fen and Deeping Fen lie in the southern most parts of Lincolnshire, between the Rivers Welland and the Bourne Eau with the River Glen running between
9040-521: The land level has continued to sink and the dykes have been built higher to protect it from flooding. Fen is the local term for an individual area of marshland or former marshland. It also designates the type of marsh typical of the area, which has neutral or alkaline water and relatively large quantities of dissolved minerals , but few other plant nutrients . The Fens are a National Character Area , based on their landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. The Fens lie inland of
9153-474: The less stable peat. Since the 19th century, all of the acid peat in the Fens has disappeared. Drying and wastage of peats has greatly reduced the depth of the alkaline peat soils and reduced the overall elevation of large areas of the peat fens. It is also recorded that peat was dug out of the East and West Lincolnshire fens in the 14th century and used to fire the salterns of Wrangle and Friskney. In later centuries it
9266-665: The liberty bench the power to commit (for murder only) to the Northampton county assizes , did not abridge their full rights of gaol delivery. The soke had also a separate rate , out of which all payments were made. In the provisions of the County and Borough Police Act 1856 ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. 69), the Weights and Measures Act 1878 ( 41 & 42 Vict. c. 49) and the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878 ( 41 & 42 Vict. c. 74),
9379-516: The midst of them. Cottenham Lode, an artificial channel known to have been built before the Norman conquest of 1066, marks the southern edge of Bullocks Haste Common. After that, the dyke has been reused as a drainage channel. It is crossed by the B1049 Twenty Pence Road and by Long Drove drain. There is then a dry section which is a scheduled monument. The route continues southwards, running to
9492-419: The modern land-drainage infrastructure, and so the remains are not particularly well preserved. It then heads broadly southwards across open countryside and forms the eastern boundary of Potterhanworth Wood. In Nocton Fen it passes to the east of the site of Nocton Park Priory, and then there is another scheduled section, bordered to the west by Nocton Wood, and connected to Nocton Delph, which flows eastwards to
9605-517: The monasteries played a significant part in the early efforts at drainage of the Fens. During most of the 12th century and the early 13th century, the south Lincolnshire fens were afforested . The area was enclosed by a line from Spalding, along the River Welland to Market Deeping , then along the Car Dyke to Dowsby and across the fens to the Welland. It was deforested in the early 13th century. There
9718-532: The names of West Walton , Walsoken and Walpole suggest the native British population, with the Wal- coming from the Old English walh , meaning "foreigner". However, the villages are in close proximity to the old Roman sea wall, so the wal- element is more probably from wal or weal , meaning "wall". Walton is generally believed to mean "wall-town", Walsoken to mean "the district under particular jurisdiction by
9831-402: The natural drainage of the area runs from west to east, and it roughly follows the 10-foot (3 m) contour. William Stukeley , writing in the eighteenth century, was the first person to describe it as a Roman-era canal used for transporting goods. Excavations on the southern section at Waterbeach in the 1990s by the archaeology unit of Cambridgeshire County Council found what were seen as
9944-533: The next few thousand years both saltwater and freshwater wetlands developed as a result. Silt and clay soils were deposited by marine floods in the saltwater areas and along the beds of tidal rivers, while organic soils, or peats, developed in the freshwater marshes. Fenland water levels peaked in the Iron Age; earlier Bronze and Neolithic settlements were covered by peat deposits, and have only recently been found after periods of extensive droughts revealed them. During
10057-411: The north of Fen Road, Timberland and the second to the south. The dyke passes to the east of Walcott and along the northern and eastern edge of Billinghay , where it joins Billinghay Skirth, which drains into the River Witham. The continuation of Billinghay Skirth to the south-west uses the course of Car Dyke, and when it turns to the west near North Kyme , Car Dyke continues southwards, running along
10170-565: The other considered option. 53°00′45″N 0°16′04″W / 53.0125°N 0.2678°W / 53.0125; -0.2678 The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system of drainage channels and man-made rivers ( dykes and drains) and automated pumping stations . There have been unintended consequences to this reclamation, as
10283-419: The peat fens before the peat shrinkage began, the more stable silt soils were reclaimed by medieval farmers and embanked against any floods coming down from the peat areas or from the sea. The rest of the Fenland was dedicated to pastoral farming , fishing, fowling , and the harvesting of reeds or sedge for thatch. In this way, the medieval and early modern Fens stood in contrast to the rest of England, which
10396-412: The remains of a Roman-era boat and a cargo of pottery from Horningsea . This stretch, where significant archaeological deposits are likely to remain, has been protected as a scheduled monument . The northern channel near Baston was found to have a navigable width of 40 feet (12 m) and a depth of 6.5 feet (2 m) when archaeological excavation was carried out in the 1980s. The southern section had
10509-484: The rest of the Soke being part of Northamptonshire parliamentary county. The Great Reform Act did not affect the borough, while the rural portion of the Soke was included in the northern division of Northamptonshire. The borough's representation was reduced to one member under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 . In 1918 a new borough constituency was formed including the whole of the Soke and neighbouring parts of
10622-427: The small electric stations that are still used today. The dead vegetation of the peat remained undecayed because it was deprived of air (the peat being anaerobic). When it was drained, the oxygen of the air reached it, since then the peat has been slowly oxidizing. This, together with the shrinkage on its initial drying and the removal of soil by the wind, has meant that much of the Fens lies below high tide level . As
10735-577: The south, it reaches Littleworth Drove, where a house has been built over the remains. It passes under the A17 road, and then Carterplot Road runs parallel to it. It is crossed by the East Midlands Railway line from Sleaford to Swineshead , Little Hale Drove, where there is another Car Dyke farm, Helperingham Eau, North Drove and the Sleaford to Spalding railway line. At the railway crossing, it turns to
10848-511: The southern part of eastern England flowed into the Rhine , thence through the English Channel . From the Fens northward along the modern coast, the drainage flowed into the northern North Sea basin . As the ice melted, the rising sea level drowned the lower lands, leading ultimately to the present coastline. These rising sea levels flooded the previously inland woodland of the Fenland basin; over
10961-557: The support of this drainage system, the Fenland has become a major arable agricultural region for grains and vegetables. The Fens are particularly fertile, containing around half of the grade 1 agricultural land in England. The Fens have been referred to as the "Holy Land of the English" because of the former monasteries, now churches and cathedrals , of Crowland , Ely , Peterborough , Ramsey and Thorney . Other significant settlements in
11074-469: The three principal soil types found in the Fenland today, the mineral-based silt resulted from the energetic marine environment of the creeks, the clay was deposited in tidal mud-flats and salt-marsh, while the peat grew in the fen and bog. The peat produces black soils, which are directly comparable to the American muck soils . A roddon , the dried raised bed of a watercourse, is more suitable for building than
11187-524: The treasons ... insurrections ... rebellions, counterfeitings, clippings, wastings, false comings ... murders, felonies, manslaughters ... and many other grave offences mentioned therein which in other counties are only triable by a judge of assize, and the Justices are commanded at days appointed for this purpose to make diligent enquiries into and to hear and determine the above mentioned offences." In 1877 Queen Victoria confirmed these commissions and endorsed
11300-575: The two Fens and the area covers both the town of Bourne as well as The Deepings including the villages of Langtoft and Baston . The Lindsey Level, also known as the Black Sluice District, was first drained in 1639 and extends from the Glen and Bourne Eau to Swineshead and then across to Kirton . Its waters is carried mostly though the South Forty-Foot Drain through to the Haven at Boston though
11413-608: The wall", and Walpole to mean simply "wall-pole" (Old English wal and pal ). When written records resume in Anglo-Saxon England, the names of a number of peoples of the Fens are recorded in the Tribal Hidage and Christian histories. They include North Gyrwe (Peterborough and Crowland), South Gyrwe (Ely), the Spalda (Spalding), and Bilmingas (part of south Lincolnshire). In the early Christian period of Anglo-Saxon England,
11526-432: The west and then the south west, where there is another scheduled section. It runs to the east of Swaton , with Cardyke Farm to its east, and continues past Horbling and Billingborough until it is crossed by Billingborough Lode, which drains into the South Forty-Foot Drain . There is a large moated site by the junction. Near Pointon , it is crossed by Fen Road, Pointon Lode and Millthorpe Drove, while near Dunsby there
11639-461: The west of Cambridge Research Park, and again is used as a drainage ditch. It is then cut by the A10 road , which runs along the western bank of the route, with a disused airfield to the east. The route has been lost through Waterbeach, where Denny End has been built over its course, but there is a final section to the south of the village, which is also a scheduled monument and a drainage channel. This section
11752-486: The western edge of North Kyme to reach the River Slea at Ferry Bridge. The River Slea makes a right-angled turn at the junction, and then turns to the east again, with Car Dyke continuing southwards, and now part of Midfodder Dike. Its course has then been reused by Hodge Dyke, which again makes a right-angled turn at the junction, until it crosses Heckington Eau, which becomes Head Dike as it continues eastwards. Continuing to
11865-482: Was a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough . It was part of Northamptonshire , but was administered by its own county council , while the rest of Northamptonshire was administered by Northamptonshire County Council . The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or as the Nassaburgh hundred , and comprised, besides Peterborough, about thirty parishes. The Soke
11978-407: Was abolished in 1965. The area formed much of the present City of Peterborough unitary authority area in the post-1974 ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire . The Church of England dioceses of Peterborough and Ely still, however, follow the boundary of the Soke, with only the part of the city that is north of the River Nene lying within the Diocese of Peterborough, while urban areas south of
12091-418: Was held that three of the liberty magistrates adjudicating at the hearing were not in order, as the assize authority of the court then derived from commissions granted during the reign of Queen Victoria. The three justices in question had been appointed to the commission of the peace subsequent to her death and only justices appointed during her reign were in order in adjudicating at such a court. This resulted in
12204-673: Was known as the 40 shilling freehold. The franchise for borough seats varied enormously. Peterborough was one of 37 boroughs in which suffrage was restricted to those paying scot and lot , a form of municipal taxation. In 1800 there were 2,000 registered voters in Northamptonshire and 400 in Peterborough. By 1835 this had risen to 576, or about one per cent of the population. The Fourth Reform Act widened suffrage by abolishing practically all property qualifications for men and by enfranchising women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications. This system, known as universal manhood suffrage ,
12317-453: Was primarily an arable agricultural region. Since the advent of modern drainage in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Fens have been radically transformed. Today arable farming has almost entirely replaced pastoral. The economy of the Fens is heavily invested in the production of crops such as grains, vegetables, and some cash crops such as rapeseed and canola . Drainage in the Fenland consists of both river drainage and internal drainage of
12430-445: Was short-lived. Once drained of water, the peat shrank, and the fields lowered further. The more effectively they were drained, the worse the problem became, and soon the fields were lower than the surrounding rivers. By the end of the 17th century, the land was under water once again. Though the three Bedford Levels together formed the biggest scheme, they were not the only ones. Lord Lindsey and his partner Sir William Killigrew had
12543-472: Was subsequently continued by the Abbots of Peterborough , who either enforced in person, as lords, the observance of the ancient socage laws and customs, or appointed a deputy to act for them. On the establishment of quarter sessions in 1349, the separate jurisdiction of the Soke was still maintained as distinct from that of the county of Northampton ; and, except for parliamentary purposes and matters relating to
12656-526: Was the Earl of Bedford, who employed Cornelius Vermuyden as engineer. Contrary to popular belief, Vermuyden was not involved with the draining of the Great Fen in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk in the 1630s, but only became involved with the second phase of construction in the 1650s. The scheme was imposed despite huge opposition from locals who were losing their livelihoods based on fishing and wildfowling. Fenmen known as
12769-560: Was used locally for winter fuel and its digging controlled by the Duchy of Lancaster . Written records of earthquakes in the Fen area appear as early as 1048. According to Historia Ingulfi, p. 64, (1684) this took place in Lincolnshire. In 1117 one affected Holland, Lincs, "endangering and injuring Crowland Abbey ". In 1185 Lincoln was damaged. In 1448 a shock was recorded in south Lincolnshire ( Ingulfi, p. 526). In 1750 John Moore records
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