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187-565: The Middle Level Navigations are a network of waterways in England , primarily used for land drainage, which lie in The Fens between the Rivers Nene and Great Ouse , and between the cities of Peterborough and Cambridge . Most of the area through which they run is at or below sea level, and attempts to protect it from inundation have been carried out since 1480. The Middle Level was given its name by

374-671: A 32-foot (9.8 m) diameter scoop wheel, and the installation included three Lancashire boilers. This was replaced by two Vickers-Petters 2-stroke hot bulb diesel engines in 1923, each producing 180 hp (130 kW) and driving a 36-inch (91 cm) centrifugal pump manufactured by Gwynnes. These were upgraded to Ruston and Hornsby 4-stroke diesel engines in 1948, again driving Gwynnes 36-inch (91 cm) pumps, developing 295 hp (220 kW). The engines were still in situ in 2013, but since 1997 pumping has been performed by four 6-cylinder diesel engines manufactured by Perkins and driving 24-inch (600 mm) submersible pumps. This station

561-635: A bend was added to the Old Bedford River at Welches Dam. This probably occurred after 1789, when C N Cole's map of the Bedford Level showed the original straight course, and before 1821, when R G Baker's map of Cambridgeshire showed it with the bend. Blair offers an explanation, although he admits that it is conjectural. After Vermuyden's Drain was cut, it was found that water could flow up the Old Bedford River, rather than down it towards Denver. Edmund Welche, an engineer who worked with Vermuyden, then built

748-511: A ceremonial county, or be a district tier within a shire county , be a royal or metropolitan borough , have borough or city status , or be a unitary authority . At the community level, much of England is divided into civil parishes with their own councils ; in Greater London only one such parish, Queen's Park , exists as of 2014 after they were abolished in 1965 until legislation allowed their recreation in 2007. From 1994 until

935-666: A circular cruising route including parts of the Great Ouse and the Middle Level Navigations. The idea of an artificial river running, as the Old Bedford River does, from Earith to Denver was not a new idea; it had been proposed as early as 1604 by the engineer John Hunt . At a meeting of the Commissioners of Sewers held at King's Lynn on 1 September 1630, they asked the Dutch drainage engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to implement

1122-755: A clear plan and workmen to complete the work. As a result, he became the project director on 25 January 1650, despite not being popular particularly with his colleagues. He split the Great Level into three, which were later known as the North Level, the Middle Level and the South Level, with the Bedford River forming the divide between the Middle Level and the South Level. Work began of the North and Middle Levels first, with

1309-513: A dam across the Old Bedford River just upstream of the junction. This resulted in water flowing down the Old Bedford River flooding the washes, and so the River Delph was cut. The Old Bedford River was slewed sideways to join the new channel, and a bank was built between the Delph and the downstream portion of the Old Bedford River to maintain the integrity of the washland. Cole writing in 1784 stated that

1496-466: A drainage scheme for the southern fens, known as the Great Level. He would fund the work himself, but would receive 90,000 acres (36,000 ha) of the drained land in recognition of his investment. Vermuyden produced plans for the work, but wanted 95,000 acres (38,000 ha) of land. However, the Commissioners were not willing to increase the area of land, and so asked the Earl of Bedford if he would undertake

1683-495: A few regular carriers left by the 1920s, one of whom ran Jackson's Navy, using horses to tow the barges, and steam tugs after 1930. When the company stopped trading in 1948, sugar beet traffic was carried to Ely in boats owned by the beet factory for another ten years. Fuel oil for the pumping stations was supplied by the tanker barge Shellfen until 1971, by which time the Well Creek was almost impassible. The effect of drainage on

1870-501: A geographical frame of reference. Of these, 38 developed gradually since the Middle Ages ; these were reformed to 51 in 1974 and to their current number in 1996. Each has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff ; these posts are used to represent the British monarch locally. Some counties, such as Herefordshire , are only divided further into civil parishes. The royal county of Berkshire and

2057-415: A grant, given on condition that three quarters of the workforce were from the local area. The capacity of the station was increased in 1951, when a 1,200 bhp (890 kW) Crossley diesel engine was fitted into the spare bay, and again in 1969–70, when the two pumps on the north side of the sluice were rebuilt, and the engines replaced by 1,500 bhp (1,100 kW) electric motors. From 1977 to 1983,

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2244-487: A guillotine gate at the tidal end, and mitre gates which allow boats up to 62 feet (19 m) long to enter the River Ouse when the river level is higher than the level of Well Creek. It was possible for longer boats to pass straight through at certain states of the tide, but the lock has been lengthened to 80 feet (24 m), by the addition of a third set of mitre gates, facing away from the river, which can only be used when

2431-560: A new pumping station was commissioned. Work on it began in 2006, and when it was completed in 2010, it was the second largest pumping station in Europe. Much of the drainage of the Middle Levels relies on pumping, and the Commissioners manage over 100 pumping stations throughout the area. Interest in restoration of the Middle Levels for leisure traffic began in 1949, and the first significant work by volunteers occurred in 1972, when they worked on

2618-571: A number of pumping stations, and are the fourth largest navigation authority in Great Britain. The navigations often form a short cut for boaters between the River Nene at Peterborough and the River Great Ouse at Salters Lode Lock. The suggested route passes through Stanground Sluice, along King's Dyke to Ashline Lock, and then along Whittlesey Dike to Flood's Ferry junction. From here the route

2805-643: A profound and permanent effect on the English language. Subsequently, the House of Plantagenet from Anjou inherited the English throne under Henry II , adding England to the budding Angevin Empire of fiefs the family had inherited in France including Aquitaine . They reigned for three centuries, some noted monarchs being Richard I , Edward I , Edward III and Henry V . The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including

2992-431: A programme to increase the lock sizes to make the waterways accessible to standard narrow boats. Lodes End lock was 65 feet (20 m) when built. The lock at Marmount Priory was extended to 92 feet (28 m), Ashline lock to 90 feet (27 m), Stanground to 80 feet (24 m), and Horseway to 60 feet (18 m). with the new Ashline lock being reopened on 1 April 1999. Salter's Lode lock has three sets of gates, with

3179-571: A pump for the draining of the mere. It was 4 feet 6 inches (1.4 m) in diameter, and powered by a 25 hp (19 kW) steam engine, could raise 101 tons of water per minute by two to three feet (0.6–0.9 m). In 1862 an Act of Parliament created the Middle Level Commissioners as a separate body to the Bedford Level Corporation, although they had been almost independent since 1810, and they embarked on

3366-460: A pumping station on either side of it. Three pump sets were installed, with space for a fourth. Each consisted of a 1,000 bhp (750 kW) Crossley diesel engine coupled to an 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m) Gwynnes pump, which could pump 840 tons per minute, or 1,234 megalitres per day (Ml/d). Once completed, the syphon sluice was demolished, while Hawkshaw's replacement sluice and its channel were abandoned. The new works were paid for by

3553-482: A scoop wheel which was 34 feet (10 m) in diameter, discharging into the Counter Drain. The beam engine was replaced in 1926 by two Vickers-Petter two-stroke hot-bulb diesel engines, driving 42-inch (110 cm) Gwynnes pumps. One of these engines was replaced by a Brush diesel engine in 1939, after it disintegrated while being started. The other was replaced by a Ruston five-cylinder diesel engine in 1947, which

3740-467: A series of improvements were carried out, which included the construction of a pumping station at Tebbits Bridge on Bevills Leam, preventing navigation along this channel to the southern reaches of the Middle Levels. A new lock was constructed at Lodes End to provide an alternative route. The banks of the Old River Nene were raised and clay puddling was used to retain the water, and major improvements to

3927-533: A series of improvements. Drainage was always the primary function, but navigation was also important, and the new body had powers to charge tolls for the use of the waterways. 1862 was also the year in which the Wiggenhall sluice collapsed and around 9 square miles (23 km) of the levels were flooded. Sir John Hawkshaw constructed a new sluice, consisting of a large cofferdam , with 16 tubes, each 3 feet 6 inches (1.1 m) in diameter, which passed over

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4114-446: A struggle for hegemony between Northumbria and Mercia, which in the 8th century gave way to Mercian preeminence. In the early 9th century Mercia was displaced as the foremost kingdom by Wessex. Later in that century escalating attacks by the Danes culminated in the conquest of the north and east of England, overthrowing the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. Wessex under Alfred

4301-563: Is a non-departmental public body, established in 1995 and sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with responsibilities relating to the protection and enhancement of the environment in England. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the minister responsible for environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in England. Old Bedford River The Old Bedford River

4488-562: Is a standby generator, to cope with loss of the electric supply, and when all six pumps are operational, the station can pump 1,586 Ml/d, equivalent to 18 tonnes per second. In April 1998, the St Germans pumping station ran at maximum capacity, which was 6,134 Ml/d (or 71 tonnes per second), for over 50 hours, and this led to the decision to replace it with a brand new installation, with 40% extra capacity. Work started in December 2006, and

4675-469: Is along the old course of the River Nene, passing through the twin villages of Outwell and Upwell, where the abandoned Wisbech Canal once formed a route back to the new course of the River Nene. The final stretch to Salters Lode lock is along Well Creek, passing over the top of the Middle Level Main Drain on Mullicourt Aqueduct. The alternative route via Horseway sluice and the Old Bedford River

4862-412: Is also applied to England in a more poetic capacity, though its original meaning is the island of Britain as a whole. The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor , dating to about 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago. Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during

5049-514: Is an artificial, partial diversion of the waters of the River Great Ouse in the Fens of Cambridgeshire , England. It was named after the fourth Earl of Bedford who contracted with the local Commission of Sewers to drain the Great Level of the Fens beginning in 1630. It provided a steeper and shorter path for the waters of the Great Ouse, and was embanked to prevent them flooding the low ground of

5236-534: Is damp relatively frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast , while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are May, June, September and October. Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year. Important influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean , its northern latitude and

5423-622: Is governed directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom , although other countries of the United Kingdom have devolved governments. There has been debate about how to counterbalance this in England. Originally it was planned that various regions of England would be devolved, but following the proposal's rejection by the North East in a 2004 referendum , this has not been carried out. In 2024, an England-only intergovernmental body, known as

5610-640: Is high moorland in upland areas, indented by fertile valleys of the region's rivers. They contain two national parks , the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District . In the West Country , Dartmoor and Exmoor of the Southwest Peninsula include upland moorland supported by granite. The English Lowlands are in the central and southern regions of the country, consisting of green rolling hills, including

5797-758: Is known as the lost colony after it was found abandoned on the return of the late-arriving supply ship. With the East India Company , England also competed with the Dutch and French in the East. During the Elizabethan period, England was at war with Spain. An armada sailed from Spain in 1588 as part of a wider plan to invade England and re-establish a Catholic monarchy. The plan was thwarted by bad coordination, stormy weather and successful harrying attacks by an English fleet under Lord Howard of Effingham . This failure did not end

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5984-561: Is located downstream of Purls Bridge farm, and consists of an Allen-Gwynnes electric pump in a small brick building, installed some time after 1975. Details of the Welches Dam pumping station are less clear, as there was a diesel engine and pump in a wooden building at Old Mill Drove from the 1920s, but this became disused around 1975. The pumping station is shown at Old Mill Drove. Two further pumping stations at Cock Fen and Upwell Fen are operated by Upwell Internal Drainage Board. This district

6171-603: Is mostly found in the north and west, including Dartmoor , the Lake District , the Pennines , and the Shropshire Hills . The country's capital is London , the metropolitan area of which has a population of 14.2 million as of 2021, representing the United Kingdom's largest metropolitan area. England's population of 56.3 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London,

6358-427: Is now known as Glenhouse pumping station, after the house built for the engine driver in 1907. The Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners are now responsible for an area of 7,665 acres (3,102 ha), in which they maintain 25.5 miles (41 km) of waterways and operate three pumpings stations. These are shown as Purls Bridge, Welches Dam and Glenhouse on their district plan. Purls Bridge pumping station

6545-545: Is now known as the River Delph. It begins near where Vermuyden's Drain ends, and runs parallel to the Old Bedford River for most of its length, before crossing the washland to join the New Bedford River at Welmore Lake Sluice, 1.75 miles (2.8 km) above Denver Sluice. Its history is obscure, as its construction does not appear to have been documented. It was built some time after the Bedford Rivers, and at some point,

6732-549: Is part of the United Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system . There has not been a government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707 , putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union , joined England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain . Before the union England was ruled by its monarch and the Parliament of England . Today England

6919-543: Is pumped from lower lying land. Mepal pumping station is the outlet for the Sutton and Mepal internal drainage board . The drainage district was created by Act of Parliament in 1749, and covered an area of 10,500 acres (42 km ). Pumping was performed by six wind pumps driving scoop wheels, but these were replaced in 1840 by a beam engine manufactured by the Butterley Company and rated at 80 hp (60 kW). It drove

7106-492: Is rated good or fail. The water quality of the Old Bedford River and River Delph, which includes the Ouse Washes, was as follows in 2019. The water quality in the river has deteriorated since 2014, when it was rated good for ecological status. This is partly due to the fact that dissolved oxygen levels are now included in the assessment. Other reasons for the quality being less than good are low flow and physical modification of

7293-465: Is similar to that of other areas in the British Isles with a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate life in a diverse range of habitats. National nature reserves in England are designated by Natural England as key places for wildlife and natural features in England. They were established to protect the most significant areas of habitat and of geological formations. NNRs are managed on behalf of

7480-723: Is unusable, as the lock at Welches Dam was declared unsafe and closed in 2006, and a reedbed has taken hold. Very low water levels between Horseway sluice and Welches Dam lock often prevented passage. This stands to be improved, however, as part of the Fens Waterways Link project, which includes plans for improving the route through the Middle Levels from Stanground to Salters Lode and to Welches Dam. Download coordinates as: [REDACTED] Media related to Middle Level Navigations at Wikimedia Commons England – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in

7667-509: The 1535–1542 acts . There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I . The former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again, forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism . The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor age of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ("the Virgin Queen"). Historians often depict it as

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7854-624: The Age of Discovery . Henry VIII broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to his divorce, under the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the Church of England . In contrast with much of European Protestantism , the roots of the split were more political than theological. He also legally incorporated his ancestral land Wales into the Kingdom of England with

8041-568: The Angeln region of what is now the German state of Schleswig-Holstein . The earliest recorded use of the term, as " Engla londe ", is in the late-ninth-century translation into Old English of Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People . The term was then used to mean "the land inhabited by the English", and it included English people in what is now south-east Scotland but was then part of

8228-557: The Battle of Dover . The works in the North and Middle Levels, to the north-west of the Old Bedford River, were judged to be completed on 26 March 1651, and a second judgement took place at Ely in March 1652, when the South Level was signed off. A service of thanksgiving took place in Ely Cathedral, to celebrate the completion of the work. Attempts were made to create a formal organisation to ensure

8415-526: The Battle of Trafalgar confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century. The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of Britishness and a united national British people , shared with the English, Scots and Welsh. London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era , and trade within the British Empire – as well as

8602-532: The Battle of Watling Street . The author of one study of Roman Britain suggested that from 43 AD to 84 AD, the Roman invaders killed somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 people from a population of perhaps 2,000,000. This era saw a Greco-Roman culture prevail with the introduction of Roman law , Roman architecture , aqueducts , sewers , many agricultural items and silk. In the 3rd century, Emperor Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (now York ), where Constantine

8789-648: The British Isles , but also from the Commonwealth , particularly the Indian subcontinent . Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the service industry . As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a common market initiative called the European Economic Community which became the European Union . Since the late 20th century the administration of

8976-596: The Cotswold Hills , Chiltern Hills , North and South Downs ; where they meet the sea they form white rock exposures such as the cliffs of Dover . This also includes relatively flat plains such as the Salisbury Plain , Somerset Levels , South Coast Plain and The Fens . England has a temperate maritime climate : it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0 °C (32 °F) in winter and not much higher than 32 °C (90 °F) in summer. The weather

9163-663: The Court of Appeal , the High Court of Justice for civil cases, and the Crown Court for criminal cases. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court for criminal and civil cases in England and Wales . It was created in 2009 after constitutional changes, taking over the judicial functions of the House of Lords . A decision of the Supreme Court is binding on every other court in

9350-567: The Courts of England and Wales continued, under the Treaty of Union , as a separate legal system from the one used in Scotland . The general essence of English law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent – stare decisis – to the facts before them. The court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of

9537-436: The French Revolution , under George III and William Pitt the Younger . The regency of George IV is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture. During the Napoleonic Wars , Napoleon planned to invade from the south-east ; however, this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British: at sea by Horatio Nelson , and on land by Arthur Wellesley . The major victory at

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9724-440: The Inland Waterways Association have campaigned for it to be reopened, but with no success. In 2018, they organised a campaign cruise along the Old Bedford River, to highlight the issue. Access through the Old Bedford Sluice is only possible near low water during neap tides, and is further hampered by silting of the short channel below the sluice. Four narrow boats attempted to pass through the sluice, but only one succeeded. Once on

9911-432: The Kingdom of Great Britain . England is the origin of the English language , the English legal system (which served as the basis for the common law systems of many other countries), association football , and the Anglican branch of Christianity; its parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into

10098-418: The Labour Party , 116 from the Conservative Party , 65 from the Liberal Democrats , five for Reform UK and four for the Green Party of England and Wales . The English law legal system, developed over the centuries, is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States (except Louisiana ). Despite now being part of the United Kingdom, the legal system of

10285-406: The Latin word Anglii is used. The etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars; it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. How and why a term derived from the name of this tribe, rather than others such as the Saxons , came to be used for the entire country is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling

10472-424: The Mayoral Council for England , was established to bring together ministers from the UK Government , the Mayor of London and the leaders of combined authorities . In the House of Commons which is the lower house of the British Parliament based at the Palace of Westminster , there are 543 members of parliament (MPs) for constituencies in England, out of the 650 total. England is represented by 347 MPs from

10659-438: The Ministry of Justice , manages most prisons, housing 81,309 prisoners in England and Wales as of September 2022 . The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division , controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government . Outside the London region, England's highest tier is the 48 ceremonial counties . These are used primarily as

10846-423: The Ouse Washes . Earlier disruption of the work was repeated, with attempts to destroy the newly-created banks, and the adventurers resorting to using armed guards to protect their work. Frequent complaints were made to Parliament, and eventually, it became difficult to obtain labourers. After the Battle of Dunbar some of the workers were Scottish prisoners, and their numbers were swelled by Dutch prisoners after

11033-518: The Severn is the longest river flowing through England. It empties into the Bristol Channel and is notable for its Severn Bore (a tidal bore ), which can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height. However, the longest river entirely in England is the Thames, which is 215 miles (346 km) in length. There are many lakes in England ; the largest is Windermere , within the aptly named Lake District . Most of England's landscape consists of low hills and plains, with upland and mountainous terrain in

11220-416: The South East , and conurbations in the Midlands , the North West , the North East , and Yorkshire , which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century. The name "England" is derived from the Old English name Englaland , which means "land of the Angles ". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages . They came from

11407-479: The State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch. With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. In 1666 the Great Fire of London gutted the city of London, but it was rebuilt shortly afterward with many significant buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren . By

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11594-451: The Stuart dynasty England expanded in trade, finance and prosperity. The Royal Navy developed Europe's largest merchant fleet. After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed, the two countries joined in political union , to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate. Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from

11781-433: The Trinovantes . The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius , subsequently conquering much of Britain , and the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as Britannia province . The best-known of the native tribes who attempted to resist were the Catuvellauni led by Caratacus . Later, an uprising led by Boudica , Queen of the Iceni , ended with Boudica's suicide following her defeat at

11968-412: The United Kingdom  (green) England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom . It is located on the island of Great Britain , of which it covers about 62%, and more than 100 smaller adjacent islands . It has land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, and is otherwise surrounded by the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south, the Celtic Sea to

12155-419: The Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years. After the last ice age only large mammals such as mammoths , bison and woolly rhinoceros remained. Roughly 11,000 years ago, when the ice sheets began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula . The sea level

12342-470: The canal age in Britain . In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway – the Stockton and Darlington Railway – opened to the public. During the Industrial Revolution , many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at Birmingham and Manchester , with the latter the world's first industrial city. England maintained relative stability throughout

12529-435: The decline of the Roman Empire , Britain was left exposed by the end of Roman rule in Britain and the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars. Celtic Christian monastic and missionary movements flourished. This period of Christianity was influenced by ancient Celtic culture in its sensibilities, polity, practices and theology. Local "congregations" were centred in

12716-434: The golden age in English history that represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of great art, drama, poetry, music and literature. England during this period had a centralised, well-organised, and effective government. Competing with Spain , the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke . The Roanoke colony failed and

12903-473: The jet engine led to wider air travel . Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, providing publicly funded health care to all permanent residents free at the point of need. Combined, these prompted the reform of local government in England in the mid-20th century. Since the 20th century, there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of

13090-426: The 32 London Boroughs and the 25 Wards of the City of London . Geographically, England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly . It is bordered by two other countries of the United Kingdom: to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. England is closer than any other part of mainland Britain to

13277-435: The 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had extensive cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery , which began during the 15th century. The Kingdom of England , which included Wales after 1535, ceased to be a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union brought into effect a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland that created

13464-569: The 6th century. Contemporary texts describing this period are extremely scarce, giving rise to its description as a Dark Age . Details of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain are consequently subject to considerable disagreement; the emerging consensus is that it occurred on a large scale in the south and east but was less substantial to the north and west, where Celtic languages continued to be spoken even in areas under Anglo-Saxon control. Roman-dominated Christianity had, in general, been replaced in

13651-478: The Counter Drain and lower Old Bedford River into the River Delph, which runs parallel to the lower river for most of it length, but then crosses the washland to enter the New Bedford River at Welmore Lake Sluice. When pumping occurs, flow in the lower river above Welney is reversed, and a vertical sluice gate prevents water discharged into the river by the Upwell Internal Drainage Board from reaching

13838-634: The Counter Drain and lower Old Bedford River through the Middle Level Barrier Bank and into the River Delph. This was constructed in the 1940s and commissioned in December 1948. It was designed by W F Pattison, the Mechanical Engineer of the Great Ouse Catchment Board, who died prior to the completion of the project. The catchment board wanted to prevent water in the lower Old Bedford River overflowing its banks, particularly when

14025-438: The Counter Drain and the lower section of the Old Bedford River. At the junction with the Great Ouse is Old Bedford Sluice, through which the water passes to reach the tidal river, but this is not always possible, particularly when high volumes of water are passing down the New Bedford River as a result of heavy rainfall further up the Great Ouse. To resolve this, a pumping station was built at Welches Dam in 1948, to pump water from

14212-557: The Dutch Engineer Cornelius Vermuyden in 1642, who subsequently constructed several drainage channels to make the area suitable for agriculture. Water levels were always managed to allow navigation, and Commissioners were established in 1754 to maintain the waterways and collect tolls from commercial traffic. The Middle Level Main Drain to Wiggenhall St Germans was completed in 1848, which provided better drainage because

14399-452: The Earl of Bedford. He and 13 other adventurers were granted a charter in 1634, creating a Corporation. Once the project started, the Earl of Bedford engaged Vermuyden to design the works. At the time, many thought that any solution should involve making existing rivers wider and deeper, whereas Vermuyden was an advocate of new straight channels, designed to increase the gradient of a river, and it

14586-655: The English kingdom of Northumbria . The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Domesday Book of 1086 covered the whole of England, meaning the English kingdom, but a few years later the Chronicle stated that King Malcolm III went "out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland", thus using it in the more ancient sense. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus , Germania , in which

14773-574: The European continent. It is separated from France ( Hauts-de-France ) by a 21-mile (34 km) sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone . England also has shores on the Irish Sea , North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The ports of London, Liverpool , and Newcastle lie on the tidal rivers Thames , Mersey and Tyne respectively. At 220 miles (350 km),

14960-466: The Fens. The Old Bedford River was cut from Earith to Salters Lode, a distance of 21 miles (34 km), and provided sufficient drainage that the land could be used for summer grazing. Vermuyden published a document in 1642, entitled Discourse touching the draining of the Great Fennes , in which he proposed the division of the fens into three zones, the North Level, the South Level, and between them,

15147-572: The Forty Foot, Twenty Foot and Sixteen Foot rivers were made, to maintain water levels for navigation. All of the bridges on the Sixteen Foot River were demolished and replaced to provide wider channels, as their width restricted flows during heavy rainfall, and St Germans pumping station was again upgraded, when the remaining 1934 engine was replaced by a 1,550 bhp (1,160 kW) Allen diesel engine. The improvements have restricted navigation in

15334-825: The Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons to distinguish them from continental Saxons (Eald-Seaxe) of Old Saxony in Germany. In Scottish Gaelic , the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England ( Sasunn ); similarly, the Welsh name for the English language is Saesneg . A romantic name for England is Loegria , related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr , and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend . Albion

15521-500: The Great was left as the only surviving English kingdom, and under his successors, it steadily expanded at the expense of the kingdoms of the Danelaw . This brought about the political unification of England, first accomplished under Æthelstan in 927 and definitively established after further conflicts by Eadred in 953. A fresh wave of Scandinavian attacks from the late 10th century ended with

15708-486: The Great Level were submitted to Parliament in August 1645, and although progress was slow, in part due to a huge number of objections, they resulted in an Act of Parliament being passed on 29 May 1649. This empowered William Russell, the fifth Earl of Bedford and some adventurers to drain the Great Level, without disrupting navigation on the rivers, and to make them into "winter ground". They had until 10 October 1656 to complete

15895-453: The Great Ouse from Denver to Earith. The missing link is the section from Earith back to the Middle Level Navigations, for which three options have been proposed. One was to build an aqueduct to carry boats from Welches Dam over the Old Bedford River and into the tidal New Bedford River, which joins the Great Ouse above Hermitage Lock. The second was to build a new lock between Welches Dam and the Old Bedford River. The section above Welches Dam to

16082-520: The Great Ouse via the Middle Levels. Well Creek became impassable after commercial carrying ended on the Middle Levels in the 1940s, and Norfolk County Council wanted to fill it in to use part of the course for a road diversion in 1959. This was the start of campaigning to reopen it, resulting in the Well Creek Trust being formed in 1970, and Well Creek was reopened in 1975. The route along the Old River Nene and Well Creek to Salters Lode Lock then became

16269-538: The Middle Level also contained 26 miles (42 km) of the old course of the Nene, and the ancient artificial waterways of King's Dyke and Whittlesey Dyke, which connect Stanground to Floods Ferry. To the north is Well Creek, most of which was a natural waterway, although the final section to Salters Lode Lock follows the course of the New Podyke, a drainage channel constructed in the early sixteenth century. The primary function of

16456-462: The Middle Level system. Cock Fen pumping station was built in 1975, after it became impossible to drain the area by gravity to the north or west. The rectangular brick building houses diesel pumps. The final pumping station is on the right bank of the Old Bedford River. Lake Farm pumping station is a small, privately-owned installation, which drains a small part of the Ouse Washes. There is another pumping station at Welches Dam, which pumps water from

16643-567: The Middle Level, stretching from Morton's Leam to the Bedford River. An Act of Parliament , the Pretended Act , was obtained in 1649, and work began under his supervision. The New Bedford River was constructed, running parallel to the Old, and the Middle Levels area was protected. The Forty Foot , Twenty Foot and Sixteen Foot Rivers were cut soon afterwards, to drain water from the area to Salters Lode and Welches Dam . In addition to these new channels,

16830-540: The North, and the successful Norman Conquest in October 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy invading at Hastings late September 1066. The Normans themselves originated from Scandinavia and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had

17017-415: The Old Bedford River below Earith Sluice. Upgrading of the final section of the Old Bedford River would be required, and again, a lock structure to bypass Earith Sluice would be needed. The second route was the preferred option in 2003, although Lincolnshire County Council still showed all three routes on their 2018 Waterways Development Strategy document. The Environment Agency measure the water quality of

17204-469: The Old Bedford River, it was joined by a canoe, a kayak and a dinghy. After an overnight stop at Welney, the flotilla continued through Welney Sluice, and despite some problems with weed growth, reached Welches Dam by around midday, where they were greeted by a television news cameraman and crews from the other boats which had not successfully negotiated the Old Bedford Sluice. The return passage through

17391-453: The Old Bedford Sluice was blocked by higher water levels in the tidal Great Ouse. A pumping station was seen as a cheaper option than raising the banks of the river for its entire length, and siting it at Welches Dam, between the outflow of the Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners and the Sutton and Mepal Internal Drainage Board, meant that the head against which the water had to be pumped

17578-595: The Ouse Catchment Board that they were planning to restore the river for navigation up to Bedford , the branch decided to devote their energies to the Middle Levels, which were weedy and heavily silted. Salters Lode lock was rebuilt in 1963, but passage along Well Creek was very difficult. The East Anglian Waterways Association and the Middle Level Watermans Club began campaigning for it to be dredged in 1964. The first major working party by volunteers on

17765-658: The Pope. During the 14th century, the Plantagenets and the House of Valois claimed to be legitimate claimants to the House of Capet and of France; the two powers clashed in the Hundred Years' War . The Black Death epidemic hit England ; starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's inhabitants . Between 1453 and 1487, a civil war known as the War of the Roses waged between

17952-976: The Royal Society and other English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth in British overseas trade protected by the Royal Navy paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire . Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution , a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development. The opening of Northwest England's Bridgewater Canal in 1761 ushered in

18139-548: The South Fens. Throughout the project, the Earl and his Adventurers faced disruption from those who were opposed to drainage schemes. The project was deemed to have succeeded in draining the fens in 1637, but that decision was reversed in 1638. After a lull during the English Civil War, when much of the work was damaged, the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden worked with William Russell, the fifth Earl of Bedford to complete

18326-432: The United Kingdom has moved towards devolved governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism. There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by referendum . England

18513-593: The United Kingdom as part of the Allies . Two decades later, in World War II , the United Kingdom was again one of the Allies . Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during the Blitz . Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid decolonisation , and there was a speeding-up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and Frank Whittle 's development of

18700-474: The Voyage round the Fens in 1774 , which was made in a fleet of nine boats, all of which were towed by a single horse called Hippopotamus when there was insufficient wind for sailing. Carpenters were employed to jack up or remove bridges which were too low for the boats to pass, and although the expedition lasted for 22 days, Walpole only recorded one gang of lighters , which delayed them as Salters Lode. The system

18887-582: The additional volumes of water. The sluice consists of a single vertical sluice gate located just downstream of Welney Bridge. It was built by the Great Ouse River Authority and commissioned in 1973, prior to the Upwell pumping stations being built. The Old Bedford River is navigable between Welches Dam Lock and the Old Bedford Sluice. For a time it was part of the only route between the River Nene and

19074-563: The area, the Beaker culture people made bronze , and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron smelting allowed the construction of better ploughs , advancing agriculture (for instance, with Celtic fields ), as well as the production of more effective weapons. During the Iron Age , Celtic culture , deriving from the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures , arrived from Central Europe. Brythonic

19261-737: The auspices of James VI and I the Authorised King James Version of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century. Based on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the English Civil War was fought between the supporters of Parliament and those of King Charles I , known colloquially as Roundheads and Cavaliers respectively. This

19448-470: The change in level. Project Hereward estimated the cost of this work to be £3 million in 2018, but the Environment Agency costed it at £9 million. Modification to the Old Bedford River has been proposed as part of the Fens Waterways Link . In addition to an inland waterway from Boston to Peterborough , the project includes a circular route which includes sections of the Middle Level Navigations and

19635-473: The confrontation. William Hayward made a detailed survey of the Great Level in 1636, from which it could be seen that the works were only partly completed. However, in 1637, the Commission of Sewers met at St Ives, and stated that the work outlined in the original agreement had been largely finished. Part of the reasoning may have been that several of the adventurers were almost bankrupt, and the decision gave them

19822-576: The conquered territories by Anglo-Saxon paganism , but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by Augustine from 597. Disputes between the Roman- and Celtic-dominated forms of Christianity ended in victory for the Roman tradition at the Council of Whitby (664), which was ostensibly about tonsures (clerical haircuts) and the date of Easter, but more significantly, about the differences in Roman and Celtic forms of authority, theology, and practice. During

20009-531: The conquest of this united kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013 and again by his son Cnut in 1016, turning it into the centre of a short-lived North Sea Empire that also included Denmark and Norway . However, the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of Edward the Confessor in 1042. A dispute over the succession to Edward led to an unsuccessful Norwegian Invasion in September 1066 close to York in

20196-449: The course of the fifth and sixth centuries, initially in the eastern part of the country. Their advance was contained for some decades after the Britons' victory at the Battle of Mount Badon , but subsequently resumed, overrunning the fertile lowlands of Britain and reducing the area under Brittonic control to a series of separate enclaves in the more rugged country to the west by the end of

20383-434: The doors of the sluices being opened for days at a time, with water backing up in the respective rivers. Artificial drainage of low-lying wetlands generally involves one or both of two different practices: excluding water flowing from high areas from entering the low-lying area, and pumping out water which does manage to get into the low-lying area. The Old Bedford River was constructed on the first principle, as were most of

20570-555: The downstream section of the Old Bedford River, which joins the tidal Great Ouse at Old Bedford Sluice near Denver. Welmore Lake Sluice was originally built as a dam by the proprietors of the Washlands, with the aim of preventing spring tides and small floods from entering the washlands. When an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1812 to authorise further embanking of the Hundred Feet Washes, the unsatisfactory nature of its operation

20757-542: The drainage works constructed in the seventeenth century in the English fens. Both the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River were intended to reduce or eliminate flooding of the fens of the South Level by carrying the bulk of the water from the Great Ouse River from the uplands of Huntingdonshire to the sea in a straight channel, rather than allowing it to meander across the fens of the South Level. Both now have pumping stations on their banks, and receive water which

20944-461: The drainage. Disruption and unrest continued while the work was carried out, resulting in the Adventurers employing armed guards. A second river, the New Bedford River, was cut parallel to the first channel, which then became the Old Bedford River. At some point, the Old Bedford River was split into two parts, when the upper section was diverted into the River Delph at Welches Dam, and the lower section

21131-619: The early 2010s England was divided for a few purposes into regions; a 1998 referendum for the London Region created the London Assembly two years later. A failed 2004 North East England devolution referendum cancelled further regional assembly devolution with the regional structure outside London abolished. Ceremonially and administratively, the region is divided between the City of London and Greater London ; these are further divided into

21318-432: The end of the Old Bedford River, near Salters Lode, were also rebuilt. As the land dried, the peaty soils shrank, causing the land surface to drop. Much of the Middle Levels was flooded in 1841–42, and this led the Commissioners to obtain an Act of Parliament in 1844, which authorised the construction of a new main drain, 11 miles (18 km) long, in order that water could flow by gravity to Wiggenhall St Germans , where

21505-534: The exercise increased the headroom by 3 ft (0.9 m). The Inland Waterways Association raised the funding for the additional materials required, and the reconstruction opened up a 33-mile (53 km) cruising ring on the Levels. The navigations are managed by the Middle Level Commissioners , who are responsible for about 120 miles (190 km) of waterway, of which around 100 miles (160 km) are navigable. The Commissioners are also responsible for six locks and

21692-480: The existing drainage works being restored, and new embanking and sluices constructed. In the South Level, the New Bedford River was cut, running parallel to the original Bedford River, which was renamed the Old Bedford River. This was around 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to the east of the Old Bedford River, and was known as the Hundred Foot River. It became the main channel for the upland waters of the Great Ouse. Water

21879-426: The existing route via Stretham and Ely . The project, which also included cutting or improving eight other drains, was financed by the Earl of Bedford and several other investors. It was undertaken between 1630 and 1636, but although the work carried out may have been based on Vermuyden's plans, there is no firm evidence that he was involved as the supervising engineer. Prior to work starting, those who objected to

22066-481: The fourth largest navigation authority in Great Britain. The Middle Levels of the Fens are a low-lying area of approximately 270 square miles (700 km), much of which is at or below sea level. Attempts to protect them from inundation and to make them suitable for agriculture began in 1480, when the Bishop of Ely, John Morton , constructed a 12-mile (19 km) straight cut from Stanground to Guyhirne. This provided

22253-531: The hierarchy, which must follow its directions. The Secretary of State for Justice is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary , the court system and prisons and probation in England. Crime increased between 1981 and 1995 but fell by 42% in the period 1995–2006. The prison population doubled over the same period, giving it one of the highest incarceration rates in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000. His Majesty's Prison Service , reporting to

22440-612: The king was declared as the undertaker who would ensure that the level was drained. Vermuyden was involved in this second scheme, for which a few works were begun in 1638, but his main plans were not published until 1642. In this period, unrest among those who lived in the Fens, and felt that they no longer had access to what has previously been common land, did not abate. There were disturbances in Whelpmore Fen, near Littleport, and in 1638, threats to break down Ely prison to free those who had been arrested were taken seriously enough that it

22627-608: The land had flooded. The new Act transferred responsibility from the Bedford Level Corporation to local Commissioners, who had to be land-owners. They had powers to charge a levy on all land which could be taxed under the Eau Brink Acts. Between 1824 and 1839, John Dyson Jr was employed as the resident engineer by the Bedford Level Commissioners. He had been recommended by John Rennie , and was charged with

22814-464: The land that had been agreed. Numerous complaints were then received by the Privy Council , which turned the king against the Earl of Bedford and his Corporation. It was recognised that much of the Great Level was improved, but the drainage was patchy, and therefore the adventurers had failed to drain the Great Level. On 12 April 1638, the project was deemed to be defective. Later that year, on 18 July,

23001-449: The level of the river is lower than that of the Creek. Welches Dam Lock is still sized for Fen Lighters, at just 47 feet (14 m) long. Access to the southern reaches of the Levels was improved in 2006, when soldiers from the 53rd Field Squadron of the 39 Engineer Regiment raised the level of a Bailey bridge at Ramsey Hollow. This had previously restricted passage, as it was very low, but

23188-459: The levels of the tidal river were about 7 feet (2.1 m) lower than at Salters Lode. The work was completed in 1848, and the sluice at Marmount Priory was also built at this time, in order to allow boats with a deeper draught to navigate through Upwell and Outwell. A railway line from Ely to Peterborough passed through the port of March from 1846, which soon became a railway hub, with branch lines to Wisbech and St Ives . Traffic transferred from

23375-424: The light peaty soils was that further shrinkage occurred, and land levels continued to fall. By the late 1920s, gravity discharge alone could no longer be relied upon to provide an adequate level of flood protection, and a change to pumped drainage began. A new sluice and pumping station were constructed at St Germans, which was completed in 1934. The sluice was built in the centre of the old syphon sluice channel, with

23562-482: The lower south-western area, but greatly improved flood defences. The Tebbitt's Bridge pumping station houses six Allen 3-foot-3-inch (0.99 m) diameter pumps, each capable of pumping 260 Ml/d. Three of them are powered by 225 bhp (168 kW) electric induction motors, manufactured by Lawrence Scott, which are controlled automatically, while the other three are powered by Dorman 274 bhp (204 kW) diesel engines, which are controlled manually. There

23749-453: The metropolitan counties have different types of status to other ceremonial counties. The second tier is made up of combined authorities and the 27 county-tier shire counties . In 1974, all ceremonial counties were two-tier; and with the metropolitan county tier phased out, the 1996 reform separated the ceremonial county and the administrative county tier. England is also divided into local government districts. The district can align to

23936-680: The mid-to-late 17th century, two political factions had emerged – the Tories and Whigs . Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king James II , some of them, along with the Whigs, during the Revolution of 1688 invited the Dutch Prince William of Orange to defeat James and become the king. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. Under

24123-558: The monastic community and monastic leaders were more like chieftains, as peers, rather than in the more hierarchical system of the Roman-dominated church. Roman military withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Saxons, Angles , Jutes and Frisians who had long raided the coasts of the Roman province. These groups then began to settle in increasing numbers over

24310-591: The nation, many by Natural England themselves, but also by non-governmental organisations, including the members of The Wildlife Trusts partnership, the National Trust , and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds . There are 221 NNRs in England covering 110,000 hectares (1,100 square kilometres). Often they contain rare species or nationally important populations of plants and animals. . The Environment Agency

24497-594: The north and west of the country. The northern uplands include the Pennines , a chain of uplands dividing east and west, the Lake District mountains in Cumbria, and the Cheviot Hills , straddling the border between England and Scotland. The highest point in England, at 978 metres (3,209 ft), is Scafell Pike in the Lake District. The Shropshire Hills are near Wales while Dartmoor and Exmoor are two upland areas in

24684-404: The old course of the Great Ouse and that at Salters Lode on the outfall from the Middle Level, it prevented tides moving further upstream. The sluice gates were opened when the water level on the downstream side dropped below an agreed level, but in times of heavy rainfall, the water levels were swelled by the mass of water passing from the upland Great Ouse down the New Bedford River. This prevented

24871-447: The outfall was lower than that at Salters Lode . Whittlesey Mere , the last remaining lake, was drained soon afterwards, using one of the first applications of John Appold 's centrifugal pump , following its appearance at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Traffic on the network began to diminish after the opening of the railway through March in 1846, and fell dramatically in the early twentieth century. The last regular commercial traffic

25058-408: The process of draining the Fens in the seventeenth century. There are more than one hundred smaller pumping stations scattered throughout the system to maintain the water levels and prevent flooding. Local interest in restoring the Middle Levels for navigation began to develop in 1949. The Fenlands Branch of the Inland Waterways Association was formed on 30 October 1949, and following assurances from

25245-401: The pumping station, which is the second largest in Europe, includes a glass wall to enable visitors to see the pumps. The new station was commissioned on 22 April 2010, after which the old station was demolished. A formal opening ceremony was held on 20 April 2011, when the station was opened by Lord James Russell, brother of the Duke of Bedford, and a descendant of the Earl of Bedford who started

25432-430: The pumping station. The river is navigable from Welches Dam to Old Bedford Sluice, but passage through the sluice can only be made when tidal water levels allow, as there is no lock. Welches Dam Lock used to provide a link from the Middle Level Navigations to the Great Ouse, which was the only link between the two river systems when Well Creek became unnavigable. However, a campaign to save Well Creek from being filled in

25619-413: The purpose of the Delph was to make emptying of the washland easier. This has resulted in the Old Bedford River having two sections, which are not connected together. The upstream section flows down from Earith to Welches Dam, and then flows into the River Delph. The Counter drain which runs to the west of the upstream section has a similar kink in it where it joins Vermuyden's Drain, and they then flow into

25806-408: The railway companies had been paying to collect traffic in hay and straw, although this practice ceased when it became public knowledge. The condition of the Nene and the Wisbech Canal declined, which discouraged navigation, but some trade in agricultural produce, coal, bricks and road building materials continued. Coal was delivered by barge from Outwell Depot to around 40 pumping stations. There were

25993-411: The recommended route to transfer between the two river systems. The use of Welches Dam Lock and the Old Bedford River was subsequently restricted to certain weekends by the Environment Agency, who now manage the waterway. In 2006, the Environment Agency closed Welches Dam Lock, drained the channel from there to the Middle Levels' Horseway Lock, and blocked off the lock entrance with piling. Since then,

26180-401: The reconstruction of ten locks and sluices, together with "a great many other works of great importance" , for which the estimated cost was between £50,000 and £60,000. The work included the rebuilding of Salters Lode sluice, which Dyson oversaw himself, as no suitable tenders were received when the work was advertised. It was completed by 1832. Sluices and bridges at Stanground, Welches Dam, and

26367-409: The restoration of Well Creek, which finally reopened in 1975. Since then, locks have been lengthened, to allow access by modern narrowboats, as they were built for Fen Lighters, which were only 49 feet (15 m) long. The southern reaches became more accessible in 2006, when a low Bailey bridge was raised by soldiers from the 39 Engineer Regiment . The system is managed by Commissioners, and they are

26554-426: The river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations,

26741-493: The scheme had, among other things, composed "libellous songs to disparage the work", but once construction began, things got much worse. The objectors destroyed dykes as they were erected, filled in channels that had been dug, and opened sluices to flood the land. There were frequent riots, with those carrying out the work attempting to drive cattle from the fens, and crowds armed with scythes and pitchforks attempting to stop them. Tracts and pamphlets were produced by both parties in

26928-450: The settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Northumbria , Mercia , Wessex , East Anglia , Essex , Kent and Sussex . Over the following centuries, this process of political consolidation continued. The 7th century saw

27115-422: The signing of Magna Carta , an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic monasticism flourished, providing philosophers, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The Principality of Wales became a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century and the Lordship of Ireland was given to the English monarchy by

27302-458: The sluice at Earith would be enlarged so that it became navigable, and a new lock structure would be built to bypass Earith Sluice. The third option involved making the Twenty Foot River navigable towards Chatteris. This then becomes Fenton's Lode, and the new route would follow Fenton's Lode to High Fen pumping station. A new section of canal would run from the pumping station to a drainage ditch called Cranbrook Drain, which would be enlarged and join

27489-451: The sluice was somewhat easier. One solution proposed by Project Hereward, an umbrella organisation for a number of local waterways groups, is to raise the water level in the Welches Dam to Horseway Lock channel, so that it is level with the Old Bedford River. This would overcome the problem of Welches Dam Lock being very small, at only 46 feet (14 m) long. A small change to the upper gates at Horseway Lock would be required to accommodate

27676-403: The sluices. Agricultural produce was carried through Salters Lode, bound for Kings Lynn , while coal, timber and groceries moved in the opposite direction. Pleasure boats were specifically excluded from paying tolls, as were certain products including manure, compost, malt dust, pigeons' dung and some varieties of oil cake. Another account of the system is provided by George Walpole 's Journal of

27863-524: The south-west of the country. The approximate dividing line between terrain types is often indicated by the Tees–Exe line . The Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, originating from the end of the Paleozoic Era around 300 million years ago. Their geological composition includes, among others, sandstone and limestone , and also coal. There are karst landscapes in calcite areas such as parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire . The Pennine landscape

28050-403: The south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west. Continental Europe lies to the south-east, and Ireland to the west. At the 2021 census , the population was 56,490,048. London is both the largest city and the capital . The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic . It takes its name from the Angles , a Germanic tribe who settled during

28237-436: The standing of the British military and navy – was prestigious. Technologically, this era saw many innovations that proved key to the United Kingdom's power and prosperity. Political agitation at home from radicals such as the Chartists and the suffragettes enabled legislative reform and universal suffrage . Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for

28424-455: The successors to another drainage district, created by Acts of Parliament in 1758 and 1799. It originally contained 8,685 acres (3,515 ha) of fenland, and like the Sutton and Mepal District, the Commissioners declined to become part of the district created by the Middle Level Act of 1844, as they had installed a pumping engine in 1842. This was a Butterley beam engine, rated at 60 hp (45 kW), which replaced several wind pumps. It drove

28611-412: The system occurred in 1972, when the Well Creek Trust organised a project called 'Fenatic' in October, which involved draining the creek so that it could be cleared of rubbish. It was reopened for traffic in 1975. When the navigations were built, the boats using them were traditional Fen Lighters , which were 46 by 11 feet (14.0 by 3.4 m), and the locks were sized accordingly. However, there has been

28798-441: The threat: Spain launched two further armadas, in 1596 and 1597 , but both were driven back by storms. The political structure of the island changed in 1603, when the King of Scots , James VI , a kingdom which had been a long-time rival to English interests, inherited the throne of England as James I, thereby creating a personal union . He styled himself King of Great Britain , although this had no basis in English law. Under

28985-440: The top of it. The tops of these pipes were 20 feet (6.1 m) above the inlet and outlet, and an air pump was used to remove the air from them, so that the water would syphon over the cofferdam. It was the only time that such a solution was tried in the Fens, and it was supplemented in 1880 by a more conventional gravity sluice, also constructed by Hawkshaw, as it was unable to discharge sufficient water. Some commercial traffic on

29172-473: The two branches of the royal family, the Yorkists and Lancastrians . Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the Tudors , a branch of the Lancastrians headed by Henry Tudor who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field where the Yorkist king Richard III was killed. During the Tudor period , England began to develop naval skills , and exploration intensified in

29359-416: The upstream end of the Old Bedford River was replaced by the present Seven Holes Sluice and bridge. This was constructed by the Hundreds Foot Wash Commissioners, and carries the inscription "H.W.C. 1824". The sluice at the downstream end of the Old Bedford River was also rebuilt prior to 1828. The operation of the sluice at the downstream end was problematic for many years. Together with the sluice at Denver on

29546-428: The warming of the sea by the Gulf Stream . Rainfall is higher in the west, and parts of the Lake District receive more rain than anywhere else in the country. Since weather records began, the highest temperature recorded was 40.3 °C (104.5 °F) on 19 July 2022 at Coningsby , Lincolnshire , while the lowest was −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 in Edgmond , Shropshire. The fauna of England

29733-401: The waters of the River Nene with a more direct route to the sea than the previous route through Benwick , Floods Ferry, March , Outwell and Wisbech . Morton's Leam, the name given to the medieval drainage ditch, was 40 feet (12 m) wide and 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, and much of the manual labour was provided by prisoners of war from the Hundred Years War . In 1605, Sir John Popham , who

29920-417: The waterways continued despite the railway competition, with 44,034 tons generating £733 of tolls in 1888, which enabled the Commissioners to show a profit of £216. Traffic had fallen slightly to 42,640 tons in 1898, but by 1905 was down to 12,770 tons, and the Commissioners showed a loss of £702 that year. An Alderman giving evidence to the Royal Commission on Canals and Waterways in 1905 pointed out that one of

30107-458: The waterways was drainage, but water levels were managed to enable them to be navigated. The volumes of traffic carried are not well documented, especially in the early period. Within the level, there were four large lakes or meres, of which the biggest was Whittlesey Mere . It was used for leisure boating, and was described by Celia Fiennes in 1697, who stated that it was 6 miles (9.7 km) long and 3 miles (4.8 km) wide, and noted that it

30294-418: The waterways, which made the drainage responsibilities of the Commissioners easier. The new main drain enabled Whittlesey Mere to be drained. A pumping station with an Appold centrifugal pump was used to achieve this, rather than the more traditional scoop wheel . The pump had been shown for the first time at the Great Exhibition in 1851, where it amazed visitors, and its inventor was commissioned to design

30481-455: The work, to which he agreed. He would be given six years to complete the work. Despite their earlier reluctance to increase the area of land awarded for carrying out the work, the Earl would receive 95,000 acres (38,000 ha). Of this, 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) would be used to fund ongoing maintenance of the drainage works, 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) would be given to the King, and the remaining 43,000 acres (17,000 ha) would be for

30668-405: The work. "Winter ground" would be suitable for growing crops such as coleseed, rapeseed, corn, grain, hemp and flax, as well as providing pasture for cattle. Despite the Act, the undertakers did not have a clear plan of what they would do to achieve the drainage, but were hoping that they could include the works of the Fourth Earl of Bedford. Several engineers made suggestions, but only Vermuyden had

30855-417: The works were maintained, and this resulted in the creation of the Bedford Level Corporation under the terms of the General Drainage Act 1663 . Vermuyden's Drain or the Forty Foot Drain was constructed in 1651 to drain fenland to the north of Chatteris. It was joined by the Cranbrook Drain just before it joined the Old Bedford River at Welches Dam. There is a third channel between the Bedford Rivers, which

31042-425: The world's first industrialised nation. England is home to the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world: the University of Oxford , founded in 1096, and the University of Cambridge , founded in 1209. Both universities are ranked among the most prestigious in the world. England's terrain chiefly consists of low hills and plains , especially in the centre and south . Upland and mountainous terrain

31229-453: Was an interwoven part of the wider multifaceted Wars of the Three Kingdoms , involving Scotland and Ireland . The Parliamentarians were victorious, Charles I was executed and the kingdom replaced by the Commonwealth . Leader of the Parliament forces, Oliver Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector in 1653; a period of personal rule followed. After Cromwell's death and the resignation of his son Richard as Lord Protector, Charles II

31416-421: Was connected to the 1927 pump by V-belts. The station was upgraded in 1994, when electric pumps were fitted, but the Ruston engine was retained as a backup. The Sutton and Mepal district did not want to become part of the Middle Level in 1848, as it already head its own pumping engine, but more recently, it has been managed by the Middle Level Commissioners. The Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners are

31603-399: Was connected to the original pump by a reduction gearbox. The Allen engine was sold, and both pumpsets lasted until 2011, when the second Allen engine was given to the Internal Fire Museum of Power , based at Tanygroes, Ceredigion. The diesel engines were replaced by electrical pumps, supplied by Bedford Pumps, but the maximum amount of power available meant that the total output of the station

31790-405: Was created by Act of Parliament in 1801, and consisted of two parts, on either side of Popham's Eau. It covers an area of 11,978 acres (4,847 ha) and the board manage 45 miles (72 km) of watercourses and operate five pumping stations. Nordelph pumping station discharges into Popham's Eau, while Padgets Corner and Bedlam Bridge pumping stations discharge into the Sixteen Foot Drain, part of

31977-408: Was diverted into it, instead of along the Old Bedford River, by the Severn Holes Sluice, at the start of the Old Bedford River. A high barrier bank was constructed to the west of the Old Bedford River, and another to the east of the New Bedford River, so that in times of flood, the intervening space between the rivers would be inundated, but the surrounding land would not. This vast washland is known as

32164-476: Was enhanced in 1796 by the opening of the Wisbech Canal , which linked the Well Creek at Outwell to the River Nene at Wisbech . It followed the line of the Wellstream, another ancient waterway. At Outwell the Well Creek is also joined by the old course of the River Nene. A new Act of Parliament was obtained in 1810, as the 1754 Act did not make sufficient provision for the funding of drainage works, and in some cases ensured that flood relief could not be given until

32351-401: Was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Among the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior approval of Parliament. Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at

32538-411: Was explained. When there were high floods, a small channel was cut through the dam, and the water scoured out a larger channel. Once the floods had subsided, the Bedford Corporation had to rebuild the dam to restore its previous function. This was an expensive process, and was resolved in 1825 when the Welmore Lake Sluice was constructed to replace the dam. At around the same time, the Nine Holes Sluice at

32725-431: Was guarded during the night. Oliver Cromwell became an advocate for those who had been dispossessed, although he was not against drainage in general, but only the injustices that accompanied it. Activity on the Bedford Levels ceased when the English Civil War began in 1642, and people used the confusion of that period to destroy many of the drainage works. Although activity ceased, planning did not. Proposals to drain

32912-399: Was invited to return as monarch in 1660, in a move called the Restoration . With the reopening of theatres, fine arts, literature and performing arts flourished throughout the Restoration of the "Merry Monarch" Charles II. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, it was constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This

33099-470: Was joined to the Counter Drain. Both parts retain the name, but are not connected to each other. The area between the two Bedford rivers acts as a large washland, which holds floodwater when the river channels cannot cope with the volume of water in them. The river acts as the outlet for a number of land drainage projects. Three internal drainage boards are located along its banks, and there are several pumping stations which pump water from low-lying fens into

33286-425: Was less than it would have been if it had been situated near the Old Bedford Sluice. It was sized to pump 750 tons per minute, based on each of the drainage districts producing 300 tons per minute and a flow of 150 tons per minute from the higher areas of land into Cranbrook Drain. This was achieved by installing two Allen diesel engines and pumps. One of the diesel engines was replaced by a Perkins engine in 1998, which

33473-572: Was lower than the present day and Britain was connected by land bridge to Ireland and Eurasia . As the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000 years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later. The Beaker culture arrived around 2,500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores. It was during this time that major Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge (phase III) and Avebury were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, which were in abundance in

33660-464: Was reduced by around one fifth. When the Welches Dam pumping station is operating, flow in the Old Bedford River above Glenhouse pumping station is reversed. When the Upwell Internal Drainage Board wanted to discharge water into the lower Old Bedford River, the Great Ouse River Authority, successors to the Catchment Board, required them to pay for the installation of a sluice further upstream, so that Welches Dam pumping station would not be overwhelmed by

33847-400: Was sometimes dangerous, since it was prone to sudden winds rising up 'like hurricanes'. In order to maintain and improve the route between Salters Lode Sluice on the Great Ouse and Stanground Sluice on the River Nene, another Act of Parliament was obtained in 1754. This created Commissioners to manage the waterways, with powers to charge 3 d per ton on goods entering the system through either of

34034-568: Was subsequently proclaimed emperor a century later. There is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, probably much earlier. According to Bede , missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in 180 AD, to settle differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials, which were disturbing the church. There are traditions linked to Glastonbury claiming an introduction through Joseph of Arimathea , while others claim through Lucius of Britain. By 410, during

34221-415: Was successful, and the recommended transfer route follows the old course of the River Nene and Well Creek to Salters Lode Lock at Denver. In 2006, the Environment Agency closed Welches Dam Lock, and despite campaigns for it to be reinstated, it has remained closed. There are proposals as part of the Fens Waterways Link which could result in more of the Old Bedford River becoming navigable, in order to provide

34408-429: Was the Lord Chief Justice at the time, began work on a drainage scheme near Upwell , and although the scheme was ultimately abandoned in 1608, Popham's Eau, his 5.6-mile (9.0 km) cut from the old course of the River Nene near March to the Well Creek at Nordelph remains. The next significant advance was in 1630, when the Dutch Engineer Cornelius Vermuyden was employed by the Earl of Bedford and others to drain

34595-401: Was the spoken language during this time. Society was tribal; according to Ptolemy 's Geographia there were around 20 tribes in the area. Like other regions on the edge of the Empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans. Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic attempted to invade twice in 55 BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a client king from

34782-517: Was the tanker barge Shellfen , which delivered fuel oil to pumping stations until 1971. As a result of the drainage, land levels continued to fall, and in 1934 the gravity outfall at Wiggenhall St Germans was replaced by a pumping station, with three diesel engines driving 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m) diameter pumps. Its capacity was increased in 1951, and again in 1969–70, when two of the engines were replaced by electric motors. Following over 50 hours of continuous running at maximum capacity in 1998,

34969-399: Was this view that prevailed. The result was the construction of the Bedford River, around 21 miles (34 km) long, and running in a straight line from a sluice near Earith to another near Salters Lode. The Bedford River was around 70 feet (21 m) wide, and was the main channel constructed. It provided a route for the waters of the Great Ouse which was considerably shorter and steeper than

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