110-686: The South Forty-Foot Drain , also known as the Black Sluice Navigation , is the main channel for the land-drainage of the Black Sluice Level in the Lincolnshire Fens . It lies in eastern England between Guthram Gowt and the Black Sluice pumping station on The Haven , at Boston . The Drain has its origins in the 1630s, when the first scheme to make the Fen land available for agriculture
220-471: A area known as the "Fosdyke Wash". The rest of the sea boundary runs from Fosdyke to the east of Sutton Bridge , where the current land boundary with Norfolk is located in a narrow area of reclaimed farmland just to the east of the River Nene but until as recently as the early 19th century there was no land border between Lincolnshire and Norfolk as it was separated from each other by the "Cross Keys Wash"
330-521: A draught of about 7 or 8 feet (2.1 or 2.4 m) could use the waterway as far as Donington Bridge, but above that, the draught decreased to 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 m). It was only open to commercial craft, as pleasure craft were expressly prohibited. It is unclear whether there was ever a right of navigation, or whether the Black Sluice Commissioners simply allowed it. The entrance lock was 72 by 20 feet (21.9 by 6.1 m), and most trade
440-589: A former area of estuary and marshland where the River Nene used to flow out into the Wash and could only be crossed at low tide by a causeway or ferry and was the natural boundary between the two counties. The causeway known at the time as the "Wash Way" was renowned as being particularly treacherous and the safer route was to go into Norfolk from Lincolnshire via the Cambridgeshire town of Wisbech and this element remains to
550-719: A larger plan for a 7-mile (11 km) link from Stamford to the River Nene at Peterborough, and a connection from near Market Deeping , where the Stamford Canal rejoined the River Welland , northwards to the South Forty-Foot Drain. A bill for this, together with one for a rival scheme to link Stamford to the Grand Junction Canal , which also included a connection to the South Forty-Foot Drain, were put before Parliament in 1811, but neither met with any success. The idea
660-646: A through train service operated between Cleethorpes and London King's Cross via Louth , Boston and Peterborough . The part of this line in Grimsby is now the A16 road , preventing reinstatement as a railway line, and a small section of the line is now the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway , with an extension towards Louth in progress. A daily through train service operated between Cleethorpes and London King's Cross via Grimsby , Market Rasen and Lincoln Central until
770-751: Is Humberside Airport , near Brigg. East Midlands Airport , the main airport servicing the East Midlands, is within travelling distance of the county. Until its closure in 2022, Doncaster Sheffield Airport near Doncaster was within travelling distance of much of Lincolnshire. The county's biggest bus companies are Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes (formerly Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport) and Stagecoach in Lincolnshire (formerly Lincolnshire Road Car). There are several smaller bus companies, including Brylaine of Boston, Delaine Buses and Hornsby's of Scunthorpe. A Sustrans cycle route runs from Lincoln to Boston in
880-660: Is Wolds Top (168 m, 551 ft), at Normanby le Wold . Some parts of the Fens may be below sea level. The nearest mountains are in Derbyshire. The biggest rivers in Lincolnshire are the Trent , running northwards from Staffordshire up the western edge of the county to the Humber estuary, and the Witham , which begins in Lincolnshire at South Witham and runs for 132 km (82 miles) through
990-634: Is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to the north, the North Sea to the east, Norfolk , Cambridgeshire , Northamptonshire and Rutland to the south, and Leicestershire , Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire to the west. The county town is the city of Lincoln . Lincolnshire
1100-406: Is a northbound service on a Sunday. This was increased in 2019 to a service every two hours. East Midlands Railway also run a daily (Mon-Sat) service each way between Lincoln and London St Pancras , though this is a stopping service which takes around three hours via Nottingham , compared to LNER's service to London King's Cross which takes around 1 hour 50 minutes. The only airport in Lincolnshire
1210-646: Is also home to one of the UK's leading agricultural experiment stations , located in Sutton Bridge and operated by the Potato Council ; Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research engages in research for the British potato industry. The Lincoln Longwool is a rare breed of sheep, named after the region, which was developed both for wool and mutton, at least 500 years ago, and has the longest fleece of any sheep breed. The Lincoln Red
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#17328443926651320-425: Is an old breed of beef cattle, originating from the county. In the mid 20th century most farms in Lincolnshire moved away from mixed farming to specialise in arable cropping, partly due to cheap wool imports, partly to take advantage of efficiencies of scale and partly because the drier land on the eastern side of England is particularly suitable for arable cropping. Mechanization around 1900 greatly diminished
1430-408: Is one of the few counties in the UK that still uses the eleven-plus to decide who may attend grammar school . As a result, many towns in Lincolnshire have both a grammar school and a secondary modern school . Lincolnshire's rural character means that some larger villages also have primary schools and are served by buses to nearby high schools. Lincoln itself, however, is primarily non-selective, as
1540-564: Is one of the largest trusts in the country, employing almost 4,000 staff and with an annual budget of over £200 million. The north of the county is served by the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust . Some of the larger hospitals in the county include: Since April 1994, Lincolnshire has had an Air Ambulance service . The air ambulance is stationed at RAF Waddington near Lincoln and can reach emergencies in Lincolnshire within 25 minutes. An A&E hospital
1650-616: Is only 10 minutes away by helicopter from any accident in Lincolnshire. Separately to the commercial water companies the low-lying parts of the county are drained by various internal drainage boards , such as the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board , Witham 4th District IDB , Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine , or the Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board . Being on
1760-621: Is provided at Riseholme College and in 2016 the University of Lincoln opened the Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology. The Central Lincolnshire area covers North Kesteven , Lincoln and West Lindsey . It helps with development and economic planning around the three districts. According to an Intra-governmental Group on Geographic Information (IGGI) study in 2000, the town centres were ranked by area thus (including North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire areas): Lincolnshire
1870-524: Is represented by ten Members of Parliament (MPs) whose constituencies fall entirely within the county. Small areas of Lincolnshire form constituencies with parts of neighbouring counties, namely the Isle of Axholme (part of Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme ) and the town of Stamford and its surroundings (part of Rutland and Stamford ). Of the ten constituencies entirely within Lincolnshire, six are represented by
1980-504: Is the area within a radius of about seven miles. In this area, almost all children attend comprehensive schools , though it is still possible to opt into the eleven-plus system. This gives rise to the unusual result that those who pass the eleven-plus can attend a grammar school outside the Lincoln comprehensive area, but those who do not pass still attend a (partly non-selective) comprehensive school. The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
2090-453: Is the second largest ceremonial county in England, after North Yorkshire . The county is predominantly rural, with an area of 6,959 km (2,687 sq mi) and a population of 1,095,010. After Lincoln (104,565), the largest towns are Grimsby (85,911) and Scunthorpe (81,286). For local government purposes Lincolnshire comprises a non-metropolitan county , with seven districts, and
2200-625: The Conservative Party , three by the Labour Party and one by Reform UK . Lincolnshire County Council is majority controlled by the Conservative Party, and consists of 54 Conservative councillors, four Labour, four South Holland Independents , four independents , three Liberal Democrats and one Lincolnshire Independent . The county is made up of seven local borough and district councils and two unitary authority areas independent of
2310-634: The East Riding of Yorkshire and a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire to form the new non-metropolitan county of Humberside . The rest of Lindsey, along with Holland, Kesteven and Lincoln, came under the governance of the new Lincolnshire County Council . A local government reform in 1996 abolished Humberside. The land south of the Humber Estuary was allocated to the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire which became part of Lincolnshire for ceremonial purposes, such as
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#17328443926652420-706: The Environment Agency , as part of the Fens Waterways Link , with a new entrance lock being completed in December 2008, giving access to the first 12 miles (19 km) of the drain, and the upgrading of the southern section, including a link to the River Glen to allow navigation to Spalding forming phase 2 of the project. The Lincolnshire Fens are an area of low-lying land which have been subject to flooding and attempts to prevent it for centuries. In medieval times,
2530-738: The Humberhead Peatlands National Nature Reserve . Although the Lincolnshire countryside is intensively farmed, there are many biodiverse wetland areas , as well as rare limewood forests . Much of the county was once wet fenland (see The Fens ). From bones, we can tell that animal species formerly found in Lincolnshire include woolly mammoth , woolly rhinoceros , wild horse , wolf , wild boar and beaver . Species which have recently returned to Lincolnshire after extirpation include little egret , Eurasian spoonbill , European otter and red kite . The Local Government Act 1888 established county councils for each of
2640-581: The Lord-Lieutenancy , but are not covered by the Lincolnshire police; they are in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. The remaining districts of Lincolnshire are Boston , East Lindsey , Lincoln, North Kesteven , South Holland , South Kesteven , and West Lindsey . They are part of the East Midlands region. North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire are unitary authorities. They were districts of Humberside county from 1974. In 1996, Humberside
2750-794: The Nottingham to Boston railway joins it at Great Hale pumping station, the boundary turns northwards, following its medieval course. The main job of the Drain is to gather the waters pumped from the Kesteven Fens, the Holland Fens and the Weir Dyke, a soak dike in Bourne North Fen, alongside the Bourne Eau and River Glen , northwards and eastwards to the Black Sluice at Boston, where they are discharged to
2860-508: The Richter magnitude scale ; it was one of the largest earthquakes to affect Britain in recent years. Lincolnshire is home to Woolsthorpe Manor , birthplace and home of Sir Isaac Newton . He attended The King's School, Grantham . Its library has preserved his signature, carved into a window sill when he was a youth. The geographical layout of Lincolnshire is quite extensive and mostly separated by many rivers and rolling countryside. The north of
2970-513: The Union with Ireland Act 1800 is cited as "39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. 67", meaning the 67th act passed during the session that started in the 39th year of the reign of George III and which finished in the 40th year of that reign. Note that the modern convention is to use Arabic numerals in citations (thus "41 Geo. 3" rather than "41 Geo. III"). Acts of the last session of the Parliament of Great Britain and
3080-581: The shipping ports at Immingham , New Holland and Grimsby . From there, the rest of the southern bank forms the Lincolnshire Coast from Cleethorpes to Mablethorpe and then onto Skegness . From Skegness, the rest of the Lincolnshire Coastline forms the sea boundary and border with Norfolk at the Wash . The coast then at Boston becomes the meeting point of the rivers Welland and Haven in
3190-685: The Black Hole Drove pumping station, is constructed over the channel, and acts as a boundary between the part of the Drain managed by the Environment Agency, and that managed by the Drainage Board. Very few details about navigation on the South Forty-Foot Drain have been recorded. Historically, the Drain had been navigable, and in 1939, it was listed as being navigable for 21 miles (34 km), from Boston to Gutham (sic) Gowt. Boats up to 70 feet (21 m) long and 18 feet (5.5 m) wide, with
3300-632: The Black Sluice Area but formerly known as the Lindsey Level, was from 1635 to 1638, when the Earl of Lindsey agreed with the Commissioners of Sewers for Lincolnshire to carry out drainage works which would make 36,000 acres (150 km) of land available for agricultural use. The Earl and a group of Adventurers paid for the works, in return for land grants. The cost of the work was £45,000, and involved
3410-481: The Black Sluice Navigation by the Environment Agency. In order to use the navigation, an Environment Agency licence is required, and as there are no permanent moorings available on the drain, these are available for one day or seven days. Water levels are maintained at a lower level during the winter months, when flows are high, and the Drain needs to be able to cope with higher volumes of rainfall, than during
South Forty-Foot Drain - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-517: The Black Sluice pumping station, together with most of the side channels which run into the drain are the responsibility of the Environment Agency. Management of the drainage ditches which drain the Fens are the responsibility of the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board, who maintain 34 pumping stations and three gravity stations in the region. Of these, 21 are situated on the banks of the Drain, and pump directly into it, while one,
3630-407: The Black Sluice, and hence more efficient draining from the South Forty-Foot Drain. Water was pumped into the drain by a series of windmills driving scoop wheels. Maps of the area produced in 1783 by Edward Hare show 46 such mills, which provided drainage for 32,000 acres (130 km) of agricultural land. Extreme high tides in 1810 and again in 1820 resulted in widespread flooding, and further thought
3740-618: The Black Sluice, was built at Boston as a direct replacement for the Skirbeck Sluice, having three openings with a total width of 40 feet (12 m). The 8 miles (13 km) of the drain were scoured from Boston to Great Hale, beyond which the Main Drain was upgraded by cutting a new 14-mile (23 km) channel, effectively extending the South Forty-Foot Drain to Guthram, on the banks of the River Glen . A total of 65 miles (105 km) of highland streams were improved by scouring and raising of
3850-696: The Commissioners being replaced by the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board , while responsibility for the rivers in the area passed to the Witham and Steeping Rivers Catchment Board. With war imminent, the Rivers Board took over the Black Sluice and the South Forty-Foot Drain in 1939, and although progress was interrupted by the Second World War , a £374,000 scheme to construct the Black Sluice pumping station and to widen 11 miles (18 km) of
3960-458: The Commoners, who had a right to graze animals on the common land when it was not flooded. They attempted to get Parliament to rule in their favour, but after three years of trying, they abandoned the idea of legal redress, and took direct action. They destroyed much of the work, as well as buildings and crops, and burnt Skirbeck Sluice. The Earl of Lindsey's contract with the Commissioners of Sewers
4070-564: The Drain to the Haven. It has conventional mitre gates at one end, but uses rotating sector gates at the tidal end, each one weighing 12.1 tonnes. It is a dual-purpose structure, designed so that it can be used as a sluice to discharge water by gravity when tide levels in The Haven are appropriate. The lock opened up nearly 12 miles (19 km) of waterway. As part of the upgrade, new 48-hour moorings were constructed on The Haven, for boats about to enter
4180-489: The Drain, and on the South Forty-Foot Drain near the Black Sluice pumping station at Boston, at Swineshead Bridge and at Hubbert's Bridge. The upper limit of navigation was initially Donington High Bridge, where the Swaton Eau joins the South Forty-Foot Drain and provides a wider section where boats can be turned. Beyond the bridge, the drain was officially only suitable for canoes and kayaks. However, eight narrow boats cruised on
4290-556: The Environment Agency in 2004, with the support of the local authorities, the East Anglian Waterways Association and the Inland Waterways Association . The scheme involved a total of 150 miles (240 km) of waterway, of which 50 miles (80 km) would be new cruiseway, while the rest would be existing waterways which could be upgraded or have their access improved. When completed, it would connect
4400-567: The European Union in Central and Eastern Europe, form a large component of the seasonal agricultural workforce, particularly in the south of the county. Here more labour-intensive crops are produced, such as small vegetables and cut flowers. This seasonal influx of migrant labour occasionally causes tension between the migrant workforce and local people, in a county which had been relatively unaccustomed to large-scale immigration. Agricultural training
4510-484: The Isle of Axholme and Goole . Bedrock in Lincolnshire features Jurassic limestone (near Lincoln) and Cretaceous chalk (north-east). The area around Woodhall Spa and Kirkby on Bain is dominated by gravel and sand. For much of prehistory, Lincolnshire was under tropical seas, and most fossils found in the county are marine invertebrates. Marine vertebrates have also been found including ichthyosaurus and plesiosaur . The highest point in Lincolnshire
South Forty-Foot Drain - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-471: The Lincolnshire River Board at this time. The work, which began in 1962 and was completed in 1968, proved successful in preventing flooding during severe wet weather in the winter of 1968/9. With three 900-horsepower (670 kW) and two 925-horsepower (690 kW) diesel engines, the upgraded pumping station could pump 800 thousand gallons per minute (60 m/s). Responsibility for the drain and
4730-704: The Lincolnshire fens, wrote that "the works were efficiently carried out and, being well-designed, entirely answered expectation." On the River Witham , the Grand Sluice was constructed and opened on 15 October 1766, and this prevented tidal water from entering the river, and hence flooding the Holland Fen. The Boston Harbour Commissioners were created by the Boston Port Act 1766 , and they carried out improvement works to The Haven , which resulted in lower water levels at
4840-503: The Midfen Dyke was built to drain the area, but by 1500, this was regarded less as a drain for the land than as a boundary marker between the Parts of Holland and the Parts of Kesteven , two of the three medieval subdivisions of Lincolnshire which functioned as county councils until their abolition in 1974. The first serious attempt to drain the area to the south west of Boston , now known as
4950-514: The Rivers Witham , Glen, Welland , Nene and Great Ouse , and was heralded as the biggest waterway enhancement project in Europe by the Environment Agency . In 2007 they obtained funding for the link between Boston and Spalding . Work on a new lock beside the Black Sluice pumping station at Boston - to connect The Haven and the South Forty-Foot Drain - was formally started on 8 February 2008, and
5060-529: The Scottish Parliament , the list of acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly , and the list of acts and measures of Senedd Cymru ; see also the list of acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland . The number shown after each act's title is its chapter number. Acts are cited using this number, preceded by the year(s) of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session was held; thus
5170-406: The Second World War the relatively flat topography of the county made it an important base for the Royal Air Force , which built several airfields and based two bomber squadrons in the area. During pre-Roman times, most of Lincolnshire was inhabited by the Corieltauvi people. The language of the area at that time would have been Common Brittonic , the precursor to modern Welsh. The name Lincoln
5280-515: The South Forty-Foot Drain was as follows in 2019. Reasons for the water quality being less than good include physical modification of the channel, which prevents the free movement of fish and other organisms along the waterway, discharge from sewage treatment works, and runoff from agricultural land. Like most waterways in the UK, the chemical status was rated as fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and mercury compounds, neither of which had previously been included in
5390-410: The UK is in Lincolnshire: the Sheffield - Gainsborough Central -Cleethorpes line has passenger trains only on a Saturday, with three trains in both directions. This line is, however, used for freight. Hull Trains also stops at Grantham before continuing its journey to either Kings Cross or Hull. On 22 May 2011, East Coast started a Lincoln-London service, initially one train a day each way, and there
5500-436: The area to the south and west of Boston, some 91 square miles (240 km), was inundated by the Great Flood of 1763, and against this background, the Black Sluice Drainage Act 1765 ( 5 Geo. 3 . c. 86 ) was obtained which created the Black Sluice Commissioners, giving them power to raise taxes and authority to carry out drainage works. The scheme largely revived the Earl of Lindsey's original scheme. The initial design work
5610-458: The assessment. Prior to 2019, there were issues with tributyltin compounds being discharged into the system, which also affected chemical status. [REDACTED] Media related to South Forty-Foot Drain at Wikimedia Commons 52°50′58″N 0°16′33″W / 52.8494°N 0.27571°W / 52.8494; -0.27571 Lincolnshire Lincolnshire ( / ˈ l ɪ ŋ k ə n ʃ ər , - ʃ ɪər / ), abbreviated Lincs ,
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#17328443926655720-565: The banks. The estimated cost of £16,000 was raised by issuing bonds, but the project overran, and another Act of Parliament, the Black Sluice Drainage Act 1770 ( 10 Geo. 3 . c. 41 ) was obtained in 1770 to authorise the raising of the drainage taxes, to cover the difference. By mid-1769, when Landen and Edwards left the project, because the work was largely complete, the scheme had cost £24,000. They were replaced by Edward Hare as Surveyor of Works, with Chapman and Strattard continuing as assistants. A historian called W. H. Wheeler, who chronicled
5830-416: The centre to the north of the county. To its east, the chalk hills of the Lincolnshire Wolds , which have been designated a national landscape , occupy the north-east, with a coastal plain and the Lincolnshire Marsh beyond. The west of the vale is demarcated by the Lincolnshire Edge , a long escarpment; at its northern end are the Coversands, an area of heath . Beyond the edge, the western border of
5940-419: The construction of a sluice near Boston, called Skirbeck Sluice, the construction of the first 8 miles (13 km) of the South Forty-Foot Drain, from Boston to Great Hale , the construction of two drains from there to Guthram, which were called the Double Twelves, and the construction of the Clay Dyke Drain. The scheme was not popular with the local fenmen, who made a living from fishing and wildfowling, or with
6050-406: The county begins from where the Isle of Axholme is located near the meeting points of the rivers Ouse and Trent near to the Humber . From there, the southside of the Humber estuary forms the border between Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire . From there, the south bank of the Humber Estuary where the Humber Bridge crosses the estuary at Barton upon Humber , is used primarily for
6160-434: The county contains the eastern part of the Trent Valley and, in the north, part of the Humberhead Levels , with the River Trent itself forming part of the border. Lincolnshire has had a comparatively quiet history, being a rural county which was not heavily industrialised and faced little threat of invasion. In the Roman era Lincoln was a major settlement, called Lindum Colonia . In the fifth century what would become
6270-441: The county council, the two unitary authorities and the district councils, with powers over housing, job creation and public transport, including bus franchising. The following tables show the ethnic and religious composition of Lincolnshire in 2021: Notable businesses based in Lincolnshire include the Lincs FM Group , Young's Seafood , Openfield and the Lincolnshire Co-operative (whose membership includes about one quarter of
6380-409: The county council. The City of Lincoln Council is Labour-controlled. North Kesteven , South Holland and East Lindsey are administered by the Conservatives. South Kesteven is controlled by a coalition of independent, Labour Party, Green Party and Liberal Democrat councillors. West Lindsey is controlled by a coalition of Liberal Democrats and independents. The Borough of Boston is controlled by
6490-412: The county was settled by the invading Angles , who established the Kingdom of Lindsey in the north of the region. Lincoln became the centre of a diocese in 1072, and Lincoln Cathedral was built over the following centuries. The late Middle Ages were a particularly prosperous period, when wealth from wool trade facilitated the building of grand churches such as St Botolph's Church, Boston . During
6600-438: The county's border with Northamptonshire is just 20 yards (19 m) long, England's shortest county boundary. From there, the border with Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire begins at Sleaford , Grantham , Lincoln and Gainsborough . From Gainsborough, the border with South Yorkshire begins at Haxey and Epworth before looping back to the original north of the county near Scunthorpe with East Riding of Yorkshire at
6710-410: The county's large area. Many of the county's railway stations were permanently closed following the Beeching Report of 1963. The most notable reopening has been the line and two stations between Lincoln and Sleaford , which reopened within months of the Beeching closure. Most other closed lines in the county were lifted long ago and much of the trackbed has returned to agricultural use. Prior to 1970,
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#17328443926656820-404: The county, with LNER trains frequently passing and stopping at Grantham, on the East Coast Main Line and a service every other hour to Lincoln , while CrossCountry trains stop at Stamford on their way between Birmingham and Stansted Airport . Stations along the Humber are served by TransPennine Express services between Manchester Airport and Cleethorpes. One of the most infrequent services in
6930-407: The decision was taken to further improve drainage of an area of 70,000 acres (280 km), as part of a £1.4 million scheme which included the addition of two extra pumps at the Black Sluice, replacement of existing pumps elsewhere, and the widening of 7 miles (11 km) of the South Forty-Foot Drain from Donington Bridge to Rippingale Running Dyke. Jurisdiction for the Drain and the sluice passed to
7040-475: The drain from Boston to Donington Bridge was completed in 1946. The pumping station contained three 100-inch (2.5 m) pumps, each powered by a 900-horsepower (670 kW) 5-cylinder vertical diesel engine manufactured by Ruston . Paraffin and oil engines gave way to electrically powered pumping stations in the 1950s, with the Board constructing six electric and one diesel pumping station to improve drainage to an extra 11,000 acres (45 km) of land. In 1960,
7150-419: The economic periphery of England, Lincolnshire's transport links are poorly developed compared with many other parts of the United Kingdom. The road network in the county is dominated by single carriageway A roads and local roads (B roads) as opposed to motorways and dual carriageways . The administrative county of Lincolnshire is one of the few UK counties without a motorway, and until several years ago, it
7260-401: The eighth century. Modern-day Lincolnshire is derived from the merging of the territory of the Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford . For some time the entire county was called "Lindsey", and it is recorded as such in the 11th-century Domesday Book . Later, the name Lindsey was applied to the northern core, around Lincoln. This emerged as one of
7370-415: The end of their operational life. Refurbishment of the pumping station was estimated to cost between £15 and £20 million, and so the effectiveness of the station was reviewed. The review showed that it had been used for less than 2 days of every 100 days since it was constructed in 1946, and that the station barely affected the number of properties that might be flooded. By using the adjacent gravity sluice and
7480-405: The extension was built over the top of the original lock. Subsequently, the East Anglian Waterways Association promoted the idea that the Drain could again be made navigable as part of a larger scheme to improve leisure facilities. The local authorities which were part of the Fens Tourism consortium conducted a feasibility study, and this report was formally adopted as the Fens Waterways Link by
7590-406: The final route, for which design of the channel and the associated locks, bridges, moorings and pumping stations could then begin. By the end of the assessment process for the ten routes, two remained. One was route 1, the original suggestion which used the existing course of the South Forty-Foot Drain for most of its length, while the second was a new route, designated as route 11. Route 11 had become
7700-431: The first session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are both cited as "41 Geo. 3". Acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain did not have a short title ; however, some of these acts have subsequently been given a short title by acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (such as the Short Titles Act 1896 ). Before the Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 came into force on 8 April 1793, acts passed by
7810-602: The late 1980s. The Humberlincs Executive , as the service was known, was operated by an InterCity 125 , but was discontinued following the electrification of the East Coast Main Line . Passengers to/from London now have to change trains at Newark North Gate . However, the East Coast Main Line passes through the western edge of the county and one can catch direct trains to London from Grantham . Most rail services are currently operated by East Midlands Railway and Northern Trains . London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Hull Trains and CrossCountry have services which pass through
7920-480: The length where it runs roughly south to north. South of Donington High Bridge, the Drain separates South Kesteven to the west from South Holland to the east. The boundary then continues southwards along the River Glen. North of Donington, the boundary between the borough of Boston to the east and North Kesteven to the west follows the line of the Drain. As the Drain crosses the line of the Midfen Dyke, just before
8030-481: The local Boston Independent party. The unitary authority North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire councils are administered by the Conservative Party. A non-mayoral devolution deal is proposed for the county, and has received approval from the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government as of September 2024. This would lead to the establishment of an Lincolnshire combined authority formed of
8140-453: The lock to discharge water from the South Forty-Foot Drain, better control of water levels could be achieved, and this had been demonstrated during a period of heavy rainfall in spring 2018. Accordingly, the remaining two pumps were decommissioned in October 2018, and the Environment Agency began looking at what to do with the building. The South Forty-Foot Drain serves as a district boundary over
8250-689: The middle of the county, eventually emptying into the North Sea at The Wash . The Humber estuary, on Lincolnshire's northern border, is also fed by the River Ouse . The Wash is also the mouth of the Welland , the Nene and the Great Ouse . Lincolnshire's geography is fairly varied, but consists of several distinct areas: Lincolnshire's most well-known nature reserves include Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, Whisby Nature Park Local Nature Reserve, Donna Nook National Nature Reserve, RSPB Frampton Marsh and
8360-463: The mouth of the Witham, to which the Black Sluice Commissioners contributed £65,000. This work led to a further drop of 4 feet (1.2 m) in the low water level at the Black Sluice. Oil and paraffin engines began to replace steam and wind engines from 1910, and by 1935 there were 15 such engines pumping water into the South Forty-Foot Drain. The passing of the Land Drainage Act 1930 resulted in
8470-428: The next construction phase. By late 2011, there were ten different routes under consideration, and an assessment of them was expected to be delivered in spring 2012. Halcrow Group , the engineering consultancy, were responsible for carrying out the assessment, which looked at the benefits that each route might provide, not only for navigation but also for water quality, water resources and habitat for wildlife. The study
8580-547: The number of workers required to operate the county's relatively large farms, and the proportion of workers in the agricultural sector dropped substantially during this period. Several major engineering companies developed in Lincoln, Gainsborough and Grantham to support those changes. Among these was Fosters of Lincoln , which built the first tank , and Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham. Most such industrial companies left during late 20th-century restructuring. Today, immigrant workers, mainly from new member states of
8690-531: The obvious solution would be to connect the Glen and the drain where they are only a short distance apart, the Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership also considered the creation of new channels up to 9.3 miles (15.0 km) long to form the link. In the meantime, the economic situation changed, so that sources of funding were not so freely available, and by the end of 2010, no clear dates had been set for
8800-432: The parts of Lincolnshire – Lindsey, Holland and Kesteven – and came into effect on 1 April 1889. Lincoln was made an independent county borough on the same date, with Grimsby following in 1891. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished the three county councils and the two county boroughs, effective 1 April 1974. On this date, Grimsby and the northern part of Lindsey (including Scunthorpe ) were amalgamated with most of
8910-436: The population of the county). Lincolnshire has long been a primarily agricultural area, and it continues to grow large amounts of wheat , barley , sugar beet , and oilseed rape . In south Lincolnshire, where the soil is particularly rich in nutrients, some of the most common crops include potatoes , cabbages , cauliflowers , and onions . Lincolnshire farmers often break world records for crop yields. South Lincolnshire
9020-510: The preferred route by the summer of 2014. It involves widening the South Forty-Foot Drain from Donington to Surfleet, to a point near to the Black Hole Drove pumping station. A new lock would be needed at this location, but would connect to a new channel, rather than to the rest of the drain. It would pass under a new bridge on the A151, and the connection to the River Glen would involve another new lock. An environmental survey of other watercourses near to
9130-575: The present Grand Sluice. The drain was for many years called Earl Fitzwilliam's drain, but is now called the North Forty-Foot Drain. The scheme was not entirely successful. The Witham Drainage Act 1762 ( 2 Geo. 3 . c. 32) among other things constituted the Commissioners of Sewers for the Second and Sixth District, which covered the area including Asgarby , Ewerby , Great Hale, Heckington , Holland Fen, Howell , Little Hale and South Kyme. Much of
9240-461: The present day as the Cross Keys Bridge at Sutton Bridge provides the only direct access point to Norfolk from Lincolnshire over the River Nene some nine miles north of Wisbech. The border with Lincolnshire to Cambridgeshire begins at Crowland , Market Deeping and Stamford which form the southern boundary of the county with both Peterborough , Rutland and briefly Northamptonshire ;
9350-406: The provision of a catchwater drain to collect water draining from the higher ground to the west before it entered the fenlands, but an Act of Parliament to authorise its construction was defeated, and so in 1846 a report by Mr W Cubit which proposed improvements to the existing infrastructure was accepted by the Commissioners. A new Black Sluice, including a 20-foot (6.1 m) wide navigation lock,
9460-507: The quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. The South Forty-Foot Drain is designated as "heavily modified", which means that the channels have been altered by human activity, and the criteria for this designation are defined by the Water Framework Directive . The water quality of
9570-537: The route revealed that several provide habitat for nationally important plants and invertebrates. The idea of a link between the South Forty-Foot Drain and the River Nene is not new, as the first plans for such a connection were proposed in 1809. In that year, proposals for a new canal between the Oakham Canal at Oakham and the Stamford Canal at Stamford , which had been discussed in 1785, were revived, as part of
9680-470: The sluice passed to the National Rivers Authority in 1990, and to the Environment Agency in 1995. Despite all the improvements, serious flooding occurred in 1999 when the bank of the drain was breached near Pinchbeck. Staff from the Environment Agency and the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board successfully repaired the breach before properties were flooded, and a review of the flood defences
9790-597: The south of the county. In terms of population, the 12 biggest settlements in the county by population are: A small part of the Thorne Waste area of the town of Thorne in South Yorkshire, known as the Yorkshire Triangle, currently falls under North Lincolnshire. 5 Geo. 3 Interregnum (1642–1660) Rescinded (1639–1651) This is a complete list of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for
9900-471: The summer months, when navigable levels are maintained. As on the neighbouring River Witham , the switch between winter and summer levels is normally made at the beginning of April. Phase 2 of the Fens Waterway project involves the link between Donington Bridge and Crowland and Cowbit Washes, which are located on the River Welland near Spalding . In order to make the financing of the phase more viable, it
10010-498: The three Parts of Lincolnshire , along with the Parts of Holland in the south-east, and the Parts of Kesteven in the south-west, which each had separate Quarter Sessions as their county administrations. Lindsay was traditionally split between the North , South and West Ridings of Lindsey . The area was shaken by 27 February 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake , reaching between 4.7 and 5.3 on
10120-538: The tidal waters of The Haven. The Weir Dyke takes its name from a weir in the bank of the Bourne Eau at Tongue End, which was constructed by the Black Sluice Commissioners, to allow water from the Bourne Eau to overflow the bank when excess water could not flow into the River Glen in times of flood. The overfall weir became redundant when the Tongue End pumping station was constructed in 1966. The South Forty-Foot Drain and
10230-432: The unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire . The last two areas are part of the Yorkshire and the Humber region, and the rest of the county is in the East Midlands . The county has a varied geography. The south-west contains part of the Fens , a naturally marshy region which has been drained for agriculture, and the south-east is an upland region. A wide vale runs north-south from
10340-475: The waterway at Easter 2009, and although the channel was narrower and not as deep after Donington Bridge, all of them successfully reached Kingston's Bridge, some 3.7 miles (6.0 km) further on, where the outlets from Dowsby Fen and Gosberton pumping stations provided enough width to turn a 70-foot (21 m) boat. Further progress was blocked by scaffolding erected so that the bridge could be re-decked, rather than by lack of water. The drain has been renamed as
10450-467: The year 1765 . For acts passed until 1707, see the list of acts of the Parliament of England and the list of acts of the Parliament of Scotland . See also the list of acts of the Parliament of Ireland . For acts passed from 1801 onwards, see the list of acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . For acts of the devolved parliaments and assemblies in the United Kingdom, see the list of acts of
10560-408: Was abolished along with its county council. Some services in those districts are shared with the East Riding of Yorkshire ceremonial county, rather than the rest of Lincolnshire including Humberside Police , Humberside Airport , Humberside Fire Service , and BBC Radio Humberside . Since the 2024 general election and the constituency reorganisation by the 2023 Periodic Review , Lincolnshire
10670-399: Was between Boston and Donnington Bridge. The restriction on use for pleasure boating was removed in 1962. It is not clear when navigation ceased, with Atkins working for the Environment Agency stating that the lock was closed and removed in 1971, while more recent documents from the Environment Agency state that the lock was closed when the Black Sluice pumping station was extended in 1966, as
10780-458: Was carried out by the Earl of Lindsey , and has been steadily improved since then. Water drained from the land entered The Haven by gravity at certain states of the tide until 1946, when the Black Sluice pumping station was commissioned. The Drain was navigable until 1971, when improvements to the pumping station led to the entrance lock being removed. It is currently being upgraded to navigable status by
10890-543: Was carried out by the civil engineer Langley Edwards, on loan from the Witham Commissioners. Some of the surveying was performed by John Landen, who was the steward of the estate of Earl Fitzwilliam at Peterborough, and a proficient amateur mathematician. The two men were jointly appointed Surveyors of the Works, acting as engineers for the scheme, while John Chapman and Richard Strattard were assistants. A new sluice , called
11000-555: Was completed in December 2008, with the official opening ceremony being held on 20 March 2009. The lock project formed phase 1 of the scheme, and the cost of £8.5 million was jointly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the East Midlands Development Agency, and Lincolnshire County Council. The lock is designed to be used for a period either side of high tide, and so there is a rise from
11110-605: Was constructed to the south of the original one, with the cill level 6 feet (1.8 m) lower, which enabled the gradient of the South Forty-Foot Drain to be increased to 3 inches per mile (5 cm/km). Many of the tributary drains were also improved. 1846 also marked the beginning of the use of steam engines for pumping. Ten years later, a map covering 18,000 acres (73 km) of the Black Sluice area showed nine steam-powered and eight wind-powered drainage engines in use. The River Witham Outfall Improvement Act 1880 ( 43 & 44 Vict. c. cliii) authorised further improvements to
11220-490: Was derived from Lindum Colonia . Large numbers of Germanic speakers from continental Europe settled in the region following the withdrawal of the Romans. Though these were later identified as Angles , it is unlikely that they migrated as part of an organized tribal group. Thus, the main language of the region quickly became Old English . However, it is possible that Brittonic continued to be spoken in some communities as late as
11330-464: Was expected to provide a short-list of routes, which would then be the subject of further consultation. By mid-2012, the merits of the ten routes had been considered, including the economic, environmental and technical issues involved, and a broad outline of the corridor for the link was scheduled to be published in September. After that, consultation with landowners and stakeholders took place, to establish
11440-469: Was funded by the East Midlands Development Agency. This section would involve changes at Black Hole Drove pumping station, which has been built across the drain and hence would prevent navigation. Major contracts for this phase were expected to be awarded in April 2009, but appraisal of the technical assessment revealed that more than one route needed to be considered before the best solution could be selected. While
11550-531: Was given to improving the flood defences. With the improvements to the River Witham, the final section of Earl Fitzwilliam's drain to Lodewick Gowt was filled in, and the channel was diverted to join the South Forty-Foot Drain. Renamed the North Forty-Foot Drain, it now supplies Cook's Lock and Holland Fen pumping stations. Reports on improvements to the system were produced in 1843 by the surveyor Mr W Lewin and in 1845 by Sir John Rennie . Rennie's scheme involved
11660-399: Was raised again in 1815 and 1828, but no further action was taken. Download coordinates as: The Environment Agency measure the water quality of 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
11770-406: Was revoked by parliament, and it was another hundred years before the next attempt to drain the area. In an attempt to drain Holland Fen, and prevent flooding from the River Witham , an adventurer called Earl Fitzwilliam constructed a drain in 1720, which runs broadly parallel to the River Witham, and terminated at Lodewick's Gowt, a sluice which he constructed on the Witham close to the location of
11880-594: Was said that there was only about 35 km (22 mi) of dual carriageway in the whole of Lincolnshire. However the M180 motorway passes through North Lincolnshire , splitting into two dual carriageway trunk roads to the Humber Bridge and Grimsby , and the A46 is now dual carriageway between Newark-on-Trent and Lincoln. The low population density of the county means there are few railway stations and train services, considering
11990-413: Was split into two halves, with phase 2a covering the section from Donington to Surfleet Seas End on the River Glen , and phase 2b covering from there onwards. The initial technical assessment and obtaining of planning permission for phase 2, which involved widening of the South Forty-Foot Drain from Donington to a new road crossing under the A151, a new lock and a junction with the River Glen at Guthram Gowt
12100-447: Was then carried out. The report recommended improvements to some of the banks, but funding for the work was not available, and so no work was done at the time. In 2013, the pumping station flooded as a result of a tidal surge. The three engines dating from 1946 were damaged by water ingress, and were decommissioned. The other two engines were at a higher level, and remained operational, but were by that time nearly 50 years old, and nearing
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