DRAINAGE OF THE FENS & THE CIVIL WAR

To continue the report of the lecture by Mike Petty in October of last year when he spoke about the improvements made by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to the drainage of the Fens to the east and south of Peterborough. This work was continued after the war and helped to a great extend with the introduction of wind powered drainage mills.

Walter Blinth published instructions in 1652 to landowners to draw a substantial master drain though all your lands to the lowest part and here set up a water engine to be driven by the wind, the strength of a horse or even two or three men.

It had been the practice of some to throw up banks around their land and allow the water to drain naturally into the rivers but in many places the land was not high enough to do so. Protecting one own holdings often resulted in flooding your neighbours land which lead to heated exchanges between land owners when this was reported to them.

The use of wind driven mills dates back to the middle ages and the adaptation of the windmill from grinding corn to raising water was first accomplished in the Netherlands but the true origins remain obscure. There were reported to be 16 working around Delft by 1470 and 8 north of Amsterdam in 1514.

These dates suggest that some wind drainage mills could have been working in the Fens as early as this.

These early mills were based on the Dutch wipmolen which were lighter than smock or tower mills and more suited for use in marshy areas. In the wipmolen the supporting post of a post mill was made hollow so that a vertical shaft could pass through it connected by gears at the top to drive the axle of the scoop wheel at the bottom.

It was the design that was being built by the 1580s and the type commonly drawn on early English maps. There is mention of one in the Holland district of Lincolnshire in 1555 where remains of a windmill beside the old sea bank with two ditches leading up to it, so it was obviously used to move water. It was mentioned again in 1604 by the Commissioners of Sewers as an engine for raising water.

The soil in the fens is peat based so as the drainage improved the soil level shrunk the banks became higher thus increasing the work load of a mill.

Once the Civil War ended and the monarchy restored a more integrated system was employed and consequently dozens of mills were erected from the 1670s.

The fens were slow in employing steam power to raise water although it had been used in mines for some time before 1712 developed by Thomas Newcomen and formed the basis of steam engine design until the end of the 19^th century. These were known as Beam Engines There are examples of windmills with pulley wheels connected to the axels to allow the use of portable steam engines if there was no wind.

All these improvements cost money and much of it was raised in taxes, rates and tolls of up to one shilling per acre but it did not really solve the problems. By 1769 land was still being flooded as the Reverend William Cole, Curate at Waterbeach, wrote in his letters Horace Walpole in which he describes the flooding of his estate by violent rains which caused the banks to burst and overflow covering all this part of the country. His land had been drowned for the third time in six years, it depressed him so much that he decided to sell his estate and retired to Milton.

The Level remained in a chronic state of debt and it was realised that the one shilling acre tax was totally inadequate and this was doubled to pay off the debt of £2,000.

It took the whole of the 19^th century and part of the 20^th to finally tame the Fens and make it the area we see today.

Mike Petty. October 13^th 2011.

As reported by Richard C. French for West Dereham Heritage Group.

Programme for 2012 is available from our website. New members welcome, annual subscription is now £15.00.

The Group held it’s Annual General Meeting on the 17^th of November at St. Andrews Church.

The Agenda was proceeded with at a brisk pace with apologise for absence, a number of members were unable to attend, through to the minutes of theAGM2010 with Matters arising.

The Treasurer reported a small surplus for the year and spending of the Lottery Grant had started with the fitting of the Heritage Room cabinets, Projector and Screen for the Village Hall, Sound Recording Equipment, and Binding Tools & Accessories.

The Chairman, Jack Walker expressed his thanks to all the Groups Officers for their contributions throughout the past year. He was very pleased with the way the Group continued to progress not only as organisation committed to recording village history but as a social gathering as well.

Election of Officers was proposed and seconded en bloc as there were no nominations at this time. A new office was proposed, that of Researcher, Paddy Murfitt has already done so much work collecting field names it was felt his services would be invaluable to other areas as well particularly when it came to Mapping.

The Officers elected were:- Chairman- Jack Walker, Secretary- Pam Walker,

Treasurer- Ruth Marsters, Archivists- Pam Bullas, Webmaster- Janet Gough,

Researcher- Paddy Murfitt, Media & Reporting- Richard French.

After a great deal of discussion it was decided by a majority to increase the Annual Subscription to £15.00. At a previous Committee Meeting it was generally agreed that the subs had to be increased. Both Jack Walker and Richard French were in favour of making the increase to £15, both stated cases where similar organisations had failed owing to lack of funds. There was also the fact that had been no increase for the 5 years since formation, inflation reducing the value of subs and savings and the village hall hire would be a lot more once it re-opened. The Treasurer felt that a £5 increase was too much and might result in a loss of members so it was initially set at £12.50. per annum but the membership were in favour of a full £5 increase.

The Heritage Room is just about complete and once the builders have finished we can begin to furnish it and start placing in the archives that are at present in members homes or in storage.

A full programme for 2012 was thrashed out and there are to be some changes. There will be more occasions for “Round The Table Discussion” and some new speakers.

Last years outing failed but there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for one next year but closer to home. With that in mind Ely Cathedral was suggested and agreed too.

The meeting closed at 8.45pm with refreshments and members chatting among themselves until 9.30. Special thanks to Graeme Pressley our Churchwarden who has opened the Church for our use and helped with the refreshments throughout the time we have been using St. Andrews also thePCCfor allowing us to use the Church while the village hall was refurbished.

Group Social Evening.

Held at the home of Ruth & Cyril Marsters on Hilgay Road on the evening of the 8^th. of December at 7.30pm. Members gathered for a buffet style supper with all the usual beverages. Not quite so many present this year which was perhaps better as it was getting a little overcrowded last time. Several members had previous engagements which included the Thursford Show and a Wedding Anniversary. This will not be a problem in the future as we will be back in the village hall soon. The evening closed at about 11pm when the last members went home. Thanks to Ruth & Cyril for hosting the event, yet again, generous with their hospitality and time over the past years. Very much appreciated by all the members and the highlight of our social calendar. I shall look forward to seeing you all again this month when our new programme opens on the 19^th of f January.

New members welcome or just came along anyway and see the new hall.

Happy New Year.

Richard C. French.

West Dereham Heritage Group.

December 2011

October proved to be a busy month for our members with a lot of activity centred around meetings, getting the Heritage Room furnished in the Village Hall and supporting the Village Hall Committee with their plans.

DRAINAGE OF THE FENS & THE CIVIL WAR

The ever popular Mile Petty once again proved his worth the a lecture on the above subject held in St. Andrews Church on the evening of the 13^th of October.

To report fully on the content of this subject would take far more space than I have available here. Mike has a vast knowledge of his subjects and although he does refer to his notes now and again his talks always flow easily with a mixture of fact and humour. I still have in my mind, as an example, the sight of a man on stilts driving through the knee deep water 400 head of cattle with the help of one small boy to another dry area of pasture.

The Fens at the time of the Civil War was an area covering over 500 square miles and stretched from Lincoln in the North, Peterborough to the West, Kings Lynn and the Wash to the east and Cambridge to the South.

There is archaeology to show the Romans had a go at reclaiming some parts realising the potential of the drained land to produce grain.

In the 17^th century flooding during the winter months was a problem and it was realised that water from the uplands to the west were to blame. In the 1590s harvests were poor throughout the rest of the country due to heavy rainfall. Some places saw the arrival of Dutchmen escaping the invading Spanish armies and with methods perfected in their native country using wind driven machines to bring the water levels down.

It was known that if the water travelled fast enough it would scour out silt and other debris which would allow water to flow out through the existing rivers to the sea.. They had to be deepened to achieve this and a great supporter of this idea was Jan B. Westerdyke but his plans for draining the whole of the Fens had failed by 1630.

Up until this point the King had financed these projects but he now put the whole scheme out to private enterprise. Francis Russell the 4^th Earl of Bedford along with his investors, the so called Adventurers, took up the challenge. Named the Bedford Level Corporation they employed Cornelius Vermuyden who also failed when his plans did not live up to there promise in1649 and again in 1665.

William Dodson, who had been employed on Vermuydend’s first scheme suggested combining the fen rivers into one outfall thus giving a good scour with the greater flow of water. He may have put forward the plan in 1649 when he was Director of the Bedford Level and again in 1665. During the Civil War he was appointed Governor of Crowland so had a wealth of drainage experience but by this time Vermuyden had succeeded, however his idea may have influenced the building of Denver Sluice.

Not all of Vermuyden’s plans were carried out as there was fierce opposition from locals, fenmen who became know as Fen Tigers who threw down his banks and filled in the ditches. They saw their way of life being destroyed which was pastoral farming, wildfowling and fishing, mainly for ells for which there great demand in towns and city among the poorer classes. Oliver Cromwell himself a Fenman, born 1599 in Huntingdon and living in Ely was sympathetic until the Civil war intervened and the money ran out.

Rivers still failed to sour fully in some years which again resulted in flooding.

Geographically the Fens were high enough to drain naturally provided there was adequate outfalls to the sea. Most of Vermuyden’s scheme achieved this by-passing the old twisting river course of the Ouse to Streatham and Ely by straightening it via Earith and on to Denver.

The part Machines and Mills played in all this I will deal with next month when I shall have more space.

VILLAGEHALLOPEN DAYS

The Village Hall Committee gave villagers to opportunity to see the progress of work in the refurbishment of the hall during the 16^th & 17^th of October.

Despite a poor turnout of only 45 people those who visited the hall were very impressed with the work so far. A letter distributed at the end of October states that the meetings and Concert booked to be held in the Hall had to be re-located or cancelled. It’s disappointing and frustrating not to have the premises ready for use when planned but there are always delays to a project of this size. The contractor has done a splendid job but he too has had his problems.

The time since then has allowed the final fittings and fixtures to be almost completed. I have visited the project on many occasions since the start and have been most impressed with the quality of the work done with the commitment and skill of the main contractor, R. J. Constable.

The Heritage Room is finished with our Cabinet Maker, Roy Marshall, delivering and fitting the work tops, bookcase and display cabinet during October all beautifully made in Chestnut. Furnishing and equipment will come next with an open day next year.

The Village Hall Committee and the Village Trust (formally the Millennium Committee) have put in a huge amount of time into managing this project from applying for grants, purchasing extra land, buying equipment to planting hedges.

They are to be congratulated for their dedication, the hours of time and community spirit that has provided our Village with such a superb venue for all future events and activities.

BIZET TO BROADWAY

The concert was re-located to St Andrews Church and preformed by a group of seven singers, three Gents and four Ladies called The Upper Octave.

Our little Church clearly enhanced the music of these very talented singers who’s programme range from popular stage and film musicals, South Pacific, The King and I, Les Miserables and Phantom Of The Opera to the classics which included Tosca, Barcarolle, Handel and Bizet. Two acts with twenty five numbers preformed with a standing ovation at the final curtain and an encore to finished the show. Two hours which gave the audience a taste of London and New York’s musical theatre scene without having to travel to the capital to enjoy it. First class entertainment, highly recommended if you have not seen and heard them before.

Production credits to Christian de L’Argy, Rachel Duffield, Joan Hocking LLCM, Annette Phillips, Martyn Shults ALCM, Gus Woodcock and Heather Woodcock. Sound – Keith Turner, Lighting – Roger Thacker & Mike Cooper.

The audience were able to meet the cast when refreshments and a Bar were provided in the Bell Tower.

Christmas & New Year Greetings to all our readers from West Dereham Heritage Group.

Richard C. French.