|
BACKGROUND TO THE FENLAND The Fens proper mainly encroach on two counties; South Lincolnshire, and North Cambridgeshire (Originally the Isle of Ely). To the outsider, or the person who travels through the area, they are a flat and boring landscape with large skies. To those who live within them, or are interested in the area, they are an intriguing and astonishing place. (See poetry page) The only place in the British Isles on land where the curvature of the earth can be detected. (From long lines of identical electric pylons or looking at the setting sun or rising sun against distant objects), The Fens mainly consist of two types of arable land. Nearer to The Wash the land has been reclaimed from the sea, and therefore mainly a pale brown silt. Further inland, and years ago, the marshes were covered with trees, sedge, and other scrub, and today are mainly composed of black peat (Black Fens) In the early 1600s there were incidents that were similar to the Pilgrim Fathers in reverse, this involved French and Walloon Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in their own countries and settling in The Fens around Thorney. Traces even today are still evident in the names of Behagg, Lefevre, Fovargue and Tegerdine. In those days, the fens were a much wetter place, and drained far worse, and boards were nailed to horse hooves to avoid them sinking in the mud. With the drying out of the fens, farmers grubbed out hedges and trees so they could have more arable land, but this was a bad policy as it let the wind onto the fields which blew up the top soil of the fields in the form of a fine dust. Whittlesea Mere: was a large lake about 2.5 miles wide and about 1.75 miles long. It covered an area of about 1,600 acres of peat in the summer, and spread to about 3,000 acres in the winter months. When if froze over in the winter time, skating took place. Sometimes, it was only possible if there were no bridges, to cross drains when they were frozen. |
| A SERIES OF STRANGE FENLAND ANOMALIES (Answers in next section). 1. Throckenholt is a long twisting bank with a road on the top that extends from the south of Gedney Hill (which is about 8 feet tall) to Parson Drove. The road is about 12 to 15 feet above the surrounding land. It was either a Old Roman Sea Bank? Or, a River Bed? (Answer at the bottom of page) 2. The Wash, before the Fenland was drained, originally came to the edge of the city of Cambridge, Lincoln or Peterborugh. Which was it? (Answer at bottom of page. 3. What is the difference between a River, Ditch, Dyke, Lode, Leam, Creek, and Drain? What other names can these be called? (See below for answer) 4. The water in the Fenland Rivers is, below Sea level, above Sea Level, higher than the surrounding land, or lower than the surrounding land. Which is it? (Answer at the foot of page). 5. Fenland Drains have a water level, in some cases, which is many feet below sea level. How does it eventually get into the Sea? (Answer at bottom of page). 6. The land in Holme Fen is 6 feet below sea level, 10 feet below Sea level, or 14 feet below Sea level. Which is it? How do we know how low it is? (Answers at bottom of page) 7 Why does the Fenland below Sea Level hardly ever flood? Why does the Fenland below Sea Level need to be irrigated in the summer? (Answers below) 8. The peat soil, which can be many feet deep in places is a very unstable foundation for a house, or a road, as it moves about. How did the Fenland house builders attempt to combat this problem? (Want to know the answer - See below) 9. In years gone by, ducks would always group together on open water, if the wildfowlers shot one duck the remainder would fly away. How did the original duck shooters get around this problem, and managed to bag a large number of ducks without a net? (See below) 10. Poachers would often have a dog to recover ducks shot over the marsh. If an enforcer of the law discovered a dog and called it over, he could gain useful evidence. Why did a dog always run off in the opposite direction when called? (See below for answer) 11. How was travel accomplished when the Fens were a Marsh. Was it by stilts, swimming, flying, floats on feet, or by boat? 12. Every one has heard of 'Lincolnshire Yellow Bellys'. Is it a term used to describe the fighting men from the Fens in the First World War? Is it a term used to describe a disease suffered by Fen people before the age of antibiotics? A term used to describe the livestock that grazed on grasslands in ages past? Or, a family of amphibians that live in The Fens? (Answer below) 13. Many settlements were built on Islands in the Fens and have retained an element of the fact to this day in their names. What is it? (If you do not wish to know do not look below) 14. Why are the peat fens dangerous? Is it because of their swamp like nature. Because drains are unfenced and people might fall in and drown. Because people might get burnt to death. (If you already know the answers to the above, then go no further) 15. What is the link between the Fenland Rivers and the River Rhine? 16. Why are men from the Fens called 'Fen Tigers'? Is it because they trapped wild animals, were named after a breed of rat, or were environmental protesters. 17. What is Carr Dyke? Is it a place to where old automobiles were dumped, a sea wall to keep out the North Sea, or an old Roman attempt to drain The Fens? (You may find the answer below). 18 Who was Cornelius Vermuyden? Was he a well known Fenland Boxer, a Dutch Engineer, a French Architect, or a Lincolnshire Musician? (Do not look below if you already know) 19 Why is ploughing in the Fens hazardous. It it because fen fields are close to open water drains, because the RAF use the tractors for bombing practice, or because of the trees? 20. What causes traffic to slow down in The Fens. Is it water on the road? Is it a rough road surface and subsidence? The wind? Or a lack of tolerance by Police Patrols? (You will find the answer below, but only if you look) 21. What sporting championships were always held in The Fens. Was it Skydiving, Mountain climbing, Pot-holing, or a water sport? If a water sport, what sort of water sport was it? (Puzzled, then look at 21 below. If you already know, they why are the Championships not held nowadays?) 22 Ghostly figures are often seen stalking The Fens in the late evening. Is this just Mist or Fog? Are they proved to be reflections from the moon in the water? Activities of aliens? The nocturnal activities of body snatchers? Witches searching for the bodies of drowned Fenmen? Or, the ghost a large hound called 'Black Shuck'. (Do you really want to know the answer to this, if so look below) 23. The Fens are one of the few places where the 'Coypu' breed, they are reputed to be larger than an otter, but smaller than a seal. Are they a family of Amphibians? A member of the rodent family? A member of the seabird family? Or, a member of the fish family? 24. The Fens are generally regarded as being crime free, yet there are more gun licenses issued for Fen people than in London, ignore the fact that wildfowling still exists and the guns can be brought into the area by the wildfowlers. In addition, there is more public space in the Centre of London, than The Fens.(Are these propositions true or false? - Unsure, then try the answer at 23 below). 25. There are still coastal defences along 'The Wash'. Why were they put there in the first place? 26. The direction of the centres of population on the edge of The Fens, e.g. Peterborough, Boston, Kings Lynn, etc, can be accurately determined even though they may be below the horizon. Is this undertaken with the help of a compass? With the help of a map? From floodlit church spires? Or, whatever? (You know where to look for the answer). 27. Total darkness can be experienced in The Fens, and therefore on a clear night even the fainter stairs can be seen, including the Milky Way. How long has the light been travelling from some of these stars. Is it two weeks, two months, two years, two hundred years, or two thousand years? 28. 'Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink'. In The Fens the water is increasing contaminated with Phosphates and Nitrates, not to mention Herbicides, so where does drinking water originate from in The Fens. Do people drink from the drains regardless? Do they collect rain water? Do they drink from fresh water springs? Or, do they somehow filter the water from the drains? 29. Why does a member of the public have more freedom in Central London than in the Lincolnshire Fens? (Answer at 29 below). 30. What was a 'Cambridgeshire Camel', was it a dromedary breed for being able to travel across the marshes better than a horse, was it a pack horse, was it a human being adapted to travel across the fens, or was it just form of marshland creature? 31. What was 'Breedling'? Was it the act of sex by Fen people? Was it a young Fen child? Was it an early Fen man? 32 What was 'bundling'. Was it a form of love making? Was it collecting reeds from a dried reed bed. Was it encouraging eels into a trap? 33. Nowadays, the Fens are traversed by long strips of tarmac, but there is another commodity that covers a greater part of the Fens. Is it Grass, Potatoes, Marsh, Water, Sugar Beet, Concrete, or Cabbages. (Think about it) 34. What is Colzai? Is it frozen water, water borne weed, a growing crop, or a type of boat. 35. What is the difference between 'An Adventurer' and 'An Undertaker' in the Fen sense. Is an Adventurer a man who likes having sex with the living, and an Undertaker one who has sex with the dead, or is an Adventurer a person who cannot say 'No', and an Undertaker a person who cannot say 'Yes'. Or, what? 36. How do you know when you are driving down a road built on peat, is it because of the cracks and holes, is it because of subsidence, because of the large puddles, low grass verges, or something else? 37. What was a 'Jerusalem Racehorse'. Was it a Fast Ice Skater? An Animal of equine breeding? Was it the name of a game played by Farm Workers in bad weather? An early form of Plough? 38. What was a 'Mawkin'? Was it walking behind a farm implement? Was it having a large family? A device for scaring away birds from crops? Collecting Reeds? Or, what? 39. What is Bandy. Is it a sport? A Village? A Waterway? Or, A Marsh? 40. Who was the 'Bailiff of Marshlands'. Was he a local Nobleman? Was he a well known Doctor? Was he called 'Ague'? Was it a large fish that inhabited the flooded washes (Flood plains)? - Baffled, then consult number 40 below. 41. What was a 'Fenslodger'. Was he a visitor to the Fens? A ships Captain? A Wildfowler? or a Farm Worker? - If you already know, then there is no need to look at 41 below 42. What is the Fenmans worst enemy Water, Drought, Sun, Frost, Wind or Darkness. 43. Tongue End: Is it a Geographical Location? The sharp rebuke by a Fen Woman? or, A plant no longer grown in the Fens? 44. Why does the moon look much larger on a clear night in the fens, and look enormous when it is just above the horizon. |
| ANSWERS TO ABOVE PROPOSITIONS. (If you do not already know) 1Throckenholt was originally the bed of the River Nene before it became silted up, and the river took a new course. There are many of these type of banks (Roddens) in The Fens. Silt when dried out does not shrink, the surrounding land is peat, and that does shrink down when dried out. It is stated that undrained peat is 95% water, and coupled with oxidisation may shrink considerably. 2. The Wash originally came to Fengate, which is on the eastern edge of Peterborough, and now about 50 miles inland. The Romans wanted to get to an island out in The Wash near Fengate, so built a wooden causeway out to this island. Remnants of this causeway can still be viewed at the Flag Fen Reserve near Peterborough. (I Want to know more about Flag Fen) 3. There are four natural watercourses (Rivers) that cross The Fens, they are the Witham, Welland, Nene and Ouse. The fields are drained by ditches, leams, or dykes, and the water from these ditches or dykes, if inland, is pumped up into main drains that empty into the rivers. Creeks are or were tidal drainage ditches. Originally, horses were used to pump water, then pumps were powered by windmills attached to 'scoops'. Wind proved unreliable, therefore steam pumps took over, but today the pumps are powered mainly by Diesel. Other names used for drains are, 'Lode' or 'Eau'. A 'Mere' is a cross between a swamp and a lake, and a 'drove' is a fenland road, which usually comes to a dead end up against one of the many drains or rivers that cross the area. 4 The water in the Rivers is higher than the surrounding land, especially in the peat lands to the west. Yes, the peat shrank down, but the water in the rivers could not be allowed to get any lower, so most fenland rivers have banks either side to avoid the water getting out of the rivers. In 1947 several of these river banks gave way and the surrounding land and houses were flooded. In this day and age, water management is much more efficient. 5. As stated above, well away from The Wash, water is pumped into the main drains, originally by wind, then steam powered pumping engines..A Good example of a steam powered beam engine has now been preserved in situ at Stretham, near Wicken Fen north of Cambridge, and can be viewed by the public, and a visit to the web site of Prickwillow Drainage Engine Museum will reveal much more about ancient pump engines. Nearer to The Wash, sluices were constructed that allowed water to drain out into The Wash at low tide, then shut again automatically when the tide comes, therefore stopping the water from returning to The Fens. 6, Holme Fen is fourteen feet below Sea Level, and when it was called Whittlesey Mere and waterlogged in 1851, a cast-Iron post from The Great Exhibition was sunk down into the soft peat so the top was level with the top of the soggy peat. This cast-iron post still exists today, and the top of it is now fourteen feet above the surrounding land. 7 Fenland is the best drained land in the country, and the ditches and drains are constructed to cope with any amount of water. Nature helps in this, because this part of England, is reputed to have the same rainfall as Israel. In the summer the peat soil will quickly dry out, so the water is pumped back out of the drains and back onto the arable fields. 8. The Fenland house builders of years ago got around the problem of the unstable peat by building the houses on a large concrete raft. However, this was never that successful, because it stopped the brickwork giving way and the house falling down, but they failed to consider that over a period of time these concrete rafts 'floated' around on top of the peat. The result being that the houses would stay intact, but may tip up as the raft 'sank' on one side. Examples of this subsidence, or 'tipping up' can still be seen in the peat fens of today. 9. This fly away duck problem existed for many years, until the punt gun was invented. The punt gun is a large 'blunderbus' type weapon that is fixed along the middle of the punt with the business end sticking out of the bow. The wildfowler then laid low in the bottom of the punt and paddled very carefully and slowly towards a group of ducks. When in line he fired the gun, and the spread shot killed a number of ducks before they had time to fly away. It is not unknown for more than a dozen ducks to be killed in one go by this means (This practice is now illegal). Large numbers of ducks could also be caught with a Decoy 10. Poachers realised that dogs could provide the law enforces with a great deal of evidence, so they taught their dogs to obey commands in reverse, e.g. 'Come here', meant 'Go away', and therefore 'Stay' would mean 'Run away', or 'Heel' would mean 'Fetch' etc. 11. It was impossible to have roads across the fens. It would be before the railway age, so there would be no railways. But, there were many rivers and tributaries, so people moved about by boat. Boats were as common in the Fens as motor cars are nowadays. If you needed to go from Cambridge to Boston, the answer was to go by boat. 12. North of Boston in Lincolnshire, near New York, to this day, there are a breed of Newts that have yellow bellies and live in the Fens. They are called 'Lincolnshire Yellow Belly' newts. Over the years a number of other nicknames grew surrounding these hardy Fenmen. They were called 'Fen Tigers', 'Slodgers' (because of duck hunting in reed beds), and 'Camels' (because of their stilt walking abilities). 13. If a name ends in 'ea' or 'ey' then this indicates a derivation of the Anglo Saxon word 'ig' which was an Island e.g 'Manea' or 'Thorney'. The exception is the Isle of 'Ely', which is thought to de a derivation of the words 'Island of Eels' 14. If a fire is started on the black peat, and it is dry, the ground can catch fire e.g. stubble burning. Sometimes these fires can go down cracks to a depth of six feet, with no indication on the surface that they exist, therefore it is easy for an unsuspecting person to walk across this land and fall into the underground burning ashes of these fires. 15. Before the last ice age, The British Isles was joined to Europe by land, the Witham, Welland, Nene and Ouse (Fenland Rivers) were tributaries of the Rhine. 16. The men of The Fens, were called 'Fen Tigers', because they were an original band of Environmental Protesters. Fen men made a good living from their activities in The Fens. They believed in the mid 1600s that draining the fens would deprive them of their livelihood, and protested very violently. 17. Car Dyke was orginally dug by the Romans and travelled from near Cambridge to Peterborough, on route to Lincoln, and was originally used for transporting Stone. 18. Cornelius Vermuyden was a Dutch Engineer, employed by The Duke of Bedford to drain The Fens. He divided The Fens into three areas ' Middle Levels, South Levels and North Levels'. He was never entirely successful in draining The Fens as he failed to consider that peat would shrink when dried out, but was responsible for the construction of the Bedford Level rivers that travel in a out, straight line from Earith, near St.Ives, to Denver, near Downham Market, and eased the flow on the Ouse, avoiding flooding further upstream in Huntingdonshire, and Bedfordshire. 19. Many years ago the Western Fens was covered by a forest. Later, the salt water rose and came inland and killed the trees. Eventually the salt water receded to it's current level, and sedge and reeds took over, eventually forming the peat as we know it today. The peat shrank and was turned into arable land as we know it today. Deep ploughs still catch on the trunks of the trees (Bog Oaks) that at one time floated in the 'Swamps' and 'Meres'. The only answer is to dig out the fossilised 'Bog Oaks', which are a cross between wood and coal, and therefore difficult to cut. To this day piles of these 'Bog Oaks' can be seen in the corners of some fields in the Black Fens. 20. The wind blows the soft silt soil across the flat land, by what is commonly called 'Fen Blows'. These dust storms fill in the ditches and dykes, and small lightweight seeds like carrot seeds are blown out of the ground, and those seeds that have managed to shoot delicate green tops are cut to pieces by the abrasiveness of the dust. This dust storm can be as thick as an industrial smog, and gets in the clothing, and causes traffic to slow down. 21. In the winter 'The Washes' near the rivers were deliberately flooded to protect the arable land. This water would then freeze over, and the National Ice Skating Championships would be held. These championships were orginally held on 'Cowbit Wash', but when this was drained they went to a field at Tongue End that was also deliberately flooded from the River Glen. Owing to a combination of drainage and global warming there are very few expanses of water that freeze over nowadays. 22. When the damp marshy ground warms up in the daytime, it gives off a gas, in the evening when the air turns cooler, the gas is still emitted from the relatively warm ground, but the water vapour content can then be seen, and can often resemble a ghostly figure. 23. A Coypu is a member of the rat family, and is renowned for burrowing into earth banks, and weakening them in times of floods. There are very few Coypu left in The Fens 23. Most Fenland farmers own and use shotguns which they possess legally, if a gun is used in London it is usually in the hands of a criminal, and therefore held illegally. There is much more open space in The Fens, but it is usually very valuable arable land for which the public have no access. In London there are many parks for use by the public, therefore more grass and more trees, coupled with the fact that all roads and footpaths are free to the roaming public, plus the interiors of many buildings are available to the public, and therefore this is all public space 25. During WW2 it was thought that Hitler's armies would travel down The Wash, with a view to cutting the Country in two at it's narrowest point. Therefore concrete bunkers were constructed along the bottom of the Wash, and used as look-out posts. Some of these concrete bunkers still exist today 26. On a clear night it gets very dark deep in The Fens, and the tungsten glow that reflects into the sky from the centres of population can be seen many miles away, therefore the centres of these urban areas can be accurately pinpointed. 27. Some of the light from the fainter stars started travelling towards earth before Columbus discovered the American continent, and some light started travelling before the Birth of Christ. 28. Surrounding The Fens are various ranges of hills, where fresh water filter's down through the rocks. Artesian Bores are sunk to tap into this fresh water, and then it is piped to various centres of population in the Fens. (The Great Ouse Water Scheme) 29. Every street, and any building, e.g museum, where the public have access is available to the public. Not to mention the Underground. In the Fens there are very few roads and all land is privately owned, and intensively farmed, therefore there are less birds and trees than in Central London. 30. A 'Cambridgeshire Camel' was a nickname given to Fenmen because they looked tall on long thin legs, owing to travelling across the landscape on stilts. 31. Early Fen men were called 'Breedling', owing to their life style. 32. In the cold dark fen winters young couples managed to keep warm together by going under bed clothes. This was called 'Bundling'. 33. The average road is 20 feet wide, and the average drain or river is 100 feet wide, and the mileage of both is about the same as they cross The Fens, therefore there is much more water than tarmac. 34. When the Fens were drained by the french, they brought in a plant called Colzai, which they grew as a crop in the drained fields, and then harvested it and extracted oil. 35. Going back to when the Duke of Bedford arranged to have the fens drained, he needed finance for the project, so enlisted the help of a number of 'Adventurers'. This is a term used to describe these speculators, who risked their money with a promise that they would get land after it was drained. The Duke of Bedford was an Undertaker, because he undertook the project for King Charles. 36. Peat is not stationery, and moves about even underneath roads, therefore the roads are very uneven, or to put it in Fen terms 'They are like a bloody switchbacks'. This is problem that has existed for many years, and it was thought the answer was to cover the area in concrete strengthened with steel bars. But these concrete sections were not , and could not be endless and these huge concrete rafts moved about and often tipped up. Therefore a 'switchback' is better than a 'concrete kerb'. 37. Poor farmers in the fens could not afford a carthorse to pull their plough, so they bought a donkey to pull their plough. These donkeys are more temperamental and less strong than horses, and these poor farmers were identified as owning 'Jerusalem Racehorses'. 38. A 'Mawkin' is a Fen name for a scarecrow. 39 'Bandy' is an ancient name for a form of Ice Hockey, played on a frozen area of water between Earith and Bluntisham in Cambridgeshire 40. People who lived and hunted in the fens were often inflicted with a form of Fever (Ague), this problem was commonly called 'The Bailiff of the Marshland'. 41. A 'Fenslodger' was a man who made his living from the marshes, insomuch he was a hunter of wildfowl etc, and fisherman who caught eels etc. The word 'slodger' was derived from his ability to walk through reeds and a water covered landscape. 42. The biggest problem is now drought. During the summer months the peatland drys out, and the drainage is so effective, that the land below sea level now needs to be irrigated. (You do not believe this, then see photographic evidence). . 43. Tongue End is the name of a village between Spalding and Bourne. (A Tongue is a narrow strip of land between two water sources - In this case the two water sources are the River Glen and Counter Drain). 44. The moon is always the same size, wherever it is viewed. In the fens there is very little glare from street lights, and town centres, therefore the moon appears more prominent. When the moon is just above the horizon, it is viewed next to distant objects across the fens e.g. Church steeples, wind farms, therefore compared to those it looks even larger. ....... and there are many more anomalies in The Fens if you care to search for them |
| Want to know more about history of The Fens then go to Main Page |
| Want to know more about The Wash and how it helped to shape English History, want to know more about cloud formations |
| The reputed large Fenland Sky in the daytime. The scene for much prose and painting, where birds circle upwards on the thermals. Where there is an abundance of open space and fresh air and where fluffy white clouds drift gracefully across a agoraphobic backdrop. |
| This picture includes irrigation equipment and a jet of water on land below sea level Now see a different view of the Fens |
| 'It is a plain country and as level as the sea which with green grass allureth the eye' William of Malmesbury |
Finding colour in the Fens. The best time to see colour is in the summer when the wheatfields across the fens
have a golden appearance which compliments the deep blue of the sky and the white of the cumulus, yet in the
spring the flat land turns green as crops are growing, or alternatively in the winter months the blackness of the peat
can be evident as there are no crops on the fields, yet the sky contains less water vapour and can look even more
blue, except at sunrise and sunset when there is a band of red or orange along the horizon that can be reflected in
water. Of course, to get a full picture of the fens, you will need to stand on one of the 'clay' river banks, but to see
real colour then Spalding is the place to visit in the spring time when the bulbs are flowering. The yellow of the
daffodils are floated against the reds and oranges of the tulips, and all can be seen against a blue sky.
have a golden appearance which compliments the deep blue of the sky and the white of the cumulus, yet in the
spring the flat land turns green as crops are growing, or alternatively in the winter months the blackness of the peat
can be evident as there are no crops on the fields, yet the sky contains less water vapour and can look even more
blue, except at sunrise and sunset when there is a band of red or orange along the horizon that can be reflected in
water. Of course, to get a full picture of the fens, you will need to stand on one of the 'clay' river banks, but to see
real colour then Spalding is the place to visit in the spring time when the bulbs are flowering. The yellow of the
daffodils are floated against the reds and oranges of the tulips, and all can be seen against a blue sky.
| Sunrise across a misty Welland with Crowland Abbey in the distance |
| It is hard to believe, but floodwater from the Welland came over this road in 1947 |