| Ouse Kym Ivel & Cam(Rhee) (also the 'Old West River' & 'Great Ouse Water Scheme') |
| The Great Ouse rises 160 miles from the sea to the West of Brackley, then flows through Buckingham, is joined by a tributary at Newport Pagnall from Leighton Buzzard and Brackley. It flows through Olney which has links to the poet Cowper. It travels via Turvey with it's whirling mill-pool It flows through Harold, Sharnbrook, Bromham, Kempston and other villages and into Bedford Town with it's links to John Bunyan, and continues towards Great Barford. Left: Is the Great Ouse just prior to flowing through Great Barford to the East of Bedford. Many miles from its source and still many miles from The Wash. It is then joined by the River Ivel that flows through Biggleswade and Sandy The Great Ouse with The Ivel then flow together towards St Neots, where they are joined by many Brooks, including the Henbrook and also the River Kym. |
| After St. Neots, it flows via the Paxtons and the Offords, to Bramptom of Samuel Pepy's fame , and then on to Huntingdon of Oliver Cromwell fame` Below: Is the Great Ouse at Godmanchester after flowing through various locks and weirs. It flows under the 'Chinese Bridge' at Godmanchester, which was originally built in 1825. The Photo (below) is looking west towards Huntingdon, and prior to linking to Alconbury Brook. To the left of the picture is the edge of an Island that leads to Port Holme (reputed to be the largest inland island in the UK) |
| Godmanchester (below left) was a location where many roads met in Roman times. |
| Left: Is the Great Ouse as it passes by St James Church at Hemingford Grey Church between Huntingdon and St. Ives. It has already travelled through the old Watermill at Houghton. Please note the base of the spire, the remainder is reputed to have blown down in a gale of 1741 and is currently lying on the river bed. |
| At Holywell on the Ely side of St. Ives, there was no bridge, just a ferry that was pulled across the river by chains in the early 1900s. This no longer exists, although the old Ferry Boat Public House still marks the location |
| The Original Ouse is joined by the River Cam from Cambridge, which is small compared to the River than runs through the Offords, but it has a greater significance. There was once a direct water route from Waterbeach (Cambridge) to the River Humber and the North Sea. A canel system built by the Roman's, and called Carr Dyke, which led into the Foss Dyke, and then the River Trent, which in turn flowed into the river Humber |
| Above: Is the original Ouse to the east of Earith as it heads towards Ely just after leaving the junction with the Bedford Levels. Please Note: The bank on the far right horizon is the bank of the 'New Bedford River'. |
| The Ouse finally travels across the Fens. But divides at Earith, and becomes the 'New Bedford River' (Hundred Foot Drain) and also the Old Bedford River - Delph (which originally travelled to Salters Lode 21 miles away). After that first corner (to left), the New Bedford River travels in a near straight line to Denver Sluice 21 miles in the distance, and was dug out by men before the days of hydraulics, and other mechanical innovations. (Denver must have seemed like an thousand miles across those Fens in those days). The Original Ouse rejoins this river at Denver, then all the water flows out into the South East corner of The Wash west of Kings Lynn (see below). |
| Location from above Left location is in the bottom left corner, the village to the right is Sutton |
| Left: The Denver Sluice near Downham Market as it appears today, where the New Bedford River (or Hundred Foot Drain) meets the Old Ouse and Cam combined, from the Ely direction. The New Bedford River enters the picture from the top right. Denver sluice has a road across it for motor vehicles. Ely has the Old Ouse to it's east and the Bedford Level rivers to the west therefore it is truly an Isle, even nowadays. |
| Above: The Old Bedford River about half way between Earith and Denver, where the earth was proved to be round. Right: Is a plan of the sluice system at Denver. |
| LEFT: The Great Ouse as it passes between Kings Lynn (far left) and West Lynn, looking south towards Denver |
| THE VIEW ON LEFT: Is the Great Ouse looking towards the Kings Lynn Dock area. It is too wide for a bridge at this point which will allow shipping to travel underneath, therefore the only link between Kings Lynn and West Lynn is a ferry. The mud flats of The Wash are several miles to the left. |
THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT OUSE'S ROUTE ACROSS THE FENS. The catchment area for the waters of the Great Ouse and it's tributaries, comes from West Norfolk, West Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, North Essex, North Hertfordshires, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordfordshire, and Huntingdonshire. It can now be seen why it is prefixed with the word 'Great'. This is an area known as East Anglia, and the East Midlands, yet only the areas close to the Wash are navigable. There are many rivers with the name Ouse in England, but there is only one 'Great Ouse'. They must not be confused with the 'Little Ouse' which is a convergence of tributaries to the north of Ely which feed into the 'Great Ouse' at Denver. The Bedford Level rivers were cut from Earith to Denver, but by the time the waters reached Denver the water was eight feet higher than the 'Little Ouse', therefore the Denver Sluice was constructed for two reasons, firstly to stop high tides coming up the 'Great Ouse', and secondly to stop the water from the Bedford Rivers from flowing back up the 'Little Ouse' The word 'Ouse', means 'Water', and this 'Great' river is fed by tributaries called the Ouzel, Ivel, Cam, Little Ouse, Leem and many other sources. It was the Duke of Bedford who employed Vermuyden, when the two straight drains were cut from Earith to Denver Sluice. This was to cut the corner and avoid most of the water flowing towards Ely. These are now known as the Bedford Level Rivers, and take in Peter Scott's Welney on route. Many years ago, the local fenmen objected to this as they thought their livelihoods were being threatened and ferociously fought the frenchmen, this is where the name 'Fen TIgers' first originated. The original 'Great Ouse' flowed a roundabout route via Ely to Denver (near Downham Market), but prior to this is joined at Stretham by the River Cam from Cambridge, which in turn is joined by the River Rhee. The Great Ouse is then joined by the Soham Lode, which in turn is fed by the River Snail from Newmarket (Suffolk). Prior to reaching Denver the Original Great Ouse is joined by the River Lark from Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk), and also the Little Ouse (Brandon Creek) and it's tributaries from Thetford (Suffolk). Nowadays there is a large cut-off channel that bypasses Denver Sluice. All this water then runs between the port of Kings Lynn and West Lynn out into the Lynn Deeps in The Wash. Much of the Stone used to build the Cambridge Colleges would be brought to the area by river from places like Barnack, west of Peterborough, now a nature reserve and locally known as the 'Hills and Holes'. The River Cam that runs through Cambridge (or Grantabryege as it was originally called) was originally called the Grante or Granta River (which means Fen River) and has two sources well south of Cambridge, one being at Ashwell, and the other being near Newport in Essex. The old english name for a river or stream ended in the letters 'ea' ('Pacefre Ea' means 'The Stream'), hence the Cam being called the Rhee, or it could be a derivative of 'Atter ea' which means 'By the Stream'. The old Ouse passes through Stretham by the pump engine museum. Seaward side of Cambridge, (about 10 miles) the Cam runs into the Ouse ( and was orginally called the Old West River). Nowadays, the Cam supplies most of the water. The Little Ouse (Old West River) continues on through Littleport, and joins up with the Great Ouse, (or Bedford levels) at the sluice at Denver. In the Guildhall at King's Lynn (once Bishop's Lynn) there is a history of the Ouse port at the entrance to The Wash, regarded as being the greatest port in the Fens, and the Ouse was originally navigable from this point to Huntingdon. The Duke of Bedord being much of the inspiration to the drainage of the southern part of the fens, who employed Veymuden to construct the Bedford River, which is now known as the 'New Bedford River', shortly after a second river was contracted about half a mile to the east, and to run parallel to the Old Bedford River. This new river was originally named as the 'Hundred Foot Drain' (measurement relates to width), and nowadays known as the 'New Bedford River'. A few statistics to play with, the Old Bedford Level River was 21 metre's wide, was 34 kilometers long, and ran from Earith to Salter's Lode. Denver sluice as we now know it was finally built by Sir John Rennie, who also upgraded the drains. It was planned that the area between the two Bedford Rivers would be flooded if the water in the rivers became too high. Approximately half-away between Denver and Earith in these washes is now the area devoted to the Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust established by Peter Scott After the contruction of the Bedford Rivers, merchants around Ely and Cambridge complained that the water level in the Ouse and Cam had dropped and it made it difficult to navigate those rivers with boats, therefore it became part of Vermuyden's contract to maintain the level of water in The 'Old Ouse' and the 'Cam'. Many of Vermuyden's workers were Walloon Refugees from Northern Flanders, Picardy and also Huguenots. Many of these workers eventually settled in the area at Thorney, and also it's surroundings Of course, all this drainage resulted in shrinkage of the peat fens, something that Vermuyden did not consider. The estuaries of the rivers, including the Ouse became silted up, and in 1673 the water flowing down the Bedford Rivers could not find it's way to the sea, and the water flowed onto the low lying fenland causing widespread flooding, grain stocks became waterlogged, and farmers were forced to take to boats. Difficulties were eventually overcome by making a new cut called Morton's Lean to replace the 'Old Nene', and a new channel was cut from the Denver Sluice to Kings Lynn, and a deeper channel then cut that went into The Wash. The outfall of the River Nene was also cleaned out and deepened, and the fens slowly returned to becoming the main grain growing area of England. The Ouse originally went out to sea via Wisbech This original Ouse has now disappeared lengths of it that go through Outwell and Upwell south of Wisbech. This old Ouse is now called the Old Croft River and can be seen near Christchurch. Owing to drainage and agriculture, there is very little true Fen now untouched. However there are areas which resemble the original Fen, these are Wicken Fen and Woodwalton Fen, which are both National Nature Reserves. [Top] |
| FEN DRINKING WATER In olden times, there was no water piped into the Fens and Fen people were left to their own devices. The water in the drains was too brackish to drink, and the only drinkable water was rainwater, which was collected in large containers. But water was used from the drains, for washing, cooking and watering the animals. In periods of drought, water was brought in buckets from fresh water springs on the edge of the Fens, and sold to the locals. |
ISLE-Of-ELY (The Ely Ouse Essex Water Act 1968 Many monastic buildings in the fens were built on Islands, which were once called 'Eyes' (which indicates that 'eye' means 'Island' in Old English). Therefore 'Eel eye' would mean 'Eel Island', and eventually became the 'Isle of Ely'. In The Fens the Drain water is pumped into the Main Rivers, without filtering, and eventually flows out to sea. The rivers are replenished by fresh water from the Midlands, and are no longer tidal, and therefore no longer salt water. In 1974 The Ministry of Housing and Local Government stated that Essex could take any surplus of water from The Fens and the Ouse. This was brought about by 'The Ely-Ouse-Essex Water Act 1968'. A pipeline was constructed and fresh water was taken from the Ouse around Ely to replenish the reservoirs of Essex. The River Ouse in addition to taking water from the British Midlands, takes water from land drainage in The Fens, and also the River Cam. [Main Page] |
| At Earith on the border of Huntingdonshire and Cambridgeshirethere there was a need to take the main road across the southern end of the Great Ouse or Bedford Rivers. This was achieved by a suspension bridge across the end of the New Bedford River, and a brick built bridge called 'Seven Holes Bridge' which doubled as a sluice across the Old Bedford River. Both have since been replaced with different concrete structures. |
Note: The level of the land on the right is below the
normal level of the river, and distant low hills on the
horizon to the right are boulder clay islands in a flat
land. The 'Old Bedford' river flows parallel about a
quarter of a mile to the left of this river.
normal level of the river, and distant low hills on the
horizon to the right are boulder clay islands in a flat
land. The 'Old Bedford' river flows parallel about a
quarter of a mile to the left of this river.
| Great Ouse just prior to flowing through Great Barford to the East of Bedford. |
| The Ouse looking north as it passes between Eaton Socon and Eynesbury flowing towards St Neots. (The swans are real and optional) |
| The Bucket in the picture scoops up the soft mud from the bottom of the outfall, and deposits the contents on the left (not in picture) |
| The New Bedford River enters the outfall from the lower left. There is 21 miles between the sluice picture of Denver and the picture above it . The river is dead straight between those two points |
| The Great Ouse at is flows by the water front at St. Ives. (Still not yet reached the Fens) |
| The Ouse at Offord Cluny between St Neots and Godmanchester |
| This New Bedord River was dug in 1657, and 10,000 men were employed in the undertaking. |
| The water is stopped from running into this channel by The Hermitage Sluice |
| See Ordnance Survey Map 153 (Bedford, Huntingdon - Landranger series 1:50,000) for this location. |
| See OS Landranger 131 for details of these locations |
| See OS Landranger 154 and 143 for these locations and the Bedford Levels |
See also: Car parking, Walking & Picnicing
| Denver Sluice |