ENGLAND. 



676 



u i tract of land, in general level, though in some r 



'" ** its surface i- varie<l with gentle eminences. It extend- 

 S r " a l ' from Ashworth in Kent, to Pet worth in Sussex; be- 

 ""' hur bounded, for the most jwrt, by the South Downs 



on the south, and by the chalk hill- of Kent and Surrey 

 on the north. In length it is about sixty or seventy 

 mile-, and its breadth 'is from ten to fifteen. It con- 

 tains nearly 1000 square miles. The soil of the \\ eald, 

 for the most part, is a pal p cln . v - intersper-cd oee.i-ioii- 

 . ally with tracts of heath, especially hi the Sussex divi- 

 sion of it. The greater part of it is in a tolerably good 

 state of cultivation : and from the tops of the adjacent 

 hills it affords one of the finest views imaginable. Its 

 original apjicllntioii seems to have been the Wild Fo- 

 rest, or Chace ; and the Saxon Chronicle informs us, 

 that the Britons called it Andrede, the Marvellous, or 

 Coide Andred.-, the Mighty Wood. It was, at that pe- 

 riod, a rude uncultivated waste, overgrown with wood, 

 for which it is still famous. In order that it might l>e 

 reclaimed, the Saxons united parcels of it to the farms 

 in the neighbourhood ; and it was applied to the pur- 

 pose of feeding the hogs of the tenants, being deemed 

 unfit either for arable or pasture. The vallies with 

 which it abounds were first brought into a state of cul- 

 tivation, and took their respective appellations from the 

 persons who brought them into this state; as Haldean, 

 (or valley,) Tenterdean, Maldean. In process of time, 

 and in the Kentish part of the Weald, in consequence 

 of the custom of gavelkind, these deans are become, by 

 division and subdivision, very small, in comparison of 

 what they originally were. In the winter tenon, and 

 in wet w'cather, the roads in many parts of the Weald 

 are scarcely passable. On the principal roads, which 

 are from fifty to -sixty miles broad, there are generally 

 1 causeways, about three feet wide, for the accom- 

 modation of the foot passengers. 



The other level tracts of England that deserve, on 

 account of their extent, to be particularly noticed, are 

 the fens, Romney marsh, and the marshes of Somerset- 

 shire, together with some of the principal heaths that 

 lie on level ground. The fens, as they are emphatical- 

 ly termed, lie in the counties of Northampton, Lincoln, 

 Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Huntingdonshire, and in 

 the isle of Ely. These fens are frequently mentioned 

 by our ancient civil and ecclesiastical historians. Du- 

 ring the period of the power and splendour of the Ca- 

 tholic religion, they were maintained in tolerably good 

 order, under the direction and patronage of the clergy 

 and monks, who had many rich religious houses scat- 

 " tered through them, such as Peterborough, Ely, Croy- 

 land, Ramsey, Thorney, &c. After the dissolution of 

 these religious houses, at the Reformation, the estates 

 belonging to them coming into private hands, the dikes 

 and drains which the clergy had caused originally to 

 be erected, and which they hail kept in repair, fell 

 into decay, and, in consequence, the country was over- 

 flowed, and reduced gradually into a wretched condi- 

 tion. The legislature at length found it absolutely ne- 

 cessary to interjm.se ; and a statute was passed, 43d 

 Elizabeth, chaj). ii. for the purpose of draining them. 

 Great objections, however, were made to this plan by 

 gome, on account of its supposed impracticability, or 

 n account of the enormous expence which it would 

 require ; and by others, on the ground, that, even in 

 the state in which they were, they would pay better 

 than if they were to be drained and embanked, at the 

 xpence which would necessarily be required. In con- 

 sequence of these objections, this j>lan was not carried 

 into execution at that time. In the rcigu of James I. 



two laws were passed in favour of draining tl.e.--e fens ; ^^ 

 but these a. * carried into cticct. At la-t, in * ~~Y~ m 



the Kith \t.ir of the reign of Charles I. a el. 

 granted to a corporation! with Krancis Karl of Bedford, 

 at their head, for draining the great level. The civil 

 wars for a time jircvcntcd the commencement ot the 

 work : and when, in i(i53, it was begun, it was again 

 opix.-ed. on the allegation that the ten- produced as 

 much in reeds and sedge, as they could be made to do 

 bv expensive draining. In answer to this, an account 

 was taken that year, from which it was proved, that 

 the wher.t, barhy, oats, hemp, flax, \e. which grew on 

 28000 acres, yiild-.-d K. I l.'i.tiUO. After the Uestorn- 

 tion the corporation was legally and permanently Mi- 

 lled bv the 1.3th Charles 11. ehaj>. IT ; and on the basis 

 of this statute, this important undertaking has i, 

 ever since. By the Bedford Level, as it is called, up- 

 ward of 300,000 acres of land have been drained ; and 

 since the completion of that work, other large tracts in 

 this t'ennv country have also been reclaimed. 



Itomncy Marsli, in the county of Kent, i- an exten- Romney 

 sive tract of level rich land, lying on the south coast. M,h. 

 What is strictly included under this appellation, com- 

 prehends about 2:!,yJ-> acres; but when it is described, 

 as it generally is, in connection with the Wett 

 Marsh, which 'adjoins it on the south-west, and with 

 Den.re Marsh, which unites with the latter on t 

 south-east, it includes about 4^326 acres. 'I he leve 

 tract of land, however, in this part of England, is 

 more extensive ; for Guildford Marsh, which lies to the 

 west of Welland Marsh, comprises :<_'<;., acres : mo 

 this latter tract is in the county of Su 

 of tho-e spacious levels is uncommonly rich, being al- 

 most entirely a dejwsit from the sea: it consists ot a 

 soft and unctuous clay, mixed with a greater or less 

 proportion of -sea sand. In the summer season, when 

 the surface is clothed with luxuriant verdure, and co- 

 vered with numerous flocks of sheep and droves 

 cattle, the appearance of these levels is uncommonly 

 beautiful and interesting. They differ from the i 

 in this respect, that they were not recovered, 1 

 wrested from the sea ; but at what period is not accu- 

 rately known. It is probable, however, that parts ot 

 these lands were gained during the early part ot ' 

 Saxon period of our history. Soinncr, in his discourse 

 concerning Roman ports and forts in Kent, jiroduces a 

 charter of marsh land by I'legmund, who was arch- 

 bishop of Canterbury, from A. D. 889 to i)l 3 ; and tin 

 charter seems not to have been among the first. 

 clergy, indeed, in this part of the kingdom, had a gre 

 interest in regaining these lands, as most ot the j>roper 

 ty in the vicinity of them belonged to them ; and the 

 practice of inning, as it was called, that is, wresting 

 land from the sea, is commonly supjwsed to have 

 ginated with them. The archbishops ot ( anterbury, 

 in particular, applied themselves to tins object, and 

 gave their names to the land which they respectively 

 gained Thus we read of Becket's, Baldwin's, Bom- 

 face's Pcckham's innings. The whole level is prevent- 

 ed from being overflowed at high water, by an immense 

 embankment, called Dymchurch Wall, from its conti- 

 guity to the village of that name. '\ his wall torn 

 only highway for carriages, along its -whole extent, be- 

 tween Hithe and Komney. Us perpendicular height 

 from the marshes, is in most parts, trom twelve t 

 eighteen or twenty feet. The slopes are steep, and 

 pretty regular. Next the sea, it forms a shelving irre- 

 gular beach, that is carried out to the distance ot more 

 than 100 yards. The width of the top of the wall is 





