﻿Mr 



LINCOLNSHIRE. 



UNCOLNSHIRE. 



OB 



riae* Dear Aihby Paaromm, and flowt nortb-eot into tha ae* at Salt- 

 flwt, when iU nctowy reoeiTM one of tba armi of the Ludd : it* 

 length is about 24 milea. In the upper port of ita course it ia called 

 the Calceby Beck. The Siteping riaea near Aahby Puerorum, and 

 flows aonth-east, not far from Spiliby, 20 milea into the aea. 



South of Wainflect the Fen diittriot commenoes: and from the 

 extenaiTe ayatem of draining that has been carried on, the hydrography 

 of the eoonty becomes very oomplicated. We must therefore compre- 

 hend the natural and artificial hydrography in one view, from the 

 impovifaflity of drawing exactly the line of demarcation between them. 

 The Witkam, the moat important ri%-er in the county, riara near the 

 village of Thiatleton, juat within the border of Rutlandahire, but 

 almost immediately enters Lincolnshire, flowing northward to the 

 town of Qrantham, and receiving by the way several brooks. Bvlow 

 Orantham the river flowa generally northward to Lincoln ; two or 

 three miles of ita oourae in this part are on the border of the county, 

 which it aeparatca from Nottinghamshire ; the rest is within the 

 county. A few miles above Lincoln it receives on the right bank the 

 little river Brant, nearly 15 miles long, from Brandon, north of 

 Qrantham. At Lincoln the river turns eaatward, and flowa to the 

 neighbourhood of Burduey Abbey, where it receives the united stream 

 of the Langworth River and the South Beck. The principal source 

 of thi« stream (the Langwortb) is in the chalk hills between Market 

 Rasen anil Luuth, and its whole course is about 18 miles. From the 

 junction of the Laugworth the Witbam flows south east to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Tattershall, where it receives, on the left bank, the river 

 Bain ; and on the right bank the Sleaford River, or Kyme Kau. The 

 Bain rises in the chalk hills at Ludford, between Market Hasen and 

 Louth, and flows southward by Horncastle and Tattershall, about 

 S6 miles : it receives the Waring, Scrivelsby, and Enderby Becks. 

 There is a navigation 11 miles long, partly artificial, partly natural, 

 from the Witham up to Horncastle. The Sleaford rifles near Ancaster, 

 and flows north-east by Sleaford and South Kyme into the Witham, 

 about 22 miles : there is a navigable channel 18) miles long, partly 

 natural, partly artificiol, from the Witbam up to Sleaford. From the 

 junction of these streams the Witham flows by an artificial cut to 

 Boston, below which town it flows in ita natural bed into the Wash. 

 The whole length of the Witham is nearly 80 miles, for about half of 

 which it is navigable. At Lincoln it communicates with the Fosse 

 Dyke, and below that with the Horncastle and Sleaford Navigation ; 

 there are also numerous cuts connected with it for the purpose of 

 draining the feus. 



The Wetland rises in Northamptonshire, and flows along the border 

 of that county, which it divides successively from Leioefltershire, 

 Rutlandshire, and Lincoln.<<hire. It first touches the border of Lincnlu- 

 ahire just above StamfonI, whence it flows to Deeping and Crow- 

 land, where what is termed the Old Welland runs northward to 

 Spalding, while another ann exiled the Shire Drain proceeds along the 

 border of the coimty into the Wash at the mouth of the Nene. From 

 Spalding the Old Welland is conveyed in a direct line by an artificial 

 channel into the Wash. There is a navigation up to StamfortL 

 Between that town and Deeping there is a canal by the side of the 

 n:itund stream : below Deeping the natural channel is employed for 

 alwut 2 miles ; and then there is a navigable cut to Spalding. The 

 navigation ia about 28 milea long from Stamford to the Wash. The 

 Glen rises between Orantham and Folkingham, and flows south by 

 Corby to Barholm, not far from Stamford ; in this part of ita course 

 it crosaea a projecting corner of the county of Rutland. From the 

 junction of a small stream at Wilsthor|>e the Olen flows north-east 

 into the Wash at the mouth of the Welland. Its whole length is 

 about 36 milea. A small rivulet which joins the Glen has been made 

 navigable for 34 miles up to the town of Bourne ; and below the 

 junction of this rivulet the Glen is navigable for about 12 miles. 



A general account of the great Fen district of England, and of the 

 changes which it has undei-gone, is given under Bedford Level. Of 

 the cuts and drains in tlie Lincolnshire Fens the Car Dyke, which 

 akirta the western border of the fens, commences in the Welland 

 between Stamford and Deeping, and runs northward nearly 35 miles 

 into the fens of the Witbam, with the drainage of which it is con- 

 n<fcted. This canul is supposed to be of Roman origin : it is 60 feet 

 wide, and has on each side a wide flat bank. The South Forty-Foot 

 is eat from the Glen by a circuitous course to the Witham at Boston ; 

 its length is about 22 miles : it receivea a number of small streams 

 flowing from the hills which form the western boundary of the Fen 

 country. The North Forty -Foot runs 10 miles from the Kyme, or 

 Sleaford River, near its junction with the Witham, parallel to the 

 Witham, into the South Forty-Foot, near Boston. The West Fen 

 Catchwater Drain, 1 miles, and the East Fen Catchwater Drain, 7 miles, 

 bound the Fen district on the north side. The Old and New Ham- 

 mond Beck runs by a circuitous course of about 20 miles from the 

 Welland near Spalding to the South Forty-Foot near Boston. The 

 other cut", provincially termed ' Learns,' ' Drovea," * Drains,' ' Becks,' 

 ' Kaua,' and ' Dyke*,' are too numerous to admit of distinct notice. 

 In the fens between the Glen and the Shire Drain they are particularly 

 numerous. Th* drainage of the northern feus is noticed under 

 Axiiouic, Isle of. 



Of navigable canals, bosida the Anoholme, Louth, Horncastle, Slea- 

 ford, Bourne, and other navigations already noticed, there are only 



two. One of them, the Foaae-Dyke, from tha Trent at Torkaey to 

 the Witham at Lincoln, 11 mile*, is probably a Roman work, and 

 appears to have bean uaed for navigation previous to the Conqueat. 

 Henry L hod it cleaned out and the navigation improved. It ia level 

 throughout, but ita watera are 4 feet above those of the Trent The 

 other canal ia the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, which o|>ens a com- 

 munication between the Don, or Dun, Navigation at Stainforth near 

 Thome in Yorkshire, and the Trent at Keady in Lincolnshire. 



The principal ooach-road is the Hull, Barton, and Lincoln road. 

 Thia enten the county at Market Deeping, 90 milea from London, and 

 runs north by west by Bourne, Folkingham, and Sleaford to Lincoln 

 (134 miles). From Lmcoln the road runs due north in a direct line 

 along an old Roman road for many milea ; and then turning north by 

 east runs by Qlanford Brigg to Barton, on the right bank of the 

 Humber, opposite Hull. The Louth and Boston road branches off 

 from the above juat before it enters Lincolnshire, and passing through 

 the opposite extremity of the town of Deeping, runs by Spalding, 

 Boston, and Spilsby to Louth ; from whence a road runs onward to 

 Great Grimsby on the Sea. The Great North road enters the cotmty 

 at Stamford, and runs north-north-west by Qrantham into Notting- 

 hamshire. There are numerous roads of minor importance. 



The Boston branch of the Great Northern railway outers the county 

 at St. James Deeping, east of Market Deeping, and runs north by east 

 past Spalding to Boaton, where it turns north-weet past Tatteraball 

 to Lincoln and Gainsborough, joining at that place the Manchester 

 and Sheffield railwiiy : a short branch diverges at Saxeltiy west to the 

 Manchester line. From Boston the line is continued in a generally 

 northern direction, mainly by the East Lincolnshire line, at a short 

 distance from the coast, past Alford and Louth to Great Grimsby. 

 The main line of the Great Northern railway enters the county west 

 of Market Deeping, and traverses the aouth-eastem part of the county 

 in a north-western direction, quitting it at Claypole, south-east of 

 Newark. The Nottingham and Lincoln line enters the county a few 

 miles southwest of Lincoln. From Lincoln it is continued in a north- 

 eastern direction by the Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway to Market 

 Rasen, where it turns north-west, and near Ulauford Brigg joins the 

 Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnnhire railway. This last-named line 

 enters the county at Gainsborough, and proceeds in a generally east- 

 north-east direction past Kirton and Glanford to Grimsby. A short 

 branch runi from it to New Holland opposite Hull, and to Barton- 

 upon-H umber. 



Climate, SoU, Agriculture. — The temperature of Lincolnsliire is 

 nearly the same as that of the centre of England. The flatness of the 

 surface allows the winds to blow uninterruptedly over it, and of these 

 the western are the most violent. Near the coast the sea temiiers the 

 cold easterly winds in winter, and the snow seldom lies long. The 

 climate in the lower |>arts, where in spite of extensive draining* much 

 marshy ground still remains, is not very healthy, and intermittent 

 fevers are prevalent. The water in the lower parta is bad and brackish, 

 being procured only from wells and ponds ; there is no such thing as 

 a spring of pure water in the fens. The soil varies greatly in different 

 districts. 'The grazing lan<l in this county cannot be surpassed in its 

 capabilities for fattening cattle, and some of the drained fens and warp 

 lands along the rivers possess a high degree of fertility when culti- 

 vated. Upon the whole the produce of the county, both in grain and 

 cattle, is very considerable. The lands which have been reclaimed 

 from the sea by banking and draining ara mostly laid out in large farms, 

 which require a considerable capital lu other ports of the county 

 there arc many small properties cultivated by the ownera anil kept 

 with grt*at neatness. 



The crops usually raised on the arable land arc mostly the same as 

 in other counties on similar soils. Some woad is cultivated in the 

 neighbourhood of lioston on rich warp land ; sainfoin is grown on the 

 chalky soils, and lucern on the richer. Cabbages and carrots are 

 cultivated to a oonsidcrablo extent, the former on the heavy clays and 

 the latter on the light and deep sands. Some of the finest pasturaa 

 arc fed ofl' by horses which are fatted for the markets. 



One of the most efi°ectual improvements practised on land, by the 

 side of some rivera in which the tide flows rapidly, is that of warping ; 

 or, in other words, retaining the water on the Innd so long as to let 

 it deposit a layer of sand and mud. Thus a new soil is created over 

 an old one, and this deposited soil is always very fertile. By this 

 process extensive tracts of poor land have been covered in a short time 

 with a new aoil of the finest quality, aa the crop* raiaed upon it clearly 

 show. Besidea creating a aoil the warping fills up all iucqualitiee, 

 and a perfectly level Burface ia produced. Warp land possesaa* a 

 natural power of production, whicn cultivation and manuring cannot 

 imitate. The basis of the new aoil is fine clay and sand, the sand 

 minutely divided and intimately mixed with the clay, with a consider- 

 able portion of fine calcareous earth. The richest cropa of beans, 

 wheat, oats, and rape are raised without manure on the warp lands. 

 But they are not so well adapted for barley or turnips on account of 

 their slimy nature. It luu added much to the produce of Lincoln- 

 shire, that the cropa raised on the warp land* have enabled the farmer , 

 to employ all the manure made by the abundance of straw which 

 these lands produce to improve the land* that lie above the reach of 

 the waters. 



In B county which oontaius such rich pastures it is of great import- 



