244 OPEN-FIELD FARMS AND PASTURE COMMONS 



Peterborough Fen 1 (1793) consisted of from 6,000 to 7,000 

 acres of " fine level land, of a soil equal to any perhaps in the king- 

 dom of Great Britain, and susceptible of the highest cultivation.'* 

 In its present wet state it was dangerous to stock. Farmers living 

 in the neighbourhood never turned their cattle on it except in very 

 dry seasons. It was, however, depastured by the horses, cattle, 

 and sheep of 32 parishes in the Soke of Peterborough. " Con- 

 sidering the present mode of management," says the Reporter, " it 

 is impossible that any advantage can arise to the persons having 

 right therein." But, in his opinion, the land, if properly drained, 

 enclosed, and tilled, might yield a greatly increased produce and 

 employ from 1300 to 1400 hands. 



The Huntingdonshire fens 2 contained (1793) 44,000 acres. 

 Marshall speaks of " the disgraceful state in which some of these 

 lands were suffered to remain (a blank in English territory)." The 

 Reporter says that the fen is " generally unproductive, being 

 constantly either covered with water, or at least in too wet a state 

 for cultivation." Of so little value was it that those who exercised 

 rights over it frequently preferred relinquishing their claims to 

 paying the drainage taxes. Very considerable portions of the fen 

 districts were occupied by meres shallow lakes filled with water 

 which was often brackish. Their only value lay in the reeds, which 

 were used for thatching or in malting, and in the fishing. But 

 many of the meres were so silted up with mud that the fish had 

 diminished in numbers. Their drainage, says the Reporter in 181 1, 3 

 would be of inestimable service to the health of the inhabitants. 

 " They are awful reservoirs of stagnated water, which poisons the 

 air for many miles round about, and sickens and frequently destroys 

 many of the inhabitants, especially such as are not natives." 



In Cambridgeshire 4 (1794) there were " 50,000 acres of improved 

 fen, and 200,000 acres of wastes and unimproved fen." Vancouver, 

 who was the Reporter to the Board, walked over every parish in 

 the district in order to obtain reliable information. Except on 

 foot, he could not penetrate into the recesses of the district. Neigh- 

 bouring parishes were ignorant of each other's condition. The 

 roads were often impassable, and at their best were only repaired 



1 Donaldson's Northamptonshire (1793), p. 30. 



2 Stone's Huntingdonshire (1793), pp. 8, 13. 

 8 Parkinson's Huntingdonshire (1813), p. 21. 



Vancouver's Cambridgeshire (1794), pp. 25, 36, 151, 164, 184, 186, 187, 149. 



