CHAP. V. THE LINCOLN FENS. 153 



and East Fen, and comprised about seventy-five thou- 

 sand acres of land which lay under water for the greater 

 part of every year, and was thus comparatively useless 

 either for grazing or tillage. The only crop grown 

 there was tall reeds, which were used as thatch for 

 houses and barns, and even for churches. The river 

 Wrtham, which flows by Lincoln, had been grievously 

 neglected and allowed to become silted up, its bottom 

 being in many places considerably above the level of 

 the land on either side. Hence, bursting of the banks 

 frequently occurred during floods, causing extensive 

 inundation of the lower levels, only a small pro- 

 portion of the flood-waters being able to force their 

 way to the sea. The wretched state of these lands may 

 be inferred from the fact that, about seventy years since, 

 a thousand acres in Blankney Fen, constituting part of 

 " the Dales " now one of the most fertile parts of the 

 district between Lincoln and Tattershall were let annu- 

 ally by public auction at Harecastle, and the reserved 

 bid was only 10 1. for the entire area ! l It is stated that, 

 about the middle of last century, there were not two 

 houses in the whole parish of Dogdyke communicable 

 with each other for whole winters round except by boat ; 

 this being also the only means by which the Fen-slodgers 

 could get to church. Hall, the Fen Poet, speaks of 

 South Kyme, where he was born, as a district in which, 

 during the winter season, nothing was to be seen 



" But naked flood for miles and miles." 



The entire breadth of Lincolnshire north of Boston often 

 lay under water for months together : 



" 'Twixt Frith bank and the wold side bound, 

 I question one dry inch of ground. 

 From Lincoln all the way to Bourne, 

 Had all the tops of banks been one, 

 I really think they all would not 

 Have made a twenty acre spot." 



1 'Journal of Royal Agricultural Society,' 1847, vol. viii., p. 124. 



