CHAP. V. 



THE CAMBRIDGE FENS. 



167 



stood when we explain the circumstances under which 

 its construction was recommended. It will be observed 

 from the map of the Fen district (vol. i., p. 51), that the 

 river Ouse flows into the shallows of the Wash near the 

 town of King's Lynn, charged with the waters of the 

 Great Bedford Level as well as those of Huntingdon, 

 Bedford, and Cambridge, and of the high lands of the 

 western parts of Norfolk and Suffolk. Immediately above 

 Lynn the old river made an extensive bend of about five 

 miles in extent, to a point called German's Bridge. 

 This channel was of very irregular breadth and full of 

 great sand beds which were constantly shifting. In some 

 places it was as much as a mile in width, and divided 

 into small streams which varied according as the tidal or 

 the fresh waters were for the time being most powerful. 

 During floods, the flow of the river was so much ob- 

 structed that the waters could not possibly get away 

 out to sea during the ebb, so that at the next rise 

 of the tide they were forced back into the interior, 

 and thus caused serious inundations in the surrounding 

 country. 1 The fresh waters were in this way penned up 

 within the land to the extent of about seven feet ; and 

 over an extensive plain, such as the Bedford Level, 

 where a few inches of fall makes all the difference be- 

 tween land drained and land drowned, it is clear how 

 seriously this obstruction of the Ouse outfall must have 

 perilled the agricultural operations of the district. Until, 



1 When Mr. Kennie was first con- 

 sulted respecting the drainage of the 

 Great Level, he found that much 

 good land which had been formerly 

 productive had become greatly dete- 

 riorated, or altogether lost for pur- 

 poses of agriculture. Some districts 

 were constantly flooded, and others 

 were so wet that they were rapidly 

 returning to their original state of 

 reeds and sedge. In the neighbour- 

 hood of Downham Eau, the harvest- 

 men were, in certain seasons, obliged 

 to stand upon a platform to reap their 

 corn, which was carried to and from 



the drier parts in boats ; and some of 

 the fanners, in like manner, rowed 

 through their orchards in order to 

 gather the fruit from the trees. A 

 large portion of Littleport Fen, in 

 the South Level, was let at Is. an 

 acre, and, in the summer-time, stock 

 were turned in amongst the reed and 

 " turf-bass," and not seen for days 

 together. In Marshland Fen, the soil 

 was so soft that wooden shoes, or 

 flat boards, were nailed on the horses' 

 feet over the iron ones, to prevent 

 them from sinking into the soil. 



