168 KENNIE'S DEAINAGE OF PART VII. 



therefore, this great impediment to the drainage of the 

 Level could be removed, it was clear to Mr. Rennie's 

 mind that no inland works could be of any permanent 

 advantage. The remedy which he proposed was, to cut 

 off the great bend in the Ouse by making a direct new 

 channel from Eau Brink, near the mouth of Marshland 

 Drain, to a point in the river a little above the town of 

 Lynn, as shown in the following plan : 



The cut was to be about three miles in length, and of 

 sufficiently capacious dimensions to contain the whole 

 body of the river. By thus shortening the line of the 

 stream, Mr. Rennie calculated that the channel would be 

 kept clear of silt by the greater velocity of the current, 

 and that the fresh waters would at the same time be able 

 to force their way out to sea without difficulty. An Act 

 was accordingly obtained enabling the Eau Brink to 

 be cut ; but some years passed before any steps were 

 taken to carry out the works, which were not actually 

 begun until the year 1817, when Mr. Rennie was formally 

 appointed the chief engineer. After about four years' 

 labour the cut was finished and opened, and its imme- 

 diate effect was to give great relief to the whole of the 

 district watered by the Ouse. An extra fall of not less 

 than five feet and a half was obtained at St. German's, 



