120 The Nineteenth Century- 



was to eliminate the great bend by a new straight cut made large enough to 

 take quickly out to sea the whole body of the Ouse water. The Eau Brink 

 Act, authorising the cut, was obtained in 1795. Disputes and. delays 

 followed, and. the work was not completed until 1821. 



It was therefore in an atmosphere of controversy that the two reports 

 of 1794 and 1813 were compiled. Indeed., one of Vancouver's main objects 

 was to see "how far the proposed measure, of diverting the course of the 

 river Ouze, from its present channel between Eau-brink, and the Haven of 

 Lynn, would, embrace aU the objects so fondly anticipated by the promoter 

 of that measure".^ Gooch, too, dealt with the desirability of an Eau Brink 

 Cut. As he pointed out, the opinions were varied enough. But, at any 

 rate, "all were agreed that something must be done or the country will be 

 lost". During the succeeding years of the century, the straight line of the 

 Eau Brink Cut was continued seawards by the Marsh Cut of 1852, and, 

 later, by training walls built to carry the Ouse waters out to sea amid the 

 shifting banks of the estuary.^ 



Complementary to the outfall question was the problem of the internal 

 drains. Internal drainage during the eighteendi century had been accom- 

 plished by windmills that pumped water from the lowering peat surface 

 into the high-riding river channels. 3 But, in the report of 1813, there is a 

 hint of changes to come. The mills, depending on wind, were "often 

 useless when most wanted",'* and the proprietors consequently sustained 

 "material injury". To remedy this, steam engines had been recommended, 

 and, declared Gooch, "I found many persons in the county entertaining 

 an opinion that they would answer". It was argued that the advantages 

 to be obtained from the introduction of steam to the fen country were 

 "almost incalculable". But there was delay and hesitation. Not until 

 1820 was the first steam-driven mill set up at Bottisham Fen. Succeeding 

 years5 but verified the prophecy of Gooch that "until a power can be 

 commanded at will, for the drainage of the fen-country, it can never 

 attain its full prosperity". 



The improvements in draining that marked the nineteenth century 

 were paralleled by improvements in agricultural practice. Owing to 

 continued shrinkage and wastage, the surface layer of peat in the southern 

 Fenland was becoming so thin, that, in some districts, the underlying clay 

 was within easy reach of the plough.^ Thus the virtues of clay were dis- 

 covered, ^ and so potent did they prove to be that, where the clay was too 



' C. Vancouver, p. 8. ^ See pp. 191 and 201 below. 



3 See p. 187 below. 



■f See W. Gooch, pp. 239 et seq. for the quotations that follow in this paragraph. 

 5 See pp. 1.88-9 below. ^ See pp. 131 and 186 below. 



' J. M. Hcathcote, Reminiscences of Fen and Merc (1876), p. 90. 



