1 82 The Draining of the Fens 



of the Axholme marshes. Under his direction, cuts, drains, and sluices 

 were made. Chief among these was the Old Bedford River extending 

 from Earith to Salter's Lode, 70 ft. wide and 21 miles in length.^ 



In 1637, at a Session of Sewers in St Ives, the Level was judged to have 

 been drained according to the true intent of the agreement of 1630. But 

 complaints and petitions showered upon the Privy Council, and royal 

 feeling turned against the Corporation. The inner liistory of this change 

 in royal favour is obscure; at any rate, in the following year, the award 

 was set aside. The Level still remained subject to inundation in winter, 

 and so it was maintained that the contract of 1630 had not been fulfilled. 

 The king himself, now, planned to drain the Fens "in such manner as 

 to make them winter grounds", and he retained the services of Ver- 

 muyden. Soon, however, the fen difficulties were overshadowed by 

 greater troubles. The country was at war within itself 



During the Civil War the draining was in abeyance, but the project 

 had not been forgotten. After many committees and sub-committees, an 

 "Act for the draining the Great Level of the Fens" was passed in May 

 1649; and the 5th Earl of Bedford and his associates were "declared to be 

 the undertakers of the said work". In his Discourse of 1642, Vermuyden 

 had divided the Great Level into three areas : 



"i. The one from Glean to Morton's Leame. 



2. From Morton's Leame to Bedford River. 



3. From Bedford River southwards, being the remainder of the level." 



These became the North,* the Middle, and the South Levels respectively 

 (see Fig. 47). Despite continued hostility, activity was restarted under 

 Vermuyden. The earlier works were restored; banks were made; sluices 

 built; and channels scoured. In particidar, the New Bedford River was 

 cut running parallel to the Old Bedford River.3 Between the two 

 Bedford Rivers, a strip of land* was left open to form a reservoir for 

 surplus water in time of flood (see Fig. 48). The old course of the Ouse 

 was sluiced at Earith (the Hermitage Sluice) and at Denver, so that it 

 became merely the drain for the fens in the Isle of Ely. The New Bedford 



' Before this, the Old West River carried part of the Ouse in a circular course 

 around the Isle of Ely and so to Denver, and thence to the sea at Lynn. Now, this 

 water reached Denver directly through the Old Bedford River. 



^ Later, however, the North Level did not extend beyond the Welland. 



3 The New Bedford River was alternatively known as the Hundred Foot River, and, 

 tor the greater part of its course, ran half a mile to the east of the older cut. 



t This became known as "The Wash", "The Washes", or "The Washlands". 

 High "barrier" banks on the outer sides of the two cuts kept the water within definite 

 limits. It could be run off at convenience; in the early part of the nineteenth century 

 Welniore Lake Sluice was built to facilitate the run-off into the New Bedford 

 River above Denver Sluice. 



