58 The Drainage of Fens and Low Lands. 



Steam power as applied to Fen drainage in this country 

 came into use about sixty years ago. In 1820 Rennie applied 

 one of Watt's engines to the working of a scoop wheel 

 for draining Bottisham Fen, near Ely. The success of the 

 steam engine in draining water from the Cornish mines 

 naturally led to the adoption for land drainage of the same 

 type of machines as used for that purpose. The engines were 

 massive and substantial condensing beam engines, working at 

 a steam pressure of from 3 lb. to 5 lb. The structure consisted 

 of heavy cast-iron beams, working on girders resting on the 

 walls, and supported by ornamental cast- iron columns. The 

 connecting-rods were attached to crank shafts, on which were 

 fixed pinions working into spur wheels, or into a toothed 

 wheel running round the inside of the scoop wheel. The 

 foundations for carrying these engines and for the bearings 

 of the wheels, which often weighed as much as 50 tons, were 

 necessarily of a heavy and expensive character, piling and 

 planking having been almost universally resorted to for the 

 foundations. These massive engines seemed in character 

 with the ponderous scoop wheels which were then universally 

 used for lifting the water. Most of those in the Fenland bear 

 on their framing the name of the Butterley Iron Company as 

 makers, and the excellency of the workmanship is shown by 

 the fact that after running for more than half a century, the 

 greater part are still worked, some almost without alteration, 

 but others with only slight changes to adapt them to a more 

 economical use of steam. The engines more recently erected 

 have been of various types, the descriptions of some of the 

 best of which will be found in the account of the drainage 

 stations to be hereafter given. 



Engines used for draining land should be of as simple a 

 character as possible, and free from all complicated parts. 

 The more nearly they approach the type of engines used for 

 agricultural purposes, the less difficulty will be experienced in 

 obtaining experienced enginemen. The saving of coal by 



