310 



Farming of Lincolnshire. 



maintained by the Witham Drainage Commissioners, who levy a 

 tax of 2^. per acre for that purpose ; and the smaller sewers being 

 superintended and well kept by the Fourth District Commissioners 

 for an internal drainage-tax of about 6d. per acre. 



East Fen has also a catch- water drain, which commences at 

 Little Steeping, and after a course of 9 miles unites with that from 

 the West Fen, several miles north of Boston. 



The general surface of East Fen and Wrangle Common, at the 

 time of the drainage^ was about a foot lower than that of West and 

 Wildmore Fens, and, taking the general distance of the fen at 

 13 miles from Maud-foster Gout, there remains a fall of only 

 IrV inch per mile. From this it is easy to perceive why Mr. 

 Kennie determined to conduct the East Fen waters to a separate 

 outfall. Besides, the northern part of the fen, called the " Deeps," 

 was always under water, the bottom of these reed-shaded lakes 

 averaging li feet below low-water at Maud-foster, so that no 

 drainage could possibly be effected by that gout. Since that time 

 the surface has sunk by the drying and consolidating of the soil, 

 so that if such a direction had been then chosen for the drain- 

 water a new one would have been needed before the present 

 time. 



The old outfall of Wainfleet was useless ; for, owing to the 

 defective state of the channel the low-water mark was found to be 

 2 feet 1 inch higher at Wainfleet Gout than at Maud-foster. 



About 2i miles below Maud-foster, or Si miles following the 

 bends of the river, is a place called Hob-hole, where, owing to 

 the absence of shoals or sandbanks between it and the Wash, the 

 surface of the water was found to be 4 feet lower than at Maud- 

 foster ; and it was therefore resolved to discharge the East Fen 

 waters at this point. The fall from the bottom of the Deeps to 

 this new outfall was 3 feet ; the distance of the extremity of the 

 fen is 16 miles, thus giving a fall of 2^ inches per mile ; but the 

 rest of the fen lying 3 feet 6 inches higher, the fall from thence 

 was nearly double. Accordingly, a new drain 13J miles in length 

 Avas cut from this point, through the high marsh grounds into 

 the lower East Fen, having proper side drains (as Fodder Dyke 

 and Barlode. Bell Water, &c., drains) to communicate with it; 

 and the sluice at Hob-hole was completed in 1806, the Maud- 

 foster New Gout being opened in the following year. The 

 quantity of land in East Fen is 12,424 acres, the whole of which, 

 together with more than 26,000 acres of the East Holland towns 

 (Wrangle, Leake, Butter wick, <&c.), formerly draining by Maud- 

 foster, now evacuate their waters at Hob-hole. 



Such was the success of this drainage that a large extent of the 

 marsh lands, north of Wainfleet, have diverted their water from 

 the natural and adjacent outfall of Wainfleet Haven to the better 



