Farming of Lincolnshire. 



311 



one of Hob-hole, though four times more distant. The river 

 which supplies the Haven rises among; the hills at Salmonbj, 

 and bringing down with it the water from Aswarby, Harrington, 

 Partnev, Raithby, &c., becks, passes with great rapidity into the 

 fen. Before the great v/ork of drainage now under notice was 

 commenced, it was estimated that seven parts out of eight of this 

 stream (called the Steeping River), went back into the fen in- 

 stead of flowing through the Haven, and, consequently, the low 

 lands of Steeping, Firsby, Thorpe, and Croft, were subject to 

 dreadful inundations in wet seasons. An act was passed m 1818 

 for the more effectual drainage of the above parishes, together 

 with Irby^ Bratoft, and Wainfleet-iVU- Saints ; and this embanked 

 river was made to have a straighter course between Steeping Mill 

 and Firsby Clough,* from which a new cut of 2 miles to Wain- 

 fleet saved a circuitous course of nearly twice that distance. The 

 high land water of these parishes was thus separated from that of 

 their low lands, the drainage of which (with part of Burgh) was 

 conveyed by a culvert under the Steeping river into Bell- water 

 Drain, communicating with the Hob-hole Drain. 



Previous to the drainage, the East Fen was a w-ilderness of pools, 

 bogs, and reed-shoals, and the low grounds of the contiguous 

 parishes were generally flooded for six months in the year — the 

 water seldom subsiding until May, or even later, and a part of the 

 waters in Friskney were raised by a wind-engine, and sent to sea 

 through a small gout. The whole of the fen, and a great part of 

 the lands participating in its drainage, have now a generally good 

 drainage, not being subject to overflow except in the very wettest 

 seasons, or in times like the present (1850), when the tides flow 

 several feet above their common level. The drainage taxes amount 

 to \s. per acre to the Witham Commissioners, and from 4c/. to 6c/. 

 per acre for the management of the various interior drains. The 

 lands surrounding the villages of Frieston, Bennington, Leverton, 

 &c., are imperfectly drained, although on a much higher level 

 than the well-drained commons on the north-west of them= The 

 outfall is good, so that nothing is required but the providing of 

 servers of sufficient capacity, and keeping them in proper order — 

 a dutv much necjlected throug-hout this neio-hbourhood. 



Bounded south by the rivers Glen and VVelland, and west and 

 north by the Old Hammond Beck, is a tract of " old land" lying 

 between the fen and marsh, including Gosberton, Donington, 

 Swineshead, Wigtoft, &c. parishes, and the lower lands in the 

 anciently reclaimed Bicker Haven. The principal sewers re- 

 semble ditches rather than drains, consisting of Old Ouse-]Mer- 

 Lode, the Five Towns Drain, Kirton Drain, &c., which wander 



* Pronounced "clow," meaning a sluice where two or three streams meet. 



