Black- Sluice Drainage. 



125 



between the hills and the river, the partitions being main drains 

 for conveying both highland and fen waters to the river ; into 

 these drains the mills threw their waters, and the '^head" not 

 being high ^''double-lifts" were not required. During the last 

 6 or 7 years, every one of the mills has been pulled down, and 

 steam-engines erected in their stead. Nearest to Lincoln is 

 Heighington Fen Engine ; the next is Nocton Engine, the j^r^^ that 

 was erected in these FenSj and the most powerful ; next is Mether- 

 ingham Engine, of 20-horse power ; then Martin Engine, of 30- 

 horse power, which drains Blankney Fen ; next to this is Timber- 

 land Engine, built in 1839 ; and there are several more, — every 

 separate fen having its steam-engine. Near Tattershall Ferry 

 Bridge, at the south extremity of these fens, is a powerful engine 

 which drains a very large tract, left at first uninclosed, called 

 Billinghay Dales," and also a part of North Kyme Fen. At 

 the village of North Kyme, the two divisions of the fen belonging 

 to it — the part under steam drainage, and that drained by wind — 

 meet in a narrow neck of fen land between two ridges of high 

 land; thus forming a connection between the ''First District" 

 now under consideration, and the " Fifth District," or basin, 

 already described. The draniings, however, are quite distinct, a 

 barrier bank, being constructed across this opening, to secure one 

 side from the floods which may desolate the other. On the op- 

 posite side of the Witham is a tract of fen land, called the 

 "Third District" in the Witham i\ct, which runs in a narrow 

 "reach" along the river from the high lands of Willingham, near 

 Lincoln, to the Kiver Bane, near Tattershall. In this district, 

 which is only of small area, steam-engines have also been erected ; 

 the Bardney Engine of 30-horse power, draining Stixwould In- 

 closure — a "wash" recently embanked; the Kirkstead Engine, 

 &c. ; and there is also one windmill at Chapel Hill, near Tat- 

 tershall Ferry Bridge — the sole survivor of all the numerous 

 mills, which once held both districts under the fickle and often 

 disastrous influence of the winds. 



In consequence of the inclosure of the " dales," &c., on both 

 sides of the Witham, when the pressure of upland water — (de- 

 scending from beyond Lincoln, Grantham, &c,) — is great, and 

 there is also a heavy downfall in these fens, there being no reser- 

 voir for the waters beyond the river, and the various intersecting 

 drains — there is a great danger of a breach in the banks. And 

 this som^etimes occurs ; last year one bank gave way, but was for- 

 tunately repaired before any great damage was done ; so that some 

 improvement is needed in the great outfall to sea. The water is 

 held up by a great sluice at Boston, for the convenience of navi- 

 gation. Thus in fact the necessity for an expensive artificial 

 drainage has been artificially created ; and by some it is expected, 



