The Middle Level Navigations are to be found on the
east coast of England between the River Nene and the Great Ouse and although
navigable their main purpose has always been that of drainage of the
surrounding low lying fens, in order to reclaim or improve the land for
agricultural purposes.
The middle levels contain an area of low lying fens of about 270 square
mile, quite a lot of which has actually fallen below sea level as a result
of drainage and the reclamation of wetlands over the last few hundred years,
creating fertile agricultural land that has at times been vulnerable to
flooding from the sea when defences have been breached.
The first recorded attempts at drainage of this land go back to 1480 when
John Morton the Bishop of Ely instigated a 12 mile cut from Stanground to
Guyhirme effectively straightening the river Nene. The ditch which was
called Morton’s Leam was 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep with labour provided
by prisoners of war ( mainly French) from theHundred years War.
This was improved upon by Sir John Popham ( Lord Chief Justice )in 1608 who
initiated workon a drainage scheme near Upwell, which was never actually
completed but provided a five and a half mile cut from the old course of the
Nene to near March to Well creek at Nordelph. This was followed bu further
work in 1630 by Cornelius Vermuyden ( a Dutch Engineer ) was employed by the
earl of Bedford and other interested parties to drain the Fens. The work
involving improvements to a 21 mile stretch of the Old Bedford River between
Earith and Salters Lode, which improved the land sufficiently to be able use
it as summer grazing.
1650 saw the construction of the new Bedford River, which ran parallel to
the old Bedford River , effectively draining th eland between them. These
were shortly followed by the Forty Foot, Twenty Foot and Sixteen foot Rivers
to drain further areas.
1824 and 1839 John Dyson was employed to oversee the the reconstruction of
10 locks and sluices the work being complete by 1832
1844 saw the construction of the Middle level Drain taking the water to
Wiggenhall St Germans which was follwed by the creation of the Middle Level
Commissioners by an Act of Parliament in 1862 , who were appointed to
oversee and maintain the drainage waterways of the Fens.
The process of continual drainage resulted in progressive contraction of the
peat soil and the gradual lowering ofthe level of the land until by the 1930
a pumping station had to be installed at St Germans to allow progress to
continue with continual improvements up until the current day.
Today the Middle Level Navigations provide about 100 miles of navigable
waterway, including a popular short cut between the River nene at Peter
borough and the Great Ouse at Salters Lode Lock.
