The Foss Dyke

Foss Dyke may be the oldest canal in Britain that has seen near continuous use and was possibly constructed by the Romans about 120 Ad, though some authorities would cast doubt on this, though certainly it was around in 1121, where records suggest construction or perhaps re-construction by Simeon of Durham, which would possibly put it in the same sort of era as Beverley Beck, which is first mentioned about 1295, without giving a date of construction.

Whatever the truth of the situation it is an ancient and historic that must precede the construction of most other canals in the country by well over 500 years.

The canal links the river Witham in at  Lincoln to the  Trent at Torksey ( Lincs) and possibly follows a former river bed used by the Trent in prehistoric times before emptying into the Wash. The route was thus eminently suitable for canal construction and runs for about 11 miles the connection to the Trent linking it in with the major navigations.

The Vikings reputably made use on it in their raids on England from about 840 to just before the Norman conquest and the Normans used it to transport stone to Lincoln to build the Cathedral, records show it was dredged in 1121 to increase its depth ( if this was not the original construction works as some claim )and a protest by Katherine Swynford is recorded in 1375 in order to get the canal repaired. In 1753 it became the property of the Lincolnshire corporation, with an Act allowing dredging and straightening passed in 1762, with further works recorded in 1840. The lease of the canal passed to the Great Northern Railway in 1846, who must have been buying out the competition as they then charged heavier tolls for the canal than they did for the Railway for the passage of freight, though still the canal was used for the transport of grain until 1972, though in earlier times its chief cargo would have been wool.

Remarkably this waterway not only predates most others in construction but has out lasted most others as well in terms of viable commercial use.

Currently of course the major use is leisure, providing facilities for boats, fishermen and users of the Towpaths such as walkers cyclists and joggers as it passes through the Lincolnshire countryside, offering much needed respite from the pressures of modern life also providing habitats for wildlife and drainage for the land.