Chapter XVII: Section VIII

_The same subject continued_, _front the revolution to the present time_.

In the year 1697 the Bedford Level was divided into three districts, North, Middle, and South; having one surveyor for each of the former, and two for the latter. This distribution, which had been made for its better government, was the source of considerable divisions. A misconceived distinction of interest arose between the different proprietors; and their dissatisfaction being increased during a long minority in the Bedford family, to whom, as proprietor of the North Level, the others were greatly indebted. Application was made to the Legislature in 1753, and an act obtained to settle the account of the corporation, and separate the North Level from the rest, except in those instances wherein their alliance was necessary for the service of the country. On this occasion the Duke of Bedford remitted the sum due to him from the South and Middle Levels; and the Earl of Lincoln, to whom they were also indebted, concurred in the generous example.

Soon after passing the above act, which separated the north from the middle and south levels, a treaty was negociated between the Bedford Level Corporation and the principal persons interested in the trade carried on through the river Nene, from the Port of Lynn to the counties of Huntingdon and Northampton. That part of the river which lay within the boundaries of the great Level, was so filled up by the silt and other matter, which the tides and upland waters had deposited, that the navigation was much impeded, and the expence of every voyage considerably increased. This caused an application to the managers of the Bedford Level, for their assistance in the necessary work of cleansing the channel of the river, and making it deeper; and the parties, after several meetings, agreed in the outlines of a plan intended to answer the ends both of draining and navigation. The same year, the persons interested applied to Parliament; and the measures proposed for their mutual benefit received the sanction of the legislature. By the act then passed, the corporation of the Bedford Level renounce the general power possessed over the river and its banks, and unite with a stated number of land-proprietors, chosen from the south and middle districts, in raising a _fund_, {71} to be appropriated to scour out and deepen the bed of the Nene and its communicating branches.

The above acts form the basis of the constitution appointed for the government of the Bedford Level; for though many others have been procured within the last 50 years, for draining separate districts within its limits, yet they all contain a clause, reserving the powers of the Corporation as established in the 15th Charles II.

Of late years a measure has been frequently agitated, and in 1795 passed into a law, for improving the outfall of the river Ouse, and amending the drainage of the south and middle Levels, by making a Cut across the marshes from Eaubrink to Lynn. Great advantages are expected to be derived from this new channel, and the commissioners appointed by the Act are now employed in levying taxes to enable them to proceed with the work; but it is not yet begun.

Notwithstanding the various projects that have been executed and the vast expence incurred to complete the drainage of the Fens, the work is yet imperfect; and in many places the farmer is still liable to have all the produce of his grounds carried away by inundations. The peculiar situation of the Level, which renders it the receiver of the collected waters of nine counties, and the want of attention to those comprehensive measures which alone could have equalled the evil, by providing a sufficient _outlet_ to the sea for the descending torrent, when swelled by the numerous currents from the hills produced by a rainy season, are frequently the occasion of high floods, by which many thousand acres of prime land are overwhelmed and made useless for the whole year.

Among the great variety of expedients employed to drain the marshes, where the regular and common means have failed, is the erection of windmills, or rather engines worked by the wind, which, from their number and situation in some parts of the fens, present a very singular and rather queer and grotesque appearance. These raise the water to a sufficient height to admit of its being conveyed into receptacles enough elevated to carry it into its proper channel.

A great many thousand acres, within the extent of this low country, are still in the condition of waste unimproved fen, the average value of which is said to be little more than four shillings an acre. One writer states that upwards of 150,000 acres are in that condition in Cambridgeshire alone, {73a} which, however, has been thought by others somewhat inaccurate, and beyond the truth. Be that as it may, the quantity of such lands in the fens is certainly very great, and must sufficiently demonstrate that the immense labour bestowed, in draining the Level, has not been attended with the salutary effects which the promoters of the various plans too fondly imagined and promised; and it may still be questioned whether the remedies proposed, and partially executed, are adequate to effect the intended purpose. {73b}