Where can a chance encounter with a book take you?
I was perusing one of Downham Market's fine charity shops the other day and came across an AA Touring Guide from 30 years ago, but what did it say of Downham Market and does it still apply today?
A small, congested market town?
I believe it is fair to say that the town remains 'congested' due to its historic structure with narrow roads in the centre of town. And yet the town has expanded significantly in the last 30 years, doubling in the number of residents.
A brief history of the Fens Drainage?
Cornelius Vermuyden was indeed a Dutch engineer involved in the the drainage of the fens, this much is true but he wasn't the the engineer who started the drainage.
Evidence shows that early attempts to manage the Fens were made by the Romans, with constructions such as the Fens Causeway between Denver and Peterborough and Car Dyke suggesting they must have been well aware of the limitations of the Fens, with some evidence of Roman era agriculture, drainage having been identified. In the Post-Roman era, the Townlands parishes of Wisbech, Spalding, Swineshead and Boston prospered on the edges of the Fens. At this time through to the early Dark Ages any drainage created by the Romans is likely to have silted up and returned the Fens to a more natural habitat. In these early Dark Ages the Fens, through their inaccessibility, became a haven for Celtic tribes retreating from the migrating Anglo-Saxons, it wasn't until the conversion of the England to Christianity that further drainage work was attempted again. The great monasteries at Ely, Ramsey, Peterborough and Crowland through their position as major land owners managed the drainage until their dissolution in 1537. With further large scale Medieval works subsequently taking place at Bishop Morton in the late 15th Century, and the creation of Popham's Eau by the then Lord Chief Justice Sir John Popham in 1605.
It was the 1630's when work began in earnest to drain the Fens but was it Cornelius Vermuyden that undertook this work from the start? While some historical evidence suggest Vermuyden was involved from the start, analysis by Margaret Albright Knittl in the article "The Design of the Initial Drainage of The Great Level of the Fens: an historical whodunit in three parts" suggests that Vermuyden only became involved on the second phase of construction in the 1650s. In part this is technically based comparing the works of the first phase of construction to those that Vermuyden had recommended in his Discourse to King Charles I in 1639 (published 1642). On the other side of the argument for Vermuyden's involvement is the actions of the 'Fen Tigers' locals violently opposed to the constructions, who destroyed ditches, dykes, sluices and attacked the Dutch workmen. Their actions were a reaction to the drainage impacting the traditional means of livelihood of the Fenmen, as the fens, wildfowling, fishing and reed cutting would be removed and land transferred to arable farming owned by strangers. Only once compensation was agreed and English workers taken on was the drainage project able to proceed.
And the link between Vermuyden and Downham Market? He had a residence in Downham Market on the High Street, in what is reputed to have been a Bishop's Palace in Medieval times. So while Cornelius Vermuyden may not have been directly involved in the first phase of the modern drainage attempts of the Great Fen he was definitely involved in the second part of the construction.
Is this brief analysis of history correct?
Has it generated interest in the drainage engineering history of the area, particularly during a time of unrest and civil war?
Please comment and add further citations and references
References
I believe it is fair to say that the town remains 'congested' due to its historic structure with narrow roads in the centre of town. And yet the town has expanded significantly in the last 30 years, doubling in the number of residents.
A brief history of the Fens Drainage?
Cornelius Vermuyden was indeed a Dutch engineer involved in the the drainage of the fens, this much is true but he wasn't the the engineer who started the drainage.
Evidence shows that early attempts to manage the Fens were made by the Romans, with constructions such as the Fens Causeway between Denver and Peterborough and Car Dyke suggesting they must have been well aware of the limitations of the Fens, with some evidence of Roman era agriculture, drainage having been identified. In the Post-Roman era, the Townlands parishes of Wisbech, Spalding, Swineshead and Boston prospered on the edges of the Fens. At this time through to the early Dark Ages any drainage created by the Romans is likely to have silted up and returned the Fens to a more natural habitat. In these early Dark Ages the Fens, through their inaccessibility, became a haven for Celtic tribes retreating from the migrating Anglo-Saxons, it wasn't until the conversion of the England to Christianity that further drainage work was attempted again. The great monasteries at Ely, Ramsey, Peterborough and Crowland through their position as major land owners managed the drainage until their dissolution in 1537. With further large scale Medieval works subsequently taking place at Bishop Morton in the late 15th Century, and the creation of Popham's Eau by the then Lord Chief Justice Sir John Popham in 1605.
It was the 1630's when work began in earnest to drain the Fens but was it Cornelius Vermuyden that undertook this work from the start? While some historical evidence suggest Vermuyden was involved from the start, analysis by Margaret Albright Knittl in the article "The Design of the Initial Drainage of The Great Level of the Fens: an historical whodunit in three parts" suggests that Vermuyden only became involved on the second phase of construction in the 1650s. In part this is technically based comparing the works of the first phase of construction to those that Vermuyden had recommended in his Discourse to King Charles I in 1639 (published 1642). On the other side of the argument for Vermuyden's involvement is the actions of the 'Fen Tigers' locals violently opposed to the constructions, who destroyed ditches, dykes, sluices and attacked the Dutch workmen. Their actions were a reaction to the drainage impacting the traditional means of livelihood of the Fenmen, as the fens, wildfowling, fishing and reed cutting would be removed and land transferred to arable farming owned by strangers. Only once compensation was agreed and English workers taken on was the drainage project able to proceed.
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| Was this once the residence of Cornelius Vermuyden? |
And the link between Vermuyden and Downham Market? He had a residence in Downham Market on the High Street, in what is reputed to have been a Bishop's Palace in Medieval times. So while Cornelius Vermuyden may not have been directly involved in the first phase of the modern drainage attempts of the Great Fen he was definitely involved in the second part of the construction.
Is this brief analysis of history correct?
Has it generated interest in the drainage engineering history of the area, particularly during a time of unrest and civil war?
Please comment and add further citations and references
References
- AA Central England and East Anglia Regional Touring Guide, AA Publishing, 1987
- Knittl, M.A., The Design of the Initial Drainage of The Great Level of the Fens: an historical whodunit in three parts, Agricultural History Review 2007, vol 55(1), pp23-50. http://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/55_102Knittl.pdf
- A History of Downham Market compiled by Downham Market and District Amenity Society
- 'The Middle Level of the Fens and its reclamation', in A History of the County of Huntingdon: Volume 3, ed. William Page, Granville Proby and S Inskip Ladds (London, 1936), pp. 249-290. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hunts/vol3/pp249-290 [accessed 11 July 2017].
- http://www.richsoilrichheritage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Draining-the-Fens-learning-resources-Rich-Soil-Rich-Heritage-Low-Res.pdf
- http://www.greatfen.org.uk/heritage/drained-fens
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fens
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