_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}