A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire
Being a Description of the Rivers Witham and Welland and their Estuary, and an Account of the Reclamation, Drainage, and Enclosure of the Fens Adjacent Thereto

This expanded 1896 second edition gives a detailed history of the reclamation and drainage of the Fens of South Lincolnshire.

William Henry Wheeler (Author)

9781108066419, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 31 October 2013

664 pages, 2 b/w illus. 14 maps
24.4 x 17 x 3.4 cm, 1.04 kg

A respected hydraulic engineer, William Henry Wheeler (1832–1915) established himself as an authority in the fields of low-lying land reclamation and drainage, embanking, and the improvement of tidal rivers and harbours. First published in 1868, Wheeler's historical work on the Fens of South Lincolnshire is reissued here in its much expanded second edition of 1896. It discusses in detail the reclamation of the fenland in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The coverage includes a history of each of the districts, the Acts of Parliament involved, the pumping machinery used, the management of the highways and waterways, the agriculture and geology of the area, and the costs associated with the whole reclamation project. Another of Wheeler's works, The Drainage of Fens and Low Lands (1888), is also reissued in this series. The books remain a rich source of information for local historians and civil engineers.

Preface
1. Early history of the Fens
2. The Court of Sewers
3. The North Holland parishes
4. South Holland, including the South Holland drainage district and the South Holland Embankment Trust
5. The River Witham
6. The Witham drainage districts
7. The Black Sluice
8. The Black Sluice districts
9. The Welland and the Glen, Bicker Haven and Crowland Washes
10. Deeping Fen, Bourne South Fen and Thurlby Fen
11. The estuary and proposed schemes of reclamation
12. Boston Harbour and the Witham Outfall
13. The drainage system of the Fenland, with a description of the pumping machinery
14. Agriculture of the Fenland - rent and value of land - rate of wages - value of produce
15. Waterways, roads, bridges, and railways
16. Geology and water supply
17. Natural history and products, climatology and health
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]