The History of the Drainage of the Great Level of the Fens, Called Bedford Level
With the Constitution and Laws of the Bedford Level Corporation

Published 1828–30, this two-volume work provides documentation and historical information relating to a remarkable swathe of eastern England.

Samuel Wells (Author)

9781108070317, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 November 2014

860 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 4.8 cm, 1.24 kg

Much of eastern England is below sea level, resulting in wide swathes of marshland that are easily flooded. In the seventeenth century, the Bedford Level Corporation was set up by Francis Russell, fourth earl of Bedford, in order to manage the drainage of the Great Level of the Fens, which became known as the Bedford Level and is the largest region of fenland in eastern England. Between 1828 and 1830, Samuel Wells, the corporation's registrar, published his well-documented history of the Bedford Level and the attempts made at various points to clear it of water using a variety of methods, from earthworks raised by the Romans to the strategies of Sir Cornelius Vermuyden and the eventual introduction of steam-powered technology. Volume 1, published in 1830, contains a historical account of the area and of the commission set up to address the perennial problem of flooding.

Preface
1. The Great Level
2. Causes of inundation
3. Original state of the Great Level
4. State of the Great Level from the Conquest to the Reformation
5. State of the Great Level during the reign of Queen Elizabeth
6. State of the Great Level under Charles I
7. Oliver Cromwell
8. State of the Great Level under the Commonwealth
9. Division of the Great Level
10. State of the South Level
11. Petitions
12. State of the Great Level under the Protectorate continued
13. Causes of the restoration
14. Continued exertions of William Earl of Bedford
15. Phenomena of the Fens
16. Boundary of the Bedford Level
17. Officers of the corporation
18. General commissions of sewers
19. Registration of deeds
20. Parliamentary proceedings
21. Particulars of the 95,000 acres of Adventurers' lands
22. Division of the Three Levels
23. The Middle Level
24. The South Level, and its boundary
25. The port of Lynn
Index.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]