Editing The Fens (section)

====Royal Forest====
During most of the 12th century and the early 13th century, the south Lincolnshire fens were [[Royal Forest|afforested]]. The area was enclosed by a line from Spalding, along the River Welland to [[Market Deeping]], then along the Car Dyke to [[Dowsby]] and across the fens to the Welland. It was deforested in the early 13th century. There is little agreement as to the exact dates of the establishment and demise of the forest, but it seems likely that the deforestation was connected with the [[Magna Carta]] or one of its early 13th-century restatements, though it may have been as late as 1240. The forest would have affected the economies of the townships around it and it appears that the present [[Bourne Eau]] was constructed at the time of the [[deforestation]], as [[Bourne, Lincolnshire|the town]] seems to have joined in the general prosperity by about 1280.

Though the forest was about half in [[Holland, Lincolnshire|Holland (Lincolnshire)]] and half in [[Kesteven]], it is known as Kesteven Forest.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=http://info.sjc.ox.ac.uk/forests/ForestsMapTileSheet123.html|title=Forest Map near Kesteven | type= image |website=info.sjc.ox.ac.uk|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref>