Editing River Witham (section)

==History==
[[File:The Witham Shield (geograph 3380058).jpg|thumb|left|100px|The [[Witham Shield]], normally kept at the [[British Museum]] photographed during its visit to [[The Collection (Lincolnshire)|The Collection]] in 2013]]
The name "Witham" seems to be extremely old, apparently predating Anglo-Saxon, Roman, and even Celtic influence.<ref name=Cameron142/> The meaning is uncertain,{{sfn |Mills |2003}} although one possibility is ''Wye-om'', meaning ''river plain'', and the river has been known as the Witham since Saxon times. However, it was known as the ''Grant Avon'' in Ancient British times, meaning ''divine stream'', and the fact that the main town on the upper river was [[Grantham|''Grant-ham'']] may support this. [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] writing in the 16th century noted that it was also called the Lindis, and others referred to it by that name.{{sfn |Wheeler |1896 |pp=135-136}} The present course may be a combination of two rivers, with the upper river originally emptying into Brayford Mere, to the west of Lincoln, and draining along the course of the [[Fossdyke Navigation|Fossdyke]], while the Langworth River emptied into another mere to the east of Lincoln, located between Washingborough and Chapel Hill. From there, the water flowed along a tidal creek to reach the sea. There was a ridge of high ground between the two meres, and the Romans cut a channel through it as part of some drainage works.{{sfn |Wheeler |1896 |p=136}}

Archaeological evidence points to river navigation as far back as the Iron Age.  Artefacts such as the Iron Age [[Witham Shield]], found in the river near [[Washingborough]] in 1826,<ref name=WS>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/t/the_witham_shield.aspx|title=Witham Shield|access-date=4 May 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103180615/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/t/the_witham_shield.aspx|archive-date=3 November 2015}}</ref> and the Fiskerton Boat, a log boat found near [[Fiskerton, Lincolnshire|Fiskerton]] during flood defence work in 2001<ref>{{cite web|last=Kennedy|first=Anra|title=Treasures of the Celtic Causeway – The Fiskerton Log Boat|url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/history%20%26%20heritage/archaeology/megaliths%20and%20prehistoric%20archaeology/art12215 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709013604/http://www.culture24.org.uk/history%20%26%20heritage/archaeology/megaliths%20and%20prehistoric%20archaeology/art12215 |archive-date=9 July 2013 |work=Culture 24 |publisher=Department for education |access-date=4 May 2013 |date=26 March 2002}}</ref> have been recovered{{sfn|Field |Pearson |2003 }} and are on display at the [[British Museum]] in London or [[The Collection (Lincolnshire)|The Collection]] in Lincoln.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fiskerton boat|url=http://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/?/visiting-us/exhibit/fiskerton-log-boat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920203301/https://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/visiting-us/exhibit/fiskerton-log-boat |archive-date=20 September 2020 |url-status=live |work=The Collection|publisher=Lincolnshire county council|access-date=4 May 2013}}</ref>

The Witham was an important navigation in Roman times. Lincoln ([[Lindum]])—the meeting point of [[Ermine Street]], joining London to [[York]], and [[Fosse Way]], leading to [[Leicester]] and [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]—was an important Roman fort that became one of only four [[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]] in Britain. Most important Roman cities were situated near navigable water, which enabled goods to be transported in bulk, but Lincoln did not possess this advantage, and so the Romans constructed the [[Fossdyke Navigation|Fossdyke]] from Lincoln to [[Torksey]] on the [[River Trent]], improved the River Witham from Lincoln to [[The Wash]], and built the [[Car Dyke]] from Lincoln to the [[River Cam]] near [[Cambridge]].{{sfn |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=254–256}} The Witham thus gave Lincoln access to the east coast, while the Fossdyke gave access to the Trent and further on to the [[Humber]].

There have been claims that the Witham was originally tidal up to Lincoln, but that seems unlikely. Prior to the construction of the Grand Sluice, the lower river was affected by tides, but the highest they normally reached was Dogdyke or Chapel Hill, and Lincoln is considerably higher than these locations, by some {{convert|5|to|7|ft|m}}. Wheeler argues that it "would not have been possible for the tide to flow up to Lincoln," given the present geological conditions.{{sfn |Wheeler |1896 |p=137}}

Trading continued throughout the medieval period evidenced by the importance of Torksey, which was then a flourishing town, now only a small village. However, the Fossdyke needed much maintenance to keep it clear of silt. [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] had overseen the scouring of its channel, and there were inquiries in 1335, 1365 and 1518 to consider the state of the Fossdyke and to compel the inhabitants of the region to maintain it. Lincoln was a centre for the collection of business taxes, but this came at the cost of maintaining the waterways, and having finally decided it was too large a cost, [[James VI and I|James I]] presented the Fossdyke to the [[Lincoln, England|City of Lincoln]].{{sfn |Boyes |Russell |1977 |pp=256–257}}

The Witham originally flowed into The Wash at [[Bicker Haven]], where the port of [[Drayton, Lincolnshire|Drayton]] was established in the [[River Welland|Welland]] estuary, and it was only as a result of massive flooding in 1014 that it diverted itself to flow into [[The Haven, Boston|The Haven]] at [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://shippingtandy.com/features/boston-lincs/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923211245/https://shippingtandy.com/features/boston-lincs/ |archive-date=23 September 2023 |url-status=live |first=Serena |last=Shores |title=Port of Call: Boston (Lincs.) |magazine=Shipping today and yesterday |publisher=Tandy Media |date=18 October 2016}}</ref> This gave rise to the growth of Boston as a port in the 12th and 13th&nbsp;centuries, exporting wool and salt to the [[Hanseatic League]], though Boston only received its charter in 1545.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pridemagazines.co.uk/lincolnshire/highlights/the-history-and-heritage-of-boston/05-2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806125706/https://www.pridemagazines.co.uk/lincolnshire/highlights/the-history-and-heritage-of-boston/05-2018 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |url-status=live |title=The History and Heritage of Boston |date=14 May 2018 |publisher=Lincolnshire Pride}}</ref>

[[File:Woodhall Spa - Kirkstead Bridge 1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kirkstead Bridge]] ([[B1191 road]])]]
The river was affected by silting which restricted trade despite the construction of various sluices and barriers from 1142 onwards, when the first sluice was built below Boston.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.w4idb.co.uk/about-us/our-history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126173204/https://www.w4idb.co.uk/about-us/our-history/ |archive-date=26 November 2020 |url-status=live |publisher=Witham Fourth District Drainage Board |title=Our History |access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref> Other sluices were erected at Boston in 1500 and at [[Langrick]] in 1543, but navigation was again difficult on both the river and the Fossdyke by 1660.{{sfn |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=257}} In 1671 an [[Act of Parliament]] was obtained for the improvement of the Navigation.{{sfn |Priestley |1831 |pp=684–691}} In 1743, [[John Grundy, Sr.]] and his son [[John Grundy, Jr.]] were commissioned to produce a detailed survey of the river. They produced an engraved map in 1743 and a printed report, running to 48 pages, in the following year. The main recommendation was a {{convert|7|mi|km|adj=on}} new cut to eliminate the "prodigious meandering course" of the channel above Boston. Although the estimated cost of £16,200 dissuaded the landowners from taking action at the time, the report formed the basis for improvements in the 1760s.{{sfn |Skempton |2002 |pp=277–278}}

===Canalisation===
Following meetings of Landowners held in 1752 and 1753, they asked John Grundy Jr, as his father had died in 1748, to re-evaluate his plans from 1744 and consider a plan for a "Grand Sluice" that had been produced by Daniel Coppin in 1745. Grundy suggested that the 1744 cut should be extended by a further {{convert|2|mi|km}} into Boston, and that the sluice could then be built on the extension. The landowners moved the location of the sluice nearer to Boston, but otherwise approved his report, although no action was taken. John Grundy was again consulted in 1757, and Langley Edwards of King's Lynn was asked to review the positioning of the sluice in 1760. The landowners then asked [[John Smeaton]] to liaise with Grundy and Edwards, and the three engineers produced a joint report in 1761, with estimates of £38,000 for drainage works and £7,400 for improvements to navigation. The report was approved, although a meeting held in January 1762 decided that the new cut should revert to the alignment suggested by Grundy in 1753. The location of the Grand Sluice would be as suggested by Edwards in 1760. Grundy produced another engraved map, and parliamentary approval for the works was obtained in June 1762.<ref name=skempton280>{{harvnb |Skempton |2002 |p=280}}</ref>

Once the Act of Parliament was obtained, Edwards became the engineer for the project, and drew up the detailed plans, which Grundy and Smeaton checked and altered slightly, after which they had no further involvement with the scheme. Construction was started in April 1763, and the drainage element of the project, which included the sluice, was finished in 1768, having cost £42,000. Work on three locks and other work connected with navigation cost £6,000 and continued until 1771.<ref name=skempton280/> The locks were located at Stamp End, Kirkstead and Barlings.{{sfn |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=259}} The Grand Sluice was a major construction which maintained the height of water above Boston to near normal high tide level and had massive flood gates to cope with any tides above this. It was completed in 1766<ref name=labrum66>{{harvnb |Labrum |1994 |p=66}}</ref> and was effective in scouring the Haven below it and increasing silting of the river above it.

The 1762 act created the Witham Navigation Commissioners and the Witham Drainage General Commissioners,{{sfn |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=258}} who continued to promote drainage schemes actively,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://witham-1st-idb.gov.uk/?page_id=30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126011624/http://witham-1st-idb.gov.uk/?page_id=30 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |url-status=live |publisher=Witham First Drainage Board |title=History |access-date=14 July 2018}}</ref> creating a drainage network known as the [[Witham Navigable Drains]] that transformed much of northern Lincolnshire from fen to farming land. Today many of these channels are managed by the Witham [[Witham First District IDB|First]], [[Witham Third District IDB|Third]] and Fourth District Internal Drainage Boards and Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board. These four [[internal drainage board]]s reduce the flood risk to the surrounding properties, land and environment.

In 1791, as part of the campaign to promote the construction of the [[Horncastle Canal]], the Commissioners of the River Witham asked the engineer [[William Jessop]] to assess the state of the [[Fossdyke Navigation]] and the Witham, with particular reference to the problems of navigating through Lincoln, where the channel was restricted by a medieval bridge. He proposed two solutions; the first avoided the route through the city entirely, by utilising the course of the Sincil Dyke to the south, while the second involved lowering the bottom of the channel through the Glory Hole bridge, which was only {{convert|18|in|cm}} deep at normal water levels. The Commissioners had imposed a toll on all traffic passing under the bridge, but decided that a channel bypassing the city would have grave financial consequences. They opted for improving the existing channel<ref name=boyes261>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=261}}</ref> and the work to remove the wooden floor, to lower the river bed under the bridge and to underpin its foundations was completed in 1795.<ref name=labrum60>{{harvnb |Labrum |1994 |pp=60–61}}</ref> The Commissioners dropped the collection of tolls at the bridge, but the amount they received from traffic passing through the locks increased as the volume of traffic grew in response to the easier passage through the bridge.<ref name=boyes261/>

===The Grand Sluice===
When completed in 1766, Edwards' Grand Sluice consisted of three channels each {{convert|17|ft|m}} wide, fitted with pointed gates on both sides, and a lock adjacent to the north bank, which could be used as an additional flood relief channel if required.<ref name=labrum66/> The lock was originally very small, but was lengthened to its current {{convert|41|by|12|ft|m}}<ref name=jane>{{harvnb |Cumberlidge |1998 |pp=104–105}}</ref> in 1881. The pointed doors on the non-tidal side of the sluice were replaced by steel guillotine gates between 1979 and 1982.<ref name=labrum66/>

===Improvements===
{{River Witham map}}
The state of the Witham had deteriorated by 1802, and the Commissioners asked [[John Rennie the Elder|John Rennie]] for advice. He stated that the Kirkstead lock was badly placed, and the associated staunch was in danger of collapse. He recommended that it be demolished and rebuilt elsewhere, and also suggested that access to Boston should be through the Witham Navigable Drains, rather than the Grand Sluice, or that a new cut should be built to the south of the sluice, to rejoin the river at Boston Harbour.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |pp=261-262}} In 1803, he suggested that High Bridge at Lincoln should be demolished and rebuilt. Four years later, he suggested that the locks at Kirkstead and Barlings should be removed, and replaced by one near Washingborough church. The Commissioners petitioned parliament in 1808, and a new Act of Parliament authorised the work, to be carried out by a company of proprietors. They could borrow £30,000 for the drainage element of the scheme and £70,000 for the navigation element. Two new locks were built, one at Stamp End and the other at Bardney, which replaced the original locks. A new channel was cut near [[Fiskerton, Lincolnshire|Fiskerton]], upstream of Bardney, and the plan for a lock at Washingborough was dropped.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |p=262}} While Stamp End lock was being rebuilt, an alternative route was provided, utilising the Sincil Dyke and the South Delph.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |p=261}} Rennie recorded that Branston Delph, Carlton Dike, Nocton Delph and Timberland Dike were navigable at the time. The proprietors obtained three more Acts of Parliament, in 1812, 1826 and 1829, all with the main aim of allowing more capital to be raised.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |pp=262-263}}
[[File:Poster for the Favorite Paddle Steamer (1828).png|thumb|left|Poster for the Favorite Paddle Steamer between Lincoln and Boston, July 1829]]
Tolls on the Witham had gradually risen as improvements had been made. £263 was raised in 1763–4, and had reached £898 by 1790.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |p=259}} In 1819, income exceeded £4,100 for the six months from March to September, and a five per cent dividend was paid in the following year. By 1826, over £180,000 had been spent on improvements, and another £40,000 was needed. However, the proprietors were still optimistic, and commissioned [[John Rennie the Younger|Sir John Rennie]] to investigate an extension to link the Witham to the [[River Ancholme]], but although he made two proposals, neither was implemented.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |p=265}} Most traffic was carried by sailing vessels or in barges hauled by horses, but in March 1816, the first steam packet boat arrived on the river. It was named ''Witham'' and had been built by Shuttleworth and Robinson, whose yard was on Sincil Dyke. Despite a boiler explosion in March 1817, fortunately without causing injury to any of the crew or the 30 passengers, a second steam packet was operating by July 1817, and they soon displaced the sailing packet boats. During a flood in 1828, one of them lost power when a floating hedge became jammed in the paddle wheels. In the following year, a Lincoln man, [[William Pool (engineer)|William Pool]] invented a new type of paddlewheel, which resulted in the boats travelling faster, and in 1836, wooden vessels were superseded by iron packet boats.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |pp=265-266}}

Railways reached Lincoln in August 1848, 15 years after the first proposal. The Wakefield, Lincoln and Boston Railway hoped to build railways in the area, and negotiated with the proprietors and those of the Fosdyke. Under the arrangement, they would take over both navigations, and guarantee a fixed income for the proprietors. They would then merge with the London and York Railway. Both proposals had been absorbed into the [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]] (GNR) by the time an Act of Parliament was obtained, but the original agreement was retained, and the GNR leased the Witham for 999 years for a payment of £10,545 per year to the proprietors. This figure represented the average profits for the previous three years, plus five per cent. The railway company also agreed to pay the interest on mortgages amounting to £24,692 which the proprietors held, but had redeemed them by 1857. The railway from Lincoln to Boston ran along the eastern bank of the river, and opened on 17 October 1848.{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |p=266}}

Most of the stations were located near to the landing stages which the steam packets used, and the railway did all it could to draw passengers away from the river. This included the provision of fourth-class carriages, with fares set at a halfpenny per mile, in 1850, and by 1863, the steam packet boats had ceased operation. Freight traffic also declined, with coal passing through the Grand Sluice dropping from 19,535 tons in 1847 to 3,780 tons in 1857. Nevertheless, the railway company had to maintain the river, and in 1871, spent £5,000 on making Bardney lock deeper by {{convert|5|ft|m}} at the request of the drainage commissioners. The GNR leased the navigation to the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Committee in 1882, and in 1897, by which time the [[Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway]] had become the [[Great Central Railway]], they built a large warehouse beside Brayford Pool, with a transhipment dock next to it. Total traffic on the river had fallen to 18,548 tons in 1905, and averaged 5,870 tons during the years of the [[First World War]], mainly general merchandise and agricultural produce. With the nationalisation of the waterways following the [[Second World War]], the navigation eventually became the responsibility of [[British Waterways]]{{sfn |Boyes | Russell |1977 |pp=266-267}} as a result of the [[Transport Act 1962]], and since 2 July 2012 has been managed by the [[Canal & River Trust]].