Editing The Fens (section)

==Areas of the Fens==

Drainage in the Fenland consists of both [[Drainage basin|river drainage]] and internal drainage of the land between the rivers. The internal drainage was organised by ''levels'' or districts, each of which includes the fen parts of one or several [[civil parishes in England|parishes]]. The details of the organisation vary with the history of their development, but the areas generally include:

===Great Level===

* The Great Level of the Fens is the largest region of fen in eastern England: including the lower drainage basins of the [[River Nene]] and the [[Great Ouse]], it covers about {{convert|500|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}. It is also known as the Bedford Level, after [[Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford]], who headed the so-called [[Adventurers (land drainage)|adventurers]] (investors) in the 17th-century drainage in this area; [[William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford|his son]] became the first governor of the [[Bedford Level Corporation]]. In the 17th century, the Great Level was divided into the North, Middle and South Levels for the purposes of administration and maintenance. In the 20th century, these levels were given new boundaries; they included some fens that were never part of the jurisdiction of the Bedford Level Corporation.
**The South Level lies to the southeast of the [[Ouse Washes]] and surrounds Ely, as it did in the 17th century.
**The Middle Level lies between the Ouse Washes and the Nene, but historically was defined as between the Ouse Washes and [[Morton's Leam]], a 15th-century canal that runs north of the town of [[Whittlesey]].
**The North Level now includes all of the fens in Cambridgeshire and [[Lincolnshire]] between the Nene and the [[River Welland]]. It originally included only a small part of these lands, including the ancient parishes of [[Thorney, Cambridgeshire|Thorney]] and [[Crowland]], but excluding most of [[Hundreds of Cambridgeshire|Wisbech Hundred]] and Lincolnshire, which were under their own local jurisdictions.<ref>"An Act for settling the Draining of the Great Level of the Fens called Bedford Level", 1663, reproduced in Samuel Wells, ''The History of the Drainage of the Great Level of the Fens called Bedford Level,'' (London, 1830), Vol.2, pp.383ff.</ref>[[File:Bylaws for the drainage of Deeping Fen (geograph 3691189).jpg|right|thumb|The former by-laws of Deeping Fen at [[Pode Hole]] near [[Spalding, Lincolnshire|Spalding]]]]

===Bourne and Deeping Fens===
Bourne Fen and [[Deeping Fen]] lie in the southern most parts of Lincolnshire, between the Rivers Welland and the [[Bourne Eau]] with the [[River Glen, Lincolnshire|River Glen]] running between the two Fens and the area covers both the town of [[Bourne, Lincolnshire|Bourne]] as well as [[The Deepings]] including the villages of [[Langtoft, Lincolnshire|Langtoft]] and [[Baston]].

===Lindsey Level===
The Lindsey Level, also known as the Black Sluice District, was first drained in 1639 and extends from the Glen and Bourne Eau to [[Swineshead, Lincolnshire|Swineshead]] and then across to [[Kirton, Lincolnshire|Kirton]]. Its waters is carried mostly though the [[South Forty-Foot Drain]] through to [[The Haven, Boston|the Haven]] at [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]] though the [[Black Sluice]]. Also this area includes the market town of [[Spalding, Lincolnshire|Spalding]] and the ancient village of [[Sempringham]].
The above were all redrained at one time or another after the [[English Civil War|Civil War]] (1642–1649).

===Holland, Wildmore, West and East Fens===
These areas cover the northern most part of the Fens from [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]] right up as far north west as [[Washingborough]] near [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] along the course of the [[River Witham]] and to the north east it extends up as far as the edge of the [[Lincolnshire Wolds]] to the seaside town of [[Skegness]].

* The Witham Commission Fens:
**[[Witham First District IDB|First District]]: from [[Washingborough]] to [[Billinghay]] Dales
**Second District: Blacksluice – [[Holland Fen]]
**[[Witham First District IDB|Third District]]: north of the [[River Witham]] above [[Bardney]]
**[[Witham Navigable Drains|Fourth District]]: East, West and Wildmore Fens and the Townland from Boston to [[Wainfleet, Lincolnshire|Wainfleet]]
**Fifth District: Kyme Eau to [[Billinghay]] Skirth
**Sixth District: Blacksluice – Helpringham Eau to Kyme Eau

These were drained in the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref>Bedford Levels information from Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 First Series Sheets 142 (1974) and 143 (1974). Lincolnshire information from Wheeler, W. H. ''A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire'' 2nd ed. (1896) facsimile ed. Paul Watkins (1990) {{ISBN|1-871615-19-4}}</ref>