Editing The Fens (section)

===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]]]]