Editing River Welland (section)

===Stamford to Spalding===
Just before Stamford, the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|Great North Road]], now labelled the A1, crosses the river, and a pumping station on the north bank at Stamford Meadows has pumped large quantities of water to the [[Rutland Water]] reservoir since its construction in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/biology/people/harper/the-welland-basin |title=The Welland Basin |author=Dr David Harper |publisher=University of Leicester |access-date=17 March 2011}}</ref> Stamford was the lowest point at which the river could be forded so the Roman [[Ermine Street]] crossed the Welland there. The [[A16 road (England)|A16 road]] crosses the river by a three-arched stone bridge designed by [[Edward Browning (architect)|Edward Browning]] in 1845.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1040110 |desc=St Martin's Bridge, Stamford|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> Below it, Albert Bridge is made of iron with stone piers, and was erected by Stamford Town Council in July 1881, to replace an earlier bridge which was washed away in a flood.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1359564 |desc=St Martin's Bridge, Stamford|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> Beyond Stamford, the river passes the site and ruins of the [[Benedictine]] [[St Leonard's Priory, Stamford|St Leonard's Priory]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1007690 |desc=Ruins and site of St Leonard's Priory|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> Hudd's Mill marks the point at which the [[Stamford Canal]] left the river. The present mill building dates from 1751 and 1771.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1261587 |desc=Hudd's Mill|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> The [[River Gwash]], which the canal crossed on the level, joins from the north, and the remains of the canal follow the river on its north bank. Below [[Uffington, Lincolnshire|Uffington]], the county border follows the old course of the river, first to the south to [[Tallington]] and then to the north, while the main course now flows along the Maxey Cut to [[Peakirk]]. The old course consists of two streams, fed by sluices from the Maxey Cut, which meander to [[The Deepings]]. The eastern stream supplied power to [[Lolham]] and Maxey mills, while the western stream did the same for Tallington Mill, which dates from around 1700,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1062611 |desc=Tallington Mill|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> West Deeping mill, and Molecey's mill, which still retains its seventeenth-century undershot [[waterwheel]], modified in the 19th century to [[Poncelet wheel|Poncelet's improved design]], and the only surviving waterwheel of its type in Lincolnshire.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1062611 |desc=Molecey's Mill and Granary|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> At the western edge of Market Deeping the two streams join, and they are also joined by the Greatford Cut, which has carried the diverted waters of the West Glen river since the early 1950s.<ref name=osmap/>

This section is crossed by [[King Street (Roman road)|King Street]], which follows the course of a [[Roman road]]. Where it crosses the Maxey Cut, to the south of the original channels, there are a series of 14 arches which comprise Lolham Bridges. They are grouped into five structures to cross the channels in the area, and were funded by the County of Northamptonshire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The longest span is {{convert|16|ft|m}}, and the cutwaters carry inscribed stones recording the county's involvement.{{sfn|Labrum|1994|p=74}} To the north, an early nineteenth-century stone rubble arched bridge carries the road over a drainage ditch near Lolham Mill,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1126721 |desc=Bridge over ditch by Lolham Mill|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> while an eighteenth-century bridge, probably rebuilt in the following century, crosses the mill stream.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1165282 |desc=Bridge over Mill Stream, Lolham Mill|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> Another pair of early nineteenth-century bridges, built of coursed limestone with ashlar dressings, carry the road over the northernmost channel.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1317148 |desc=Pair of bridges over River Welland|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref>

The bridge at Deeping Gate carries the date 1651, and is a Grade II* listed stone structure with three round arches.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1309230 |desc=Deeping Gate Bridge|access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref> After the remains of Deeping High lock and Deeping Low lock, there is a junction where the old course, the Maxey Cut, the South Drain and the Folly River, also a drain, meet. The river is officially navigable below this point.<ref name=jane/> Through [[Crowland]] and [[Cowbit]] to the edge of [[Spalding, Lincolnshire|Spalding]], the river is laid out with [[washland]]s,<ref>{{harvnb|Wheeler|Batty|1896|p=291}}</ref> which were historically used as pasture, because the river was allowed to flood the land when tidal levels prevented the water discharging into the sea. The river is bounded on the north and west by a bank, while the [[New River (Fens)|New River]], a drainage channel to the south and east of it, is bounded by another bank. The land between the channels forms Crowland High Wash, Crowland Fodder Lots and Cowbit Wash. The southern bank is variously named Corporation Bank, Wash Bank and Barrier Bank. These washlands were designed to be flooded ''in extremis'', although the building of the Coronation flood relief channel has made this purpose obsolete.