Editing River Welland (section)

==History==
[[File:A swollen River Welland passing beneath the old bridge in Duddington - geograph.org.uk - 1723195.jpg|thumb|The Welland in spate at Duddington, showing its capacity for flooding adjoining meadows]]
The origin of the name for the river is unknown but appears to be Pre-English.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mills |first=A.D. |title=Oxford dictionary of English placenames |page=Welland |quote=A Celtic or Pre-celtic rivername of unknown meaning |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-852758-9}}</ref> In [[Old English]] the form was ''Weolud'' and may have changed to the [[Middle English]] form due to folk-etymology or Scandinavian influence.<ref name="Cox 1994, p.3">{{harvnb|Cox|1994|p=3}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ekwall|1928|p=446}}</ref> The Welland (''Weolud'') is first mentioned in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' for 921&nbsp;AD.<ref name="Cox 1994, p.3"/>

Richard de Rulos, who was Lord of Deeping Fen during the reign of [[William the Conqueror]] erected a strong embankment to prevent flooding of the meadows adjoining the river, which then became fertile fields and a pleasure garden.<ref name=boyes236>{{harvnb|Boyes|Russell|1977|pp=236–239}}</ref> During the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] (1207–1272), complaints were made that of the two channels below Crowland, the one to Spalding was more favourable to the passage of barges, but the [[Abbot of Crowland]] had obstructed and narrowed its course by planting [[willow]] trees.<ref>{{harvnb|Wheeler|Batty|1896|p=292}}</ref> In the fourteenth century, Spalding was charged with failing to scour and repair the river, causing damage to the king's liege people, but argued that because it was tidal at this point, it was an arm of the sea, and so they were not responsible.<ref>{{harvnb|Wheeler|Batty|1896|p=295}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Welland Navigation Act 1571
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = An Act to make the River of Weylande navigable.
| year                  = 1571
| citation              = [[13 Eliz. 1]]. c. ''1''
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 29 May 1571
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The river was one of the earlier rivers to be granted an [[act of Parliament]] for improvements, to allow navigation to Stamford. The '''{{visible anchor|Welland Navigation Act 1571}}''' ([[13 Eliz. 1]]. c. ''1'') was granted in the reign of [[Elizabeth I]] in 1571, and detailed how Stamford had prospered as a result of the river, but also stated that mills built between Stamford and Deeping had resulted in it no longer being navigable, for they had diverted the water. Powers were granted to restore the river using either the old channel or the new one, although it is not clear exactly what was meant by this. There is no evidence that any work was carried out under the terms of the act.<ref name=boyes236/>

[[File:Low Locks Deeping St James geograph 1824623.jpg|thumb|left|The remains of the low locks at Deeping St James]]

The powers were revived in 1620, when Stamford Corporation was given permission by the [[Commission of Sewers]] to build a new {{convert|9.5|mi|km|adj=on}} artificial cut, which would run from the eastern edge of Stamford near Hudd's Mill, to [[Market Deeping]], where it would rejoin the river. The decision was ratified in 1623 by a grant of [[James VI and I|James I]], and the corporation expected to have the work completed by 1627. However, they were unable to find a suitable contractor to carry out the work, and failed to reach agreement on terms with [[David Cecil, 3rd Earl of Exeter|David Cecil]] in 1636, and two other potential contractors after that. Finally in 1664, an alderman from Stamford called Daniel Wigmore took the job. He built the cut and 12 locks, which included the High Lock and the Low Lock on the river at Deeping St James, at a cost of £5,000. In return for his expenditure, he was given the lease of the tolls for the next 80 years, for which he paid a rent of one shilling (five pence). The cut, known as the [[Stamford Canal]], is one of the earliest post-Roman canals in England.{{sfn|Labrum|1994|p=75}} It opened in 1670, around 100 years before the start of the [[Industrial Revolution]] which brought about the "[[History of the British canal system#The Industrial Revolution|golden age for canals]]" in Britain.<ref name=Wigmore>{{cite web |title=Engineering Timelines – Stamford Canal |url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=1307 |work=engineering-timelines.com |access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref> When built, it was the longest canal with locks in Britain, and was very busy with barges carrying flour, malt, coal, timber and limestone.<ref name=Wigmore/><ref>{{harvnb|Boyes|Russell|1977|pp=239–240}}</ref>

The people of Market Deeping, Deeping Gate and Deeping St James, together with other villages along the river presented a petition to Elizabeth I, requesting that the fens should be drained, as the banks of the river and of the neighbouring Glen were in a poor state of repair. They suggested that Thomas Lovell should undertake the work, which he did, at a cost of £12,000, for which he received {{convert|15000|acre|ha}} of the land which was reclaimed as a result of the work. Unrest in the early 1600s resulted in most of the works being destroyed, but in 1632 a group of adventurers led by the [[Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford|Earl of Bedford]] were granted permission to drain Deeping Fen, South Fen and Crowland. The work included making the Welland deeper and wider from Deeping St James to its outfall beyond Spalding, and the construction of side drains. These included a drain running from [[Pode Hole]] to below Spalding, which is still known as Vernatt's Drain, after one of the adventurers called [[Vernatti baronets|Sir Philibert Vernatti]]. Although declared completed in 1637, efficient drainage would have to wait until the construction of Pode Hole pumping station in 1827.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes  |Russell |1977 |pp=241–242}}</ref>

At [[Crowland]] the river used to split into two channels, one broadly following the present course of the river, and the other joining the old South Ea to reach the [[River Nene]] near [[Wisbech]]. Dugdale, writing in 1662, described the Spalding channel as "a most slow course".<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes  |Russell |1977 |p=236}}</ref> The river no longer flows through Crowland, but the unique triangular [[Trinity Bridge, Crowland|Trinity Bridge]], which spanned the junction, remains in the centre of the town.<ref>{{cite PastScape|mnumber=352293|mname=Holy Trinity Bridge|access-date=24 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb |Boyes  |Russell |1977 |p=242}}</ref>

Spalding had been a port from a time before any of the river improvements were made. The townspeople had refused to repair the river during the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], for they claimed that here it was part of the sea. Its importance as a port increased with the river improvements and the Stamford Canal, and although it did not have a customs house, by 1695 it had various officials who acted as customs officers for goods arriving at the quays and warehouses. Exports included oats, coleseed, rape oil, hides and wool, with a much greater variety of imports, including stone, timber, coal, groceries, glass and beeswax. More exotic imports included French and Spanish wines, and some of the first imports of tea, coffee and chocolate.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyes|Russell|1977|pp=242–243}}</ref>

===Deeping Fen===
The drainage of [[Deeping Fen]] was again addressed when the [[Draining Deeping Fen Act 1664]] ([[16 & 17 Cha. 2]]. c. 11) awarded the [[Robert Montagu, 3rd Earl of Manchester|Earl of Manchester]] and others {{convert|10000|acre|ha}} of land in return for the drainage works. They were also obliged to maintain the banks of the river, to ensure that both the Welland and the Glen were kept clean and free-flowing, and to ensure that no tolls were charged for navigation on any part of the river below East Deeping. The inadequacy of the outfall and a spate of bad weather stopped them from completing their task. They tried renting out the land they had been granted, but many tenants were unable to pay the rent, due to the poor state of the drainage which reduced crop yields.<ref name=boyes243>{{harvnb|Boyes|Russell|1977|pp=243–244}}</ref> In April 1729, the Deeping Fen Adventurers received a letter from Captain John Perry, expressing the opinion that the only way to improve the drainage was to improve the river outfalls, and proposing the construction of scouring sluices on the river at Spalding, on Vernatt's drain at its outfall, and on the River Glen at Surfleet. Perry was an engineer of some repute, who had set the standard for engineering reports in 1727, when he published his recommendations for the North Level of the Fens. His plans were approved, and the Adventurers offered to give him land covering nearly {{convert|6000|acre|ha}} in payment for the work. He sold one-third of the land to finance the project, and began work in 1730. Cowbit sluice on the Welland had six {{convert|6|ft|m|adj=on}} wide gates which were operated by chains connected to a treadwheel. At high tide, water was penned in Cowbit Wash, between banks which were set well back from the main channel. The bed of the river below the sluice was loosened by dragging wooden rollers with iron spikes over it. At low tide, the sluice gates were opened, and the flow scoured out the silt for some {{convert|3|mi|km}} downstream. A navigation lock was constructed beside the sluice, so that vessels could still gain access to the river above. Perry died in February 1733, and was buried in Spalding churchyard.<ref>{{harvnb|Skempton|2002|pp=522–523}}</ref> The lock lasted until it was removed by the Welland commissioners in 1813.<ref name=boyes243/>

Perry was succeeded by [[John Grundy, Sr.]], who published a paper in 1734 on flow in open drains. He calculated theoretic flow rates, and then used observation in the field to modify the results. He oversaw a programme of repairs to the Deeping Bank, which ran for {{convert|12|mi|km}} along the north and west side of the river, while John Scribo was employed to do the same for the Country Bank, which ran for {{convert|6|mi|km}} on the south and east. Grundy made the river deeper above Spalding, and also constructed a sluice and reservoir at the mouth of the Glen. The reservoir covered {{convert|8|acre|ha}} and provided water to scour the channel below the sluice.<ref>{{harvnb|Skempton|2002|p=277}}</ref> His son, [[John Grundy, Jr.]], took over after the death of his father in 1748, and spent nearly £10,000 on bank repairs between then and 1764. He rebuilt Perry's sluice soon after 1750, with taller doors and a set of tide gates to prevent the tide moving upstream, and rebuilt the navigation lock in 1754. After 1764, Thomas Hogard became the surveyor of works, but Grundy continued to act as a consultant engineer.<ref>{{harvnb|Skempton|2002|p=279}}</ref>

Hogard devised a scheme to cut a new channel from the junction of the Welland and the Glen to [[Wyberton]], on the estuary of the [[River Witham]] below Boston. At the end of the {{convert|7.5|mi|km|adj=on}} cut, there would be a huge sluice and a navigation lock. The Adventurers asked Thomas Tofield for a second opinion, who suggested a shorter {{convert|5|mi|km|0|adj=on}} cut from Spalding to Fosdyke. They requested help from Grundy, who proposed a {{convert|1.5|mi|km|adj=on}} cut to Fosdyke, and that the outfall of Vernatt's drain should be moved {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} downstream. Improvements to the drain were carried out under an act of Parliament, the Fen Drainage Act 1774 ([[14 Geo. 3]]. c. 16) obtained in 1774, and another act of Parliament, the [[Lincoln Drainage, etc. Act 1794]] ([[34 Geo. 3]]. c. 102), was obtained in 1794 to sanction the Wyberton cut, although the work was not carried out, and Grundy's cut was built under a new act of Parliament{{which|date=August 2024}} of 1801.<ref>{{harvnb|Skempton|2002|pp=327–328}}</ref>

Several prominent civil engineer considered the problems of Deeping Fen and the river outfall at the end of the 1700s. Two reports were produced, one by George Maxwell, and the second by Edward Hare, who had been assisted by [[William Jessop]] and [[John Rennie the Elder|John Rennie]]. They formed the basis for the Deeping Fen Act 1801.{{which|date=August 2024}} The channel above Spalding was made deeper, the north bank was made stronger, and the North and South Drove Drains were enlarged through the fen. One of Rennie's recommendations had been to replace the windmills which drove the drainage pumps with a steam pumping station at Pode Hole, but this was not implemented. After reports by Rennie and Thomas Pear in 1815, and by Rennie alone in 1818 and 1820, the provision of steam engines was authorised by an act of Parliament{{which|date=August 2024}} in 1823. The trustees appointed by the 1801 act continued to manage Deeping Fen until they were replaced in 1939 by the Deeping Fen, Spalding and Pinchbeck [[Internal Drainage Board]],<ref>{{harvnb|Boyes|Russell|1977|pp=247–248}}</ref> subsequently renamed the Welland & Deepings Internal Drainage Board.<ref>{{cite web |title=Home Page |url=https://www.wellandidb.org.uk/ |publisher=Welland & Deepings IDB |access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>

===The Outfall===
Plans to re-route the outfall along a new channel which would meet the River Witham at The Scalp, near [[Boston, Lincolnshire|Boston]], were authorised in 1794, but the money could not be raised at the time, due to the financial crisis caused by the [[Napoleonic Wars|French Wars]].<ref name=boyes246/> Grundy's shorter channel had been finished by 1810, improving both drainage and navigation. James Walker reported in 1835 on further improvements, making the recommendation that the river below Spalding should be constrained between high banks, so that the scouring action of the water would dredge its own channel. Rather than excavating, which he estimated would cost £70,000, he suggested using [[fascine]]s made of thorn branches, around which silt would be deposited. Such a scheme would only cost £13,000, and the work went on for many years.<ref name=boyes248>{{harvnb|Boyes|Russell|1977|pp=248–250}}</ref> The effects of the embankments had resulted in the bed of the river below Fosdyke being around {{convert|7|ft|m}} lower by 1845.<ref>{{harvnb|Wheeler|Batty|1896|p=305}}</ref> In 1867, the River Welland Outfall Act enabled the trustees to raise money to repair the walls where the tide had washed away some of the fill behind the fascines. A dredger was employed between 1889 and 1890, which had been invented by a Mr Harrison, the superintendent of works.<ref name=boyes248/>

With the passing of the [[Land Drainage Act 1930]], the Welland Catchment Board was created. They had spent £91,537 on the outfall by 1937. Towards the end of the [[Second World War]], E. G. Taverner, the chief engineer for the drainage board, devised a plan to relieve flooding in Spalding by creating a bypass channel, and building the Greatford Cut to divert the waters of the West Glen river into the Welland upstream of Market Deeping. The scheme cost £723,000, with much of the work being carried out by [[W. & C. French]], and the Coronation Channel around Spalding was opened in September 1953.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southhollandlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/AOS-D-0073b-The-River-Welland-Major-Improvement-Scheme-1947-1957-Part-2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071840/https://southhollandlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/AOS-D-0073b-The-River-Welland-Major-Improvement-Scheme-1947-1957-Part-2.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |title=The River Welland major improvement scheme |publisher=South Holland Life |access-date=14 September 2015}}</ref> Fulney lock was constructed at the same time to exclude the tide from the upper river,<ref name=boyes248/> as was the Maxey Cut, an embanked channel that bypasses the villages of Market Deeping, Deeping Gate and Deeping St James.<ref>{{cite web|title=Welland Valley Landscape Character Assessment |url=http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/pdf/env-plan-ldf-cs-lcs-area3.pdf |page=40 |publisher=Peterborough City Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308073354/http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/pdf/env-plan-ldf-cs-lcs-area3.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2012}}</ref> During the 1960s and 1970s, several sections of the river above Stamford were made straighter and deeper, to reduce the risk of flooding of agricultural land.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/biology/people/harper/Welland%20Valley%20Partnership%20River%20Improvment%20Plan%2015.02.13%20FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831001146/https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/genetics/people/harper/Welland%20Valley%20Partnership%20River%20Improvment%20Plan%2015.02.13%20FINAL.pdf |archive-date=31 August 2021 |url-status=live |title=Enhancing the River Welland |publisher=Welland Valley Partnership |page=6}}</ref> To address the habitat and environmental issues causes by such engineering work, the Welland Rivers Trust, a [[limited company]] and [[charitable trust]], was set up in 2010. They are seeking to direct regeneration of the river by co-ordinating various organisations, which are known collectively as the Welland Valley Partnership.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.wellandriverstrust.org.uk/about-us/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109222914/http://www.wellandriverstrust.org.uk/about-us/ |url-status=live |publisher=Welland Rivers Trust |archive-date=9 November 2021}}</ref> They published a major document outlining their proposals in February 2013,{{sfn|French|2020|p=3}} and by 2020 had completed 36 enhancement projects.{{sfn|French|2020|pp=47–60}}