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| years | month | CHRONOLOGY | page last edited: 09/12/25, 08:12 | refs |
| years | month | refs | ||
| 1604 | Hunt | proposed a new cut from Erith (Earith) to Salters Lode. | ||
| 1630 | Jan | Lyn Law | Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford, contracted to drain the Great Level, later known as the Bedford Level(s), within 6 yrs | |
| 1631 | Feb | Indenture of 14 parts | Incorporation of the Company of Adventurers to fund the works | |
| c1632 to c1637 |
Seventy Foot or (Old) Bedford River dug | from Erith (Earith) to Salters Lode, to be the new route for the Great Ouse | ||
| c1630 | (Old) Bedford Sluice built at Salters Lode | at end of (Old) Bedford river to prevent tidal inflow into the new cut from the Great Ouse | ||
| c1630 | Salters Lode Lock built | where Well Creek joins the Great Ouse | ||
| 1637 | Oct | a Session of Sewers held at St Ives |
adjudged lands drained in line with the Lynn Law; awarded 95,000 acres to the Adventurers | |
| 1638 | Apr | a Session of Sewers held at Huntingdon |
reversed, Oct 1637 decision; draining judged defective | |
| 1638 | Vermuyden's "Discourse" | A plan to improve drainage prepared for King Charles 1. Vermuyden opposed embanking all rivers, instead cutting more rivers and creating washlands as temporary storage. | ||
| 1642 | Vermuyden's "Discourse" | published, with map | ||
| 1642-1651 | Civil War | |||
| 1645 | Oliver Cromwell | appointed as Governor of the Isle of Ely. Formed a drainage committee. | ||
| 1649 | Act of (The "Pretended Act") |
William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford, authorised to drain land to make fit for permanent agricultural use. | ||
| 1649 | Vermuyden re-engaged | to do the "second stage" | ||
| 1650 | Jonas Moore | appointed surveyor to the Adventurers; compiled map of the reclaimed land showing the "lotts", ie the land allotted to each of the Adventurers, and how the original allottments were spilt and sub-divided many times, accounting for many (but by no means all) the Wash fields. | ||
| c1651-c1652 | Hundred Foot Drain or New Bedford River cut | from Earith to adjacent to what became Denver Sluice | ||
| 1651? | Nine Holes Sluice built | at Earith to block off the (Old) Bedford River except in times of flood. | ||
| 1651 | Hermitage Sluice built | at Earith to turn the Great Ouse into the New Bedford River, allowing only a small amount into the Old West River | ||
| 1651 | Denver Sluice built | navigation only possible when river levels were the same both sides of sluice. | ||
| 1649-1651 | Forty Foot River cut | from Ramsey to what became known as Welches Dam | ||
| 1651 | Forty Foot Lock built | from 40 ft to OBR | ||
| 1651 | Welches Dam built | across OBR sth of Forty Foot, to turn water from 40 Ft to Salters Lode | ||
| c1652 | "second phase" completed creating the Hundred Foot Washes (later known as the Ouse Washes) | |||
| 1657 | William Dugdale | Commissioned by the Adventurers to write a history of fen drainage. Didn't live in or know about the Fens. Toured the area for 2 weeks, and consulted previous books, then wrote "History of Imbanking and Drayning" with a version of Jonas Moore's map. | ||
| 1658 | Great Dyke at Mepal | "Probable" year first cut | 20 | |
| 1661 | William Marshall | established a charity for Welney | ||
| 1663 | General Draining Act | established Bedford Level Corporation | ||
| 1666 | Great Fire of London | destroyed the Fen Office and most records of the Adventurers & the earliest ones of BLC | ||
| 1713 | Denver Sluice collapsed | first undermined by upstream floods, then demolished by incoming tides. | ||
| 1728 | North Level | became independent from BLC | ||
| 1750 | Denver Sluice rebuilt | by Labelye. Navigation lock added. Previously navigation only possible when river levels were the same both sides of sluice. | ||
| 1756 | Welmore Lake Dam built | to prevent tidal flows into the Washes | ||
| 1758 | Great Dyke at Mepal | earliest evidence of existence of the Great Dyke | ||
| 1772 | River Delph cut | from Welches Dam to NBR at Welmore Lake. Presumably with a new Middle Level Barrier bank. (date: Dr N James | 6 | |
| 1806 | Great Dyke and Lock at Mepal | first lock installed at the Great Dyke | ||
| 1824 | Seven Holes Sluice built on OBR at Earith | to replace Nine Holes Sluice | ||
| 1825 | Welmore Lake Sluice built | to replace the dam | ||
| 1826 | Hermitage Lock on OWR at Earith re-built | |||
| 1826 | High Bridge Earith built | cast iron bridge over NBR. | ||
| 1827 | Suspension Bridge built over NBR at Welney | wrought iron chain suspension bridge. Area became known as Suspension Bridge | ||
| 1827 | Sandys or Sandalls Cut | from Ely to Littleport | ||
| 1828 | Old Bedford Sluice/lock re-built | |||
| 1828 | Salters Lode Lock re-built | |||
| 1830 | Hundred Foot PS built | Steam driven, draining parts of Sth Level into NBR | ||
| 1830 | Samuel Wells | Register of the BLC published 2-vol history of the draining, also a map in 1829 | ||
| 1832 | Delph Bridge | new bridge, cost £518, paid by Marshalls Charity | 15 | |
| 1834 | Denver Sluice | Navigation lock replaced by larger one. | ||
| 1837 | Flat Earth experiments on OBR | Samuel Rowbotham's first experiment | ||
| 1838 | Manea Colony established | |||
| 1840 | Fortreys Hall PS built | Steam driven, draining parts of Middle Level into CD | ||
| 1842 | Glen House PS built | Steam driven draining parts of Middle Level into OBR | ||
| 1844-1846 | Railway line built | with bridges, viaducts and an embankment across Washes from Pymoor to Manea | ||
| 1848 | Middle Level main drain | cut from end of 16ft drain to Wiggenhall | ||
| c1923-c1928 | Railway line re-built | across Washes from Pymoor to Manea | ||
| 1926 | Suspension Bridge | concrete arch bridge replaced the suspension bridge | ||
| 1928 | Glen House PS | Diesel replaced steam | ||
| 1930 | Mepal bridges/ 1st viaduct built | Old bridges replaced; viaduct replaced causeway road | ||
| 1932 | Model of The Wash | showing effects of tidal and fluvial flows built by RGOCB, Cambridge | ||
| 1933 | Welmore Lake sluice | rebuilt | ||
| 1937 | Sth Level Barrier Bank | "slipped" opp Welmore Lake Sluice | 13 | |
| 1948 | Glen House PS | rebuilt | ||
| 1948 | Welches Dam PS built | Diesel driven. Built into the ML Barrier Bank. Half way | ||
| 1951 | Hundred Foot PS | Diesel motor replaced Steam engine | ||
| 1954 | Earith Sluice built | to replace Seven Holes Sluice | ||
| 1954-1964 | Great Ouse Flood Protection Scheme | to protect South Level from flooding from rivers Lark, Wissey, and Little Ouse. Cut Off Channel from Barton Mills to Denver and (Flood) Relief Channel from Denver to Kings Lynn. | ||
| 1960-1961 | (Flood) Relief Channel | Cut from Denver to Kings Lynn | ||
| 1967 | Model of Wash GORA workshop/lab |
demolished by GORA, 1967 Coldhams Rd premises closed |
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| 1973 | Welney Gate Sluice built | by GORA (at expense of Upwell IDB) |
16 18 |
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| 1975 | Cock Fen PS built | by Upwell IDB | 16 | |
| 1976 | Drought Act | Earith Sluice drawmarks suspended Dam (proposed) in NBR nr Earith Br Flow of Great Ouse reversed, also Ely Ouse & Old West ? |
10 10 10 10 |
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| 1982-1986 | Denver Sluice re-furbished | |||
| 1985 | Mepal by-pass built | 1930 viaduct across washes and bridge across Old Bedford dismantled | ||
| 1985 | Hundred Foot PS | new Electric powered PS built | ||
| 1991 | Forty Foot Lock rebuilt | and re-named Welches Dam Lock. | ||
| 1994 | Welney Bridge rebuilt | |||
| 1994 | Delph Bridge rebuilt | |||
| 1994 | Barrier Bank works | Est costs: ML c£13m, SL c£8.5m | 18 | |
| 1996 | Suspension Bridge | steel re-inforced br replaced bow arch | ||
| 1998 | Glen House PS | new diesel? powered pumps fitted | ||
| 1999 | Welmore Lake Sluice | rebuilt | ||
| 2001 | Relief Channel Navigation lock | |||
| 2010 | Welmore Lake PS | new PS to drain Delph in Spring | ||
| 2010-2011 | Welches Dam PS | Refurbished; New electric motors & pumps replaced the 1948 sets | ||
| 2011 | Earith Sluice | Refurbished. Radial gates repaired. Control building updated (?) | ||
| 2012 | Barrier Bank works | MLBB, Welney-Welches Dam(?) £1.1m | 19 | |
| 1 | Samuel Wells, History of the Drainage of ... Bedford Level, Vol 1, 1830 |
| 2 | W.Elstob, Historical Account of the Great Level called Bedford Level, 1793 |
| 3 | Prof HC Darby, The Changing Fenland 1983 |
| 4 | Prof HC Darby, The Drainage of the Fens, 1956 |
| 5 | Dorothy Summers, The Great Level, 1976 |
| 6 | Dr. N.James, Drowned and Drained, Inst of Cont Ed, U of Cam.,2009, p8 |
| 7 | The Middle Level Acts, 1875 |
| 8 | The Cambridge Region, 1938 |
| 9 | Hansard |
| 10 | London Gazette |
| 11 | Bedford Level Corporation records |
| 12 | IDB records |
| 13 | John S Martin |
| 14 | Eddy Edwards |
| 15 | Tony Smart |
| 16 | Tablet or plaque at site |
| 17 | |
| 18 | NRA |
| 19 | Environment Agency |
| 20 | Paper in Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Vol CVIII, 2019 |