Cambridgeshire lodes
The Cambridgeshire lodes are a series of man-made waterways, the earliest of them believed to be Roman in origin, though developed and maintained in later centuries. They run through a southern part Great Fen in Cambridgeshire on the west side of the River Cam, and in past ages they provided commercial routes from the great waterways of the county to the fen-edge villages they served.
Bottisham, Swaffham Bulbeck, Reach, Burwell, Wicken and Monks Lodes all connect to the River Cam, while Soham Lode, which is of much later origin, connects to the Great Ouse. All have been navigable historically, but some are no longer officially navigable. In 2007 a strategy plan considered options for the management of the lodes which included rebuilding most of them at a lower level, but concluded that maintaining the banks at the existing level was a better long-term solution.
History
Research by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments published in 1972 confirmed the work of Major Gordon Fowler of the Fenland Research Committee that the Cambridgeshire lodes were of Roman origin, which were excavated to provide navigation to a series of villages to the east of the River Cam, and probably also drainage of the surrounding fenland. The infrastructure was completed by the Car Dyke, which linked Waterbeach on the River Cam to the River Witham near Lincoln, some 73 miles away.[1]
Bottisham Lode
- Main article: Bottisham Lode
Bottisham Lode once served the village Bottisham, whose port at the head of the lode became a separate village, named Lode. Bottisham Lode runs from Lode to the River Cam just below Bottisham Lock, and is about 2½ miles long long, almost straight, running between embankments. Its water supply comes from the Quy Water. The Swaffham and Bottisham Drainage Commissioners were responsible for the lode from 1767, and were empowered to build staunches and collect tolls. The lode was never wide enough to take fen lighters, but smaller boats used it for most of the 19th century.
Navigation on the lode ceased around 1900, and it is not currently navigable. The mill at Lode has been restored to working order by its owners, the National Trust. There is a pumping station and a set of mitred flood doors at the entrance to the lode, which were replaced in 2001.
Burwell Lode
- Main article: Burwell Lode
Burwell Lode runs from the village of Burwell and joins Reach Lode about ¾ mile from the River Cam, near Upware. The present course of the Lode was cut in the mid seventeenth century, replacing the previous course, which was referred to as the Old Lode. At Burwell, two branches diverge in opposite directions, both of which had wharves. 'Anchor Straits' to the south was used by coasters and 'Weirs' to the north was used by lighters.[2]
Burwell Lode became more important than Reach Lode when T T Ball opened the Burwell Chemical Works, which was built between 1864 and 1865, and industrial use continued until 1971.
The waterway is comparatively wide, at 40 to 45 feet,[2] and the junction of the branches at Burwell provides a point at which long boats can be turned,[3] but the modern lock at Upware restricts access to boats less than 63 feet long. It is also quite deep, and the 2007 Strategy Study considered the option of reconstructing it at a lower level, but did not recommend this action.
Reach Lode
- Main article: Reach Lode
Reach Lode joins the River Cam at Upware, 2½ miles below Swaffham Bulbeck Lode, and runs for 3 miles from the Cam to the village of Reach. From Reach, a defensive rampart and ditch, called Devil's Dyke, runs for a further 7½ miles in a straight line to the hills at Ditton Green.
The village of Reach has been a trading port since Roman times. From the 13th century, a fair was held here; wharfs and basins were developed, and coasters brought a wide variety of products to Reach and to the fair. The coasters stopped when Denver Sluice was built on the Great Ouse, but smaller vessels continued to trade in agricultural produce, timber and clunch for building. A lock was built at the start of the lode in 1821 and the South Level Commissioners took over responsibility for the waterway in 1827. Trade declined rapidly after railways reached the area in the 1850s, but some carriers continued to operate, and the last load of 525 tons of clunch was shipped in the early 1930s, and some peat being carried for a few years after that.[4]
Soham Lode
- Main article: Soham Lode
Soham Lode runs for about 7 miles from the River Great Ouse about a mile below its junction with the River Cam. Its origin is less well known than the other lodes, but it probably dates from the 1790s, when it was built to reduce flooding in the Soham and Fordham area, by carrying water from the River Snail, which formerly flowed into the River Lark, to join the Great Ouse instead.[5] Soham is about halfway along it, and was once close to a large inland lake called Soham Mere, which was drained in the late 18th century.[6]
There is no evidence that Soham Lode was navigable beyond Soham. Lighters brought cargoes of corn to a water mill at Soham, and later brought coal when steam engines replaced the water wheel. Barley and timber were other important cargoes. The railway reached Soham in 1879 and commercial traffic ceased about 1900. The lode was described as un-navigable in a report by H Dunn in 1906.
There is now a pumping station and a set of mitred flood doors at the start of the lode, and although it is not officially navigable, two narrowboats navigated part of it in 2001,[7]
Swaffham Bulbeck Lode
- Main article: Swaffham Bulbeck Lode
Swaffham Bulbeck Lode joins the River Cam about a mile and a half below Bottisham Lode.[8] It runs for 3½ miles to the hamlet of Commercial End, which was called Newnham until the early 19th century and served as Swaffham Bulbeck's port. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Commissioners of the Bedford Level were responsible for the drain and they cleared the channel and straightened the banks on several occasions in response to complaints. Use of the lode declined rapidly once the railways arrived in the area,[8] and only the first 2 miles to Slade Farm are currently navigable, as shallow water and low bridges prevent access beyond this point.
Wicken Lode
- Main article: Wicken Lode
Wicken Lode turns off Reach Lode, and crosses Wicken Sedge Fen, running for nearly a mile and a half to just short of the village of Wicken. There is a right of public navigation as far as its junction with Monk's Lode, and the stretch beyond that is only naviagable by local inhabitants. The lode is not as wide or deep as the adjacent lodes, and can only be navigated by smaller craft. The waterway continues as Monk's Lode and then the New River, although these are not navigable. Peat from Burwell Fen was brought up Wicken lode for much of the 19th century, for distribution to local farms, and the trade only stopped in the 1940s when peat cutting was restricted. Sedge from the fen was transported by boat from the sites where it was cut to a wharf near the head of the lode.[9]
References
- ↑ Boyes & Russell 1977, pp. 171–172
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Boyes & Russell 1977, pp. 175–176
- ↑ Blair 2006, p. 98
- ↑ Boyes & Russell 1977, pp. 174–175
- ↑ Boyes & Russell 1977, pp. 177–178
- ↑ Blair 2006, p. 95
- ↑ Tuesday Night Club, 2001 cruising log, Page 20, accessed 29 May 2009
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Boyes & Russell 1977, pp. 173–174
- ↑ Boyes & Russell 1977, pp. 176–177
Books
- Blair, Andrew Hunter (2006). The River Great Ouse and tributaries. Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 978-0-85288-943-5.
- Boyes, John; Russell, Ronald (1977). The Canals of Eastern England. David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7415-3.
- Cumberlidge, Jane (1998). Inland Waterways of Great Britain (7th Ed.). Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 0-85288-355-2.
- Halcrow (2007). "The Ely Ouse Lodes Strategy Study". Halcrow Group Ltd and Environment Agency. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/ely_ouse_lodes_final_1899123.pdf.
- A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10