The above acts form the basis of the constitution appointed for the government of the Bedford Level; for though many others have been procured within the last 50 years, for draining separate districts within its limits, yet they all contain a clause, reserving the powers of the Corporation as established in the 15th Charles II.
Of late years a measure has been frequently agitated, and in 1795 passed into a law, for improving the outfall of the river Ouse, and amending the drainage of the south and middle Levels, by making a Cut across the marshes from Eaubrink to Lynn. Great advantages are expected to be derived from this new channel, and the commissioners appointed by the Act are now employed in levying taxes to enable them to proceed with the work; but it is not yet begun.
Notwithstanding the various projects that have been executed and the vast expence incurred to complete the drainage of the Fens, the work is yet imperfect; and in many places the farmer is still liable to have all the produce of his grounds carried away by inundations. The peculiar situation of the Level, which renders it the receiver of the collected waters of nine counties, and the want of attention to those comprehensive measures which alone could have equalled the evil, by providing a sufficientoutletto the sea for the descending torrent, whenswelled by the numerous currents from the hills produced by a rainy season, are frequently the occasion of high floods, by which many thousand acres of prime land are overwhelmed and made useless for the whole year.
Among the great variety of expedients employed to drain the marshes, where the regular and common means have failed, is the erection of windmills, or rather engines worked by the wind, which, from their number and situation in some parts of the fens, present a very singular and rather queer and grotesque appearance. These raise the water to a sufficient height to admit of its being conveyed into receptacles enough elevated to carry it into its proper channel.
A great many thousand acres, within the extent of this low country, are still in the condition of waste unimproved fen, the average value of which is said to be little more than four shillings an acre. One writer states that upwards of 150,000 acres are in that condition in Cambridgeshire alone,[73a]which, however, has been thought by others somewhat inaccurate, and beyond the truth. Be that as it may, the quantity of such lands in the fens is certainly very great, and must sufficiently demonstrate that the immense labour bestowed, in draining the Level, has not been attended with the salutary effects which the promoters of the various plans too fondly imagined and promised; and it may still be questioned whether the remedies proposed, and partially executed, are adequate to effect the intended purpose.[73b]
Miscellaneous Observations on the present appearance,produce,and state of the Fens.
The elevated spots on which the towns and villages are built in many parts of the fens, appear like islands rising in the midst of low and level marshes; and the churches being generally erected on the highest parts, may be distinguished at the distance of several miles. The cottages in many places are nothing more than mud-walls, covered with thatch or reed. The application of the land is various. The crops of oats are particularly exuberant, the produce being frequently from forty-five to sixty bushels an acre; great quantities of wheat and coleseed are also grown, and generally with a proportional increase. Many thousand acres are also appropriated to pasture.
In the neighbourhood of Elm, Upwell, Outwell, &c. considerable quantities of hemp and flax are grown; but the culture of these articles, as a preparation for wheat, does not receive that attention which their importance demands. Some very fine butter is made in the dairy farms in this district; and the vicinity of Cottenham is famous for a peculiar kind of new cheese of a singularly delicious flavour; which is partly ascribed to the mode observed in the management of the dairies, and partly to the nature of the herbage on the commons. Many parts are remarkably favourable for the growth of corn; but the situation of some of them renders them so extremely liable to be overflowed, that their luxuriant produce is too frequently destroyed by the floods.[74]It isgenerally said, however, that if the occupiers have one good year in every two or three, they will make a very tolerable shift to live. The sheep in some parts are said to be very subject to the rot, which has been attributed to the neglected state of the fens in those places, occasioning the ground to produce rank and unwholesome herbage.
The grounds are perhaps no where richer or more fertile, in any part of this low country, than about Wisbeach and Long Sutton. The pastures there are exceedingly fine and luxuriant. The crops of corn also are in general abundant, but much more subject to blights than in the hilly parts, and the grain is said to be lighter; and much inferior in quality to that of the high country.
Towards March and Chatteris, the land, though apparently very good, is said to be apt to produce such an increasing quantity of thick moss, as renders it in a few years unfit for pasturage; to remedy which, the farmer has the surface pared off and burnt, preparatory to its being ploughed up; by which means the moss is effectually destroyed, and a good manure provided for the ensuing crops, which are for the most part very plentiful. After a while it is again converted into grass land, and so continued till the moss gathers and appears as before, when the former process is again resorted to, as the only remedy.
One very great inconvenience, which the inhabitants of this low country labour under, is the want of goodwater, especially in dry summers, owing to the scarcity of springs. Rain-water is the only water they can have for domestic uses, almost throughout the year: to preserve which they have troughs and spouts constructed and fixed under the eves of the houses, by which it is conveyed into cisterns and reservoirs for the use of their families. Even such populous towns as Boston and Wisbeach have no better means of supplying themselves with good water; which in most parts of Britain would be deemed an intolerable grievance. To Lynn, however, the above case does not apply. The country on its eastern side abounds with good springs, from which the town is plentifully supplied with excellent water, as not to be exceeded in that respect, perhaps, by any place in the kingdom.
In Marshland and other parts of the country, it is with no small difficulty that water can be procured for the cattle in very dry seasons. Instances not few, are said to have been known at such times, of their being driven daily some miles to water, as none could be procured at a nearer distance. Such is the spongy quality of the soil in these parts, that pits dug to preserve the rain water would not retain it unless they were previously bottomed with clay, by which the water is prevented from sinking into the earth. Such pits are dug almost in every field; and for all the care and expence bestowed upon them, they are often found empty and useless long before the end of a very dry summer. Thus it appears, that this country, so fertile and desirable in some respects, has its advantages greatly counter-balanced by some veryserious inconveniences, from which the more hilly and sterile districts of the kingdom are happily exempted. On the whole, when the advantages and disadvantages of this low fertile country are fairly compared with those of the more barren and mountainous regions, it will probably be found that the favours of providence are much more equally distributed than we are sometimes apt to imagine.
Here it may be further observed, that the system of agriculture, and even the implements of husbandry are different in marshland and the fens from those of the higher parts of Norfolk; which is probably to be ascribed to the soil, or quality of the land being very different in the one from what it is in the other. In the former it is for the most part strong and heavy, but weak and light in the latter, so as not to require more than two horses to draw the plough, and which are uniformly managed without a driver.
Miscellaneous observations continued—Fen reeds and their uses—Starlings—Tame Geese,and singular management of them—Insalubriousness of Marshland—Ancient celebrity of the Smeeth—Decoys.
Many parts of the fens abound with a remarkable species ofreeds, which appear in summer, at some distance, like extensive fields of corn. In autumn, and at the approach of winter, they are resorted to by innumerableflocks of Starlings, which then subsist upon the seeds of those plants, and lodge or roost among their branches; from whence, when scared, they ascend sometimes in such vast numbers as to appear in the sky like a thick cloud, exhibiting a very strange and striking spectacle to those beholders who are unused to the curious phenomena of this singular country. The fen-fowlers, in their long boats, take these birds sometimes by surprize, when thickly assembled among those reeds, and with their long guns make prodigious havock among them. Myriads of them are so destroyed, and become a considerable article of food in the latter months of the year.
The reeds to which these birds resort, and from whose seed, for many months, they derive a great part of their subsistence, are no less remarkable in another respect: vast quantities of them are cut down, or reaped like corn, in the latter part of summer; being afterward carefully dried and dressed, they are tied up in bundles or sheaves, made up into stacks or ricks, and sold for coverings of houses, making perhaps the bestthatchin the world. Great numbers of houses and barns, and even some churches are covered with them about the Fens and Marshland, and the adjoining parts of Norfolk. They are laid on very thick, curiously, and judiciously, and constitute a very durable, as well as neat covering, which is said to last sometimes thirty or forty years, with a little shaving and trimming. It has been observed of thatch coverings (those made of these reeds must be particularly so) that they make the coolest houses in summer, and the warmest in winter of all coverings whatever;being more impervious both to heat and cold than any other materials used for the same purpose. Thatching is executed in this country in a style of superior neatness, as well as firmness, and better calculated for durability, than the writer of this has known any where else except, perhaps, in theVale of Glamorgan, where a similar method is used. The material there, indeed is wheat straw, and not reeds, which in that country cannot be obtained in any large quantity; but the process of dressing and preparing the materials, as well as the method of laying them on, seem to be there and here much alike. It seems somewhat remarkable that districts so widely separated, and which are in most other respects so very dissimilar, should yet in this particular bear so near and striking a resemblance to each other.[79a]
Some parts of the Fens, especially on the Lincolnshire side, have been long famous for breeding vast flocks of tameGeese, of which great numbers are usually sent alive to the London markets.—They have also a remarkable custom ofpluckingthe geese, and stripping them of their quills and feathers repeatedly every year,[79b]and so render each of them conformable toPlato’smemorable definition ofman, “a two-legged, unfeathered animal:” in which view it might be calledhumanizingthe poor geese, or converting them into so many human beings. The practice however, has been by many thoughtinhuman, and barbarous, as it must put the poor creatures into no small degree of pain;[80a]but as it is gainful to the owners, in yielding them a far greater quantity of feathers than they would otherwise produce, there is no great prospect of its being very soon, if ever, discontinued.
The geese, during the breeding season, are lodged in the same houses with the inhabitants, and even in their very bedchambers. In every apartment are three rows of coarse wicker pens, placed one above another. Each bird has a separate lodge, divided from the other, which it keeps possession of during the time of sitting. A gozzard, or gooseherd, attends the flock, and twice a day drives the whole to water, then brings them back to their habitation, helping those that live in the upper stories to their nests, without ever misplacing a single bird.[80b]
Another odd custom in some parts of this same country, is that of preparingcow-dung, and converting it intofuel, by forming it, in a wet state, into the shapeof turf, and afterward drying it in the sun. It yields a strong disagreeable smell in burning, besides its depriving the farmer of a very large quantity of his best manure. Materials for fuel must, surely, have been very scarce in the country when this strange expedient or substitute was first adopted.
Marshland and the Fens are not deemed healthy, except, perhaps, to consumptive persons, who are said to be sometimes sent thither on account of the softness of the air. To most others the country is unhealthy, and subject to aguish disorders, which has always been the case, it seems, especially in Marshland; hence an ague is in Norfolk proverbially calledthe Marshland Bailiff, and a person afflicted with that disorder is said to bearrested by the Bailiff of Marshland.—Instead of hedgerows the fields are here generally enclosed with deep dikes, which for the most part of the year are filled with water, to which, probably, we are chiefly to ascribe the unhealthiness of the country; or rather to the putrid state of these dikes and stagnant waters, in the latter part of summer and the autumn.[81]
In passing along the road through this remarkable country, a stranger, from the hilly parts, cannot help being struck at first sight with the strange appearance of gates and gate-posts erected all about, without any hedges or visible enclosures to indicate either the necessity, or yet the utility of them; for as the dikes are not perceptable at a distance, the land on every side appears in many places like a great open field. A little time and reflection, however, generally rectify the wondering traveller’s judgment.
The soil of Marshland is for the most part very good and rich; but no where more so than in that notable tract called theSmeeth, which has been long celebrated for its uncommon fertility. Till lately it was all a common belonging to the seven towns of Marshland; and old Authors used to relate that it constantly fed 30,000 Sheep, with abundance besides of the great cattle of the seven towns. So famous was this tract for the richness and luxuriance of its soil, at the accession ofJamesI, that a courtier is said to have mentioned it then to that monarch,as one of the most fertile spots in all his English dominions; adding “that if over night a wand or rod were laid on the bare ground, it would, by the next morning, be covered with grass, of that night’s growth, so as not then to be discerned.” To which his majesty is said jocosely to reply, “that some parts ofScotlandfar exceeded that, for that he himself knew some grounds there, where if anhorsewere put in over night it could not be discerned the next morning;” alluding, it seems, to some of the bogs in that country.—The Smeeth has been of late enclosed, drained, and considerably improved. A great part of it has been ploughed up, and the crops produced are said to be in general very abundant, and likely to continue so. It may therefore be presumed, that the enclosing of the Smeeth will prove no detriment, but rather an advantage to the public; and also that its celebrity, as a most fertile spot, will not be diminished by its being no longer an open and unimproved common.
These parts have been long noted for great numbers ofDecoys. They are said to be now much less numerous than formerly, owing, seemingly, to the various and progressive improvements that have taken place of late years, especially in Lincolnshire, and the consequent decrease of the aquatic wild-fowl. There are still, however, a good many decoys to be found in different places, of which the best is said to be that ofLakenheath, on the borders of Suffolk, from which very considerable numbers of aquatic wild-fowl of different kinds are usually sent to the London Markets.—An authentic accountof this singular and curious contrivance, it being in general but ill understood, and but imperfectly described in books, shall be here inserted, as it is presumed it will not prove unacceptable to the reader.
A decoy is generally made where there is a large pond surrounded with wood, and beyond that a marshy uncultivated country. If the piece of water is not thus surrounded, it will be attended with the noise and other accidents, which may be expected to frighten the wild-fowl from a quiet haunt where they mean to sleep during the day time in security. If such noises or disturbances are wilful, an action will lie against the disturbers. As soon as the evening sets in, the decoyrises(as the term is) and the wild fowl feeds during the night. If the evening be still, the noise of their wings, during their flight, is heard at a very great distance, and is a pleasing, though melancholy sound. Therisingof the decoy in the evening is, in Somersetshire, calledradding. The decoy-ducks are fed with hempseed, which is thrown over the skreen in small quantities, to bring them forward into the pipes or canals, and to allure the wild-fowl to follow as this seed floats. There are severalpipes, as they are called, which lead up a narrow ditch that closes at last with a funnel net. Over these pipes, (which grow narrower from their first entrance) is a continued arch of netting, suspended on hoops. It is necessary to have a pipe, or ditch for almost every wind that can blow, as upon this circumstance it depends which pipe the fowl will take to; and the Decoy-man always keeps on thewindwardside of the ducks, holdingnear his mouth a lighted turf, to prevent his breath or effluvia reaching their sagacious nostrils. All along each pipe, at certain intervals are placed skreens, made of reeds, so situated and contrived, that it is impossible the wild fowl should see the decoy-man before they have passed on toward the end of the pipes where the purse net is placed. The inducement of the wildfowl to go up one of these pipes is, because the decoy-ducks, trained to this, lead the way, either after hearing the whistle of the decoy-man, or enticed by the hempseed: the latter will dive underwater or swim quietly away, while the wildfowl fly on and are taken in the purse net. It often happens, however, that the wildfowl are in such a state of sleepiness and dozing, that they will not follow the decoy-ducks. Use is then generally made of a dog, that has been taught his lesson: he passes backward and forward, between the reed skreens, (in which are little holes, both for the decoy-man to see, and the little dog to pass through); this attracts the eye of the wild-fowl, who, not choosing to be interrupted, advance toward the small contemptible animal, that they may drive him away. The dog all the time, by the directions of the decoy-man, plays among the skreens of reeds nearer and nearer to the purse net; till at last, perhaps, the decoy-man appears behind a skreen, and the wild-fowl not daring to pass by him in return, nor being able to escape upward, on account of the net covering, rush on into the purse net. Sometimes the dog will not attract their attention, unless a red handkerchief, or something very singular be put about him.The general season for catching fowls in Decoys is from the end of October till February; the taking of them earlier is prohibited by an act of 10. Geo. II. c. 32. which forbids it from June 1, to October 1, under a penalty of 5s.for each bird destroyed within that time. Most of the Decoys of this kingdom are in the Counties bordering on the great level of the Fens. There are some also in Somersetshire. Lincolnshire used to be the most noted county for its decoys, and it is probably so still. Amazing numbers of ducks, widgeons and teals, used to be taken there and sent to the London markets. Some years ago, within one season, and from ten decoys in the neighbourhood of Waynfleet, the number amounted to 31,200 in which were included several other species of ducks. The decoys are said to be commonly let at a certain annual rent, from 10 to a £100. It was customary formerly to have in the fens an annual driving of the young ducks before they took wing. Numbers of people assembled on the occasion, who beat a vast tract, and forced the birds into a net placed at the spot where, the sport was to terminate.—150 dozens have been taken at once; but the practice being thought detrimental, has been abolished by act of Parliament.
Brief remarks on the parish churches of Marshland and Holland;with a short sketch of the history of the town and castle of Wisbeach.
By those who have visited Marshland, nothing, perhaps, has been more admired than its parish churches, some of which are very large and stately: that ofWalpole St. Petersis eminently so, and deemed one of the most beautiful parish or country churches in the kingdom. It is built of freestone, and consists of a nave, two aisles, and a chancel, all covered with lead. The tower corresponds with the other parts of the building, being a very handsome stone structure embattled. This edifice was founded near the close of the reign of Henry V. and completed in the first or second year of that of his successor. In one of the upper windows of the south aisle of this church is said to be a most absurd and profane representation of the Supreme Being, habited in a loose purple gown, with a long beard, resting his right hand on a staff of gold, and crowned with glory; pointing out the forefinger of his left hand, as dictating to the Virgin Mary, who is seated before him, with a pen in her hand, and paper on a desk before her. The Deity stands at the door or entrance of a castle, embattled, and with turrets, surrounded by a wall embattled; within this wall is the virgin; and many angels are looking down from the tower.—Here it may be observed, that when superstition has taken hold of the mind, there is scarce any thing too absurd to be imagined, or too impious to be received. Sad and shocking must be thestate of religion in a country where men are employed in making pictures or images of the deity, or where such images and pictures are preserved, or suffered to exist in places of worship. It would not, surely, be to the discredit of the minister and parishioners of Walpole to have the above preposterous and profane representation defaced, or removed.
Marshland indeed must not be thought singular, among the several districts of this flat and stoneless country, for the largeness, stateliness, and elegance of its churches. The case is much the same in the adjoining district ofHollandin Lincolnshire, and in most of the northern parts of Cambridgeshire. In no part of England are to be seen larger or handsomer country churches. They are mostly built with good freestone, and yet there is no freestone, or any other stones here to be found, but what have been brought from a great distance. Where the stones used in building these churches were procured, seems to be unknown to the men of this generation. They must have been brought a very great way, and conveyed by water carriage, as the expence would otherwise have been enormous and unsupportable. Some, indeed, will tell us, that the masons and carpenters worked then for apenny a day, and that other labour was in the same proportion; but they seem to forget that their penny was worth a great deal more than ours. Money, in this country, has greatly sunk in its value since that time. A penny would then, probably, go as far as 2s. or half a crown of our money; so that, at any rate, the expence of the erection of these churches must havebeen very great, and such as the present inhabitants, with all their boasted wealth and resources, would hardly (or rather, not at all) be equal to.
With sumptuous seats and magnificent palaces it does not appear that this country did ever much abound. Its strength might be too much exhausted in building churches, to admit of undertaking any other very expensive edifices. The Castle of Wisbeach seems to be almost the only exception; which, though situated a few yards out of the limits of Marshland, it may not be altogether improper to give here a short sketch of its history, as well as that of Wisbeach itself.
Of that town little is known before the conquest. Sometime previous to that event, and in the early part of the same century (the 11th) it is said to have been given to the Convent of Ely (along with other large and important possessions in the different counties of Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk) byOswyandLeoflede, the parents ofAlwyn, afterwards bishop of Elmham, upon his admission into the said convent. As the property of a convent, or monastery, it may be presumed to have been of old a veryreligioustown; which character it seems still in no small degree to retain, though in a different way.
Of its Castle, however, no traces are known to exist before the arrival of the Norman, with his conquering array of Frenchmen. In 1071, five years subsequent tothat event, the conqueror, it is said, built here a stone Castle, the governor of which was dignified with the title ofconstable, and the walls and moat were ordered to be kept in repair by the proprietors of certain lands in West Walton, who held their estates by a tenure to that effect. This fortress is supposed to have been afterwards dismantled in the reign of Henry II, but upon what occasion we are not informed. Nor have we any account of another such edifice at Wisbeach till the reign of Henry VII, when a new Castle of brick appears to have been built on the site of the former, between the years 1478 and 1483, by bishop Morton, already mentioned as an eminent benefactor to the adjacent country. This new edifice became the said bishop’s palace, in which he and several of his successors afterwards resided.
In Mary’s time the place seems to have undergone some change, but whether so as to cease being an episcopal residence, or not, does not appear. But we find that some part of it, at least, was then appropriated for the confinement of heretics, that is, of protestants. The names of two of these, who were inhabitants of the town, are still upon record. One of them was William Woolsey, and the other Robert Pygot. They were for sometime confined in this Castle, and afterwards removed to Ely, where they were both burnt, and along with them a great heap of books, which seems to imply, that one of them at least was a scholar, or considerable reader, and that, probably, was Woolsey; for it appears that Pygot was by trade a painter, and therefore not very likely to be possessed of many books. He is spoken of as remarkablymeek and modest, whereas Woolsey was a person of uncommon courage and boldness, viewing the impending danger without dismay, and setting his unfeeling persecutors, and even death itself at defiance. He was, it seems, somewhat fearful lest the gentleness of his fellow-sufferer should give his enemies advantage over him and occasion his recanting; but it did not prove so: Pygot stood firm to his principles; and when the commissioners presented a paper for him to sign, he said, “No, that is your faith, and not mine.” They suffered, towards the latter part of the year 1555.[91]
In the reign of Elizabeth, the then bishop, or bishops, it seems, relinquished this castle for the use and accommodation of the civil power; and it was then converted into a state prison for the papists, who were charged with conspiring against her majesty’s government. Great numbers therefore of these people suffered here a long and rigorous imprisonment, and not a few of them miserably perished in its dreary dungeons. That queen amply retaliated upon the papists what her sister Mary had before inflicted upon the protestants. It is hard to say which of these crowned sisters was the most bloody. Fox has largely described the cruelties and atrocities of Mary’s government. Certain popish, as well as protestant nonconformist historians have done the same in regard to that of Elizabeth: and if the intolerance, iniquity, and cruelty of the latter reign did not exceed those of the former, it seems pretty clear that they fell not short ofthem. As to the number of victims, or sufferers, the preponderance is evidently on the side of Elizabeth. There was a difference, indeed, in the process or mode of immolation: Mary had her victims burnt at the stake; whereas her protestant sister had hers hanged, cut down alive, emboweled, and quartered. Which of the two modes is the most humane and defensible—or rather, which of them is the most barbarous and brutal, the present writer will not attempt to determine. Nor will he pretend to say which of the two is attended with the greatest degree of animal pain, as that may depend upon circumstances. But if burning be the most cruel of all executions, as a very able living writer has observed, it argues a defect in our laws, which appoints this to be the punishment of petty treason, whilst the Catholic sufferers underwent that annexed to high treason. He also observes with respect to the greater part of those victims,—
“that the sentence of the law was strictly and literally executed upon them. After being hanged up, they were cut down alive, dismembered, ripped up, and their bowels literally burnt before their faces, after which they were beheaded and quartered. The time employed in this butchery was very considerable, and, in one instance, lasted above half an hour.—Great numbers also of these sufferers, (he adds) as well as other Catholics, who did not endure capital punishment, were racked in the most severe and wanton manner, in order to extort proofs against themselves or their brethren. It appears, (he further observes) from the account of one of these sufferers, that the following tortures were in use against the Catholics in the Tower: [and probably alsoin the Castle of Wisbeach:] 1. The common rack, in which the limbs were stretched by levers. 2. The scavenger’s daughter, so called, being a hoop, in which the body was bent until the head and feet met together. 3. The chamber, called Little-Ease, being a hole so small that a person could neither stand, sit, or lie straight in it. 4. The Iron Gauntlets. In some instances needles were thrust under the prisoner’s nails.—Sir Owen Hopton, lieutenant of the Tower, was commonly the immediate instrument in these cruelties there; but sometimes Elmer [ Aylmer] bishop of London directed them.”[93]
“that the sentence of the law was strictly and literally executed upon them. After being hanged up, they were cut down alive, dismembered, ripped up, and their bowels literally burnt before their faces, after which they were beheaded and quartered. The time employed in this butchery was very considerable, and, in one instance, lasted above half an hour.—Great numbers also of these sufferers, (he adds) as well as other Catholics, who did not endure capital punishment, were racked in the most severe and wanton manner, in order to extort proofs against themselves or their brethren. It appears, (he further observes) from the account of one of these sufferers, that the following tortures were in use against the Catholics in the Tower: [and probably alsoin the Castle of Wisbeach:] 1. The common rack, in which the limbs were stretched by levers. 2. The scavenger’s daughter, so called, being a hoop, in which the body was bent until the head and feet met together. 3. The chamber, called Little-Ease, being a hole so small that a person could neither stand, sit, or lie straight in it. 4. The Iron Gauntlets. In some instances needles were thrust under the prisoner’s nails.—Sir Owen Hopton, lieutenant of the Tower, was commonly the immediate instrument in these cruelties there; but sometimes Elmer [ Aylmer] bishop of London directed them.”[93]
How far the bishop of Ely was concerned with similar proceedings at the Castle of Wisbeach, we are not informed; but whether he was concerned or not, we may presume that similar measures were pursued there. The Wisbeach prisoners were distinguished, not only for their numbers, amounting to some scores, at least, but also for their rank and eminence, being mostly priests and scholars, who had been educated either at Oxford and Cambridge, or at some of the foreign universities. Hence when their more illiterate, or uneducated brethren, in other prisons, were called to defend their tenets against the attacks or arguments of the clergy, they would be expressing their wishes that some of their more learned friends, from Wisbeach Castle, would be allowed to take their part: and when the judge, at the trial of Barkworth, at the Old Baily, sneeringly proposed his being tried by ajury of priests, “Thatis right,” replied the prisoner; “Your lordship knows that a complete juryof them may be found at Wisbeach Castle.”[94a]In short, many of these catholic sufferers under Elizabeth, appear to have been no less sincere and devout, and even, no less unjustly treated, than those protestants, whose cruel sufferings have rendered Mary’s reign so deservedly detestable.
For a good while after the accession of James I, Wisbeach Castle was still used for the same purpose as above described: but between the years 1609 and 1619, it is said to have been repaired by bishop Andrews,[94b]who probably occupied it himself for some time after. On the abolition of the hierarchy, after the death of Charles I, it was purchased by the memorable secretary Thurloe,who rebuilt it in its present form, from a design of the celebrated Inigo Jones: but though still calledThe Castle, it no longer retained any appearance of a fortress. At the restoration it reverted to the see of Ely, but does not appear to have been ever afterwards an episcopal residence. It was from that period usually granted on lease to some one or other of the principal families of the town; the Southwells, in particular had it a long while, and resided there. Of late it has been sold, under an act of parliament, by the late bishop, to Joseph Medworth, Esq. The detached buildings have been since removed, and some rows of elegant houses have been erected. The plan of a large Circus has also been laid out, about one half of which is already built: when the design is completed it will add greatly to the pleasantness and beauty of the town. The Castle is still standing, and likely to stand, with what may be called fair play, as long as any of the new buildings, although it has been built now above 150 years, and was, at the time of the sale,stated(even by his lordship, it seems) to be in a decayed and ruinous condition.
The parish church of Wisbeach, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is a spacious handsome fabric, though of a very singular construction, being furnished with two naves and two aisles. The naves are lofty and separated from each other by a row of light slender pillars, with pointed arches. The aisles are the most ancient, being divided from their respective naves by low massy pillars, and semicircular saxon arches. The tower is deemedvery beautiful, and has been thought ancient, but its claim to antiquity is said to be fully refuted by existing records, which prove its erection to have been posterior to the 10th of March 1520.—On the west side of the north entrance is a small chapel or chantry dedicated to St. Martin, and originally endowed with lands for the maintenance of a priest, to say masses for the soul of the founder. The church is a vicarage, said to be heretofore worth 500l.a year, but now, it seems, more than double that sum, in consequence of a late litigation, which terminated in favour of the vicar, and the complete discomfiture of his opponents. This is said to have occasioned not a little ill blood between the good pastor and some of his flock; but however that may affect them, so large an addition of income will probably prevent his laying it very deeply to heart. It may, however, perhaps be somewhat doubtful, if the present extraordinary juncture, and most eventful period, be altogether the most safe or proper for the clergy to promote or engage in these unconciliatory and offensive litigations.
Besides the parish church, there are at Wisbeach six other different places of worship; one belonging to thefriends, commonly calledQuakers, one to theIndependents, orCulymites, one to theWesleyan Methodists, and three to those of thebaptistdenomination. Between the latter, though they all go under the same name, there yet exist some strong shades of difference, so that very little of any thing like good understanding or christian harmony is discoverable. Yet they all lie, more or less, under the imputation of heterodoxy, fromthe great or main body of their brethren, who are usually termedparticular baptists,—as well as from the rest of the right orthodox clans. Of these three societies one belongs to a certain order or description of arminian or general baptists, who are pretty numerous about Leicestershire and the adjacent counties, and also in some other parts. Except on the point of baptism, they agree very much with the Wesleyans, and may, perhaps, without much impropriety, be calledWesleyan baptists.—Another of these three societies belongs to a small party of baptists, sometimes calledJohnsonians, from the late John Johnson of Liverpool, to whose peculiar tenets and spirit they are very much attached; and they have, seemingly, but little charity or forbearance towards any thing that does not come up to, or accord with that standard; which may be said to be the worst trait in their character. They are otherwise respectable, and so are the members of the society before mentioned. Less bigotry would make both more amiable and more respectable. The people who constitute the other baptist society assume the name ofUnitarians, and belong to a notable class of that denomination which is said to be now much on the increase in different parts of the kingdom. The leaders of this new religious class profess to have for their main object to restore Christianity to its original purity: they adopt a popular strain of preaching, and are by some people looked upon as highlyevangelical; so that, as we have had for some timeevangelical trinitarians, both in the church and out of it, we are now, it seems, to have likewiseevangelicalunitarians. Some zealots among the orthodox will probably nibble at this, and even pronounce it absolutely impossible; but the pastor of the said society, at Wisbeach, is said to be ready to maintain, against the very best man among his opponents, not only that those of his connection are reallyno less evangelical, but even muchmore sothan any of those on whom it has been the fashion of late years to bestow that honourable appellation. Nothing further needs here be said on the subject: the public will have an opportunity to judge for themselves, if any one will enter the lists, or step forward to discuss the point with the said pastor.
To have among its inhabitants so many different religious societies or sects, can be no real reproach to Wisbeach. The exercise of free enquiry, and unrestrained judgement and decision in matters of religion, must be the undoubted and unalienable birthright of every rational being, or moral agent: nor can a diversity of religious sentiments or persuasions be any way detrimental to the welfare of the community, provided all parties were earnestly to concur in promoting general harmony and goodwill among their fellow citizens. It is, however, much to be regretted that this has been hitherto but very imperfectly learnt and practised by most of our religious fraternities, both in the establishment and out of it. It is too generally the case, that the leaders of the respective parties promote among their adherents a hostile, and not unfrequently a most rancorous spirit towards their differing neighbours: and the higher men are placed on the scale of orthodoxy and evangelicalism, the moreapt are they in general to run into this enormity. It would seem as if they had taken their ideas, not from Jesus Christ, but rather from those over-zealous and mistaken disciples who would fain have confined the name and profession, as well as the propagation of Christianity to those, forsooth, who wouldfollow them. Wherever real liberty exists, a diversity of religious opinions and denominations must be expected; but that would furnish no just cause of complaint, were the above evil sufficiently guarded against by all parties. Acts of uniformity in religion, attended with national creeds, tests, and articles of faith, may suit the piety of popes, or the crooked policy of despotism, but they can never accord with the rights of man, or the true principles of freedom: they will never be admitted in a land of liberty, and can belong only to those hateful regions inhabited by slaves and governed by tyrants.
History of Wisbeach continued.
Wisbeach was formerly a parliamentary borough, and that as early as the reign of Edward I.[99]The exact time when it ceased to be so, does not appear. That privilege was afterward restored to it under the protectorate, but withdrawn again at the restoration, and never restored since; while such insignificant places as Castle-Rising and others of a similar description, still continue (absurdly and ridiculously enough, itmust be said) to enjoy that privilege. Were such paltry places disfranchised, to make room for the admission of such as Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Sheffield, it would appear very reasonable; but as that is not at present to be looked for, we will here dismiss the subject.
Ever since the reign of Edward VI. Wisbeach has been a corporate town, but of a sort most singular and whimsical, and at the same time the most harmless that can well be thought of. Had all our corporations been like it, there would have been, it is presumed, not much reason to complain of them. This corporation appears to have emanated from a religious fraternity, called the Guild of the Holy Trinity, instituted in 1379, and possessed of estates for pious and charitable purposes. This establishment shared the general fate of ecclesiastical foundations in the reign of Henry VIII; but Edward VI, on his accession to the throne, having passed an act which provided for the security of those institutions that had been originally founded, either as grammar-schools, for relief of poor persons, or for the maintenance of “piers, jetties, walls, or banks against the rage of the sea, &c.” the inhabitants of Wisbeach availed themselves of the statute, and through the solicitations of Gooderich, bishop of Ely, were elevated into a corporation, on the 1st of June, 1549, and invested with all the possessions of Trinity Guild, (lying in eight different parishes, and occupied by thirty-nine tenants) the revenues of which were then estimated at 28l.2s.3½d.but were, undoubtedly, much greater.[100]
By king Edward’s charter the inhabitants were directed to assemble annually, and electten men, who were to have the direction of thebusinessof the body-corporate: yet for the first thirty six years after the charter was obtained, they seem to have done little else than meet, once a month in the town-hall, and, “out of mutual love and amity,” immediately adjourn to a tavern, where havingdined,[101]they decided petty controversies among the inhabitants. Afterwards they proceeded further than they were warranted by the charter: they took cognizance of the accounts of the churchwardens, and surveyors of the highways; they directed the application of money over which they had no right; assumed the privilege of levying an acre-tax; and moreover, during theplague, which raged here in 1588 and 1588, they summoned delinquents before them, and punished them at their own pleasure.
On the 28th of January 1610–11, the inhabitants obtained a renewal of their charter, at the great expence of 193l.19s.3d.They were then constituted a body-corporate, by the style of “the Burgesses of the town of Wisbeach;” but the right of election of theten men, thenceforward named “Capital Burgesses,” was limited to the possessors of freeholds of the value of 40s.a year. From this period the said tenmen, as we are informed, became objects of veneration and confidence, and were entrusted with the care of nearly all the donations for the benefit of the poor.
On the 17th of February 1669 they obtained asecondrenewal or confirmation of their charter; on what occasion we cannot discover. Their executive officer is theTown-Bailiff,[102]who, though a person wholly unknown to the charter, has the entire management of the estates and affairs of the corporation. He is not at liberty, however, to expend more than 5l.at one time, without an express order of the body-corporate.—These Capital Burgesses have no connection with the jurisprudence of the town, her have they any degree of civil authority, as the civil government of the town is not distinct from the general magistracy of the Isle of Ely, in which it stands: their principal business is to regulate the management of the revenues of the estates bequeathed, partly for charitable, but chiefly for public purposes. The income, of which they direct the expenditure, amounts to about 800l.annually; and to the credit and honour of the parties concerned, we are told, that it appears to be not only honestly, but even wisely expended. Part of the said sum arises from a grant made to the corporation by the Trinity House, in 1710, of one penny per ton upon all goods exported and imported, for the purpose of maintaining buoys and beacons, and keeping clear the channel of the river.
Among other improvements to which their attention has been directed, was the building of an elegant stone bridge, in the room of the old wooden one, over thegreat river. This was done about 1767, at the expence of nearly 2,300l.It consists of one elliptical arch, very accurately proportioned. A new Custom-House has been also erected; and the streets are cleaned, lighted, and watched, at their expence. Of late a new Jail and Shire-hall have been likewise built; and when a few more improvements are made, and especially the finishing of the circus, but few towns will be more handsome than Wisbeach. The Theatre is a commodious buildings in nearly a central situation. The Rose Inn, where balls and monthly assemblies are held, is said to have been a place of public reception from the year 1475, at which period it was known by the sign of the Horn; and on one of the out-buildings, erected in 1601, the figure of a horn is yet to be seen.
The trade of Wisbeach is said to have much increased of late years, through the improved state of the drainage and navigation of the fens, and consequent augmentation of the produce and consumption of the country: and it would, no doubt, have increased much more, but for the bad state of the harbour or river below. The average of the exports and imports amounts to 40,000 tons annually. The principal articles of traffic are coals, corn, timber, and wine. The neighbouring lands are in high cultivation, chiefly on the grazing System. The Sheep and oxen grow to a great size, and considerable numbers of them are fattened, and sent twice every week to the London market. The inhabitants are employed in commerce, there being no manufactureof any kind in the place, though the surrounding country produces immense quantities of wool, hemp, and flax. The market is abundantly supplied with poultry, fish, and butchers meat; and the trade of the town is further promoted by six small fairs, for hemp and flax, horned cattle and horses. The canal, which was completed a few years ago, extending from Wisbeach river to the river Nene at Outwell, and thence to the river Ouse at Salters-Lode Sluice, opened a communication with Norfolk, Suffolk, and other counties, and has already benefited the town considerably.[104]
The Summer Assizes, and the January and Midsummer quarter sessions for the Isle of Ely, are held at Wisbeach; where the magistrates assemble also every Wednesday and Saturday to settle the assize of bread, and for other purposes. The chief Justice of the Isle, and all other magistrates are appointed by the bishop, who is here invested with temporal as well as spiritual jurisdiction. The education of youth at Wisbeach is provided for by a free school, and two charity schools, supported by voluntary contributions. The appointment of Master of the Free-School is vested in the Capital Burgesses, with the consent of any other ten inhabitants, having voices in the election of those Burgesses. It appears that the Trinity Guild used to allow the Schoolmaster the annual salary of 10l.6s.8d.and that they also distributed annually among the poor the sum of 3l.15s.which last sum, as Mr. Hutchesson assuresus, has been continued invariably to this day. But 3l.15s.is now a very paltry sum, indeed, compared to what it was in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its value now is scarcely a tenth part of what it was then.[105]
An institution which has been justly deemed creditable to Wisbeach, is itsLiterary Society, formed in 1781, whose members sometime ago were about thirty, and its collection of books, or library, consisted of upwards of a thousand volumes.—Besides this institution, and some reading societies, or book-clubs, Wisbeach can also boast of aPhilosophical Society, the President of which isMr. Wm. Skrimshire Junr.a gentleman much and deservedly respected among his fellow-townsmen. He is allowed to be well qualified for the presidentship of such an institution, from his extensive knowledge of those subjects which it is the aim of the Society chiefly to cultivate; and in some branches of natural history he is said to be eminently conversant. He is a native of the town, as well as one of the most ingenious, intelligent, and respectable of its inhabitants.
Many remarkable personages may be supposed, one time and another, to have appeared among the natives of Wisbeach; but we shall here mention but two of them, and those of very unequal merit.—One of them wasDr. Henry Southwell, late rector of Asterby, and the reputed author of a well known and popular Commentary on the Old and New Testament, commonly calledDr. Southwell’s Family Bible; not a page of which, however, was written by him, being absolutely unequal to such an undertaking, and but a few degrees, if any, above an ideot.[106]But he sold his name to some London booksellers for a certain pecuniary consideration, and they employed oneDr. Saunders, a noted hackney writer, to do the work. They also produced Letters of approbation and recommendation, addressed to Dr. Southwell, from a great number of pretended eminent clergymen, in different parts of the kingdom. The trick succeeded, and the credulous public went taken in, as usual. It was, certainly, a most shameful business, and must be contemplated by all honest men with abhorrence and indignation: but the work brought no small gain to the publishers, for it had, it seems, a great run; and that, with them, would sufficiently sanctify the imposture. It is to be wished it could be said to be the only instance of the kind that occurs in the transactions of modern booksellers. But this is the age of imposition and humbugging, in which not only booksellers, but even ministers of State have sometimes been too fond of acting their parts.
The other person that shall be here named, as a native of Wisbeach, isThomas Clarkson. He too is a clergyman; but of a character so very different from the former, that no two human beings could well be more unlike each other. His unparalleled exertions in behalf of the oppressed Africans, and for the abolition of the detestableSlave-trade, so long the disgrace and curse of this country, must place his name very high indeed,among the modern sons of Britain—even far above ourBurkes, ourPitts, and ourNelsons, as the real friend of his country and his species, and the benefactor of the human race. Compared with such characters, he appears as an angel of light by the side of a group of demons. The honour of giving birth to so estimable and distinguished a person, must justly entitle the town of Wisbeach to no small degree of lasting celebrity. He should, certainly, be placed at the head of those memorable and venerable instruments, who contributed to the abolishment and annihilation of our most shameful, detestable, and horrid traffick in human flesh and blood. But for his vigorous and unwearied efforts, the names even of aFoxand aWilberforcehad never perhaps been known, as the promoters and champions of that honourable and sacred cause. But the virtues he displayed, and the service he performed, on that never to be forgotten occasion, are too well known, and too frequently acknowledged, to need any eulogy that this feeble pen is capable of attempting. Long may he live to enjoy his well-earned fame, and to exhibit still more widely among his contemporaries, by his future writings, the truth and importance of those exalted principles, for which he so nobly and so successfully contended.
The attention bestowed upon Wisbeach byWilliamI, in erecting there a stone castle, has been already noticed. To some of our succeeding monarchs it also appears to have been an object of partiality: we are accordingly informed thatRichardI, March 28th, 1190, granted the tenants of Wisbeach-Barton Manor an exemptionor freedom from toll in all fairs and markets throughout England. This grant was confirmed, in 1214, by kingJohn, who came to Wisbeach from Lynn in October 1216, as Dr. Brady has proved from original records preserved in the Tower. In the 12th of Henry IV. it was renewed, and again confirmed by writ of privy seal of Henry VI. Afterwards the privilege being forfeited, it was restored through the exertions ofNicholas Sandford, who died in 1608, and was buried in the church, where an inscription, on the brass plate inserted in his tomb-stone, commemorates his singular bounty and patriotism, as having,at his own charge,freed the town from toll.
After Oliver Cromwell had been appointed governor of the Isle of Ely, for his activity in swaying it to the interest of the Parliament, he caused fortifications to be raised near the Horse-shoe on the north side of Wisbeach, to secure the passes out of Lincolnshire, which continued attached to the king. The soldiers stationed to defend them were commanded by Colonel Sir John Palgrave, and Captain William Dodson; and the ammunition, and other warlike stores, were supplied from a Dutch ship, which the Queen had dispatched from Holland for the use of the royalists, but which, very seasonably and conveniently, fell into the hands of their opponents.
In 1643 the burgesses lent 150l.to Captain Dodson, who was then engaged in the siege of Croyland; and on the 25th of March 1644, they delivered to Major John Ireton four muskets, three bandeliers, and two swords,for the service of the Parliament. They also furnished the latter with a loan of 250l.towards raising a troop of horse for the defence of the Isle. This troop seems to have been supported even after the Revolution, as on the 6th of June, 1690, 4l.were ordered to be paid towards the expence of a horse to serve in “the Troop,” and the town-bailiff was directed to defray a moiety of the charge for arms and furniture.
Between the restoration and the year 1672, cities, towns, and even individuals, were allowed to coin copper money for the convenience of trade: the Capital Burgesses of Wisbeach, therefore, in February, 1670, ordered the town-bailiff to expend 20l.in coining halfpence, with the words “A Wisbeach Half-penny,” on one side; and on the other, the impression of the town-seal. In 1722, the poor-house was erected, at the expence of 2000l.borrowed for that purpose by the Capital Burgesses, on their corporation seal:—for being an invisible body, (like other bodies-corporate) whose intentions cannot be manifested or expressed by personal acts, or oral discourse, they could act and speak only by their common seal.[109]
The frequent journeys made by George II. to Hanover, (whither it was supposed he transported a large share of the national treasure,) and his attachment to Lady Kilmarnock, afterwards Countess of Yarmouth, excited the displeasure of some of the inhabitants of this town; and the Rev.Thomas Whiston, curate to Dr.Bell, preached a sermon full of asperity against the King’s conduct. His text was from Proverbs vii, 19–22. “The good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey, he hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks.” Mr. Whiston seems to have been endued with that talent which gives its possessor a facility in adapting the language and circumstances of distant ages to the occurrences of modern times; of which he gave further proof after the suppression of the rebellion in 1745, and the return of the Pretender into France, when he zealously defended the succession of the House of Brunswick, taking for his text, 2 Kings, xix, 33. “By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.”[110]One would suppose this clergyman to have been in his day somewhat of an uncommon and singular, though not apparently of a disreputable character. He was evidently a patriot and anti-jacobite; and, unlike most of his order, he could discern the errors and misdoings of the great, and even testify against them in a very open and pointed manner. On the prudence and propriety, or expediency of this part of his conduct, different persons, no doubt, would entertain different opinions. What he would have thought, said, or done, had he lived in the present reign, and to this very time, it is impossible to know. Of royal journeysto Hanover, and of female favourites, or mistresses of the sovereign, one may presume he would have seen no cause of complaint. But that the same would have been the case, as to all our state maxims, and public measures, and especially our three last wars, is more, perhaps, than we are warranted to conclude; as it seems rather probable, not to say more than probable, that Mr. Whiston would have discovered in some, if not in all of them, no slight cause of disgust and animadversion. How he would have stood affected toward some of our princes of the blood, or royal dukes, and what texts, or passages of scripture he would have applied to them, or made the groundwork of sermons or addresses to his parishioners concerning them, are questions that cannot now be answered or resolved.
The river Nene, being navigable from Wisbeach to Peterborough, and many other more distant inland parts, contributes much to the commercial importance of the former. There are also passage-boats on this river, which prove very convenient to travellers, in their progress to, or from the great north road.—Before we quit Wisbeach it may be here just hinted, that some of its inhabitants have often been heard loudly congratulating themselves, on the very superior advantages of their town, compared with Lynn and most other boroughs, where the corporation spirit is too apt to encroach and bear hard upon the unprivileged part of the community; but which, happily, never haunts, molests, or disturbs the people of Wisbeach. If that be really the case, theyhave, certainly, cause for boasting; and we can do no less than hail them on the occasion.—The population of Wisbeach, as ascertained by the late act, amounts to near five thousand: so that it is the most populous town in the county, except Cambridge.
Additional account of Marshland—Parkin—Bishop of Ely’s manor,in Terrington—Queen Henrietta—Admiral Bentinck—Cross Keys—Demolishers of the banks prosecuted and suppressed—High Tides—Destructive Inundations—Principal divisions of Marshland.
Being here to quit Wisbeach, we shall now recross the ditch,[112]and take another turn in Marshland. In this remarkable District, as has been already intimated, scarce any edifices are to be seen, either of ancient or modern date, that are worthy of very particular attention, except the parish churches; and of them it does not seem necessary to give here any further description: but it may be just hinted, that next to Walpole St-Peter’s, already described, the two Terringtons, one of the Tilneys, West-Walton, and Walsoken, are deemed the most considerable and remarkable. Some account of them may be found in Parkin’s History of Freebridge Hundred and half.
In the same work may also be found a pretty distinct and circumstantial account of the different manors inthis district, one of which belonged formerly to the Crown, as a royal desmesne, and was repeatedly settled on some of our queen’s consorts, as part of their jointures.—It lies in Terrington, and is called the bishop of Ely’s manor, having once belonged to his great lordship of West-Walton, Wisbeach, &c. It remained in the See of Ely till the death of bishopCox, in 1581, when it came to the Crown by an Act of Parliament passed in the 4th of Elizabeth. James I. granted it with all its appurtenances to his eldest son Henry, and after his decease, to his other son Charles prince of Wales, on whose marriage it was settled on his queen, as a part of her jointure; from which, however, it has been thought not very likely that she ever derived much benefit.[113]In the reign of Charles II. it was again settled on Catherine of Lisbon, his consort,as part of her dower or jointure, and was farmed by Sir James Chapman Fuller, bart. In 1696, William Bentinck, earl of Portland, had a grant of it from king William. Admiral Bentinck, a descendant of that family, is the present possessor of it, and of the greatest part of Terrington.—Somewhere upon this estate of his, is said to be one of the best spots in the whole country for forming a Decoy.—The Admiral, within these few years, has added to his possessions here a large extent of salt marshes, which he has rescued from the sea, and secured by strong and capital embankments. No part of his valuable territory here exceeds this newly recovered tract, in point of fertility: nor is it exceeded, if equalled, by any other part of Marshland: and yet it has been thought, from the high terms on which he lets it, that he himself has overrated its value. This point, however, must be left for him and his tenants to settle as they can.
In Terrington is that Wash, or passage into Lincolnshire, commonly called theCross Keys. “Here (says Parkin) is a guide always attending, to conduct passengers over, bearing a wand or rod in his hand, probably in imitation of Moses, who had a rod when he conducted the Israelites through the Red Sea.”[114]A guide certainly does attend; and it seems he bears a wand; but that he does so in imitation of Moses, was, perhaps, never supposed by any one before Mr. Parkin.—These guides might very probably use a wand, or long rod, for the purpose of sounding the depth of the water, or to discover any unevenness, dangerous holes, or sloughs at the bottom.
The Banks erected by the Romans to secure this country, appear to have been well constructed (as was generally the case with the great works of that people) and they served probably for ages as effectual bulwarks against the encroachment of the ocean. In a long course of time, however, they would naturally fall into decay; and the Saxons, who succeeded the Romans, being never very remarkable for their attention to such matters, or their skill in the management of them, it is not to be wondered that we often hear in aftertimes of breaches in the banks; and of high tides, or great inland floods deluging and desolating the country.
As long ago as the reign of Edward I. we read of certain lawless people making breaches in the banks, and resisting those who would have stopt them; upon which the king is said to have appointed certain persons to inquire into those misdemeanours, and punish the offenders. Afterward, in the same reign, mischievous persons are said to have thrown down the bank atLittle-lode; when a new commission was issued to search after the offenders and bring them to justice. Another commission was issued some few years after, when Robert Russel, bailiff to the Abbot of Ramsey, John Mayner, Walter Halleman and others, were found out as offenders, having by force of arms, broke down the Dam atSmalelode, and Richard Curteys the other atWadynstowe; and the Sheriff was ordered to apprehend them. All this seems very plainly to indicate, that, even in the reign of our boastedEnglish Justinian, the state of things in this country was very different from what it was in that ofthe immortalAlfred.[116]In the 22, of Henry VIII. an act passed, making it felony to demolish the sea banks, which seems to have put an effectual stop to those flagitious proceedings.
Among the shocking inundations, from which this low country greatly suffered in former times, the following seem to be the most remarkable.—In the year 1236, on the morrow after Martinmas-day, and the eight following days, the sea, by the violence of the wind, was raised to such a height, that the banks, yielding to the force of the water, were broken so, that “of small craft, cattle, and men,” great multitudes were destroyed. A similar calamity happened about nineteen years afterward. Also in 1437, by a breach in the bank of Wisbeach Fen, 4,400 acres of land were overflowed. Another of those disastrous events happened on Monday and Tuesday, the second and third of October, 1570, by which all Marshland together with the town of Wigenhale, were overflowed with salt water; so that from Old Lynn to Magdalen-bridge there were not left ten roods of the bank whole and firm, to the very great damage of the whole country. How or when that damage was repaired, or the banks restored to their former state, does not appear; but in the 39th of the same reign (that of Elizabeth) complaint was made at a Session of Sewers, that through neglectof keeping the water in at Rightforth Lode within the crests of the same, the grounds on the north side of the said Lode were, in time of great inundations, overflown, which occasioned the tenants, for avoiding the water, to cut the old Powdike, and issue the said water into Marshland Fen, to the great loss of the inhabitants and commoners there. It was therefore ordained and decreed, by the commissioners, that whoever should so transgress in future, should be fined 20l.for every such default.
After this, on the 1st of April 1607 (5. Jac.) there happened a mighty tide, which broke Catt’s bank, and drowned Clenchwarton. About 1610, provision was made for draining the waters of Oldfield, Outwell, &c. without issuing them through Broken Dike into Marshland, and also for a general repair of all the banks. How far these measures were carried on, or effected, cannot now be said; but they proved entirely ineffectual to secure the country from that dreadful inundation of the sea, which happened on November 1, 1613 (11 Jac.) and which laid all Marshland and parts adjacent under water, and proved exceedingly calamitous to the whole country. In commemoration of this most disastrous event, the following rather quaint Inscription was set up on the East Wall of the south aisle in Wisbeach Church—
“To the immortal praise of God Almighty, that saveth his people in all adversities, be it kept in perpetual memory, That on the Feast-Day ofAll saints, being the first of November in the year of our Lord 1613, late in the night, the sea broke in throughthe violence of a North East wind, meeting with a Spring Tide, and overflowed allMarshland, with the town ofWisbeche, both on the north side and on the south; and almost the whole Hundred round about; to the great danger of men’s lives, and the losse of some; besides the exceeding great lossc which these counties sustained through the breach of the banks, and spoil of corn, cattle, and housing, which could not be estimated.”
“To the immortal praise of God Almighty, that saveth his people in all adversities, be it kept in perpetual memory, That on the Feast-Day ofAll saints, being the first of November in the year of our Lord 1613, late in the night, the sea broke in throughthe violence of a North East wind, meeting with a Spring Tide, and overflowed allMarshland, with the town ofWisbeche, both on the north side and on the south; and almost the whole Hundred round about; to the great danger of men’s lives, and the losse of some; besides the exceeding great lossc which these counties sustained through the breach of the banks, and spoil of corn, cattle, and housing, which could not be estimated.”
Dugdale in his History of Embanking has preserved—
“An Abstract of the losses in general (sustained on the above occasion) as they were presented by the Jurors of several Hundreds at the Session of Sewers held at Lynn, December 9, 1613.—Withinthe Ring of Marshland the statement of the said losses is as follows—Terrington, 10,416l;Walpole, 3,000l;West-Walton, 850l;Walsoken, 1,328l;Emneth, 150l;WigenhaleandSouth Lynn, 6,000l;TilneyandIslington, 4,380l;Clenchwarton, 6,000l;WestandNorth Lynn, 4,000l—in all 35,834l.—Withoutthe Ring of Marshland, the damage was far less considerable, and is given as follows,Gaywood, 205l;South Wotton, 313l;North Wotton, 810l;Watlington, 500l;TotnelcumWormegay, 60l;HolmcumThorpland, 40l;Stow Bardolf, 100l: in all 2,028l; which added to the former account will amount to no less a sum than 37,862l.”—A sum equal, perhaps, to near half a million of our money.
“An Abstract of the losses in general (sustained on the above occasion) as they were presented by the Jurors of several Hundreds at the Session of Sewers held at Lynn, December 9, 1613.—Withinthe Ring of Marshland the statement of the said losses is as follows—Terrington, 10,416l;Walpole, 3,000l;West-Walton, 850l;Walsoken, 1,328l;Emneth, 150l;WigenhaleandSouth Lynn, 6,000l;TilneyandIslington, 4,380l;Clenchwarton, 6,000l;WestandNorth Lynn, 4,000l—in all 35,834l.—Withoutthe Ring of Marshland, the damage was far less considerable, and is given as follows,Gaywood, 205l;South Wotton, 313l;North Wotton, 810l;Watlington, 500l;TotnelcumWormegay, 60l;HolmcumThorpland, 40l;Stow Bardolf, 100l: in all 2,028l; which added to the former account will amount to no less a sum than 37,862l.”—A sum equal, perhaps, to near half a million of our money.
The damages at or about Wisbeach, andout of Norfolk, are not included in the above abstract; though they must, doubtless, have been very considerable, and probablynot much less than the former: the whole together must, of course, have been enormous, and equal to many hundred thousand pounds of our money.