Middle Level Commissioners
Encyclopedia
The Middle Level Commissioners are a land drainage authority in eastern England. The body was formed in 1862, undertaking the main water level management function within the Middle Level http://middlelevel.gov.uk following the breakup of the former Bedford Level Corporation.
The Middle Level is the central and largest section of the Great Level of The Fens
, which was reclaimed by drainage during the mid-17th Century. The area is bounded on the northwest and east by the Nene
and Ouse washes
, on the north by previously drained Marshland silts and to the south and west by low clay hills. The Middle Level river system consists of over 120 miles (190 km) of watercourses most of which are statutory navigation
s and has a catchment of over 170,000 acres (70,000 hectares).
. Within the fens, dense vegetation grew in the fresh water forming peat deposits, which built up over some 6000 years, until at the time of the Norman Conquest, the peat fen had risen above the level of the sea, although several lakes or meres remained. A number of settlements had been built, not only on the silt fringes of the Wash but also on a number of clay islands within the fens.
Although the Romans and Saxons had built a series of flood banks to protect the Marshland silts to the north, and a number of small local projects had been carried out during the Middle Ages to reclaim small areas of fen in the vicinity of some of the island towns and villages, no comprehensive schemes for the draining of the Fens were carried out until the 17th Century. During the period between 1630 and 1655, the Dutch engineer Sir Cornelius Vermuydenhttp://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~engcam/cvermydn.htm was employed by the Earl of Bedford
and others to carry out a comprehensive scheme to reclaim the Great Level of the Fens. The scheme involved the cutting of the Old
and New Bedford
Rivers to bypass the meandering course of the River Great Ouse
and create a huge washland from Earith
to Salters Lode to store flood water. The Middle Level area was protected from the flood waters of the Great Ouse and Nene
by two huge barrier banks which stretched from Earith to Salters Lode and from Stanground
to Guyhirn
. Within the Middle Level he cut a number of new straight drainage channels such as the Sixteen Foot, Forty Foot
and Twenty Foot drains with the bulk of the Middle Level area draining into the Great Ouse at Salters Lode, via the Old Course of the River Nene which continued to be the major waterway of the area.
The improved drainage caused a rapid shrinkage of the peat fen and land levels dropped. By the early 18th Century, lowering land levels had required the Middle Level rivers to be embanked and many wind pumps to be built to lift the water from the field dikes into the rivers. By the early 19th Century many of the wind engines had been replaced by steam to allow the water to be lifted through greater heights, to take account of the even greater peat shrinkage resulting from the improved drainage.
By this time it was clear that improvements to the drainage systems would be a never ending process and, in 1844, an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the cutting of the Middle Level Main Drain, which moved the main outfall sluice from Salters Lode to St Germans, some 9 miles further down the Great Ouse, where low tide levels were 7 feet (2.5 metres)and lower. At Mullicourt Aqueduct, the old drainage channel, which is still a statutory navigation, is carried over the Main Drain, providing a graphic illustration of the effects of land shrinkage.
From the time of Vermuyden, the drainage of the Middle Level had been run by the Bedford Level Corporation, until 1862 when a new Act of Parliament set up the Middle Level Commissioners http://www.middlelevel.gov.uk/, who have continued to administer the drainage and navigation of the Middle Level to the present day.
http://www.huntsdc.gov.uk and the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk
http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk are therefore, able to appoint representatives as Commissioners in respect of the payment made in relation to these properties.
s initially set up in the 18th century and each responsible for the local drainage of their area. Most have pumping stations and discharge their run-off into the main Middle Level watercourses. Many of these IDBs are administered from the Middle Level Offices and their administrative and financial work is carried out by Middle Level staff. In addition, Middle Level staff also undertake engineering and planning liaison consultancy work for a large number of Boards.
Internal drainage districts administered by the Middle Level Commissioners
Benwick Internal Drainage Board
Bluntisham Internal Drainage Board
Churchfield and Plawfield Internal Drainage Board
Conington and Holme Internal Drainage Board
Curf and Wimblington Combined Internal Drainage Board
Euximoor Internal Drainage Board
Hundred Foot Washes Internal Drainage Board
Hundred of Wisbech Internal Drainage Board
Ladus District Drainage Commissioners
Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners
March and Whittlesey Internal Drain Board
March East Internal Drainage Board
March Fifth District Drainage Commissioners
March Sixth District Drainage Commissioners
March Third District Drainage Commissioners
Needham Buriel and Birdbeck District Drainage Commissioners
Nightlayers Internal Drainage Board
Nordelph Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey First (Hollow) Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey Fourth (Middlemoor) Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey Upwood and Great Raveley Internal Drainage Board
Ransonmoor District Drainage Commissioners
Sawtry Internal Drainage Board
Sutton and Mepal Internal Drainage Board
Swavesey Internal Drainage Board
Upwell Internal Drainage Board
Waldersey Internal Drainage Board
Warboys Somersham and Pidley Internal Drainage Board
White Fen District Drainage Commissioners
. The Link is at present is the only connection between the Great Ouse and the Main Canal Network. During a normal summer, over 1,000 passages of the Link-Route are made by pleasure craft. The Commissioners issue Navigation Notes, which provide navigation details for boat owners, who wish to use the system.
The Middle Level Waterways Users Committee consists of representatives of the Commissioners and Users of the Middle Level system. It advises the Commissioners of the different requirements for water use in the Middle Level area and assists them in meeting such requirements so far as the Commissioners are able to do.
http://www.greatfen.org.uk, Monks Wood and Holme Fen http://www.yaxleypc.org.uk as well as a number of smaller sites of more local interest. The Commissioners have a statutory duty to further nature conservation in the performance of their functions and operate a specific conservation strategy, which forms a basis for all their river maintenance operations. There is also a close working relationship with Natural England
, in particular through the Conservation Committee, which includes representatives of the Commissioners, the Environment Agency
, Natural England and the local Wildlife Trust
s.
External Links=
The Middle Level is the central and largest section of the Great Level of The Fens
The Fens
The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....
, which was reclaimed by drainage during the mid-17th Century. The area is bounded on the northwest and east by the Nene
Nene Washes
The Nene Washes are a Special Protection Area along the River Nene in the English county of Cambridgeshire.They extend for around east of the City of Peterborough and cover more than...
and Ouse washes
Ouse Washes
The Ouse Washes are an area in the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, England. They cover the area between two diversion channels of the River Great Ouse: the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River .-History:...
, on the north by previously drained Marshland silts and to the south and west by low clay hills. The Middle Level river system consists of over 120 miles (190 km) of watercourses most of which are statutory navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
s and has a catchment of over 170,000 acres (70,000 hectares).
History
In the distant past Great Britain was part of continental Europe with the rivers of eastern England being tributaries of the River Rhine, which flowed across a flat, marshy plain, which is now the southern North Sea. Following the end of the last Ice Age, the sea levels rose, severing Britain from Europe and flooding the area now occupied by the Fens. The fen area gradually became separated from the sea by extensive sand banks, which circled the fringes of the WashThe Wash
The Wash is the square-mouthed bay and estuary on the northwest margin of East Anglia on the east coast of England, where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire. It is among the largest estuaries in the United Kingdom...
. Within the fens, dense vegetation grew in the fresh water forming peat deposits, which built up over some 6000 years, until at the time of the Norman Conquest, the peat fen had risen above the level of the sea, although several lakes or meres remained. A number of settlements had been built, not only on the silt fringes of the Wash but also on a number of clay islands within the fens.
Although the Romans and Saxons had built a series of flood banks to protect the Marshland silts to the north, and a number of small local projects had been carried out during the Middle Ages to reclaim small areas of fen in the vicinity of some of the island towns and villages, no comprehensive schemes for the draining of the Fens were carried out until the 17th Century. During the period between 1630 and 1655, the Dutch engineer Sir Cornelius Vermuydenhttp://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~engcam/cvermydn.htm was employed by the Earl of Bedford
Earl of Bedford
Earl of Bedford is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1138 in favour Hugh de Beaumont. He appears to have been degraded from the title three or four years after its creation. However, the existence of the title altogether has been...
and others to carry out a comprehensive scheme to reclaim the Great Level of the Fens. The scheme involved the cutting of the Old
Old Bedford River
The Old Bedford River is an artificial, partial diversion of the waters of the River Great Ouse in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, England. It was named after the fourth Earl of Bedford who contracted with the local Commission of Sewers to drain the Great Level of the Fens beginning in 1630.The idea of...
and New Bedford
New Bedford River
The New Bedford River, also known as the Hundred Foot Drain because of the distance between the tops of the two embankments on either side of the river, is a man-made cut-off or by-pass channel of the River Great Ouse in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, England. It provides an almost straight channel...
Rivers to bypass the meandering course of the River Great Ouse
River Great Ouse
The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
and create a huge washland from Earith
Earith
Earith is a village in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, England, south of Chatteris and east of Huntingdon. At Earith, two artificial diversion channels of the River Great Ouse, the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River, leave the river on a course to Denver Sluice near Downham Market, where they...
to Salters Lode to store flood water. The Middle Level area was protected from the flood waters of the Great Ouse and Nene
Nene
Nene may refer to:*River Nene, a river in England*Rolls-Royce Nene, a jet engine*Nene , also called Nēnē and Hawaiian Goose, Branta sandvicensis, a rare goose*Nene , a Seminole Indian word meaning "street"...
by two huge barrier banks which stretched from Earith to Salters Lode and from Stanground
Stanground
Stanground is a residential area of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. For electoral purposes it comprises Stanground Central and Stanground East wards in North West Cambridgeshire constituency...
to Guyhirn
Guyhirn
Guyhirn is a small village near the town of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, England. The village sits on the northern bank of the River Nene.Guyhirn is found at a junction of two sizeable "A" roads, where the A141 leaves the A47.-Origin of the name:...
. Within the Middle Level he cut a number of new straight drainage channels such as the Sixteen Foot, Forty Foot
Forty Foot Drain
In the drainage schemes of The Fens of Eastern England, some of the principal drainage channels are each known as The Forty Foot or Forty Foot Drain, the name being qualified when there is a need to distinguish between them...
and Twenty Foot drains with the bulk of the Middle Level area draining into the Great Ouse at Salters Lode, via the Old Course of the River Nene which continued to be the major waterway of the area.
The improved drainage caused a rapid shrinkage of the peat fen and land levels dropped. By the early 18th Century, lowering land levels had required the Middle Level rivers to be embanked and many wind pumps to be built to lift the water from the field dikes into the rivers. By the early 19th Century many of the wind engines had been replaced by steam to allow the water to be lifted through greater heights, to take account of the even greater peat shrinkage resulting from the improved drainage.
By this time it was clear that improvements to the drainage systems would be a never ending process and, in 1844, an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the cutting of the Middle Level Main Drain, which moved the main outfall sluice from Salters Lode to St Germans, some 9 miles further down the Great Ouse, where low tide levels were 7 feet (2.5 metres)and lower. At Mullicourt Aqueduct, the old drainage channel, which is still a statutory navigation, is carried over the Main Drain, providing a graphic illustration of the effects of land shrinkage.
From the time of Vermuyden, the drainage of the Middle Level had been run by the Bedford Level Corporation, until 1862 when a new Act of Parliament set up the Middle Level Commissioners http://www.middlelevel.gov.uk/, who have continued to administer the drainage and navigation of the Middle Level to the present day.
The Middle Level Commissioners
The Middle Level Commissioners consist of representatives from both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Occupiers of agricultural property receive a rate demand direct from the Commissioners. The "rates" on non-agricultural properties, such as houses and factories, are paid through a special levy issued to the district councils within the Commissioners' area. These councils, Fenland District Council http://www.fenland.gov.uk/, Huntingdonshire District CouncilHuntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
http://www.huntsdc.gov.uk and the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk
King's Lynn and West Norfolk
King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a local government district and borough in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn.-History:...
http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk are therefore, able to appoint representatives as Commissioners in respect of the payment made in relation to these properties.
Internal drainage boards
Within the Middle Level there are 29 independent internal drainage boardInternal Drainage Board
An internal drainage board is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management within drainage districts...
s initially set up in the 18th century and each responsible for the local drainage of their area. Most have pumping stations and discharge their run-off into the main Middle Level watercourses. Many of these IDBs are administered from the Middle Level Offices and their administrative and financial work is carried out by Middle Level staff. In addition, Middle Level staff also undertake engineering and planning liaison consultancy work for a large number of Boards.
Internal drainage districts administered by the Middle Level Commissioners
Benwick Internal Drainage Board
Bluntisham Internal Drainage Board
Churchfield and Plawfield Internal Drainage Board
Conington and Holme Internal Drainage Board
Curf and Wimblington Combined Internal Drainage Board
Euximoor Internal Drainage Board
Hundred Foot Washes Internal Drainage Board
Hundred of Wisbech Internal Drainage Board
Ladus District Drainage Commissioners
Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners
March and Whittlesey Internal Drain Board
March East Internal Drainage Board
March Fifth District Drainage Commissioners
March Sixth District Drainage Commissioners
March Third District Drainage Commissioners
Needham Buriel and Birdbeck District Drainage Commissioners
Nightlayers Internal Drainage Board
Nordelph Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey First (Hollow) Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey Fourth (Middlemoor) Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey Upwood and Great Raveley Internal Drainage Board
Ransonmoor District Drainage Commissioners
Sawtry Internal Drainage Board
Sutton and Mepal Internal Drainage Board
Swavesey Internal Drainage Board
Upwell Internal Drainage Board
Waldersey Internal Drainage Board
Warboys Somersham and Pidley Internal Drainage Board
White Fen District Drainage Commissioners
Navigation
The Middle Level, apart from its flood protection role, is also the fourth largest navigation authority in the United Kingdom and is responsible for approximately 100 miles (160 kilometres) of statutory navigation and operates six navigation locks. The Nene-Ouse Navigation Link forms part of the Middle Level NavigationsMiddle Level Navigations
The Middle Level Navigations are a network of waterways in England, primarily used for land drainage, between the Rivers Nene and Great Ouse, between Peterborough and Cambridge.- History :...
. The Link is at present is the only connection between the Great Ouse and the Main Canal Network. During a normal summer, over 1,000 passages of the Link-Route are made by pleasure craft. The Commissioners issue Navigation Notes, which provide navigation details for boat owners, who wish to use the system.
The Middle Level Waterways Users Committee consists of representatives of the Commissioners and Users of the Middle Level system. It advises the Commissioners of the different requirements for water use in the Middle Level area and assists them in meeting such requirements so far as the Commissioners are able to do.
Conservation
Within the Middle Level Catchment there are three Major National Nature Reserves at Woodwalton MarshWoodwalton Marsh
Woodwalton Marsh is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest managed as a nature reserve by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough. It is located north of the village of Wood Walton alongside the East Coast railway line.- References :-...
http://www.greatfen.org.uk, Monks Wood and Holme Fen http://www.yaxleypc.org.uk as well as a number of smaller sites of more local interest. The Commissioners have a statutory duty to further nature conservation in the performance of their functions and operate a specific conservation strategy, which forms a basis for all their river maintenance operations. There is also a close working relationship with Natural England
Natural England
Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...
, in particular through the Conservation Committee, which includes representatives of the Commissioners, the Environment Agency
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...
, Natural England and the local Wildlife Trust
The Wildlife Trusts partnership
The Wildlife Trusts is an organisation made up of 47 local Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom plus the Isle of Man and Alderney.The Wildlife Trusts, between them, look after around 2,300 nature reserves covering more than 90,000 hectares...
s.
External Links=