Upper Witham IDB
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Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
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The Upper Witham IDB is an English
History
Land to the west and south of Lincoln was regularly inundated by flood events occurring on the
An
Two major flood events took place soon afterwards. In 1770, water breached the Fossdyke embankment at Torksey, and land was flooded between the breach and Lincoln. A worse event happened in 1795, when the Trent breached the bank at Spalford. Around 20,000 acres (81 km2) of land was flooded, some to a depth of 10 feet (3.0 m). When the water reached Lincoln, it was constrained by the High Street, which is between 12 and 15 feet (3.7 and 4.6 m) above the level of the surrounding land.[2] Houses in the lower part of Saxilby were flooded, and families had to be moved to the upper town, with several of them living in the church until the floods subsided. The villages of Broxholme, Fenton, Hardwick, Hathow, Kettlethorpe, Thorney, and Wigsley were like islands, and could only be reached by boat, while parts of Torksey, Brampton, Fenton and Kettlethorpe were flooded. The flood waters remained for 3 weeks, and it took 80 loads of faggots and over 400 tons of earth to repair the breach in the river wall. Flood risk from the Trent was reduced following further major flooding events in 1824 and 1852, after which the five major 'gaps' along the Trent, at Spalford, Newton, Torksey Lock, Torksey and Marton, were extensively repaired by the Courts of Sewers for Newark and Lincoln.[6]
In 1804 an Act of Parliament was obtained, to authorise the work proposed by Smeaton in 1752.[5] The Act stated that it was For embanking, draining and improving certain Lands in the City of Lincoln and County thereof and in the parishes or townships of Boultham, Skellingthorpe, Saxilby, Broxholme, North Carlton, South Carlton, Burton and Hathow in the County of Lincoln and for inclosing Lands in the said parish of Skellingthorpe. This created two drainage districts, the Lincoln West (North District) Drainage Board, responsible for an area of 1,545 acres (625 ha) and the Lincoln West (South District) Drainage Board, responsible for 2,331 acres (943 ha). Again, there was a commercial aspect to the Act, as the drainage districts could raise an annual tax on the owners of lands which benefitted from the drainage and embankment works.[7]
At that time, all discharge was by gravity, and the main outfall for both districts was through a tunnel under the River Witham at Coulson Road. From there it entered the Great Gowts Drain and the Syncil Dyke, to be discharged into the Witham below Lincoln. The Act enabled the North District to build a cast iron tunnel under the Fossdyke Navigation and a new drain to convey the water to the Main Drain of the South District. Additionally, they could build a catchwater drain along the edge of the higher ground to the east, which would discharge into the Fossdyke. The South District could also build a catchwater drain, running along the edge of higher ground to the south, and discharging into the Witham. When the works were completed, the drainage system was much as it is today.[7]
Organisation
By the mid-1920s, the government realised that the existing laws concerning land drainage were in disarray, with much of it still depending on
The Witham and Steeping Rivers Catchment Board was set up under the Act, and they constituted the Upper Witham Internal Drainage Board (IDB) by an order dated 14 September 1932, which would take effect from 1 April 1933. The Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Commissioners of Sewers were wound up, with their powers passing to the catchment board or drainage board as appropriate, and the North District and South District Drainage Boards were also abolished. Subsequently, the catchment board became part of the Lincolnshire River Board under the River Boards Act 1948, then the Lincolnshire River Authority under the Water Resources Act 1963, the Anglian Water Authority under the Water Act 1973, the National Rivers Authority under the Water Act 1989 and finally the Environment Agency under the Environment Act 1995.[9]
The Upper Witham IDB operates independently from the Witham First District IDB, the Witham Third District IDB, and the North East Lindsey IDB in that they have their own budgets, board, plant and machinery, but much of the administration is shared. The four IDBs have a common Chief Executive and Director of Operations, and a number of financial and administrative functions are also shared. The board consists of members who are elected and those who are appointed by the local authorities who pay drainage levies to the board. In the case of Upper Witham IDB, the number of appointed members exceeds the number of elected member.[10]
Pumping stations
Before the advent of the Upper Witham IDB, most of the drainage was by gravity, although there were a few small areas where pumps were used. These were at Boultham, Skellingthorpe, Saxilby and Broxholme, and the pumps were operated by the Church Commissioners or by private individuals. For the rest of the region, the outfalls into the main rivers were controlled by sluice doors, some automatically operated, but many still hand operated. Under flood conditions, levels in the main drains rose rapidly, and internal pumps had to be stopped at the time when they were needed most.[7]
At Pyewipe, there was a steam pumping station, but no further information about it has been found. A new pumping station on the south bank of the Fossdyke was built in 1936, and initially contained two single-cylinder Ruston diesel engines, each directly connected to a 27-inch (69 cm) Gwynnes pump. This was supplemented by a third engine in 1940, a twin-cylinder Ruston with a 30-inch (76 cm) pump.[11] The number of pumping stations has steadily increased, and Upper Witham IDB had 15 operational stations in 2011. The board are responsible for the drainage of an area of 77.2 square miles (200 km2), and they maintain 198 miles (319 km) of drains within that area.[12]
See also
Bibliography
- Dobson, Alban; Hull, Hubert (1931). The Land Drainage Act 1930. Oxford University Press.
- Hinde, K. S. G. (2006). Fenland Pumping Engines. Landmark Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84306-188-0.
- IDB (2013). "History". Upper Witham IDB. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- IDB map. "Lincolnshire Drainage Boards". Witham First District IDB. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- Wheeler, William Henry; Batty, Leonard Charles (1896). A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire. British Library Historical Print Collections. ISBN 978-1-241-32839-9.
References
- ^ IDB 2013.
- ^ a b Wheeler & Batty 1896, p. 136.
- ^ Hinde 2006, p. 168.
- ^ a b IDB 2013, Smeatons report.
- ^ IDB 2013, The 1795 flood.
- ^ a b c IDB 2013, Lincoln North and South District Awards.
- ^ Dobson & Hull 1931, pp. xi–xiii.
- ^ IDB 2013, Land Drainage Act 1930.
- ^ "Meeting of the Resources Policy Development Group" (PDF). South Kesteven District Council. 8 October 2015. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 January 2021.
- ^ Hinde 2006, p. 190.
- ^ "Lanes lines chamber to keep Lincolnshire watertight". Lanes Group. 17 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
External links
Media related to Upper Witham IDB at Wikimedia Commons