Fenland on Friday talk

Anglo-Saxon pendant*

The Fenland on Friday's talk Little Thetford: Two square miles of history at the Ely library went well, or at least seemed to. We got the timing almost perfect — 83 slides in 50 minutes. Apparently my nerves did not show through although I was certainly feeling nervous. The room was at capacity — fifty.

There were interesting questions raised at the end. Mike Petty put forward the theory that Hereward the Wake may have fought the Normans along our Bronze Age causeway. I was able to show I had no evidence for this theory as all the artifacts found in that area are Bronze Age in origin. I had not covered Hereward during the talk as to me he is more of a legend than fact. I was able to discuss him as I had edited the Wikipedia article on him. I have also edited Wikipedia's entry on Gesta Herewardi — mainly a hatchet job as I recall, removing hearsay and unattributed text from it.

I was asked about the Little Thetford catchwater drain which I had not included in the presentation. I was however able to explain that I thought it was completed in around 1867. I have since determined it was cut "... about the year 1838 ...  costing £2,500 ..." (MacKay 1908 p. 352). I described the route as entering from Grunty Fen from the south-west then around the south and east of the village until passing north outside the village boundary to enter the River Great Ouse by gravity at the Braham Dock drain. The Little Thetford parish web site interactive map shows the route more graphically than I can describe it.

Dugdales 1662 pre-drainage map of
the Great Level. Top is south

Look at Grunty Fen, erm I mean Red Fen, now and consider what the Reverend Bentham (1778 p. 8) had to say "It is probable that no improvements can or ever will be made of this waste, unless the proprietors shall agree among themselves to inclose and divide it; ...". Grunty Fen was enclosed between 1857–1861 under the second annual Inclosure Act 1857 20 & 21 Victoria c. 20.


 

• For pre-mid 17th century draining in general see Dugdale, W. (1662) The history of imbanking and drayning of divers fenns and marshes: both in forein parts, and in this kingdom; and of the improvements thereby. Extracted from records, manuscripts, and other authentick testimonies, by William Dugdale Esquire, Norroy King of Arms. Alice Warren. About 500 printed copies of this work were destroyed in the Great Fire of London and not republished until 1772 by Charles Nalson Cole. Dugdale's work was succeeded by Samuel Wells's two-volume History of the Drainage of the Great Level of the Fens (1828±30).
• For Grunty Fen pre-draining see Bentham, J. (1778) Considerations and Reflections on the Present State of the Fens, &c. J Teulon.
• For enclosure and draining in Grunty Fen see MacKay, T., Ed., (1908) The reminiscences of Albert Pell: sometime M.P. for South Leicestershire. J Murray. pp. 350–355

See also Little Thetford: Two square miles of history.

*Found in a ploughed field near the site of the Roman road Akeman Street one mile west of Little Thetford. Described by Lethbridge, T.C. 1953. Jewelled Saxon pendant from the Isle of Ely. Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 46, 1-3.