Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S. 30
When everything was ready we went down and met the contractors, Messrs.
Jolliffe and Banks, and immediately gave them orders to commence
filling up the old channel; they had about thirteen hundred men, and
horses, carts, and materials, and appliances of all kinds, and set
to work in right good earnest. The Corporation of Wisbeach, who had
always opposed the measure, although they were compelled by the Act to
contribute 30,000_l._ towards it, which was perhaps the cause, offered
every obstruction in their power, and said that the new outfall was not
excavated deep enough according to the Act, and came down in their barge
with their law officers, giving us official written notices to stop all
proceedings. At this critical moment the contractors were rather taken
aback; Mr. Telford and I, however, nothing daunted, ordered the men to
proceed stopping the channel, and to take no notice of the Corporation.
We further told them, that if they did not go away, their barge and all
in it would be swamped, and that the responsibility would rest entirely
with them. Seeing that we were in earnest they turned tail, and, leaving
their protest, returned to Wisbeach. The third day afterwards the old
channel was completely closed, and the Nene diverted to its new outfall.
It should be observed here, that Mr. Telford and myself, calculating
upon the loose nature of the soil, which was silt, and which we felt
confident would scour when fairly acted upon by the current, only made
the contract for the excavation to the level of low water of spring
tides; and therefore it would have wasted money to have excavated that
which we knew the current would do for nothing. The current at first
appeared to have very little effect; and the Duke of Bedford’s manager,
the late excellent and talented Tycho Wing, a schoolfellow of mine at
Dr. Burney’s, became much alarmed, and was sadly afraid that the outfall
would be a failure. Telford and I knew better, and assured him that our
only doubt was whether the current would not be too strong, and render
it necessary to protect the sides with stone. This we considered to be
no disadvantage--on the contrary a great benefit; for making the cut
small in the first instance, we should always be able to regulate the
scour whenever it might have a tendency to enlarge the cut beyond the
size necessary to discharge the drainage water effectually, at the same
time preserving a sufficient depth for navigation; but if it had been too
large in the first instance, it could not have been properly adjusted
afterwards. Mr. Wing was comforted by our assurances; still he had his
doubts, and two months elapsed before any sensible scour appeared to
take place. The fact was, the fall in the bottom was so little, that
the current had to remove the obstacles to its progress, which it could
only do by degrees, when it had accumulated sufficient fall or head;
having done this, its progress was most rapid, and increased daily, so
that within six months after it had been opened it had scoured out the
bottom to 9 feet below low water of spring tides; the sides also had been
regularly scoured away, and the area of the cut was increased to three
times its original size. Spring tides, which had scarcely exceeded a few
feet at Wisbeach, and not much more at Cross Keys, rose remarkably at
both places, so that vessels of considerable tonnage could reach Wisbeach
even at neaps, whereas before they could only get up there at spring
tides. The trade of the port increased so rapidly, that they were soon
enabled to pay off the 30,000_l._ which they had been previously obliged
to borrow to contribute to the cost of the outfall.
The outfall by the scour had now attained its proper dimensions, and
we recommended that the banks should be paved with stone, in order
to prevent them from being enlarged, which was accordingly done. The
outfall went on improving until the year 1837, when I examined it, and
found that the low-water mark had fallen 10 feet 3 inches at Cross Keys
Bridge, that there was a rise of tide of 20 feet at springs, and depth
of 9 feet at low water, and a rise proportionate at Wisbeach at both
springs and neaps; so that vessels drawing 16 feet could go up to the
town at springs, and 12 feet at neaps, and the whole of the surrounding
lowland country was completely drained and the property nearly doubled in
value. Mr. John Young was appointed engineer under me for paving the new
outfall with stone, and afterwards entered business upon his own account
as merchant and shipowner at Wisbeach; and by his talents, energy, and
industry has since realized an ample fortune, has been elected mayor
several times, and has become member for the county of Cambridge.
It had long been a favourite idea with the late Lord William Bentinck and
his friend Mr. Thomas Hoseason, of Banklands, to make a bridge across the
Nene estuary, at Cross Keys, in order to shorten the distance between the
south of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The bridge over the lower end of the
Eau Brink had been completed, and another had been made at the Fossdyke
Wash by my father, for the Welland; so that it was only necessary to
make another across the Nene estuary, at Cross Keys, to complete this
desirable line of communication. A company was accordingly formed for
this purpose, of which Lord William Bentinck was the head. An Act was
obtained at the same time as the Nene Outfall Act, and I was appointed
the engineer. The Nene Outfall Commissioners obtained a clause in the
Bridge Act compelling the Company to build the bridge over the Nene
Outfall Cut at the same time; this I told them was very unwise, for as
the bridge was to be built of wood, with a drawbridge opening in the
centre to allow vessels to pass, it would be impossible to drive the
great piles forming the piers of the bridge sufficiently deep to be below
the scour in the outfall; the better plan would be to wait until the
outfall had been scoured to its full depth, and then build the bridge.
My opinion was overruled; the bridge was built; and it was impossible,
as I expected, to drive the piles to the requisite depth. Where the full
effect of the scour had taken place it was found necessary to secure the
piles of the bridge by throwing a great mass of stone round them. This
materially obstructed the current through the bridge, until at length
there was a fall through it of from two to three feet, which greatly
injured the drainage, so that the Nene Outfall Commissioners ultimately
got an Act to make a new bridge for the Company at the Commissioners’
expense. All this might have been avoided if the bridge had been built
as I originally recommended. The spot where this bridge and line of
embankment is made is the same place where King John’s army was lost, and
where my father was nearly drowned some years before, crossing in his
carriage, being overtaken by the tide. Six thousand acres of this Wash
have been reclaimed from the sea by myself; and where once the tides used
to ebb and flow, are now fields under culture producing the finest crops.
Notwithstanding all the attempts to improve the river Nene above
Wisbeach, nothing had been done, and I was again requested by the Duke
of Bedford’s advisers to examine the subject and make a comprehensive
plan by means of which Whittlesea Mere and all the low fenny country
around it might be drained, to the extent of 55,000 acres, it being then
little better than a marsh. I accordingly surveyed and levelled the whole
country, and made my report in 1837. I showed that by improving the Nene
from Peterborough to the outfall, and making a main drain to Whittlesea
Mere to connect it with the Nene, and by making a catchwater drain round
the base of the surrounding hills, so as to discharge the highland water
into the Nene at Peterborough and the Ouse at Hermitage Sluice, the whole
country would be thoroughly well drained, the navigation would be greatly
improved, and there would be an ample supply of fresh water at moderate
cost. This plan was approved of by the late Mr. Robert Stephenson, but
was not adopted. The Middle Level Corporation, in whose district was the
greatest part of the lowlands to be drained, would not listen to it,
but insisted on draining them by the Ouse, 10 miles farther distant.
This measure was carried out at double the cost of my plan, and a minor
plan substituted for the improvement of the Nene, which is said to have
cost a great deal more than any benefits derived from it, although the
Eau Brink Cut had lowered the low-water mark on the Ouse nearly 6 feet.
Still the sands below Lynn, at the mouth of the Ouse, accumulated to
such an extent, that the navigation up to that town was so seriously
obstructed that moderate-sized vessels could only come up to the town at
spring tides, and they frequently got ashore upon the numerous shoals,
lost their tide, and were detained for days together, besides suffering
considerable injury. The drainage interests, moreover, complained that
the water in the Ouse did not fall low enough to enable the middle and
south level lands to be properly drained. In fact, the good effects
produced by the Eau Brink Cut were decreasing, in consequence of the
waters not being able to get off below Lynn, so that they were held up
to the extent of 2 feet at the lower end of the Eau Brink Cut, thus
reducing the original fall gained by that cut from 7 feet to 5, whilst
the fall gained by the Nene Outfall had been fully 10 feet 6 inches to 11
feet, being a difference of 6 feet in favour of the Nene. A committee,
consisting of Lord W. Bentinck, Sir William Foulkes, and others, leading
proprietors and parties interested, requested me to examine into the
whole subject and report as to what was best to be done. I accordingly
employed nearly twelve months in surveying and levelling the Great
Wash and the mouths of the Ouse, Nene, Welland, and Witham, which are
the principal rivers discharging their waters into the Great Wash, and
which drain all the adjacent fen lands, amounting to nearly a million of
acres, besides the high lands. I found that by improving all the mouths
of these rivers an additional fall of 7 feet might be gained for the
Ouse, 2 feet for the Nene, and a similar amount for the Welland and the
Witham, and recommended that all these rivers should be united and made
to discharge their waters into one great main channel in the centre of
the Great Wash, and that the main and minor channels should be properly
embanked. By this means not only would all these rivers be much improved,
and the drainage and navigation rendered as perfect as they could be
made, but, in addition to this, from 150,000 to 200,000 acres of land
would be gained from the Wash, or, in other words, a new county, of most
valuable land, would be added to the kingdom. This project was so vast
and important that it took the world by surprise. It was impossible to
deny the soundness of the principles or data upon which it was founded,
or the vast importance of it in a national point of view, if means
could be found to carry it into effect; but here was one of the great
difficulties, and another still greater presented itself, namely that of
uniting together the vast number of conflicting interests concerned, so
that they might combine together as one whole body for the completion of
the undertaking.
After the plan had been published and promulgated for some time, all
sorts of objections were raised and attacks made upon it. I replied
coolly and steadily to them all, and the more it was investigated, the
more the world became convinced of its practicability. Still it was
impossible to combine the various conflicting interests, and equally
difficult to form a company for such a vast and novel undertaking. The
public naturally said, if the drainage and navigation interests and
the landed proprietors, who were so much interested, did not see their
way, how could it be expected that a company should? Thus the affair,
although frequently agitated, lay in abeyance for several years. Its
chief supporters, Lord William Bentinck and Mr. Hoseason, having gone
to India, there remained none of sufficient energy and influence to
push it forward. At length the late talented and indefatigable Lord
George Bentinck became member for Lynn, in succession to his uncle,
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