Internal Drainage Boards

Much of the farm land in the Fens is below sea level. This is the result of land drainage and, in the peaty areas in particular, subsequent land sinkage. This makes the high grade farm land liable to flooding. To combat this the land is criss-crossed by a network of substantial ‘drains’ and artificial water ways. They often have romantic names such as Hundred Foot Drain (i.e. it is 100’ wide), Forty Foot Drain and The Cut Off Channel. 

These waterways drain into the four main rivers or their tributaries, that eventually flow into The Wash on the Norfolk and Lincolnshire coast: the Witham and the Welland traversing the Lincolnshire fens, and the Nene and Great Ouse draining fenland Cambridgeshire.

There are some areas, such as at Welney in east Norfolk, which are treated as washes and when necessary allowed to flood to prevent flooding elsewhere. During the summer the washes are used for conservation grazing and farmers graze sheep or cattle on them. The drains themselves are crucial water sources for farmers to irrigate their crops. All round us great arching sprays of water are a common sight during the summer months. This was especially the case during the recent droughty summer. Farmers were kept busy, often quite late at night, moving the irrigation hoses.

The management of the drainage system is the responsibility of Internal Drainage Boards. The whole fen area is divided into smaller districts each with its own drainage board. We live within the Ely Group of drainage board districts. The drainage boards look after the pumps and the sluices which regulate the water flows in this flat, low-lying landscape. They also maintain the drains and collect the Drainage Rate to fund their activities. We are liable to pay an annual Drainage Board rate, as is everyone who owns property of more than two acres within an Internal Drainage Board District. 

We have a fen drain on one of our boundaries. It is called Baldwin’s Lode (lode is an Anglo-Saxon word for drain). It’s name and it’s sinuous route, in contrast to the dead straightness typical of fen drains, suggests a more ancient origin. It is 58 km long but is relatively modest in width compared to some fen drains. It connects the Eriswell Drain near Lakenheath to the River Lark near Prickwillow just outside Ely. In fact Prickwillow is home to the Drainage Museum where some of the old drainage pumps can be seen. 

Although we benefit from this drainage system we are relatively safe from flooding where we are because we live at altitude, some 3m above sea level. 

Baldwin's Lode

In the neighboring farmyard irrigation hoses are
ready to be stored at the end of the summer

Anyone one who lives or works the land in the Fens rely on the Internal Drainage Boards to do their job.