The great 19th century floods

The great fen floods of past times

The worst cases of flooding in the recent history of Bourne have all been caused by our fenland rivers bursting their banks during periods of heavy rain. There were four such occurrences during the late 19th century, in November 1852 when the north bank of the Bourne Eau broke between two and three miles from Bourne, in April 1872, when the north bank of the River Glen gave way, half a mile west of Tongue End, in December 1876 and January 1877 when the River Glen burst near Tongue End and the last and worst incident, in October 1880, when the banks of the River Glen collapsed, again near Tongue End.

The last two incidents give an insight into the devastation caused by all four breaches. Heavy rain began towards the end of December 1876 and early on the morning of Friday 29th December, the north bank of the River Glen broke at a distance of about half a mile east of Tongue End. The Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 5th January 1877:

Seven or eight yards of the top of the bank gave way through which a large quantity of water was pouring into Bourne North Fen, extending over 800 or 900 acres of land, including a large proportion of wheat which had hitherto looked well. A number of men were set to work under the direction of Mr Lancaster of Boston and on Saturday, the opening was so far stopped that very little water issued from the river. No further breach having occurred, and the Guthram engine being again at work, it is hoped that the flood water will soon be off the land, except in a few low-lying places: though it is to be feared that this disaster happening when the land is naturally in so wet a state must be injurious to the cropping. Previous to the giving way of the bank, the water has risen very rapidly in the Glen until it was nearly full, indicating that a larger quantity of rain had fallen upon the highlands than we had had in this immediate neighbourhood. At one time the water was so high in the Forty Foot that the Guthram engine, which throws the water out of Bourne North Fen into the Forty Foot, could not work.

The downpour, however, continued, and a heavy surge of water came down the Glen on Wednesday 3rd January and the following day it became evident that unless the levels subsided quickly, the river banks would be unable to withstand the pressure and another burst was imminent. The Stamford Mercury of Friday 12th January 1877 takes up the story:

On the night of the 4th of January, a little before 3 am, the north bank again burst at a distance of about a quarter of a mile nearer Tongue End, being about halfway between the points where it broke on the 29th December and the 3rd April 1872: so that there have been three breaches of the north bank of the Glen at Tongue End within about half a mile. The breach was more serious than anything that had occurred before. The bank, about twenty yards in length and four or five feet deep, is supposed to have given way at once and the gully was continually being increased by the rapid flow of water out of the river until the opening was about 30 yards long. During this time, the rush of the flood in the Bourne North Fen was fearful, dashing across the fen as far as the Spalding road like the waves of the sea.

It was not until Sunday morning that sufficient quantity of materials could be got to the spot to justify an attempt to stop the breach. In the meantime, many of the residents in the fen left their houses and the stock and other things in many cases had to be removed for safety. By Sunday night, a large quantity of timber and sacks of earth had been (apparently successfully) got into the gully and it was hoped that the worst was past, but at about seven o’clock on Monday morning (the 8th) it again blew up in the same place, carrying away the bank right down to the bed of the river, making matters worse than ever. The traffic on the Bourne and Spalding [railway] line was stopped on Friday the 5th and it is feared it is not likely to be resumed at present, in consequence of the ballast being washed away by the floods.

On the south, or Deeping Fen side, about 80 yards of the Glen bank was said to be so far damaged and forced out of its place that had not the bank given way elsewhere it could not there have withstood the pressure much longer. Altogether, matters have a very grave appearance for besides the great damage done by the floods there seems to be the fact staring somebody in the face that a very large outlay will be necessary to make the banks of the River Glen such as to give those interested in the land adjoining anything like a reasonable amount of confidence in the security of their property, Though an effort is being made to repair the breach, this has only been partly accomplished and the water is still (Wednesday afternoon) pouring into the fen with great force. It is understood that vigorous efforts are being made to remedy the evil but under the most favourable circumstances it is not thought likely that the water can be got off the fen for many weeks to come though the Bourne North Fen and Dyke Fen drainage Trustees have obtained an extra engine to assist at Guthram to pump the water out of the fen into the Forty Foot.

The weather eased and the breach was effectively sealed on January 13th, five days after it had occurred, but the damage was extensive and the vast area under water extended from Bourne North Fen and Dyke Fen and into the fens of Morton, Haconby and Dunsby. The Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 19th January:

From the road leading from Bourne to Spalding, the appearance of the fields right and left was that of a vast lake. The water in the fens is slowly subsiding: the Guthram engine and the additional pumping apparatus fixed there is doing good service.

The railway began running again the following week but it was to be several months before the land drained and dried out for it to be worked efficiently while the loss of property and the toll in human misery could never be assessed.

With all three cases still fresh in the memory, the Stamford Mercury commented: “It now becomes a very serious question for the farmers and those having an interest in the fen, whether the Glen is sufficiently capacious or its banks sufficiently strong to cope with the emergency of the large volume of water which in wet times is brought so rapidly from the uplands into our fens.”

But the warning went unheeded because there was more disaster to come. On Friday 8th October 1880, the Stamford Mercury reported "the most disastrous flood that has ever been witnessed in the district" when the north bank of the River Glen burst its banks a mile west of Tongue End, close to what was known as Woolley's Mill. The newspaper report continued:

Owing to the tremendous fall of rain during last week, and the consequent flow of water down the Glen, it became evident that unless the water subsided, the bank must give way on one side or the other. On Thursday evening, the 7th inst., a small breach was made in the bank on the Deeping Fen side but this was successfully repaired. On Friday night, the bank on the opposite side gave way, causing a breach 30 yards wide and the whole depth of the river quickly inundated the whole of the Bourne South Fen and also Thurlby Fen, until some thousands of acres of land were under water, in some places 5 feet and 6 feet deep. The traffic on the Spalding and Bourne railway was stopped, the water having risen from 6 inches on Saturday morning to 2 feet 6 inches above the rails on Saturday night. It is supposed the passenger traffic will have to be entirely suspended on this line for at least a month. Competent authorities give it as their opinion that the water will not be got rid of from the fens until next April or May.

The burst river bank in 1880

The burst river bank in 1880 (above) and its effects (below). These rare pictures were taken by Richard F Bertolle, a photographer who operated from premises in Eastgate and later South Street during the late 19th century, although very little of his work survives.

Photographed in 1880

The floods of 1880

The floods continued for several weeks but by the beginning of November, the breach in the bank had been successfully stopped and levels along the waterway had fallen to below that of the surrounding fens and it was decided to delay repairs to allow as much water as possible to run back into the river. Two powerful engines with centrifugal pumps were erected at the railway bridge crossing the Bourne Eau and after a successful trial, were soon working at full capacity. The pumping continued for a week and engineers predicted that they might have the situation under control.

The heavy rainfall, however, was not yet over, especially in the Market Deeping area where there were further downpours during the first week in November, accompanied by hurricane force winds, causing more flooding and several streets at Deeping St James became impassable with water seeping into the ground floor of many homes and also in Deeping Gate. The effect on agriculture was also disastrous and there were fears for the future of the farming industry, as reported by the Stamford Mercury on Friday 5th November 1880:

Although not so injurious as the last flood, yet the continuous wet state of the houses at this late period of the year creates serious apprehensions for the health of the inhabitants, as there is scarcely a probability of them becoming healthy and dry before next spring. A great breadth of land, too, in the district, especially in the fens, is rendered valueless, and cultivation for seed time is utterly hopeless. Many acres of corn are still cut, and the stooks matted heaps of green stuff and useless except for manure. Although there have been some days of fine dry weather since the last flood yet the water receded so slowly and the soak kept so high that horses could not get on the land, nor even men, to carry off the sodden corn, and many acres of potatoes are not worth digging. If law, science, and appliances can be brought into action to scour the river's bed, strengthen and raise the banks, improve all general water courses, surely now is the time to use every means to prepare for doing it as soon as practicable. The matter simply resolves itself into one question: Are the thousands of fertile acres in this and surrounding districts to become a continuous uncultivated swamp or waste, or be made subservient to our use and yield the fruits of the earth?

The flooding became known as "the Bourne Fen Inundation" and on Friday 26th November 1880, the Stamford Mercury published a gloomy summary of the situation to date:

Through the breakage of the bank of the River Glen on the 8th of October, the whole of Bourne South Fen, an area of about 3,000 acres of land, became suddenly submerged. A very large extent of corn which had been cut, but which owing to the extraordinary inclemency of the season was still out, was hopelessly lost, and a great quantity of other farming produce was completely spoilt. The banks are even now lined with a margin (in some places yards wide) of corn which has floated out of the fields; articles of almost every description relating to a farm-yard have also been dragged out of the water on to the banks, and as some difficulty is found in finding their proper owners and some of the things have, we understand, been taken away wrongfully, notices have been issued by the local Society for the Prosecution of Felons offering rewards for the apprehension of any persons removing any such goods improperly.

A walk along the Glen bank suggests many peculiar, and we might add distressing features. The land has been submerged to the depth of 5 feet to 7 feet, corn stacks, buildings, houses, &c. surrounded by one vast expanse of water, and the hopes of those more particularly interested again and again disappointed every few days by another and yet another minor flood, rendering this district a veritable slough of despond. It is, of course, natural that those who are suffering so terribly from the calamity should be prone to find fault in those whose duty it became to repair the bank and to drain the land, and many and bitter have been the complaints which have been made.

Lord Aveland [one of the district's principal landowners at that time], upon whom the burden of repairing the breach will fall, has, however, been most anxious that everything that money and skill could effect should be done towards remedying the damage. Immediately after the breakage, the matter was placed in the hands of a practical drainage engineer. A gang of 50 to 60 men have been employed, and large quantities of timber, thousands of sacks filled with earth, and a large quantity of stone have been used. The cost will be very heavy, amounting, it is said, to about £2,000. His Lordship and Mr Sturgeon, his steward, both personally inspect the work at regular intervals. We regret, however, to say that, although so much time and money have been expended, the water still remains about three feet upon the land.

The actual breach has been closed since the 17th and two of Appold's centrifugal pumps are now employed pumping the water out of the South Fen. The Bourne Eau bank which was cut some few days back, but which had to be closed in consequence of the last flush, is again opened, and a vast volume of water finds vent into the Eau. It is therefore hoped that a great impression will soon be made on the waters, but it must necessarily be some time yet ere farming operations can be resumed.

Heavy snow during the winter of 1886-87 brought more flooding when the thaw began and the Grantham Journal described a serious situation in the fen south of Bourne in a report on Saturday 22nd January 1887:

The floods in the neighbourhood of Bourne have risen to a great height. The River Glen rose considerably during Thursday night and early yesterday the river bank at Guthram, near Bourne, burst on the north side for a distance of twenty yards and unless this defect is quickly renovated a repetition of the Lincolnshire floods of some eight years back is anticipated. The force of the water is very great and last night the low-lying parts of the fen were getting completely inundated. Timber has already been conveyed to the spot. The floods are due to the enormous quantity of snow that has recently been thawed by the change in the weather.

The worst flooding in recent times was in 1910 when dramatic photographs were taken to record the event which devastated large tracts of the fen and caused untold damage to the land, livestock and farming family, that took many years to recover.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

We are sorry to hear of the dreadful state in which Bourne Fen is again placed by the late rains. We cannot but sympathise with the occupiers in their present position; for whilst there are no less than five [pumping] engines pouring the waters lying on the low lands near to the Witham (which heads the Fort Foot Drain), the crops on a large and valuable tract of land are doomed to be lost from the want of a proper feeling or unity of those whose duty it should be to avert such a calamity. - news report from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 2nd December 1842.

REVISED DECEMBER 2013