Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces . The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
107-464: The Car Dyke was, and to a large extent still is, a long ditch which runs along the western edge of the Fens in eastern England for a distance of over 57 miles (92 km). It is generally accepted as being of Roman age and, for many centuries, to have been taken as marking the western edge of the Fens. The name derives from carr , a fourteenth-century word for marsh or drained land . The Car Dyke
214-558: A local act of Parliament obtained in 1808. There are then six short sections which are listed as scheduled monuments , with gaps due to the construction of houses and a community centre on the line of the remains. Its course then turns to the south-east, running parallel to the B1190, as it heads through Branston Booths , passing the end of Branston Delph and Carr-Dyke Farm, one of many similarly named farms along its length, to reach Potterhanworth Booths . Much of its route has become part of
321-577: A boatload of dressed quarry stone, identified with the mediaeval period, has been discovered in the canal bed. In some sections the topography suggests that its use as a canal was unlikely or at least difficult: the segment which ran through the Soke of Peterborough rises from the River Nene to a ridge at Eye before falling to the River Welland . This it does in steady gradients, quite unlike
428-413: A broader sense is used, particularly in medical fields such as neurology . An objective of topography is to determine the position of any feature or more generally any point in terms of both a horizontal coordinate system such as latitude, longitude, and altitude . Identifying (naming) features, and recognizing typical landform patterns are also part of the field. A topographic study may be made for
535-536: A catchwater drain. The 57-mile (92 km) northern part of the Car Dyke from Lincoln to Peterborough is reasonably easy to follow with earthworks extant upon the ground or from cropmarks visible from the air. It is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of Roman Britain and was shown on the first edition maps by the Ordnance Survey produced in 1824. Much of it is still marked on the modern 1:25,000 map and
642-557: A dialect word for loading and unloading) is of established Roman-era origin. At the northern end, the first recognisable remains are to the north of the B1190 road through Washingborough, where the south bank runs between gardens and allotments. Material from the north bank was used to construct new banks for the River Witham in the early 19th century, as part of a project to replace the original locks at Kirkstead and Barlings with new locks at Stamp End and Bardney , authorised by
749-509: A drain to the north of the Engine Drain. To the north of Setchel Drove, Car Dyke runs along the eastern edge of Bullocks Haste Common, where there was a Romano-British settlement. The site is a scheduled monument, but the northern section has been ploughed, and the remains are only visible from aerial photographs. The site continues to the south of Setchel Drove, where there is a series of dykes and field systems, with Car Dyke running through
856-456: A feature well adapted to a catchwater drain. Those near Washingborough still survive to a height of over 3 feet (1 m), and would have prevented surface water entering the canal. Evidence of seventeenth-century improvements to form part of local drainage schemes has been identified, overlying material from the Roman period. Archaeological investigation funded by English Heritage on a section of
963-589: A narrow sense involves the recording of relief or terrain , the three-dimensional quality of the surface, and the identification of specific landforms ; this is also known as geomorphometry . In modern usage, this involves generation of elevation data in digital form ( DEM ). It is often considered to include the graphic representation of the landform on a map by a variety of cartographic relief depiction techniques, including contour lines , hypsometric tints , and relief shading . The term topography originated in ancient Greece and continued in ancient Rome , as
1070-527: A number of Christians sought the isolation that could be found in the wilderness of the Fens. Later classified as saints, often with close royal links, they include Guthlac , Etheldreda , Pega , and Wendreda . Hermitages on the islands became centres of communities which later developed as monasteries with massive estates. In the Life of Saint Guthlac , a biography of the East Anglian hermit who lived in
1177-486: A remote sensing technique that uses a laser instead of radio waves, has increasingly been employed for complex mapping needs such as charting canopies and monitoring glaciers. Terrain is commonly modelled either using vector ( triangulated irregular network or TIN) or gridded ( raster image ) mathematical models. In the most applications in environmental sciences , land surface is represented and modelled using gridded models. In civil engineering and entertainment businesses,
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#17328021194001284-493: A road across the Fens to link what later became East Anglia with what later became central England; it runs between Denver and Peterborough . They also linked Cambridge and Ely . Generally, their road system avoided the Fens, except for minor roads designed for exporting the products of the region, especially salt, beef and leather. Sheep were probably raised on the higher ground of the Townlands and fen islands, then as in
1391-569: A severe shock attended by a rumbling noise in Bourn after midday. This was felt in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. Houses tottered, slates, tiles and some chimneys fell. As it was a Sunday, some people ran out of the churches "in great consternation". In 1792 another shock was also felt in Bourne and neighbouring towns. There is evidence of human settlement near the Fens from
1498-503: A similar depth but was somewhat wider at around 66 feet (20 m). Stukeley argued that the two parts of the Car Dyke were connected together, and acted as a transport route supplying grain to Lincoln, York and military settlements further north. No evidence of rivers or artificial cuts to form the link between Peterborough and the Great Ouse at Setchel Fen has been found, and this idea has been rejected. The map of Roman Britain shows
1605-420: A surface or extract land surface objects. The contour data or any other sampled elevation datasets are not a DLSM. A DLSM implies that elevation is available continuously at each location in the study area, i.e. that the map represents a complete surface. Digital Land Surface Models should not be confused with Digital Surface Models, which can be surfaces of the canopy, buildings and similar objects. For example, in
1712-405: A variety of reasons: military planning and geological exploration have been primary motivators to start survey programs, but detailed information about terrain and surface features is essential for the planning and construction of any major civil engineering , public works , or reclamation projects. There are a variety of approaches to studying topography. Which method(s) to use depends on
1819-470: A waterway heading south-eastwards from Peterborough, known as Cnut's Dyke, but it stops before it reaches Ramsey. Although Dannell provides evidence that Cnut's Dyke is of Roman origin, his Cnut's Dyke is also known as King's Dyke, an old course of the River Nene. Bond states that there is no evidence to support a Roman date for Cnut's Dyke, and that it was probably built in the tenth century, to facilitate
1926-589: Is a ditch that runs through the counties of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. The main section starts close to the River Witham at Washingborough , near Lincoln and runs in a generally southerly direction to Fengate on the River Nene , near Peterborough . A second artificial watercourse, also known as Car Dyke, runs for 5 miles (8 km) from Setchel Fen on the Old West River, part of the River Great Ouse system, southwards to Waterbeach on
2033-582: Is a field of geoscience and planetary science and is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief , but also natural , artificial, and cultural features such as roads, land boundaries, and buildings. In the United States, topography often means specifically relief , even though the USGS topographic maps record not just elevation contours, but also roads, populated places, structures, land boundaries, and so on. Topography in
2140-413: Is a general term for geodata collection at a distance from the subject area. Besides their role in photogrammetry, aerial and satellite imagery can be used to identify and delineate terrain features and more general land-cover features. Certainly they have become more and more a part of geovisualization , whether maps or GIS systems. False-color and non-visible spectra imaging can also help determine
2247-466: Is a project in place aiming at building an indoor stadium for ice sports. If successful, it will have the largest sheet of ice in the country with both a bandy pitch and a speed skating oval . Many historic cities, towns and villages have grown up in the fens, sited chiefly on the few areas of raised ground. These include: Ancient sites include: Some authors have featured the Fens repeatedly in their work. For example: Topography Topography
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#17328021194002354-472: Is another Car Dyke Farm. Soon its course is joined by Rippingale Running Dike, and between Haconby and Morton there is another Cardyke Farm, before the Car Dyke passes through a small village called Dyke , where there is another scheduled section. At Bourne the dyke makes right-angled turns to the east and then the south, to join Bourne Eau , which continues westwards to the centre of the town, where
2461-460: Is concerned with underlying structures and processes to the surface, rather than with identifiable surface features. The digital elevation model (DEM) is a raster -based digital dataset of the topography ( hypsometry and/or bathymetry ) of all or part of the Earth (or a telluric planet ). The pixels of the dataset are each assigned an elevation value, and a header portion of the dataset defines
2568-561: Is known as The Old Tillage, and is crossed by the Fen Line railway just before it reaches the River Cam. The section between the rivers Nene and Welland may be restored to navigation as a section of the new Fens Waterways Link for leisure craft. An engineering study has been made, but because of concerns for its historic status it is not the preferred route, with the Cat's Water Drain being
2675-463: Is little agreement as to the exact dates of the establishment and demise of the forest, but it seems likely that the deforestation was connected with the Magna Carta or one of its early 13th-century restatements, though it may have been as late as 1240. The forest would have affected the economies of the townships around it and it appears that the present Bourne Eau was constructed at the time of
2782-525: Is raw and uninterpreted. It may contain holes (due to cloud cover for example) or inconsistencies (due to the timing of specific image captures). Most modern topographic mapping includes a large component of remotely sensed data in its compilation process. In its contemporary definition, topographic mapping shows relief. In the United States, USGS topographic maps show relief using contour lines . The USGS calls maps based on topographic surveys, but without contours, "planimetric maps." These maps show not only
2889-422: Is to something else). Topography has been applied to different science fields. In neuroscience , the neuroimaging discipline uses techniques such as EEG topography for brain mapping . In ophthalmology , corneal topography is used as a technique for mapping the surface curvature of the cornea . In tissue engineering , atomic force microscopy is used to map nanotopography . In human anatomy , topography
2996-534: The Black Sluice . Also this area includes the market town of Spalding and the ancient village of Sempringham . The above were all redrained at one time or another after the Civil War (1642–1649). These areas cover the northern most part of the Fens from Boston right up as far north west as Washingborough near Lincoln along the course of the River Witham and to the north east it extends up as far as
3103-584: The Mesolithic on. The evidence suggests that Mesolithic settlement in Cambridgeshire was particularly along the fen edges and on the low islands within the fens, to take advantage of the hunting and fishing opportunities of the wetlands. Internationally important sites include Flag Fen and Must Farm quarry Bronze Age settlement and Stonea Camp . The Romans constructed the Fen Causeway ,
3210-572: The Midlands in use at a cluster of Roman-era coal-burning forges sited between Cambridge and The Wash and these provide evidence of trade and transport along the Car Dyke. Return cargoes were grain to supply the garrison at York, prepared for transport and storage by drying in coal kilns, and pottery. At its northern end accounts of Roman Britain describe it as an extension of the Foss Dyke , an accepted transport route. Near Morton , Lincolnshire,
3317-573: The River Cam . The northern section is around 57 miles (92 km) long, and is by far the longest artificial waterway constructed by the Romans in Britain, while it is also longer than any known Roman navigational canals on continental Europe. There are no known contemporary records relating to its construction or use. The ditch is obviously artificial, since it runs from north to south, whereas all
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3424-438: The River Welland on the southern edge of the town, it passes into Cambridgeshire, and skirts the eastern edges of Northborough and Glinton . As it approaches the northern edge of Peterborough , it turns to the east, where there is another scheduled section at Peakirk , beyond which its course is covered by housing. From Fen Bridge to Whitepost Road, 2.75 miles (4.4 km) of Car Dyke is scheduled, with two small gaps where
3531-541: The Townlands . It is clear that there was some prosperity there, particularly where rivers permitted access to the upland beyond the fen. Such places were Wisbech , Spalding , Swineshead and Boston. All the Townlands parishes were laid out as elongated strips, to provide access to the products of fen, marsh and sea. On the fen edge, parishes are similarly elongated to provide access to both upland and fen. The townships are therefore often nearer to each other than they are to
3638-590: The deforestation , as the town seems to have joined in the general prosperity by about 1280. Though the forest was about half in Holland (Lincolnshire) and half in Kesteven , it is known as Kesteven Forest. Though some signs of Roman hydraulics survive, and there were also some medieval drainage works, land drainage was begun in earnest during the 1630s by the various investors who had contracts with King Charles I to do so. The leader of one of these syndicates
3745-603: The fen violet will be seeded. The Fens Waterways Link is a scheme to restore navigation to some of the drainage works. It is planned to bring the South Forty-Foot Drain and parts of the Car Dyke into use as part of a route between Boston and Cambridge. The Fens is the origin of English bandy and Fen skating . It is the base of Great Britain Bandy Association and in Littleport there
3852-651: The "Topographical Bureau of the Army", formed during the War of 1812 , which became the Corps of Topographical Engineers in 1838. After the work of national mapping was assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1878, the term topographical remained as a general term for detailed surveys and mapping programs, and has been adopted by most other nations as standard. In the 20th century, the term topography started to be used to describe surface description in other fields where mapping in
3959-600: The 17th century described the Fenland as entirely above sea level (in contrast to the Netherlands), the area now includes the lowest land in the United Kingdom. Holme Fen in Cambridgeshire, is around 2.75 metres (9 ft 0 in) below sea level. Within the Fens are a few hills, which have historically been called "islands", as they remained dry when the low-lying fens around them were flooded. The largest of
4066-404: The 19th century, destroying any evidence of boundary features, before the days of detailed mapping and aerial photography . One conclusion, though given the conflicts in the surviving evidence one not reached by everyone, is that overall the dyke was used primarily as a boundary, (as part of it in south Lincolnshire undoubtedly was in the medieval period) but that parts were adapted to serve also as
4173-453: The 1:2,500 map. The southern section from Peterborough to Waterbeach is not so easy to follow. The 2001 map of Roman Britain shows the dyke from Peterborough terminating to the north of Ramsey , with an isolated section running on the same alignment northwards from Waterbeach on the River Cam . The short section between Waterbeach and the Cam (also known as The Old Tillage , a name deriving from
4280-621: The 6th century but was revived in the mid-10th-century monastic revival. In the 11th century, the whole area was incorporated into a united Anglo-Saxon England . The Fens remained a place of refuge and intrigue. It was here that Alfred Aetheling was brought to be murdered and here where Hereward the Wake based his insurgency against Norman England . Fenland monastic houses include the so-called Fen Five ( Ely Cathedral Priory , Thorney Abbey , Croyland Abbey , Ramsey Abbey and Peterborough Abbey ) as well as Spalding Priory . As major landowners,
4387-595: The Car Dyke turns to the south and weaves its way between housing. Soon it is back in open countryside, passing to the east of Thurlby where 210 yards (190 m) of earthworks in Park Wood are scheduled, before crossing the River Glen just to the east of Kate's Bridge. Its course is lost as it passes through the housing estates of Baston , as it has in Market Deeping and Deeping St James . As it crosses
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4494-604: The Continental U.S., for example), the compiled data forms the basis of basic digital elevation datasets such as USGS DEM data. This data must often be "cleaned" to eliminate discrepancies between surveys, but it still forms a valuable set of information for large-scale analysis. The original American topographic surveys (or the British "Ordnance" surveys) involved not only recording of relief, but identification of landmark features and vegetative land cover. Remote sensing
4601-597: The County Record Office in Cambridge. The major part of the draining of the Fens was effected in the late 18th and early 19th century, again involving fierce local rioting and sabotage of the works. The final success came in the 1820s when windpumps were replaced with powerful coal-powered steam engines , such as Stretham Old Engine , which were themselves replaced with diesel-powered pumps, such as those at Prickwillow Museum and, following World War II ,
4708-795: The Fen Tigers tried to sabotage the drainage efforts. Two cuts were made in the Cambridgeshire Fens to join the River Great Ouse to the sea at King's Lynn – the Old Bedford River and the New Bedford River , the latter being known also as the Hundred Foot Drain . Both cuts were named after the Fourth Earl of Bedford who, along with some gentlemen adventurers ( venture capitalists ), funded
4815-464: The Fens during the early 8th century, Saint Guthlac was described as attacked on several occasions by people he believed were Britons , who were then living in the Fens. However, Bertram Colgrave, in the introduction to one edition, doubts this account, because of the lack of evidence of British survival in the region. British place names in the area are "very few". Monastic life was disrupted by Danish (Anglo-Saxon) raids and centuries of settlement from
4922-436: The Fens include Boston , Downham Market , King’s Lynn , Mildenhall , March , Spalding , and Wisbech . The Fens are very low-lying compared with the chalk and limestone uplands that surround them – in most places no more than 10 metres (33 ft) above sea level. As a result of drainage and the subsequent shrinkage of the peat fens, many parts of the Fens now lie below mean sea level . Although one writer in
5029-470: The Fens is involved in environmental stewardship schemes, under which 270 miles (430 km) of hedgerow and 1,780 miles (2,860 km) of ditches are managed, providing large wildlife corridors and habitat for endangered animals such as the water vole . In 2003, the Great Fen Project was initiated to return parts of the Fens to their original pre-agricultural state. The periodic flooding by
5136-451: The Fens were once permanently flooded, creating lakes or meres , while others were flooded only during periods of high water. In the pre-modern period, arable farming was limited to the higher areas of the surrounding uplands, the fen islands, and the so-called "Townlands", an arch of silt ground around the Wash , where the towns had their arable fields. Though these lands were lower than
5243-783: The Lindsey Level inhabited by farmers by 1638, but the onset of the Civil War permitted the destruction of the works until the act of Parliament that led to the formation of the Black Sluice Commissioners, the Black Sluice Drainage Act 1765 ( 5 Geo. 3 . c. 86 ). Many original records of the Bedford Level Corporation, including maps of the Levels, are now held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies Service at
5350-553: The North Sea, which renewed the character of the Fenlands, was characterised conventionally by the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica as "ravaged by serious inundations of the sea". The modern approach is to allow a little farmland to be flooded again and turned into nature reserves . By introducing fresh water, the organisers of the project hope to encourage species such as the snipe , lapwing and bittern . Endangered species such as
5457-540: The River Witham. In Metheringham Fen it turns to the east, and there are two short scheduled section after Blankney Wood, divided by the buildings of Oak Tree Farm. It then resumes its southward passage, and after Carrdyke Farm, there is another scheduled section. It passes to the east of Martin and the western end of Timberland Delph, before following a large S-shaped course to the east of Timberland . Immediately afterwards there are two more scheduled sections, one to
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#17328021194005564-413: The Roman emperor Hadrian visited Britain and the sections dating from this period may be associated with his plan to settle the Fens. The exception is in the south-east of the Fens where the landscape was manually strip mined for coprolite , a source of phosphate used to enrich agricultural soils. The coprolite was found in a seam of Cambridge Greensand , and the industry thrived in the latter half of
5671-487: The Roman period, water levels fell once again. Settlements developed on the new silt soils deposited near the coast. Though water levels rose once again in the early medieval period, by this time artificial banks protected the coastal settlements and the interior from further deposits of marine silts. Peats continued to develop in the freshwater wetlands of the interior fens. The wetlands of the fens have historically included: Major areas for settlement were: In general, of
5778-615: The Wash , and are an area of nearly 1,500 sq mi (3,900 km ) in the south east of Lincolnshire , most of Cambridgeshire (which also includes parts of the old historic county of Huntingdonshire ), and western most parts of Norfolk and Suffolk . Most of the Fens lie within a few metres of sea level . As with similar areas in the Netherlands , much of the Fenland originally consisted of fresh- or salt-water wetlands. These have been artificially drained and continue to be protected from floods by drainage banks and pumps. With
5885-669: The area of coverage, the units each pixel covers, and the units of elevation (and the zero-point). DEMs may be derived from existing paper maps and survey data, or they may be generated from new satellite or other remotely sensed radar or sonar data. A geographic information system (GIS) can recognize and analyze the spatial relationships that exist within digitally stored spatial data. These topological relationships allow complex spatial modelling and analysis to be performed. Topological relationships between geometric entities traditionally include adjacency (what adjoins what), containment (what encloses what), and proximity (how close something
5992-455: The basis for much derived topographic work. Digital Elevation Models, for example, have often been created not from new remote sensing data but from existing paper topographic maps. Many government and private publishers use the artwork (especially the contour lines) from existing topographic map sheets as the basis for their own specialized or updated topographic maps. Topographic mapping should not be confused with geologic mapping . The latter
6099-495: The canal at a constant level (due to surveying difficulties or lack of budget to excavate deeper). Natural barriers may therefore have been left in place to partition the canal into sections, maintaining the required depth of water, with goods transhipped or boats dragged across the barriers. They may also have been a deliberate precaution against the whole section drying out in summer. The archaeologist Grahame Clark established that gravel causeways at Cottenham originated only after
6206-403: The canal had gone out of use for transport, no earlier than the fourth century, as a precaution against flooding. The dyke acts as a catchwater drain in parts, intercepting runoff from the higher ground to the west. However, the southern half of its passage through Lincolnshire and its northern end, near Washingborough , have a raised bank on each side; the one on the upland side would not be
6313-747: The case of surface models produces using the lidar technology, one can have several surfaces – starting from the top of the canopy to the actual solid earth. The difference between the two surface models can then be used to derive volumetric measures (height of trees etc.). Topographic survey information is historically based upon the notes of surveyors. They may derive naming and cultural information from other local sources (for example, boundary delineation may be derived from local cadastral mapping). While of historical interest, these field notes inherently include errors and contradictions that later stages in map production resolve. As with field notes, remote sensing data (aerial and satellite photography, for example),
6420-407: The characteristics of a canal designed for transport. Its course makes it clear that this outcome was carefully planned. At some level sections in Lincolnshire it has causeways of never-disturbed ground crossing it and it passes in gradients, up and down the sides of slight ridges. Given the length of the canal, however, modern surveyors suggest that the original engineers may not have been able to keep
6527-547: The combined capacity to pump 16,500 Olympic-size swimming pools in a 24-hour period or to empty Rutland Water in 3 days. As of 2008, there are estimated to be 4,000 farms in the Fens involved in agriculture and horticulture, including arable, livestock, poultry, dairy, orchards, vegetables and ornamental plants and flowers. They employ about 27,000 people in full-time and seasonal jobs. In turn, they support around 250 businesses involved in food and drink manufacturing and distribution, employing around 17,500 people. Over 70% of
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#17328021194006634-414: The common points are identified on each image . A line of sight (or ray ) can be built from the camera location to the point on the object. It is the intersection of its rays ( triangulation ) which determines the relative three-dimensional position of the point. Known control points can be used to give these relative positions absolute values. More sophisticated algorithms can exploit other information on
6741-561: The construction and were rewarded with large grants of the resulting farmland. The work was directed by engineers from the Low Countries . Following this initial drainage, the Fens were still extremely susceptible to flooding, so windpumps were used to pump water away from affected areas. The Company of Adventurers were more formally incorporated in 1663 as the Bedford Level Corporation . However, their success
6848-518: The construction of Ramsey Abbey . An assessment by Historic England states that in the Romano-British economy Car Dyke was significant both as a transport system and as a means of drainage, saving large parts of the Fens from flooding. Its importance is indicated by the large and organised labour force, either a civilian undertaking organised by Iceni tribal leaders or from the military, needed to build it. Excavations have found coal from
6955-507: The construction of the A1139 Frank Perkins Parkway. It reaches the River Nene at Fengate . The southern section runs for 5 miles (8 km) from Setchel Fen, on the south bank of the Old West River to the River Cam at Waterbeach. There are no remaining earthworks on Setchel Fen, although the Ordnance Survey show a proposed course across the southern part of the fen, and a continuation of the route has been reused as
7062-454: The contours, but also any significant streams or other bodies of water, forest cover , built-up areas or individual buildings (depending on scale), and other features and points of interest. While not officially "topographic" maps, the national surveys of other nations share many of the same features, and so they are often called "topographic maps." Existing topographic survey maps, because of their comprehensive and encyclopedic coverage, form
7169-408: The course is cut by Guntons Road and Gunthorpe Road. The overall width of the channel, including the berms, banks and scarps, is between 44 and 77 yards (40 and 70 m). The remains are in good condition, despite the fact that Car Dyke has been reused as part of the modern land drainage system. It then passes through Peterborough where parts of its course are visible, but much has been obliterated by
7276-573: The detailed description of a place. The word comes from the Greek τόπος ( topos , "place") and -γραφία ( -graphia , "writing"). In classical literature this refers to writing about a place or places, what is now largely called ' local history '. In Britain and in Europe in general, the word topography is still sometimes used in its original sense. Detailed military surveys in Britain (beginning in
7383-548: The distant farms in their own parishes. After the end of Roman Britain, there is a break in written records. It is thought that some Iceni may have moved west into the Fens to avoid the Angles , who were migrating across the North Sea from Angeln (modern Schleswig ) and settling what would become East Anglia . Surrounded by water and marshes, the Fens provided a safe area that was easily defended and not particularly desirable to invading Anglo-Saxons . It has been proposed that
7490-430: The dyke near Waterbeach suggests that the effect of both deliberate re-cuts in the late Roman period to improve land drainage, and the natural flows of surface water along some sections of the route, resulted in the change of use from transport to agricultural improvement . It is possible to trace features that could be interpreted as boundaries all round The Fens which are either of Roman date or natural. In c.120 AD
7597-472: The early 19th century. There may have been some drainage efforts during the Roman period, including the Car Dyke along the western edge of the Fenland between Peterborough and Lincolnshire, but most canals were constructed for transportation. How far seaward the Roman settlement extended is unclear owing to the deposits laid down above them during later floods. The early post-Roman settlements were made on
7704-583: The edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds to the seaside town of Skegness . These were drained in the 18th and 19th centuries. At the end of the most recent glacial period , known in Britain as the Devensian , ten thousand years ago, Britain and continental Europe were joined by the ridge between Friesland and Norfolk . The topography of the bed of the North Sea indicates that the rivers of
7811-417: The fen-islands was the 23-square-mile (60 km ) Kimmeridge Clay island, on which the cathedral city of Ely was built: its highest point is 39 metres (128 ft) above mean sea level. Without artificial drainage and flood protection, the Fens would be liable to periodic flooding, particularly in winter due to the heavy load of water flowing down from the uplands and overflowing the rivers. Some areas of
7918-538: The first topographic maps was begun in France by Giovanni Domenico Cassini , the great Italian astronomer. Even though remote sensing has greatly sped up the process of gathering information, and has allowed greater accuracy control over long distances, the direct survey still provides the basic control points and framework for all topographic work, whether manual or GIS -based. In areas where there has been an extensive direct survey and mapping program (most of Europe and
8025-536: The highest parts of the drained fen are now only a few metres above mean sea level, only sizeable embankments of the rivers, and general flood defences, stop the land from being inundated. Nonetheless, these works are now much more effective than they were. The Fens today are protected by 60 miles (97 km) of embankments defending against the sea and 96 miles (154 km) of river embankments. Eleven internal drainage board (IDB) groups maintain 286 pumping stations and 3,800 miles (6,100 km) of watercourses, with
8132-495: The land between the rivers. The internal drainage was organised by levels or districts, each of which includes the fen parts of one or several parishes . The details of the organisation vary with the history of their development, but the areas generally include: Bourne Fen and Deeping Fen lie in the southern most parts of Lincolnshire, between the Rivers Welland and the Bourne Eau with the River Glen running between
8239-521: The land level has continued to sink and the dykes have been built higher to protect it from flooding. Fen is the local term for an individual area of marshland or former marshland. It also designates the type of marsh typical of the area, which has neutral or alkaline water and relatively large quantities of dissolved minerals , but few other plant nutrients . The Fens are a National Character Area , based on their landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. The Fens lie inland of
8346-459: The late eighteenth century) were called Ordnance Surveys , and this term was used into the 20th century as generic for topographic surveys and maps. The earliest scientific surveys in France were the Cassini maps after the family who produced them over four generations. The term "topographic surveys" appears to be American in origin. The earliest detailed surveys in the United States were made by
8453-478: The less stable peat. Since the 19th century, all of the acid peat in the Fens has disappeared. Drying and wastage of peats has greatly reduced the depth of the alkaline peat soils and reduced the overall elevation of large areas of the peat fens. It is also recorded that peat was dug out of the East and West Lincolnshire fens in the 14th century and used to fire the salterns of Wrangle and Friskney. In later centuries it
8560-456: The lie of the land by delineating vegetation and other land-use information more clearly. Images can be in visible colours and in other spectrum. Photogrammetry is a measurement technique for which the co-ordinates of the points in 3D of an object are determined by the measurements made in two photographic images (or more) taken starting from different positions, usually from different passes of an aerial photography flight. In this technique,
8667-530: The midst of them. Cottenham Lode, an artificial channel known to have been built before the Norman conquest of 1066, marks the southern edge of Bullocks Haste Common. After that, the dyke has been reused as a drainage channel. It is crossed by the B1049 Twenty Pence Road and by Long Drove drain. There is then a dry section which is a scheduled monument. The route continues southwards, running to
8774-419: The modern land-drainage infrastructure, and so the remains are not particularly well preserved. It then heads broadly southwards across open countryside and forms the eastern boundary of Potterhanworth Wood. In Nocton Fen it passes to the east of the site of Nocton Park Priory, and then there is another scheduled section, bordered to the west by Nocton Wood, and connected to Nocton Delph, which flows eastwards to
8881-529: The monasteries played a significant part in the early efforts at drainage of the Fens. During most of the 12th century and the early 13th century, the south Lincolnshire fens were afforested . The area was enclosed by a line from Spalding, along the River Welland to Market Deeping , then along the Car Dyke to Dowsby and across the fens to the Welland. It was deforested in the early 13th century. There
8988-479: The most representations of land surface employ some variant of TIN models. In geostatistics , land surface is commonly modelled as a combination of the two signals – the smooth (spatially correlated) and the rough (noise) signal. In practice, surveyors first sample heights in an area, then use these to produce a Digital Land Surface Model in the form of a TIN . The DLSM can then be used to visualize terrain, drape remote sensing images, quantify ecological properties of
9095-541: The names of West Walton , Walsoken and Walpole suggest the native British population, with the Wal- coming from the Old English walh , meaning "foreigner". However, the villages are in close proximity to the old Roman sea wall, so the wal- element is more probably from wal or weal , meaning "wall". Walton is generally believed to mean "wall-town", Walsoken to mean "the district under particular jurisdiction by
9202-402: The natural drainage of the area runs from west to east, and it roughly follows the 10-foot (3 m) contour. William Stukeley , writing in the eighteenth century, was the first person to describe it as a Roman-era canal used for transporting goods. Excavations on the southern section at Waterbeach in the 1990s by the archaeology unit of Cambridgeshire County Council found what were seen as
9309-538: The next few thousand years both saltwater and freshwater wetlands developed as a result. Silt and clay soils were deposited by marine floods in the saltwater areas and along the beds of tidal rivers, while organic soils, or peats, developed in the freshwater marshes. Fenland water levels peaked in the Iron Age; earlier Bronze and Neolithic settlements were covered by peat deposits, and have only recently been found after periods of extensive droughts revealed them. During
9416-411: The north of Fen Road, Timberland and the second to the south. The dyke passes to the east of Walcott and along the northern and eastern edge of Billinghay , where it joins Billinghay Skirth, which drains into the River Witham. The continuation of Billinghay Skirth to the south-west uses the course of Car Dyke, and when it turns to the west near North Kyme , Car Dyke continues southwards, running along
9523-565: The other considered option. 53°00′45″N 0°16′04″W / 53.0125°N 0.2678°W / 53.0125; -0.2678 The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system of drainage channels and man-made rivers ( dykes and drains) and automated pumping stations . There have been unintended consequences to this reclamation, as
9630-419: The peat fens before the peat shrinkage began, the more stable silt soils were reclaimed by medieval farmers and embanked against any floods coming down from the peat areas or from the sea. The rest of the Fenland was dedicated to pastoral farming , fishing, fowling , and the harvesting of reeds or sedge for thatch. In this way, the medieval and early modern Fens stood in contrast to the rest of England, which
9737-412: The remains of a Roman-era boat and a cargo of pottery from Horningsea . This stretch, where significant archaeological deposits are likely to remain, has been protected as a scheduled monument . The northern channel near Baston was found to have a navigable width of 40 feet (12 m) and a depth of 6.5 feet (2 m) when archaeological excavation was carried out in the 1980s. The southern section had
9844-425: The scale and size of the area under study, its accessibility, and the quality of existing surveys. Surveying helps determine accurately the terrestrial or three-dimensional space position of points and the distances and angles between them using leveling instruments such as theodolites , dumpy levels and clinometers . GPS and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are also used. Work on one of
9951-462: The scene known a priori (for example, symmetries in certain cases allowing the rebuilding of three-dimensional co-ordinates starting from one only position of the camera). Satellite RADAR mapping is one of the major techniques of generating Digital Elevation Models (see below). Similar techniques are applied in bathymetric surveys using sonar to determine the terrain of the ocean floor. In recent years, LIDAR ( LI ght D etection A nd R anging),
10058-427: The small electric stations that are still used today. The dead vegetation of the peat remained undecayed because it was deprived of air (the peat being anaerobic). When it was drained, the oxygen of the air reached it, since then the peat has been slowly oxidizing. This, together with the shrinkage on its initial drying and the removal of soil by the wind, has meant that much of the Fens lies below high tide level . As
10165-594: The south, it reaches Littleworth Drove, where a house has been built over the remains. It passes under the A17 road, and then Carterplot Road runs parallel to it. It is crossed by the East Midlands Railway line from Sleaford to Swineshead , Little Hale Drove, where there is another Car Dyke farm, Helperingham Eau, North Drove and the Sleaford to Spalding railway line. At the railway crossing, it turns to
10272-522: The southern part of eastern England flowed into the Rhine , thence through the English Channel . From the Fens northward along the modern coast, the drainage flowed into the northern North Sea basin . As the ice melted, the rising sea level drowned the lower lands, leading ultimately to the present coastline. These rising sea levels flooded the previously inland woodland of the Fenland basin; over
10379-567: The support of this drainage system, the Fenland has become a major arable agricultural region for grains and vegetables. The Fens are particularly fertile, containing around half of the grade 1 agricultural land in England. The Fens have been referred to as the "Holy Land of the English" because of the former monasteries, now churches and cathedrals , of Crowland , Ely , Peterborough , Ramsey and Thorney . Other significant settlements in
10486-474: The three principal soil types found in the Fenland today, the mineral-based silt resulted from the energetic marine environment of the creeks, the clay was deposited in tidal mud-flats and salt-marsh, while the peat grew in the fen and bog. The peat produces black soils, which are directly comparable to the American muck soils . A roddon , the dried raised bed of a watercourse, is more suitable for building than
10593-592: The two Fens and the area covers both the town of Bourne as well as The Deepings including the villages of Langtoft and Baston . The Lindsey Level, also known as the Black Sluice District, was first drained in 1639 and extends from the Glen and Bourne Eau to Swineshead and then across to Kirton . Its waters is carried mostly though the South Forty-Foot Drain through to the Haven at Boston though
10700-628: The wall", and Walpole to mean simply "wall-pole" (Old English wal and pal ). When written records resume in Anglo-Saxon England, the names of a number of peoples of the Fens are recorded in the Tribal Hidage and Christian histories. They include North Gyrwe (Peterborough and Crowland), South Gyrwe (Ely), the Spalda (Spalding), and Bilmingas (part of south Lincolnshire). In the early Christian period of Anglo-Saxon England,
10807-432: The west and then the south west, where there is another scheduled section. It runs to the east of Swaton , with Cardyke Farm to its east, and continues past Horbling and Billingborough until it is crossed by Billingborough Lode, which drains into the South Forty-Foot Drain . There is a large moated site by the junction. Near Pointon , it is crossed by Fen Road, Pointon Lode and Millthorpe Drove, while near Dunsby there
10914-464: The west of Cambridge Research Park, and again is used as a drainage ditch. It is then cut by the A10 road , which runs along the western bank of the route, with a disused airfield to the east. The route has been lost through Waterbeach, where Denny End has been built over its course, but there is a final section to the south of the village, which is also a scheduled monument and a drainage channel. This section
11021-492: The western edge of North Kyme to reach the River Slea at Ferry Bridge. The River Slea makes a right-angled turn at the junction, and then turns to the east again, with Car Dyke continuing southwards, and now part of Midfodder Dike. Its course has then been reused by Hodge Dyke, which again makes a right-angled turn at the junction, until it crosses Heckington Eau, which becomes Head Dike as it continues eastwards. Continuing to
11128-453: Was primarily an arable agricultural region. Since the advent of modern drainage in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Fens have been radically transformed. Today arable farming has almost entirely replaced pastoral. The economy of the Fens is heavily invested in the production of crops such as grains, vegetables, and some cash crops such as rapeseed and canola . Drainage in the Fenland consists of both river drainage and internal drainage of
11235-445: Was short-lived. Once drained of water, the peat shrank, and the fields lowered further. The more effectively they were drained, the worse the problem became, and soon the fields were lower than the surrounding rivers. By the end of the 17th century, the land was under water once again. Though the three Bedford Levels together formed the biggest scheme, they were not the only ones. Lord Lindsey and his partner Sir William Killigrew had
11342-535: Was the Earl of Bedford, who employed Cornelius Vermuyden as engineer. Contrary to popular belief, Vermuyden was not involved with the draining of the Great Fen in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk in the 1630s, but only became involved with the second phase of construction in the 1650s. The scheme was imposed despite huge opposition from locals who were losing their livelihoods based on fishing and wildfowling. Fenmen known as
11449-567: Was used locally for winter fuel and its digging controlled by the Duchy of Lancaster . Written records of earthquakes in the Fen area appear as early as 1048. According to Historia Ingulfi, p. 64, (1684) this took place in Lincolnshire. In 1117 one affected Holland, Lincs, "endangering and injuring Crowland Abbey ". In 1185 Lincoln was damaged. In 1448 a shock was recorded in south Lincolnshire ( Ingulfi, p. 526). In 1750 John Moore records
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