The Ascough's living on the northern edge of the East Fen might have been amazed if, as noted by H C Darby in his book Changing Fenland, The Deeps of the East Fen
were described as "particularly bad". They provided generations with a livelihood from catching fish and wildfowl and collecting peat, reeds and rushes for their cottages.
Darby writes: "In 1769 Thomas Pennant wrote
“The East Fen is quite in a state of nature, and gives a specimen of the
country before the introduction of drainage; it is a vast tract of morass,
intermixed with a number of lakes, from half a mile to two or three miles in
circuit, communicating with each other by narrow reedy straits: they are very
shallow, none above four or five feet deep.”
He continues "During the years that
followed, there were many reports into the best way to improve the River Witham and benefit the adjacent
fens (of which East fen is one) (W H Wheeler Page 212). Meetings and committees, of
landowners and others interested in the project (finance for land ), followed one another. Any proposal for new cuts
and different sluices was opposed by rival schemes. There was also the
objection of those fenmen, who in the words of the Petition of 1784, supported
themselves and their families comfortably with the produce of the East Fen, by
fishing and getting coarse and fine thatch."
W H Wheeler Page 211 as follows:
"In 1784. Mill Drain (see below) was
deepened and enlarged by Mr. Pacey its
of Boston,
acting under the direction of certain Proprietors of land,
and the drain, leading from Nordyke
Bridge to Cherry Corner,
was
lowered. This produced a partial drainage of the East Fen, and
lowered the water in the deeps,' but the effect was also to destroy
the herbage in the fen and hinder the navigation of the pools and
dykes. The Fenmen thereupon erected a dam across the new cut.
In a petition sent by the Fenmen relating to this drain, they say,
objections to
“It is well known that the temperate and industrious part of the
poor inhabitants of the Soke of Bolingbroke, has, for a long time,
supported themselves and their families comfortably with the produce
of the East Fen, by fishing and getting coarse and fine thatch-
Man}- of us, by the blessing of God and our own industry, has
procured a cow or two, which we used to graze in the said fen in the
summer, and get fodder for their support in winter, but, alas, of these
privileges we are in a great measure deprived by a set of men called
Commissioners, who hath imbibed such a rage for drainage, that
exceeds both utility and justice. Utility, because it destroys the
grass and herbage, and is hurtful both to farmers and poor men ;
justice, because it deprives the poor of their privileges—for the
fishery is ruined, the thatch is destroyed, the fodder very"
scarce.
And to make our grievance the more intolerable, and to complete our
ruin, and show how unfeeling they are, they even now are depriving
us of the benefit we expected from the late rains, that is, of getting
our fodder and fuel to land, by running the water away out of both
fens. We, your petitioners, humbly pray you to take up our cause,
and, if possible, procure redress for us, by causing a temporary dam
to be made in Sibsey Cut for our present relief, and a permanent
stanch for our future supply ; and, if practicable, we beg leave to
recommend to your consideration two Cuts, one on the north side
and the other on the south side of the fen, to set bounds to the cattle
and supply them with water, and secure a portion of land to bring
fodder and thatch. And your humble petitioners will be effectually
relieved from that state of distress and poverty which must be the
inevitable effect of the measures now pursued And your humble
petitioners will ever hold themselves in gratitude and duty bound to
pray for your person and family." This was signed by 105 Fenmen,
of whom only 19 were unable to write their names, and made a mark.
As a result of this petition, a sluice was built across Valentine's
Drain and the water in the East Fen retained at an agreed height".
Wheeler’s book ("The History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire) is the most detailed
authority on the drainage of the South Lincolnshire Fens.
Originally published in 1868, the second edition of 1897 includes a Preface
where he talks about more detailed research into various Acts of Parliament and
many other documents.
The wonderful thing about the book, for
me, is that it is just the Southern Lincolnshire Fens
with which he is concerned, East Fen being one of these.
Mill Drain (that is the subject of the petition above) is located in the south of
East Fen, south west of The Deeps and runs towards Anton Gowt before joining the River
Witham before it reaches Boston. On the top map above between "R" and "T" of "NORTH".
At the time of the petition, John Ascough was 25 or 26, his elder brother Thomas was
27 or 28 and their father Thomas was 49. There is an outside chance that one of
them signed the petition. However they were living on the northern edge of East
Fen on the opposite side of The Deeps from Mill Drain. And by 1784, the common land of open fields around their villages, on
slightly higher ground, had been, or was being enclosed by the Enclosure Act
of 1773. “An Act for Dividing and Inclosing certain Open Common Fields,
Meadows, Ings and other Commonable lands and Waste Grounds within the manor of
Toynton, in the Townships of Toynton All Saints and Toynton St Peters ……”
All as detailed in “Old and New
Landscapes in the Horncastle Area by Eleanor and Rex C Russell.
So it may be that by this time, the
Ascough’s were employed by the new owners or tenants of these enclosed fields
as farm labourers. But they might still have had an interest in the wild East
Fen for catching fish and wildfowl as previous generations had done. Once a fenman, always a fenman.
