The Foss Dyke

The Foss Dyke Navigation is about 11 miles long, from Torksey Lock on the river Trent to Brayford Pool in the centre of Lincoln; it is the oldest canal in Britain, however, we do not know for sure how old it is. Sometime before 1774 a bronze statuette of the Roman god Mars was found in the Foss Dyke at Torksey; this discovery dated it as Roman.  Click the link to see image and description of the statuette http://bit.ly/marsfoss

The canal was reputedly used by the Danes when they invaded England and by the Normans to carry stone to build Lincoln Cathedral in the 11th century.

But the earliest mention of the canal is in the year 1121, in Symeon of Durham's, Historia Regium : "In the same year, king Henry cut a large canal from Torksey to Lincoln, and by causing the River Trent to flow into it, he made it navigable for vessels." The absence of any other documentary evidence indicates that the Canal was built during the reign of Henry I.

The Romans may have built a canal from Torksey to Hardwick, at the centre of a large Roman farm; this canal was probably extended during Henry I's reign.

The Foss Dyke enabled Lincoln and the Fens of Lincolnshire to communicate with Gainsborough and Hull, and with the Ouse and York.

Over the centuries the canal went into decline due to lack of maintenance. Katherine Swynford, who lived at Kettlethorpe near to the canal, is credited with having organized a protest to repair it, in 1375. The canal continued to deteriorate, until by the 17th century it was virtually impassable.

"1518, 10 June. A collection begins to be made towards the cleansing and repairing of the Foss-dyke, for which the King has sent down his commission. [The work was found to involve more cost than it proved easy to discharge, and on 14 Dec. it is reported that the Bishop of Lincoln had issued a commission to all curates and others in his diocese for aid, and granted pardon to all them that helped in the same, and collectors are appointed in consequence to ride to divers towns. Collections continued to be made for a long time, including York and Hull in their range.]" 
"1571 24 March Where[as] within the county of Lincoln, timber, wood, coal, turf and other necessaries have been almost clearly felled, taken away, consumed and spent by many greedy persons, owners of the same since the dissolution of the late religious houses, to the great decay of the poor ancient city of Lincoln, formerly served out of the said county with these necessaries for the relief of the said city and for setting the poor people on work; and for that there is yet some plenty of timber, &c. within the counties of Nottingham, Derby and York next adjoining, whence the said poor city could be well served if the same could be brought by water; [it is desired] that an Act of Parliament may be made for a commission to assess all persons within seven miles of the city for the dyking, cleansing and scouring of Foss-dyke, in order that sufficient water may be brought from the Trent to bring the said timber, etc." - The corporation of Lincoln: Registers, vol. IV (1564-99)

King James I transferred ownership of the canal to the Corporation of Lincoln.

In 1671, during the reign of Charles II, Lincoln obtained an Act which authorised improvements from Boston to the Trent. Work was carried out on the Fossdyke, but only the first 100 yards (91 m) of the Witham, from Brayford Pool to High Bridge, received attention. The work was carried out by Samuel Fortrey, a man with previous experience of draining the fens. He was required to bear some of the cost himself, in exchange for some of the profits. The work was completed in 1672, and included a navigable sluice or lock at Torksey, which had first been proposed by Simon Hill in 1632. Warehouses and wharves were built at Brayford Pool.

1685 July 21.—Whereas for these several years now last past it hath been a custom in this city for the mayor elect and the two sheriffs elect severally to make and give a treat or banqueting on every Holy Rood day, being Sept. 14, presently after they were elected, and the said treat or banquetting not only being a great trouble and charge, and several abuses and misdemeanours committed on that day by the freemen and inhabitants and the great number of foreigners which constantly resort to the said treat, to the great disturbance of the King's peace and abuse of the said treat; and for that the said treat or banquetting upon serious consideration is looked upon to be a thing altogether unnecessary and useless; therefore it is hereby ordered that the said treat . . . . shall for the future be clearly laid aside and none made. And the city being much in debt for money borrowed for the Foss dyke and for renewing the charter, 13l 13s. 4d. shall yearly be deducted from the Mayor's allowance of 90l., and 26l. 6s. 8d. from the sheriffs' allowance of 46l. p. 398. - The corporation of Lincoln: Registers, vols VI and VII (1653-1710)

By 1717, passage from Torksey was again difficult. Coal traffic averaged 1,357 tons per year, bound for Lincoln, but tolls were insufficient to finance repairs. 

The corporation in 1741 granted a lease of two-thirds of it for 999 years, at a rent of £50 per annum, and of the remaining third, for 99 years, at £25 per annum to Richard Ellison of Thorne, and it was reopened in 1745. Previously to this period coals were sold at twenty one shillings per chaldron ; but when Ellison cleared the canal, and re-opened the river in 1745, they were offered and sold at thirteen shillings.  He dredged it to provide 3.5 feet (1.1 m) of depth, and re-opened it in 1744. Two years later, the tolls were £595, and continued to increase. Under his son, the tolls were £2,367 in 1789, while his grandson collected £5,159 in 1811.

"From that time to the present, this long neglected canal has been improving, and the increasing number of vessels daily floating on its surface, renders it an almost inexhaustible mine of wealth to the lessee, an incalculable benefit to the commercial part of the city, and a never failing source of employment to the industrious poor."
- The History of Lincoln; Containing an Account of Its Antiquities - 1825

1826 Plan of the Fossdyke Navigation

The Great Northern Railway negotiated with the proprietors of the Witham and Fossdyke in 1846, to guarantee them an income by leasing the waterways. Richard Ellison IV had agreed a lease for 894 years, at £9,570 per year, based on the average profit for the previous three years plus 5 per cent.

A series of takeovers and mergers resulted in its ownership changing several times, before it was nationalised, and became the responsibility of the British Waterways Board in 1948.

Today the Foss Dyke is a popular pleasure boating canal, boats from Lincoln and Boston can connect with the canals system of England, subject to beam width.

Today Torksey Lock is a popular mooring for pleasure boates.

Lincoln Joins the Railway Age

Lincoln was one of the last major towns or cities to be linked by rail, a line from London to Cambridge had been proposed in 1825 and would have extended to York via Lincoln, this route was abandoned. In the event, the London to York line followed a route to the west of the River Trent mainly due to the lobbying of Doncaster’s MP, who believed that a line running through Lincoln would be detrimental to his town. 

Railway promoters became active again in 1833 when three routes were proposed through Lincoln. In March 1835 a Lincoln committee under the chairmanship of Thomas Norton, the City’s mayor, reported on the alternative routes. Again, nothing came of this move to bring the railway to Lincoln.

In 1845 a meeting of 6,000 people at the Beast Market ended in a free fight when the chairman, the Lincoln mayor, announced that the London to York line had won the right to serve Lincoln. Opponents complained that labourers had been brought at 2/- (10p) a piece to vote for the London to York project. George Hudson, “The Railway King“, had spent a lot of money opposing the line in favour of his Midland Railway. His boast was that he would bring a railway to Lincolnshire while the rest were still talking about it!

Hudson’s boast came true when the Midland Railway brought the first route into Lincoln from Nottingham. The line opened on 3rd August 1846, the first train left Nottingham at 9 am, stopping off at the various villages en route to pick up those invited to celebrate the new enterprise, and arriving at Lincoln at 11 am.

It was an important day for the city: the buildings and streets were decorated, the bells of the Cathedral and churches ringing peals at intervals, the band of the 4th Irish Dragoons played the “Railway Waltz” as two trains left the Midland Station, carrying local dignitaries and cannon were fired. The journey to Nottingham took almost 2 hours. The return journey was in heavy rain. A banquet was held in the National School in Silver Street.

Unfortunately there was a casualty of all the merriment: a man called Paul Harden has his leg shattered by the bursting of a cannon in the station yard. He was taken to the County Hospital where his leg was amputated.

The Great Northern Railway opened in 1848, this line was routed from Peterborough through rural Lincolnshire, via Sleaford. Lincoln now had two railways crossing the High Street. The town clerk was sent to London to enquire whether both lines could be routed through one crossing, but he was assured that the crossings would not have a detrimental affect on the flow of the road traffic using the High Street.

The Elegant Entrance Portico of the Midland Railway Station,
now part of St Mark's Shopping Centre

The coming of the railways completely transformed Lincoln’s communications with other parts of the country. The produce of Lincolnshire’s farms and factories could be easily transported and in return coal for homes and industry could be brought into the county. Travelling by mail coach to London took 13 hours whereas by train it would take a mere 4 hours: a businessman could leave Lincoln early in the morning transact his business in London and return home in the evening to sleep in his own bed. In less than 5 years railway lines radiated from Lincoln in all directions.

Prince Albert passed through Lincoln in 1849 to lay the foundation stone of the Grimsby docks.

On the 27th August 1851 Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales had a brief stop at Lincoln, en route for Balmoral. An address was read by the Mayor and he presented the keys of the city, following Her Majesty’s reply some grapes That had been grown by Richard Ellison of Sudbrooke Holm. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, was a regular visitor to the city by train, mainly for the horse racing, as a guest of Henry Chaplin of Blankney Hall.

The Midland Station, otherwise known as St Mark’s Station, closed 11 May 1985, the Great Northern Station, now known as the Central Station continues to operate from St Mary’s Street.


First published on Wordpress 10th October 2013

The Bridge of Sighs

James Mayfield was a boot and shoe dealer at 19 Waterside North (a little west of the present Mayfield Bridge), he was born in Louth in 1805. 

James noticed that the shops in the Sincil Street area south of the river were much busier than his was. The nearest crossings of the river were at High Bridge and Magpies Bridge, he had little passing trade from the Sincil Street area. In November 1867 he asked the Corporation to contact the Great Northern Railway (the lessees of the river Witham) to get permission to build a bridge over the river at the north end of Sincil Street.

“The Mayor remarked that there was already an order on the books for the erection of a bridge on the site Mr Mayfield mentioned, and when the funds of the Corporation admitted of it, no doubt the bridge would be erected. (Laughter)” - Lincolnshire Chronicle 23/11/1867.

The original bridge, photograph taken in the 1930s prior to the slum clearance on Waterside North. The 'Sackville' lanterns have been replaced by more conventional lamps 

The Corporation asked for tenders for the manufacture and erection of the bridge, the following quotations were received: M Penistan, Lincoln, £147; D Barnes, Lincoln, £160; F Binns, Lincoln, £170 6s; C de Berne and Co., Manchester, £185; J T B Porter and Co., Lincoln, £216 3s.

The Corporation had received about £65 from public subscriptions and agreed that the lowest quotation would be accepted providing the promoters of the bridge (headed by James Mayfield) provide £70 within 14 days of the meeting. “Mr Brogden said the thanks of the public were due to Mr Mayfield for the energy and perseverance he had displayed in promoting the movement, and he would suggest that the structure should be named ‘The Mayfield Bridge’.” (Laughter)

The bridge was completed in April 1869 at a total cost of £154 2s (£154.10) and designed by Drury and Mortimer of Lincoln. ‘Sackville’ gas lanterns were fitted at each end of the bridge; patented by Gregg and Son of Dublin they were circular in plan and free from sidebars which would otherwise cast broad shadows, a reflector in the top enhanced the light from the lantern.

The 1869 bridge, the New Bridge Inn on the left and Savoy cinema on the right. 

Penney and Porter Ltd surveyed the bridge in 1923, in their opinion the bridge was unsafe and submitted a quotation for the supply and erection of the ironwork for a new bridge. The bridge was periodically repaired but no major restoration works were completed.

The condition of the bridge was next raised at a Corporation meeting in March 1940. It was at this meeting that the nickname for the bridge was coined: ‘The Bridge of Sighs’ due its poor condition. There were concerns about movement of “people from places of entertainment in the case of an air raid”, due to its condition and lack of width. The bridge was further discussed in September of the same year and it was agreed that due to the war it would be difficult to find sufficient materials to restore or replace the bridge. 

The original bridge was eventually replaced in 1958, this bridge was replaced in 1991 and again in 2001.



The 1869 bridge and the 1958 bridge shortly before the removal of the earlier bridge. Note the wooden planks used to support the side of the 1869 bridge.


The 1958 Bridge

​What of James Mayfield? James sold his boot and shoe business to Thomas Mawby in 1874 and became licensee of the Globe Inn on Waterside South, moving to Edmonton, London in 1881 to open a boot and shoe shop; he died there in 1887.


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