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.

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Boultham Hall

The landed families and entrepreneurs of Lincoln seemed to have a need to show their wealth and success by building grand houses.  Most of the houses lasted for less than 100 years.  There are several reasons for this:

• The improved standard of living of the working class caused by improved wages in the factories and foundries, until the mid 19th century most of the jobs for men were on the land, and for women in service, most of these houses had many live-in servants.  
• "The flower of British manhood" was decimated during World War One, many of the men who were destined to take over the grand city and country houses were lost.  
• Many of the houses were of an age where maintenance costs were spiraling.  The introduction of Death Duties in 1894 and increases in income tax in the early 20th century, by 1918 the rate stood at 30%, meant these houses were becoming millstones.
• There was a severe shortage of building materials after World War One, building materials (e.g. stone, brick, wood, wood panelling and fittings) were more valuable than the standing buildings.

Here we look at the first of eight houses that were built for Lincoln entrepreneurs

Boultham Hall

Boultham Park was bought by Richard Ellison for his illegitimate son Colonel Richard Ellison sometime before his death in 1827. Col Ellison married Charlotte Chetwynd of Staffordshire in 1830.

The hall was built in the mid 1830s and the grounds were laid out. Part of the village of Boultham was within the grounds, this was removed.

A large ornamental lake was dug in 1857 and some Roman remains were found. The hall was re-modeled and enlarged in 1874. The architect was William Watkins of Lincoln.

Col Ellison erected a large monument, in the design of an urn, to Simon, his favourite horse, the monument now stands nearby in Simon’s Green.

Following Col Ellison’s death in 1881, Boultham Hall passed to Lt Colonel Richard George Ellison. Lt Col Ellison had a distinguished military career, during the Crimean War he fought at Alma, Inkerman, Sebastol and the capture of Balaclava. On his return to Lincoln he was met at the railway station by the Mayor and Corporation, who took him in an open carriage with 4 horses to Boultham, where they lunched, and “half the town had cheese and ale”.

Advert for the contents auction

Boultham Hall had extensive grounds: far greater than what we see today, what is now Boultham Park Road was a private road which lead to another private road north of, and parallel to Dixon Street and joined the road to a  gatehouse on the High Street.

High Street Lodge, architect William Mortimer

The original High Street entrance to the grounds of Boultham Hall was where Boultham Avenue now stands, the road and land was sold in the 1880s for the building of houses.

A parallel route to Boultham Hall was opened in 1883, between Peel Street and Dixon Street with a lodge house at its head.

Lt Colonel Ellison was the last resident of the hall. On his death in 1908 it passed to Richard Todd Ellison who sold the Hall and grounds in 1913 to a Nottingham company. The contents of the Hall were auctioned over 5 days in 1913.

During the First World War, the house served as a convalescence home for soldiers.

After the war much of the land was sold for new housing. On 15 May 1929 Lincoln Corporation purchased the Hall and remaining grounds from J A MacDonald and D E Smith, for £6,000 for the creation of a public park.

During World War Two, areas of the park were planted with sugar beet as part of the Dig for Victory campaign. 

Demolition of the Hall in 1959

The grounds were laid out as a public park, the hall was demolished in 1959. The only remaining evidence of the hall is a plinth and steps.

Lodges at the entrance to Boultham Park, built in  the 1870s:

Top, north lodge

Bottom, east lodge.  The gates are from Joseph Ruston's lost Monks Manor on Greetwell Road.

Ruston's initials can be seen above the pedestrian entrance.

Boultham Park Lake in 1933

Other Lincoln Houses

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Hartsholme Hall
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Eastgate House
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Monk's Tower
The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Monk's Manor

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Cold Bath House

The Lost Houses of Lincoln  - Sibthorp House

The Lost Houses of Lincoln - Eastcliffe House

The Old House on Corporation Street

The Crooked House and the Harlequin

Grand House Built on the Sale of Drugs

Banks and High Bridge

Joseph Banks, painted 1773 by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Sir Joseph Banks is well-known as a naturalist and botanist, the son of William Banks a wealthy Lincolnshire land owner. Joseph was also a farmer and business man and was instrumental in promoting the Horncastle Canal.

An Act of Parliament was passed in 1792 approving the building of the canal; the canal was completed by 1802 but was partially in use some years before this.

In order to make the canal viable it was essential that barges could navigate to and from the Trent: the only route was through Lincoln.  

Richard Ellison had acquired a 999 year lease for the Fossdyke Canal and river Witham in 1740, he dredged and improved the canal and the river east of Lincoln but was prevented by Lincoln Corporation from improving the navigation below High Bridge. Lincoln Corporation earned valuable revenue from porterage fees, barges were unloaded one side of the Bridge and reloaded the other.  The problem was so severe that in exceptionally dry summers it was possible to drive a coach across the bed of the river west of High Bridge.

High Bridge c 1836

The reluctance of the Corporation to act on the navigation under High Bridge forced Joseph Banks to look at alternative routes.  William Jessop, the noted canal builder (locally he built the Grantham and Sleaford canals), was commissioned to investigate a likely route.  Jessop put forward a scheme to route barges from the Fossdyke southwards on the upper Witham to Sincil Drain, in effect by-passing Lincoln. The Corporation realised this would be devastating for the economy of the city and, in 1795, the bed of the river beneath High Bridge was lowered at the expense of the proprietors of the Horncastle Canal. To celebrate the event boards were laid on the dry river bed and a dance took place under the bridge.

The building of the Great Northern Railway from Lincoln to Boston in 1848 dramatically increased the traffic on the Horncastle Canal but in 1854 a line was opened from Kirkstead to Horncastle: the canal closed in 1889.  

See also: Lincoln's High Bridge, Unique In This Country