Middle Level Commissioners

The Middle Level Commissioners are a land drainage authority in eastern England. The body was formed in 1862, undertaking the main water level management function within the Middle Level [1] following the break up of the former Bedford Level Corporation.

The Middle Level is the central and largest section of the Great Level of The Fens, which was reclaimed by drainage during the mid-17th Century. The area is bounded on the northwest and east by the Nene and Ouse washes, on the north by previously drained Marshland silts and to the south and west by low clay hills. The Middle Level river system consists of over 120 miles (190km) of watercourses most of which are statutory navigations and has a catchment of over 170,000 acres (70,000 hectares).

Location of the Middle Level Commissioners' Catchment Boundary

History

In the distant past Great Britain was part of continental Europe with the rivers of eastern England being tributaries of the River Rhine, which flowed across a flat, marshy plain, which is now the southern North Sea. Following the end of the last Ice Age, the sea levels rose, severing Britain from Europe and flooding the area now occupied by the Fens. The fen area gradually became separated from the sea by extensive sand banks, which circled the fringes of the Wash. Within the fens, dense vegetation grew in the fresh water forming peat deposits, which built up over some 6000 years, until at the time of the Norman Conquest, the peat fen had risen above the level of the sea, although several lakes or meres remained. A number of settlements had been built, not only on the silt fringes of the Wash but also on a number of clay islands within the fens.
Although the Romans and Saxons had built a series of flood banks to protect the Marshland silts to the north, and a number of small local projects had been carried out during the Middle Ages to reclaim small areas of fen in the vicinity of some of the island towns and villages, no comprehensive schemes for the draining of the Fens were carried out until the 17th Century. During the period between 1630 and 1655, the Dutch engineer Sir Cornelius Vermuyden[2] was employed by the Earl of Bedford and others to carry out a comprehensive scheme to reclaim the Great Level of the Fens. The scheme involved the cutting of the Old and New Bedford Rivers to bypass the meandering course of the River Great Ouse and create a huge washland from Earith to Salters Lode to store flood water. The Middle Level area was protected from the flood waters of the Great Ouse and Nene by two huge barrier banks which stretched from Earith to Salters Lode and from Stanground to Guyhirn. Within the Middle Level he cut a number of new straight drainage channels such as the Sixteen Foot, Forty Foot and Twenty Foot drains with the bulk of the Middle Level area draining into the Great Ouse at Salters Lode, via the Old Course of the River Nene which continued to be the major waterway of the area.

The improved drainage caused a rapid shrinkage of the peat fen and land levels dropped. By the early 18th Century, lowering land levels had required the Middle Level rivers to be embanked and many wind pumps to be built to lift the water from the field dikes into the rivers. By the early 19th Century many of the wind engines had been replaced by steam to allow the water to be lifted through greater heights, to take account of the even greater peat shrinkage resulting from the improved drainage.
By this time it was clear that improvements to the drainage systems would be a never ending process and, in 1844, an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the cutting of the Middle Level Main Drain, which moved the main outfall sluice from Salters Lode to St Germans, some 9 miles further down the Great Ouse, where low tide levels were 7 feet (2.5 metres)and lower. At Mullicourt Aqueduct, the old drainage channel, which is still a statutory navigation, is carried over the Main Drain, providing a graphic illustration of the effects of land shrinkage.

From the time of Vermuyden, the drainage of the Middle Level had been run by the Bedford Level Corporation, until 1862 when a new Act of Parliament set up the Middle Level Commissioners[3], who have continued to administer the drainage and navigation of the Middle Level to the present day.

The Middle Level Commissioners

The Middle Level Commissioners consist of representatives from both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. Occupiers of agricultural property receive a rate demand direct from the Commissioners. The "rates" on non-agricultural properties, such as houses and factories, are paid through a special levy issued to the district councils within the Commissioners' area. These councils, Fenland District Council [4], Huntingdonshire District Council [5] and the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk [6] are therefore, able to appoint representatives as Commissioners in respect of the payment made in relation to these properties.

Internal drainage boards

Within the Middle Level there are 29 independent internal drainage boards initially set up in the 18th century and each responsible for the local drainage of their area. Most have pumping stations and discharge their run-off into the main Middle Level watercourses. Many of these IDBs are administered from the Middle Level Offices and their administrative and financial work is carried out by Middle Level staff. In addition, Middle Level staff also undertake engineering and planning liaison consultancy work for a large number of Boards.

Internal drainage districts administered by the Middle Level Commissioners

Benwick Internal Drainage Board
Bluntisham Internal Drainage Board
Churchfield and Plawfield Internal Drainage Board
Conington and Holme Internal Drainage Board
Curf and Wimblington Combined Internal Drainage Board
Euximoor Internal Drainage Board
Hundred Foot Washes Internal Drainage Board
Hundred of Wisbech Internal Drainage Board
Ladus District Drainage Commissioners
Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners
March and Whittlesey Internal Drain Board
March East Internal Drainage Board
March Fifth District Drainage Commissioners
March Sixth District Drainage Commissioners
March Third District Drainage Commissioners
Needham Buriel and Birdbeck District Drainage Commissioners
Nightlayers Internal Drainage Board
Nordelph Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey First (Hollow) Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey Fourth (Middlemoor) Internal Drainage Board
Ramsey Upwood and Great Raveley Internal Drainage Board
Ransonmoor District Drainage Commissioners
Sawtry Internal Drainage Board
Sutton and Mepal Internal Drainage Board
Swavesey Internal Drainage Board
Upwell Internal Drainage Board
Waldersey Internal Drainage Board
Warboys Somersham and Pidley Internal Drainage Board
White Fen District Drainage Commissioners

Navigation

The Middle Level, apart from its flood protection role, is also the fourth largest navigation authority in the United Kingdom and is responsible for approximately 100 miles (160 kilometres) of statutory navigation and operates six navigation locks. The Nene-Ouse Navigation Link forms part of the Middle Level Navigations. The Link is at present is the only connection between the Great Ouse and the Main Canal Network. During a normal summer, over 1,000 passages of the Link-Route are made by pleasure craft. The Commissioners issue Navigation Notes, which provide navigation details for boat owners, who wish to use the system.

The Middle Level Waterways Users Committee consists of representatives of the Commissioners and Users of the Middle Level system. It advises the Commissioners of the different requirements for water use in the Middle Level area and assists them in meeting such requirements so far as the Commissioners are able to do.

Conservation

Within the Middle Level Catchment there are three Major National Nature Reserves at Woodwalton Marsh[7], Monks Wood and Holme Fen [8] as well as a number of smaller sites of more local interest. The Commissioners have a statutory duty to further nature conservation in the performance of their functions and operate a specific conservation strategy, which forms a basis for all their river maintenance operations. There is also a close working relationship with Natural England, in particular through the Conservation Committee, which includes representatives of the Commissioners, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the local Wildlife Trusts.

References

• Page, William; Proby, Granville; Inskip Ladds, S., eds. (1936). A History of the County of Huntingdon. Victoria County History. Vol. 3. pp. 249–290, 'The Middle Level of the Fens and its reclamation'. Retrieved 30 December 2010.

External Links

• Association of Drainage Authorities
• Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management
• Waterways guides
• Middle Level Commissioners