Article - Vermuyden in Perspective by Colin Ella, part 11 Friends and Foes

W DUGDALE, a supporter of Vermuyden, nevertheless makes this observation, ‘There is no doubt that Vermuyden took too little account of the great advantages connected with draining to the Humber.

The alteration of the Torne was never a wise move. It remained a problematic area right up to recent times. He should have concentrated waters into the old River Don - and so out to Adlingfleet. It was navigable and could have remained so.’

It may be that Dugdale was perhaps oversimplifying matters here but one of Vermuyden’s own countrymen also comments, ‘Both the Torne and the Idle would have had a greater capacity as draining channels and a more rapid discharge than they now have if they had been planned to run in a northerly direction.

Vermuyden could have foreseen this and it is beyond comprehension that he should have neglected it. (Strong words indeed but his compatriot goes on) ‘I can only attribute the mistake to his strong desire to complete the drainage works with all speed and that he considered his system the quickest, cherishing the optimistic view that it would satisfy requirements.

The event proved the fallacy of this opinion though the system certainly proved to be a quick one.’

This series has tried to justify the claims of affected locals in Axholme that the King had no right to dispose of their legally granted common.

Here, flood waters aided their keeping of stock. Vermuyden ruined the benefits of their common land, and their fishing and fowling, a valuable source of income for the poor, was largely lost. Furthermore, these commons were reduced to between a half and a third of their former size.

The facts are that Vermuyden, in his own times, failed to make the drained fen of Axholme any more profitable than the undrained. The reputation of the Dutch engineer rests more in what he initiated than in what he achieved. That said however, what he planned and executed was indeed a great achievement and over some three centuries changes and modifications have transformed his groundwork into a very efficient drainage system, leading to a richness of arable farming. Over time Vermuyden has also enjoyed a higher regard accorded him in South Yorkshire than is the case in Axholme, perhaps because the former exercised a loyalty to the Crown through the Royal Hatfield Chace.

Next week Colin Ella begins a new series entitled, ‘The Way We Were’. Part 1 - A Budding Caruso.

 

From:http://www.epworthbells.co.uk/community/nostalgia/vermuyden_in_perspective_by_colin_ella_part_11_friends_and_foes_1_3550530

Article - Vermuyden in Perspective - Part 7: Failings in the Drainage System

LOOKING at Axholme’s necessary and elaborate system of waterways with two major pumping stations at Keadby and West Stockwith, aided by a score of minor ones, we can well appreciate the difficult task Vermuyden faced in trying to reclaim a vast acreage of flooded and boggy areas.

Not surprisingly, the failings of his efforts became apparent only months after its completion, and clearly revealed that there had been serious faults in its planning, calculations and execution. Whether really serious research into the conditions of the terrain across the whole area had been made we do not know.

The newly cut River Torne was far too narrow and shallow to make for an effective channel.

This defect prevented the Central Axholme commoners from enjoying any benefit, and moreover, they were even worse off, because, as the new Torne had been cut through higher ground, land which had previously stayed dry was now often flooded.

A similar defect in South Yorkshire saw floods which ruined barns, granaries, stackyards, and private houses, in the Snaith, Fishlake and Sykehouse areas.

Vermuyden attracted huge local antipathy and hatred, at one stage being described as ‘a monster of a man whose natural qualities no one English epithet can answer!’

In Axholme he had rudely disturbed immemorial rights effective in the interests of the poor.

The decision of Charles l to allow Vermuyden to proceed was precipitate and this absolute monarch ignored long-standing and ancient statute.

A Court ruled in favour of the Hatfield Commoners as early as 1630, and Vermuyden was made to restore 4035 acres to these complainants.

In the Epworth Manor many protestors tried to change things by violence - a business that would persist right up into the 18th Century.

They fought numerous Court cases in seeking justice as the Isleonians firmly believed that neither King or Vermuyden had any claim on the common land. They agreed that the Dutch did have legal right to drain Hatfield Chace but not the Manors of Finningley, Misterton, and Axholme.

In the Epworth area land taken for reclamation meant its stock farmers lost valuable meadow land and winter fodder.

The drainage work left them with unwanted summer flooding and in addition a lot of fishing and fowling was lost.

From: http://www.epworthbells.co.uk/community/nostalgia/vermuyden_in_perspective_part_7_failings_in_the_drainage_system_1_3420813