Marshes and Fens

A number of seventh-century monasteries were deliberately sited on islands in rivers and marshes the site at Glastonbury in the Somerset Levels seems at least a possibility for an early monastery, although, at present adequate archaeological evidence is lacking. Many monks had retreated to the marshes originally for solitude although I have my own theory about why we see monasteries in the fens and marshlands areas of the landscape. I feel that many monasteries were sited on prehistoric sites as this may have given the monks a chance to convert people who lived on the marshlands to become Christians since they may have still been Pagans. The monasteries established across England in the seventh century were parts of the process of bring Christianity to Pagan County.

However, in the seventh century Britain was converted to Christianity. There were already Christians before this and paganism persisted later in some areas, but most of the conversion took place in the period 597 to 686. The fenlands margins had a number of Benedictine houses from pre-Conquest whilst the Cistercians appeared on the fens and had good access to fisheries.

Some land was considered too wet to farm around the Somerset Levels and in Yorkshire. However, the monasteries exploited this barren landscape to turn it into agricultural land and in doing so would provide more income for the Order. Such an example is to be found at Tintern Abbey where the monks reclaimed marshland and in doing so received double the income around the Gwent levels. The monks at Battle Abbey also reclaimed the marshland around Hooe Level below Barnhorne, which was said to have produced good crops. Leaving some ‘unreclaimed wetlands could be of considerable value, providing fish, waterfowl, summer pasture, fuel, reed for thatching.

If the land was not drained properly this can badly affect plant growth. As badly drained land will remain cold, delaying the germination of crops and waterlogging of soil prevents the take-up of nutrients by plants and stunts their root development. Badly drained pastureland will also have an effect on the cattle and the monks also realised that bad drainage would lead eventually to foot rot in the sheep and this disease would also spread to the cattle.

The effect on the landscape was considerable with digging ditches and dykes, building, diverting rivers and constructing canals that could bring goods to the Abbey building itself and was cheaper than road transport. A good example of this is to be found at Meaux Abbey in East Yorkshire. Here the Abbey is situated on a low island in a marshy valley and the monks modified the watercourses and constructed a canal so supplies could be brought up to the Abbey from the River Hull. Lambwath stream was diverted and later canalised into a sixteen-foot wide channel known as Forthdike.  The land was drained and turned into Granges. The mouth of the Hull was diverted and widened to improve its outfall to the Humber, the old course being reduced to a mere drain. The monks at Battle Abbey also altered the landscape on Hooe Levels in Sussex by constructing a Crooked Ditch along with an embankment.

It is also interesting to note that windmills appeared in some numbers around the fringes of the Fens, Romney Marsh and Somerset Levels. These windmills had an advantage over the watermills in low-lying areas where streams were sluggish, and in permeable chalk and limestone uplands where water supply was unreliable. Today we can see the windmill mounds in the landscape as earthen mounds and these have often been mistaken for round barrows, as there is no archaeological evidence of any medieval windmills surviving in the landscape today.

Humans have been living on the marshes and fens since Mesolithic times and have learnt how to connect the marshes and fens to provide food and to live. I have left a few links that may be of interest.

Please report any broken links this helps in maintaining the website.

Romney marsh

Romney Marsh Field Techniques

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