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The fen rivers way runs through the heart of the fenland and the black soils and flat landscape are such a feature of the area. But of course it hasn't always been like that. The Fens have been progressively drained over the last 400 years. some parts only having been drained comparatively recently. Living in Waterbeach I am at the southern tip of the fens and it was a great surprise to me to find on an old ordinance survey map that shows Waterbeach fen was not drained as late as 1840. One only has to go and visit Wicken fen to see what the old vegetation once looked like. This National Trust nature reserve is accessible from The Fen Rivers Way.

I recently found an old map at an antique fair which shows the fens as they were in 1640. it was a map made by J Blaeu in 1645. Apparently it was part of a series of maps which were made in Holland. I just could not resist buying it even though it was rather expensive...but it is really beautiful. I have scanned some of the detail of the map to give you an idea of what the areas around the fen rivers way looked like before drainage. You can see the edge of the fen and the distribution of the fenland islands and meres. The map is orientated with the North to the right. It was made this way because it fitted on the page better.

I hope you can see from these scans what a beautiful map it is and what an interesting place the fens must have been in those days. Please Note each map is **** 100Kb ***** in size so may take a while to download.

The first map shows the route from Cambridge to Ely. and you can see the finger of land sticking out into the fens at Clayhithe and also at Denny Abbey. Ely was truly an island connected by causeway to Soham and Rampton. There are two big open areas of water marked at Soham and Stretham (Stritham moore and Soham moore). Even Grunte fen is shown between Stritham(Stretham) and Wichford. It is interesting to note that The River Cam is called the River of Grant on this map.

The second map shows the section between Ely and Downham market.With the river Ouse going through great meanders, not like the well channeled river we see today. Littleport is shown on its island again linked to Ely by causeway. It is also interesting to note the buildings which are marked in the fens. Clearly they stood out in the landscape and were important features to travellers. For example look at the house in seuerall fenn, towards the bottom of the map. Notice also how the Dutch surveyors recorded the spelling of Downham as Douneham...the good old Norfolkmen clearly pronounced things then just the way they do today!

The third map shows the section from Downham market to Kings Lynn. At the top of this map (to the west of the river ouse) you can see the area of land which has already been drained, Mershe Lande. It is interesting to see that the draining of the fens began at the sea and progressed inland. Various Bridges existed across the River Ouse along this section. 5 being marked on the map. No doubt this was an important crossing point between Norfolk and Lincolnshire in those days.

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