Barlings Eau

Barlings Eau is a small river near Barlings, Lincolnshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Witham, joining it near Short Ferry.

Route

Barlings Eau rises as three streams which join together near the medieval village of Cold Hanworth. One rises to the east of Spridlington and flows in a south-easterly direction. A second rises to the north of Faldingworth, flows to the west under the A46 road, and then turns to the south. A third rises to the west of Faldingworth, and again flows west and south to the junction. The first is below the 50-foot (15 m) contour, while the other two start above the 65-foot (20 m) contour. At Snarford, it is joined by two other streams from the west, and passes under the A46 at Snarford Bridge. Several more streams join it before it reaches Stainton by Langworth, where it passes under the Lincoln to Market Rasen railway.^[1]

A further three streams join before it passes under the A158 road at Langworth. It crosses Newball Common, and flows along the eastern edge of Barlings Abbey.^[1] The Abbey was founded by the Premonstratensian order, known in Britain as the White Canons, in 1156. The remains are quite fragmentary, but parts of the Abbey Church are grade I listed^[2] and the remains of the Abbey are grade II listed. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.^[3] Just before the river crosses under Ferry Road at Short Ferry Bridge, there is a large Environment Agency pumping station, and a small electric pumping station maintained by the Witham Third District Internal Drainage Board below it. Finally, the river joins the old course of the River Witham, which joins the new course just below Bardney Lock.^[1] The old course and the start of Barlings Eau up to Short Ferry Bridge is navigable, and there was a marina at Short Ferry, but the connection to the river channel has been filled in. The former basin is now a lake in a caravan park.^[4]

Land drainage

With the exception of a tiny section of two of the streams at the source of the river, its entire course lies within the jurisdiction of the Witham Third District Internal Drainage Board. The upper reaches, to below Snarford Bridge and most of the tributaries below that are maintained by the Drainage Board.^[5] The main channel below Snarford is a designated main river and is the responsibility of the Environment Agency. The Board was originally constituted by an Act of Parliament passed in 1762, which created six drainage districts, with responsibility for Draining and Preserving certain Low Lands, called the Fens, lying on both Sides of the River Witham, in the County of Lincoln. On 1 November 1934, the Witham Third District Commissioners amalgamated with the Bardney Drainage Board, the Greetwell District Drainage Commissioners, the Kirkstead Drainage Board, and the River Bain Drainage Board, as a result of the passing of the Land Drainage Act of 1930. The Board was again re-organised following the passing of the Land Drainage Act of 1991, and now consists of 31 members, 15 who are elected by those who pay drainage rates, 14 nominated by councils, and two joint appointments. They are responsible for the drainage of an area which covers 54 square miles (140 km²).^[6]

The area around Short Ferry is called Stainfield Fen, and it was first drained as a private venture by landowners. It became part of of the Greetwell Drainage District, and a 16 hp (12 kW) steam engine was installed some time before 1881. This was replaced by a 30 hp (22 kW) engine in 1896, which had been scrapped by 1953. There are now no traces of the original buildings,^[7] which were located close to the junction with the old course of the Witham.^[8] The present Stainfield pumping station, which is situated next to Short Ferry Bridge, contains a 20-inch (51 cm) Allen-Gwynnes electric pump, which was installed in 1959, and which can pump 9.7 million gallons per day (44 Megalitres per day (Mld)).^[9] In 1991 this was supplemented by two 10-inch (254 mm) submersible pumps, each capable of pumping 1.1M gal per day (5 Mld),^[10] which are located a little to the south-east of the 1959 station.

Points of interest

Bibliography

References