A sluice at Sutton Bridge

During the 1600s Dutchman Cornelius Vermuyden designed and constructed a system of channels and wind pumps to allow the flat lands hereabouts to be drained and reclaimed for habitation and farming. We do have some major rivers leading to the sea but the problem is that subtle elevations prevent natural drainage to rivers or the sea.

One modest channel reaches this point. The pumps these days are usually driven by diesel engines. The river ahead is the Nene which heads right to the The Wash and North Sea.