Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/487

 North Bridge was undertaken by certain persons contracting for the execution thereof, and the other part from the North Bridge in Oundle to Thrapston by another person, it is therefore in this act provided, that the commissioners shall appoint a clerk and overseers, whose salaries shall be paid, one moiety out of the tolls arising from the navigation between Peterborough and Oundle, the other from that between Oundle and Thrapston.

Commencing on the south side of Peterborough, the Lower District of the Nen runs for some distance in a crooked course towards the west, leaving Earl Fitzwilliam's noble seat at Milton on the north bank, and Overton Longville on the east; its direction then varies a little to the north, and after intersecting the turnpike-road between Stamford and Huntingdon, it takes an easterly course to its termination at Thrapston Bridge, passing Water Newton Lodge, Elton Hall, the town of Oundle, Lilford Hall, Barnwell Castle, Sadborough and Clapton in its course. The river is throughout very winding, and between Peterborough and Thrapston there are eight cuts to avoid bends and reaches in the river. At Thrapston the connection with the Upper District commences. This part of the line is not greatly elevated above the level of the sea; its direction is south-west, leaving Higham Ferrers on the east and Wellingborough on the west; running by Ecton Hall and various other seats of the nobility and gentry to Northampton, where it connects with the railway branch of the Grand Junction Canal.

This line of navigation is on many accounts highly beneficial; it supplies at an easy expense the towns and villages on the line with coals, wood and other articles of domestic consumption; whilst it affords equal facilities for the export of agricultural produce, making a link in the chain of communication between Lynn, Liverpool, Manchester, London, and a great number of other commercial places.