Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/609

Rh LINCOLNSHIRE. 601 LINCOLNSHIRE. on the sea, there having previously been a want of good havens. The principal harbours are, Gainsborough, which is rapidly increasing in foreign trade and ship- building ; Great Grimsby, at the mouth of the Humber, where the extensive docks opened in 1850 render it a rapidly increasing rival to Hull ; and Boston, near the mouth of the Witham, the approach to which has recently been much improved. The coast of Lincolnshire, which extends nearly in a half circle, being washed on the N.E. by the salt waters of the Humber, on the E. by the German Ocean, and on the S.E. by the Wash, is for the most part low and marshy that portion of it which lies between the mouth of the Welland and that of the Nene requiring an embankment to protect it from the encroach- ments of the sea. Opposite Spurnhead light it swells into low cliffs, but again becomes marshy towards the Wash. The principal points along the coast are, Axholme island, at the mouth of the river Trent; Barton-on- Humber ; New Holland, at the ferry to Hull ; Stalling- borough lighthouse ; Great Grimsby docks ; Clecthorpe watering-place, opposite Spurnhead light ; Tetney haven ; Saltfleet ; llablethorpo watering-place ; Ingold- woll's point, the most easterly part of the county; Wainfleet, in Boston Deeps ; the harbour of Boston, on the river Witham ; Fossdyko Wash, where King John lost his" baggage whilst crossing the Welland ; and Crosskeys Wash, near the mouth of the river None. About half the county is in wolds and uplands, and the remainder in fens and marshes, which, since they have been drained, render it one of the richest counties in England. A great portion of the surface is below the sea-level, and consists for the most part of marsh or feu land, which was anciently covered by a vast forest. That part of the county which is bounded on tho N. by a line drawn from Burgh to Tattershall, and thence to Bardney, and on the W. by another lino drawn from Heckington to Uffington on the Welland, belongs to tho great fen country of England. To the W. of the Trent, surrounding the Isle of Axholme, is another tract of marsh land called Thorne Waste, or Thorne Level. In consequence of the excellent measures which have been adopted for the draining of the fens, little of this district remains in its original condition; but tho drainage is constantly going on, and a grand scheme has been recently formed, under the name of tho Great Level of the Wash, to embank the sands on the Wash, and render them fit for tillage, at the same time improving the havens and watercourses of South Lincolnshire. A range of chalk hills called the " Lincolnshire Wolds," about 47 miles in length, and from 5 to 8 in width, runs from Barton-upon-Humber to Burgh ; skirting the chalk along its entire length is a belt of greensand ; W. of which tho ironsand occupies a narrow strip of land ; the two last formations form a range of hills running parallel to the Wolds from Market Rasen to the neighbourhood of Spilsby. The whole of the western side of the county to the S. of Lincoln is occupied by tho lias formation ; a bed of oolite occupies tho country which lies between the lias and the fen district ; tho north-western corner of tho county belongs to the Now Red sandstone or red in irl formation ; gypsum occurs plentifully in this dis- trict. The mineral productions, as well as the geological formation, favour the agricultural character of the . I y. In tho Wolds limestone is quarried and burnt into lime, which forms an excellent manure ; in tho Isle xholme sulphate of lime, or gypsum, and plaster of are obtained ; and from the cliffs of the Humber a fiii' variety of chalk is procured for making into whiting. Around Ancaster are numerous quarries of freestone,
 * iinl in various parts sandstone is quarried for building
 * < ises. The soil is in general diluvial and alluvial,

and in the fens is often of great depth. Tho principal ri vi rs of Lincolnshire are, the Trent, Ancholmo, Witham, tin Welland. The Trent, which is tho great stream, forming tho boundary between the counties of 'In and Nottingham for 16 miles, flows northward -borough for 19 miles, almost entirely within 'border of Lincolnshire, leaving tho Isle of Axholme reached the Humber, takes an easterly direction, and these rivers flow in one very wide channel to the German Ocean, where the estuary is 7 miles across. Vessels of 150 tons can ascend with the tide as high as Gains- borough, where the river is crossed by a bridge. Both the Trent and Humber are navigable throughout for ships and steamers, and are connected by means of canals with all the chief rivers of England. Tho prin- cipal tributaries of the Trent in Lincolnshire are, the navigable Idle, or Bykerdike, which enters from Not- tinghamshire, and falls into the river below Gains- borough on the left bank ; the Old Thorne river, the New Idle river, and the New Thorne river. These two last are only cuts from the rivers after which they are named, but fall into the Trent. The Ancholmo rises near the village of Spridlington, between Lincoln and Market Raisen, and being joined at Briggs by the Rase, becomes navigable ; the greater part of its course, which is northerly, is then through an artificial channel about 20 miles long to the Humber at Barton. Tho streams which fall into it are small, being chiefly the drainage of the valley between the Wolds and the oolite or stone- brash hills. The Witham, next in importance to tho Trent, rises near Thistleton, just within the border of Rutlandshire, and flows in a northerly direction through Grantham to Lincoln, where, having received the waters of tho little river Brant, it becomes navigable for steamers. It then pursues an easterly course to Bardney Abbey, where it is joined by tho united stream of the Langworth and South Beck ; then flowing S.E., it receives near Tattershall, on the left bank, tho waters of tho Bain, and on the right bank the Kymo Ean, or Sleaford river ; from hero it flows by an artificial cut to Boston, below which town it flows in its natural bed, which has recently been improved, into tho Wash. Tho whole length of the Witham is nearly 80 miles, for about half of which it is navigable. The Welland rises in Northamptonshire, and touches the border of Lincoln- shire just above Stamford, when it runs easterly to Crowland, forming for a short distance tho boundary between Northampton and Lincoln shires. It then separates into two streams, one termed tho Old Welland, running N.E. through Spalding to the Fossdyke Wash, tho other, called the Shire Drain, proceeds easterly along the border of the county to Cross Keys Wash, at tho mouth of the Nene. This river is navigable up to Stam- ford, both its branches flowing for a considerable distance in artificial channels. Another river called the Glen, which is also navigable for a distance of about 12 miles, falls into the Wash at tho mouth of the Welland. Besides these principal rivers, there are many small streams falling into tho numerous canals and dykes which intersect all parts of the county, intended chiefly for draining the land, but some of them are navigable, and even gigantic works, as tho Cardyke and Fossedyke, mentioned above, as constructed by the Romans. The former is 60 feet wide, and near 40 miles in length, joining tho Wolland and Witham. It traverses tho whole of South Lincolnshire from N. to S. Tho Fosse- dyke connects tho city of Lincoln with the Trent ; tho South Forty-Foot is cut from the Glen to tho Witham at Boston ; tho North Forty-Foot joins the Kyme or Sleaford river with the South Forty-Foot ; the Stain- forth and Keadley canal intersects tho Isle of Axholme from the Don to the Trent ; the Old and New Hammond Beck runs from the Welland near Spalding to tho South Forty- Foot near Boston ; the Sleaford navigation con- nects tho town of Sleaford with the Witham, and tho Louth canal renders that river navigable from Louth to the North Sea ; the Grantham canal runs from that town to the Trent at Nottingham, also tho Horncastle, Bourne, West Fen Catchwater, East Fen Catchwater, with numerous minor cuts, provincially termed learns, droves, becks, caux, and dykes, which are too numerous to admit of distinct notice. River steamers ply inland from Hull and from Boston in communication with the great lines of ocean steam navigation. There are several ferries over the Humber, and a steam ferry from New Holland to Hull. The county is likewise traversed by several
 * W. between it and the Don. The Trent having