| England contains a wetland area known as the fens, which has played a unique role in the development of its commerce, politics, religion, law, military strategy, and agriculture. Blessed with fertile soils, abundant wildlife, good water supply for agriculture and transportation, the fens offered a rich but isolated and freer existence not available in the rest of England. The story of the land and its people includes magic and mystery engendered by the dark, damp, forbidding landscape. Out of this environment came social structure, religious and legal ideas, and engineering technology that each proved to be ahead of its time. This work takes a comprehensive overview of the land comprising the fens along with a history of the people who lived there, with particular emphasis on man's attempts to control and use the fens to further various goals during a period from the first to the early seventeenth century. The unique theme of all the subjects covered is the attempt to exploit the resources of the fens by whatever means available, but particularly by draining the fens to make the area more accessible. An unintended consequence of draining the fens was the endangerment of the very abundance which made the fens attractive in the first place. Much was accomplished in the fens, but much was lost in the effort. |
