Holland Fen

Holland Fen is a settlement in the Borough of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north-west of the market town of Boston, and less than 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the River Witham.

Holland Fen
All Saints' Church, Holland Fen
Holland Fen Location within Lincolnshire
OS grid reference	TF243486
• London	100 mi (160 km) S
Civil parish	Holland Fen with Brothertoft
District	Boston
Shire county	Lincolnshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Lincoln
Postcode district	LN4
Police	Lincolnshire
Fire	Lincolnshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Boston and Skegness
List of places UK England Lincolnshire 53.020263°N 0.147807°W / 53.020263; -0.147807

History

Holland Fen has been known as the Haute Huntre, or Eight Hundred Fen.^[1]

In 1720 Earl Fitzwilliam decided to drain the Holland Fen, having been frustrated by the local Commissioners of Sewers. He built the North Forty Foot Drain, which emptied by Lodowicks Gowt into the River Witham above Grand Sluice. The North Forty Foot was subsequently diverted to the South Forty Foot Drain at Cooks Lock and from there to Boston Haven through Black Sluice.^[2]

The Haute Huntre was drained and enclosed in 1767.^[1]

Holland Fen was an ecclesiastical parish created in 1812 and abolished in 1948. It is now part of the Holland Fen with Brothertoft parish.^[3]

Holland Fen consists of:

• Holland Fen
• Ferry Corner Plot
• River Bottom
• North Forty Foot Bank
• Hedgehog Bridge
• Toft Tunnel

Church

The church is dedicated to All Saints and was built as a chapel of ease to Fosdyke in 1812. It was constructed of brick in Perpendicular style, with chancel and nave only, and bell turret.^[4] In 1964 Pevsner noted a chancel dated 1880, a west gallery on iron shafts, a pulpit with fluted pilasters, and a chalice probably by William Bell.^[5]

Today, All Saints' Church^[6] is part of the Holland Fen with Brothertoft Group, also known as "Five in the Fen" which also includes:

• Saint Gilbert Of Sempringham, Brothertoft
• Christ Church, Kirton Holme
• Saint Margaret of Scotland, Langrick
• Saint Peter, Wildmore

North Forty Foot Drain

References

1. Thompson, Pishey (1856). History and Antiquities Of Boston. Longman. p. 355.
2. Wheeler, W. H. (1868). "History Of The Fens Of South Lincolnshire". p. 44.
3. "Vision Of Britain". University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
4. Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull 1885, p. 481
5. Pevsner, Nikolaus; Harris, John; The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire p. 575; Penguin, (1964); revised by Nicholas Antram (1989), Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09620-8
6. "All Saints at Holland Fen, Holland Fen". A Church Near You. Retrieved 29 April 2011.

External links

• Media related to Holland Fen at Wikimedia Commons