Cambridgeshire Lodes

Cambridgeshire Lodes
The pumping station and flood gates at the end of Bottisham Lode
Specifications
Locks	2
Status	Some Navigable
Navigation authority	Environment Agency
History
Original owner	Drainage Commissioners
Date of act	none
Date of first use	Roman period onwards
Geography
Connects to	River Cam, River Great Ouse

Coordinates: 52°08′49″N 0°18′47″E / 52.147°N 0.313°E / 52.147; 0.313

The Cambridgeshire Lodes are a series of man-made waterways, believed to be Roman in origin, located in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. Bottisham, Swaffham Bulbeck, Reach, Burwell, Wicken and Monks Lodes all connect to the River Cam, while Soham Lode connects to the River Great Ouse. All have been navigable historically, but some are no longer officially navigable. In 2007 a strategy plan considered options for the management of the lodes which included rebuilding most of them at a lower level, but concluded that maintaining the banks at the existing level was a better long-term solution.

Research by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments published in 1972 confirmed the work of Major Gordon Fowler of the Fenland Research Committee that the Cambridgeshire lodes were of Roman origin; they were excavated to provide navigation to a series of villages to the east of the River Cam, and probably also drainage of the surrounding fenland. The infrastructure was completed by the Car Dyke, which linked Waterbeach on the River Cam to the River Witham near Lincoln, some 73 miles (117 km) away.

Bottisham Lode links the village of Lode to the River Cam just below Bottisham lock, and is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. It is almost straight, running between embankments, and included a staunch (a primitive lock with a single gate), of which the chamber survives. Its water supply comes from Quy Water, which flows through a mill just above the village before entering the lode near to the location of a basin and wharf. In medieval times, navigation along Quy Water was also possible, as there is evidence of moorings in the village of Quy. The Swaffham and Bottisham Drainage Commissioners were responsible for the lode from 1767, and were empowered to build staunches and collect tolls. The lode was never wide enough to take fen lighters, but smaller boats used it for most of the 19th century.