Barlings Eau

Barlings Eau
River
Barlings Eau to the west of Stainton by Langworth
Country	England
Counties	Lincolnshire
Source
- location	Cold Hanworth
Mouth
- location	Short Ferry

Barlings Eau
Legend Source Sources Spridlington Road Cold Hanworth medieval village A46 Snarford Bridge Dunholme Beck Scothern North Drain Stainton Lane Bridge Lincoln - Market Rasen railway A158 Langworth Bridge Barlings Abbey Pipeline to River Ancholme Pumping station (EA) Short Ferry Bridge Stainfield pumping station (IDB) Former marina old course of R Witham Bardney Lock River Witham

Barlings Eau is a small river near Barlings, Lincolnshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Witham, joining it near Short Ferry.

Route

Barlings Eau rises as three streams which join together near the medieval village of Cold Hanworth. One rises to the east of Spridlington and flows in a south-easterly direction. A second rises to the north of Faldingworth, flows to the west under the A46 road, and then turns to the south. A third rises to the west of Faldingworth, and again flows west and south to the junction. The first is below the 50-foot (15 m) contour, while the other two start above the 65-foot (20 m) contour. At Snarford, it is joined by two other streams from the west, and passes under the A46 at Snarford Bridge. Several more streams join it before it reaches Stainton by Langworth, where it passes under the Lincoln to Market Rasen railway.^[1]

A further three streams join before it passes under the A158 road at Langworth. It crosses Newball Common, and flows along the eastern edge of Barlings Abbey.^[1] The Abbey was founded by the Premonstratensian order, known in Britain as the White Canons, in 1156. The remains are quite fragmentary, but parts of the Abbey Church are grade I listed^[2] and the remains of the Abbey are grade II listed. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.^[3] Just before the river crosses under Ferry Road at Short Ferry Bridge, there is a large Environment Agency pumping station, and a small electric pumping station maintained by the Witham Third District Internal Drainage Board below it. Finally, the river joins the old course of the River Witham, which joins the new course just below Bardney Lock.^[1] The old course and the start of Barlings Eau up to Short Ferry Bridge is navigable, and there was a marina at Short Ferry, but the connection to the river channel has been filled in. The former basin is now a lake in a caravan park.^[4]

Land drainage

With the exception of a tiny section of two of the streams at the source of the river, its entire course lies within the jurisdiction of the Witham Third District Internal Drainage Board. The upper reaches, to below Snarford Bridge and most of the tributaries below that are maintained by the Drainage Board.^[5] The main channel below Snarford is a designated main river and is the responsibility of the Environment Agency. The Board was originally constituted by an Act of Parliament passed in 1762, which created six drainage districts, with responsibility for Draining and Preserving certain Low Lands, called the Fens, lying on both Sides of the River Witham, in the County of Lincoln. On 1 November 1934, the Witham Third District Commissioners amalgamated with the Bardney Drainage Board, the Greetwell District Drainage Commissioners, the Kirkstead Drainage Board, and the River Bain Drainage Board, as a result of the passing of the Land Drainage Act of 1930. The Board was again re-organised following the passing of the Land Drainage Act of 1991, and now consists of 31 members, 15 who are elected by those who pay drainage rates, 14 nominated by councils, and two joint appointments. They are responsible for the drainage of an area which covers 54 square miles (140 km²).^[6]

The area around Short Ferry is called Stainfield Fen, and it was first drained as a private venture by landowners. It became part of the Greetwell Drainage District, and a 16 hp (12 kW) steam engine was installed some time before 1881. This was replaced by a 30 hp (22 kW) engine in 1896, which had been scrapped by 1953. There are now no traces of the original buildings,^[7] which were located close to the junction with the old course of the Witham.^[8] The present Stainfield pumping station, which is situated next to Short Ferry Bridge, contains a 20-inch (51 cm) Allen-Gwynnes electric pump, which was installed in 1959, and which can pump 9.7 million gallons per day (44 Megalitres per day (Mld)).^[9] In 1991 this was supplemented by two 10-inch (254 mm) submersible pumps, each capable of pumping 1.1M gal per day (5 Mld),^[10] which are located a little to the south-east of the 1959 station.

Water transfer

Short Ferry pumping station pumps water to the River Ancholme to maintain its flow.

Just above Short Ferry bridge, the Environment Agency maintain Short Ferry pumping station, which forms part of the Trent Witham Ancholme Transfer Scheme. This is designed to manage flows and levels in the River Ancholme during dry weather and the summer months, so that the large volume abstracted from the river, particularly for the public drinking water supply, can be maintained, and the water quality is not compromised by ingress of salt water from the Humber. The pumping station pumps water through an 11-mile (18 km) pipeline to Toft Newton reservoir, on the upper reaches of the Ancholme. The reservoir covers an area of 41 acres (16.5 ha) and can hold enough water to maintain the Ancholme for up to seven days, in the event of a failure of the pumps at Short Ferry.^[11]

If flows in Barlings Eau or the Witham are insufficient to supply the required volumes, extra water is delivered to the Witham by Trent pumping station, near Torksey Lock. This pumps water through a short pipeline and into the Foss Dyke. It then flows for 10.8 miles (17.4 km) along the Foss Dyke to Brayford Pool and so into the Witham, to supplement the water available for pumping. The scheme was commissioned in 1974, and the volume of water transferred varies with the weather conditions. In 1987 it was 2,425 megalitres (533×10⁶ imp gal), while in 1979 it was 17,425 megalitres (3,833×10⁶ imp gal).^[12]

Points of interest

Point	Coordinates (Links to map resources)	OS Grid Ref	Notes
Source	53°21′05″N 0°28′25″W / 53.3515°N 0.4737°W	TF016849
Source	53°21′27″N 0°23′05″W / 53.3574°N 0.3846°W	TF076857
Source	53°20′53″N 0°24′31″W / 53.3481°N 0.4086°W	TF060846
A46 Snarford Bridge	53°19′13″N 0°25′34″W / 53.3203°N 0.4261°W	TF049815
Stainton by Langworth railway bridge	53°16′58″N 0°24′47″W / 53.2828°N 0.4131°W	TF058773
Barlings Abbey	53°14′50″N 0°21′59″W / 53.2472°N 0.3663°W	TF091734
Junction with Old River Witham	53°13′40″N 0°21′27″W / 53.2277°N 0.3575°W	TF097713	mouth

Bibliography

• Alderton, Alison (June 2009). WW Guide to the Witham and Fossdyke. Waterways World. ISSN 0309-1422.
• Hinde, K. S. G. (2006). Fenland Pumping Engines. Landmark Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84306-188-0.
• Itinerary (7 June 1996). Lincolnshire Catchment Panel Field Visit (PDF). Environment Agency.

References

1. Ordnance Survey, 1:50,000 map
2. Historic England. "Fragment of Barlings Abbey Church (197192)". Images of England.
3. Historic England. "Fragment of Barlings Abbey (197190)". Images of England.
4. Alderton 2009, p. 85
5. "On-line mapping system". Witham Third District IDB.
6. "History". Witham Third District IDB.
7. Hinde 2006, p. 174
8. Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map, 1887
9. "Stainfield Fen pumping station". Witham Third District IDB.
10. "Stainfield Fen New pumping station". Witham Third District IDB.
11. Itinery 1996, p. 6.
12. Itinery 1996, pp. 6-7.