Holbeach Marsh is a fenland area in the

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

district of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England. Holbeach Marsh is situated between the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Holbeach Holbeach is a market town and civil parish in the South Holland District in Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and by road from Lincoln. It is on the junction of the ...

on the A17 road at the south, and

The Wash The Wash is a rectangular bay and multiple estuary at the north-west corner of East Anglia on the East coast of England, where Norfolk, England, Norfolk meets Lincolnshire and both border the North Sea. One of Britain's broadest estuaries, it i ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

at the north, and is bounded by the waterways of the Whaplode (Holbeach) River at the west, and Fleet Haven at the east. The area comprises approximately of arable farms, dispersed buildings, and small settlements. The marsh villages of Holbeach Bank and Holbeach Clough—or Saracens Head—are at the south-west edge, and Gedney Dyke at the south-east. Within the Marsh are the villages and hamlets of Holbeach St Marks, Holbeach St Matthew, and Holbeach Hurn. At the north-east on The Wash

saltmarsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

is the bombing range of

RAF Holbeach The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

History

In 1810 a late 17th- or early 18th-century wooden coastal vessel, the ''Sea Venture'', was beached and wrecked during a gale on the marshes just north of Holbeach St Matthew, while trading between

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

and London. Registered Holbeach Marsh electors entitled to vote in parliamentary elections for the Southern Division of Lincolnshire in 1841 numbered 18. Historical trade directories include Marsh occupations in 1855 of

publicans In antiquity, publicans (Greek τελώνης ''telōnēs'' (singular); Latin ''publicanus'' (singular); ''publicani'' (plural)) were public contractors, in whose official capacity they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the ...

of the Harvest Man and Pear Tree

public houses A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, a blacksmith, and 34 farmers; in 1885 a shopkeeper & beer retailer, a butcher who was also the proprietor of a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, and 18 farmers, one of whom was also a land agent, and one a landowner; and in 1933 two farmers with 53

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

s.''

Kelly's Directory Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in England that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses o ...

of Lincolnshire'' 1855, p.120''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire with the port of Hull'' 1885, pp.478, 480''Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire'' 1933, pp.296-298 By the 1870s the Marsh was a centre for yearly South Lincolnshire Fen-country hare

coursing Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, t ...

competitions under ''St Leger'' open meetings. Beating on horseback was used to flush out the quarry. Holbeach Marsh was an ecclesiastical district within Holbeach

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in the late 19th century, and had a population of 743. In 1948 of land was reclaimed from The Wash by the construction of an -high

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

, long, with a base of deep and a top of . The bank took six months to build and used 500,000 tons of clay. The scheme was the work of three local farmers with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, and cost £41,000.Dean, Basil
"Gain 1,500 Acres In Fen Country"
London Letter in the ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', 13 November 1948, p.21. Retrieved 6 September 2014 Jane Cocking Glover and her family were resident at Holbeach Marsh prior to emigrating to the United States.

References

External links

* {{South Holland (district) , state=collapsed South Holland, Lincolnshire Landforms of Lincolnshire Fens of England Levels in the United Kingdom