The River Lymn is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

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. It rises in

the Wolds The Wolds is a term used in England to describe a range of hills which consists of open country overlying a base of limestone or chalk. Geography The Wolds comprise a series of low hills and steep valleys that are in the main underlain by calcare ...

on the eastern slope of Castcliffe Hill in

Fulletby Fulletby is a village and a civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is in the Lincolnshire Wolds, and north-east from Horncastle, south from Louth, and north-west from Spilsby. The parish covers approximately . ...

parish. It flows south-eastwards to the

Lincolnshire Marsh The Lincolnshire Marsh is a belt of reclaimed salt marsh and sand dune in Lincolnshire, England and between the Lincolnshire Wolds and the North Sea coast. It is up to seven kilometres wide. It is part of one of the national character areas defin ...

, where it becomes known as the Steeping River on the boundary of

Great Steeping Great Steeping is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately from Spilsby. The parish includes the hamlet of Monksthorpe. There are two churches dedicated to All Saints, o ...

parish. The main channel is supplemented by the Wainfleet Relief Channel as it passes

Wainfleet All Saints Wainfleet All Saints is an ancient port and market town on the east coast of England, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire,OS Explorer map: Skegness, Alford & Spilsby: (1:25 000): on the A52 road south-west of Skegness and north-eas ...

, and the relief channel is joined by the old course of the Lymn. Once the two channels rejoin, there are three flood defence structures to protect the region from flooding by the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

Route

The river rises on the southern slope of Belchford Hill, to the east of

Belchford Belchford is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated approximately north of Horncastle and just to the east of the A153. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was ...

and close to the contour. It flows to the south and then to the east to reach

Tetford Tetford is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. History Tetford is listed as "Tesforde" in the ''Domesday Book'', with a mill, probably on the site of the present 17th-century watermill near the c ...

,Ordnance Survey, 1:25,000 map where there is a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

water mill and mill house. It was built in the late eighteenth century, but shows evidence that it was built around an earlier structure. The much-repaired water wheel, dating from the seventeenth century, and the corn milling machinery are still intact. Beyond Tetford the river is joined by Double Dike, and flows south through woodland, passing to the west of Somersby and

Bag Enderby Bag Enderby is a hamlet in the civil parish of Greetham with Somersby , in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies just north of the A158 road, north-east from Horncastle and north-west from Partney. Bag Enderby is little ...

. Here it is joined by a second stream, which rises on the eastern slope of Castcliffe Hill in Fulletby, close to the contour. It flows through a large lake and is joined by a stream from Holbeck Manor before passing through

Salmonby __NOTOC__ Salmonby is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north-east from Horncastle, south from Louth and north-west from Spilsby. Salmonby lies within the Lincolnshire Wolds, a designated Area ...

. By the time the two streams join, they are below the contour. It continues to the south-east and has dropped by another by the time it reaches the millpond of Stockwith Mill, beyond which is Stockwith Mill Bridge. The

A158 road The A158 road is a major route that heads from Lincoln in the west to Skegness on the east coast. The road is located entirely in the county of Lincolnshire and is single carriageway for almost its entirety. The road is approximately long. The ...

crosses at Aswardby Bridge, and the site of Aswardby Mill is below that. The next crossing is at

Sausthorpe Sausthorpe is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Lindsey Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England, east of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, Horncastle and north-west of Spilsby. It lies on the ...

Bridge, which carries a minor road towards Sausthorpe, and the river drops below the contour at this point. The course continues to the east, passing under the

A16 road This is a list of roads designated A16. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * A16 highway (Australia), a road connecting Port Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills * A16 motorway (Belgium), a road connecting Mons and Tournai ...

between

Spilsby Spilsby is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town is adjacent to the main A16, east of the county town of Lincoln, north-east of Boston and north-west of Skegness. It ...

and

Partney __NOTOC__ Partney is a small village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north of Spilsby, and in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The village was the birthplace of Henry Stubbe, the noted 17th-centu ...

at Partney Bridge, by Mill Farm, where there is a weir with a footbridge over the top. Beyond Spilsby, it turns to the south, crossing under a minor road at Northorpe Bridge and the

B1195 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in G ...

at Halton Bridge, to the east of

Halton Holegate Halton Holegate is a small village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated east from Spilsby. The village Anglican church is Grade II* listed and dedicated to St Andrew. Originating from the 14th century with la ...

. Mill Bridge carries another minor road over the channel, but by the time the river reaches it, the river is in the Fens, the channel is embanked on both sides, and it crosses the contour.

Steeping River

The River Lymn is joined by another embanked channel, Lady Wath's Beck, as it passes between

to the north and

Little Steeping Little Steeping is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, about south-east from the town of Spilsby The parish church is dedicated to Saint Andrew, and is a Grade II* listed building. It dates from t ...

to the south, and takes the name Steeping River. The railway line between

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, i ...

crosses to the north bank, and then follows the course of the river to below

. The next bridge is Clough's Bridge, carrying a minor road over the main channel. Just before it, the old course of the Lymn leaves the straight channel of the Steeping River. It is no longer connected to the Steeping River, but is maintained as a drainage ditch by the

Internal Drainage Board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management withi ...

(IDB). Warth's Bridge and Thorpe Culvert Bridge follow, both roads leading to

Thorpe Culvert railway station Thorpe Culvert railway station serves the village of Thorpe St Peter in Lincolnshire, England. It is situated from Skegness and from Boston. The station is now owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway who provide all rail se ...

. Thorpe Culvert pumping station, owned by the IDB, is located just before the second bridge, and after it, the Wainfleet Relief Channel turns off, passing under the railway almost immediately. There are two more bridges as the main channel crosses Wainfleet Common, Bycroft's Bridge and Crow's Bridge. Crow's Bridge has an elliptical arch constructed of red bricks, and was designed by the engineer John Rennie in 1812. Salem Bridge carries the B1195 road to

Wainfleet railway station Wainfleet railway station serves the town of Wainfleet All Saints in Lincolnshire, England. The station has its own signal box at the east end of the platforms, which is next to the level crossing. Wainfleet station is west of Skegness on the ...

, and the A52 road crosses to the east of Wainfleet All Saints. The channel is now also called Wainfleet Haven, and both names are used to describe it until it reaches the sea. The Wainfleet Relief Channel is also crossed by the B1195 road, and shortly afterwards, the Lymn joins it. Cowcroft Drain, which joins the Lymn from the north, and the Lymn below the junction are both designated as main rivers, and are the responsibility of the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

, as is Croft Lane pumping station, which pumps the water from the Lymn into the relief channel. Croft Lane bridge is next, after which the A52 and the Boston to Skegness railway cross, and the relief channel rejoins Wainfleet Haven. The final section contains three flood defence structures. Haven House Sluice is first, after which the channel splits. Wainfleet Clough Outfall is on the western channel, which is tidal below the sluice. The Burgh Sluice Relief Channel is to the east, and Burgh Sluice protects it from the sea just before the two channels rejoin. Cow Bank Drain was excavated in 1812, as part of the last land reclamation scheme in the area. Cow Bank pumping station, owned by the IDB, pumps the drain into the outfall. Below the outfall, Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve is located to the east among the dunes and saltings. It is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI) and a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

grey plover The grey plover or black-bellied plover (''Pluvialis squatarola'') is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding. Taxonomy The grey plover was forma ...

and

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

, plants including brackish water crowfoot and insects including the red-banded sand-wasp, among others. Gibraltar Point Sailing Club is located at Gibraltar Point, and the east bank of the river channel is used for mooring yachts. Now called Wainfleet Harbour, the channel crosses sand and mudflats to reach Wainfleet Swatch, an area of water protected from the North Sea by the Inner Knock sandbank at low water. The area to the south of Wainfleet Harbour is called Wainfleet Sand and is a danger area. It has been used for artillery practice since at least 1890, but may have been used for cannon and musketry practice long before that. More recently, it was part of

RAF Wainfleet RAF Wainfleet was a Royal Air Force weapons range on The Wash on the east coast of England near Wainfleet, in the civil parish of Friskney, although the north-east part of the range was in Wainfleet St Mary. Other ranges nearby include RAF Holb ...

, and was used for weaponry practice by aircraft, until the closure of the range in December 2009.

Hydrology

There is a layer of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

rock beneath the whole of the catchment of the River Lymn, which is largely covered by a layer of chalk. The sandstone outcrops in only a few places, and where it does, springs provide the base flow for the river. As the layers of rock continue to dip to the east, they are covered by

boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists ...

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

and

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

. Flow on the upper river is measured by a gauging station at Partney Mill, consisting of a Crump weir with a crest. The catchment area of the river above this point is , and this area received annual rainfall of in the 1960s. This produces an average daily flow of 9.5 million

gallons The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austral ...

(43.2 Megalitres (Ml)), although a peak flow of 253M gallons (1149 Ml) was recorded in April 1981. Discharge to the North Sea is along the Burgh Sluice Relief Channel during the winter and at times of high flow, but when flows in the river are low, Wainfleet Clough Sluice is used as the discharge point. The Environment Agency measure water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. The water quality of the Lymn and Steeping was as follows in 2019. Like many rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and mercury compounds, neither of which had previously been included in the assessment.

History

The manipulation of the river channel has a long history, dating back to at least the thirteenth century, when the river was diverted to the south at Firsby Clough and then to the east at White Cross Clough, creating two channels. Because the old channel ran through the manor of Croft, and was used to supply drinking water for cattle, an agreement for its management was reached in 1240. The flow was diverted along the old channel for the first three weeks after Easter, and then along the new channel for three weeks. This six-week cycle was repeated until

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...

(29 September). The arrangement was ratified by the Court of Sewers in 1432 and 1501, and continued in operation until at least 1774. The original channel is the Lymn, while the southern channel has been straightened and enlarged to become the Steeping River. Thorpe Culvert takes its name from a culvert which was built under the river to drain water into the Bell Water Drain. The area to the north of the culvert became part of the Witham Fourth District in 1818, and the culvert was built soon afterwards. Responsibility for the drain passed to the Witham and Steeping Catchment Board following the passing of the Land Drainage Act in 1930, and they commissioned a new pumping station to pump water from the drain into the Steeping in 1938. It contained two

Ruston and Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars ...

diesel engines, driving Gwynnes centrifugal pumps, and could pump 322M gallons (1,460 Ml) per day when both were running. Responsibility for the drain and pumping station then passed to the Anglian Water Authority, and they built a new electric pumping station, which was commissioned in 1983. The diesel station was retained, but its condition deteriorated, so that by the early 1990s, only one of the engines was operational. At the request of Lindsey Marsh IDB, a small team of volunteers began to restore the station and the engines in 1994, and the site is opened for visitors three times a year. The restoration has enabled the station to be used twice in 2000 and once in 2004, when power failure prevented the electric station from operating, and during the floods of 2007, both engines ran to assist the electric pumps. The team of volunteers was led by Dennis Quincey, and following his death in 2002, the Drainage Board renamed it Quinceys Pumping Station. In the medieval period, Wainfleet was an important port, and had a thriving salt industry, extracting salt from sea water. The town was much closer to the sea at that time, but the gradual silting of the channel and the enclosure of land on both sides of it saw the demise of the port, with its function taken over by

. The channel, known as Wainfleet Haven, was still used by shipping, although larger ships unloaded cargo into river barges close to Gibraltar Point, from where the barges travelled up the river to Wainfleet. Commercial use of the Haven by boats ceased in the 1920s.

Route

Steeping River

Hydrology

History

Points of interest

Bibliography

References

External links