Before the commencement of the work, thirteen gentlemen, of high rank and respectability offered to become joint adventurers with the earl, and their proposals being accepted, the undertaking commenced. In the year 1634, the king granted the adventurers a charter of incorporation; and three years and a half from that period, the Commissioners adjudged the Level drained, and, accompanied by his Majesty’s surveyor, attended to set out the earl’s allotment.
From this time the favourable disposition of Charles toward the adventurers began to change; and early in the ensuing year, 1638, a meeting was held at Huntingdon, of people devoted to the will of the crown, who were empowered to examine into the utility of the measures executed by the Earl. The new Commissioners declared that the works were incomplete; and accepted the king’s proposals to drain the fens, for which he was to receive not only 95,000 acres, but also 57,000 additional! Every hope of advantage which Charles expected to reap from this undertaking was entirely dissipated by the ensuing troubles, which prevented every further prosecution of the work till the year 1649, when William earl of Bedford, Son and successor of Francis, was restored by the Parliament to all the rights of his father.
The Act obtained at this period, settled the boundaries of the Level, and gave fresh vigour to the undertaking. The works which had fallen to decay, were repaired, and new channels made, with so much propriety in the opinion of the Commissioners, that on the 25th. of March, 1653, the Level was adjudged to be fully drained, and the 95,000 acres awarded to the Earl and his participants; the latter of whom were nearly ruined by the expence of draining, which amounted to upwards of £400,000.
In the 15th. of Charles II, the former act was confirmed in its most essential clauses; and a corporation, consisting of a governor, six bailiffs, and twelve conservators and commonality, was established, under the title of “Conservators of the Great Level of the Fens,” for its better government. These commissioners were empowered to levy taxes on the 95,000 acres, to defray whatever expences might arise in their preservation; but only 83,000 acres were vested in the corporation, in trust for the Earl of Bedford and his associates. The remaining 12,000 having been allotted to Charles I, in pursuance of the agreement made by the persons who met at Huntingdon, were now assigned to the king, with the exception of 2000 acres, which had been granted to the Earl of Portland. [69]
Though the Corporation were invested with power by the above act to levy taxes generally on the adventurers land, yet as the form and manner in which that power was to be exercised was not prescribed, they could only levy a specific sum on every acre; a proceeding manifestly unjust; as the lands varied so much in value, that an equal tax nearly amounted to the whole sum the inferior lands were worth. Application was therefore made to the Legislature for power to remedy this inconvenience, by granting authority to substitute a gradual acre tax; and commissioners were appointed by the Parliament to survey and rate the land according to its value. Under this commission it was sorted into eleven degrees, and that with so much impartiality, that the proportional values as then ascertained, have ever since been regarded as a standard. [70] Nothing very material, or remarkable, in regard to the fens, appears to have been done afterwards during the remainder of Charles’ reign, or that of his brother and successor James.
Section VIII.
The same subject continued, front the revolution to the present time.
In the year 1697 the Bedford Level was divided into three districts, North, Middle, and South; having one surveyor for each of the former, and two for the latter. This distribution, which had been made for its better government, was the source of considerable divisions. A misconceived distinction of interest arose between the different proprietors; and their dissatisfaction being increased during a long minority in the Bedford family, to whom, as proprietor of the North Level, the others were greatly indebted. Application was made to the Legislature in 1753, and an act obtained to settle the account of the corporation, and separate the North Level from the rest, except in those instances wherein their alliance was necessary for the service of the country. On this occasion the Duke of Bedford remitted the sum due to him from the South and Middle Levels; and the Earl of Lincoln, to whom they were also indebted, concurred in the generous example.
Soon after passing the above act, which separated the north from the middle and south levels, a treaty was negociated between the Bedford Level Corporation and the principal persons interested in the trade carried on through the river Nene, from the Port of Lynn to the counties of Huntingdon and Northampton. That part of the river which lay within the boundaries of the great Level, was so filled up by the silt and other matter, which the tides and upland waters had deposited, that the navigation was much impeded, and the expence of every voyage considerably increased. This caused an application to the managers of the Bedford Level, for their assistance in the necessary work of cleansing the channel of the river, and making it deeper; and the parties, after several meetings, agreed in the outlines of a plan intended to answer the ends both of draining and navigation. The same year, the persons interested applied to Parliament; and the measures proposed for their mutual benefit received the sanction of the legislature. By the act then passed, the corporation of the Bedford Level renounce the general power possessed over the river and its banks, and unite with a stated number of land-proprietors, chosen from the south and middle districts, in raising a fund, [71] to be appropriated to scour out and deepen the bed of the Nene and its communicating branches.
The above acts form the basis of the constitution appointed for the government of the Bedford Level; for though many others have been procured within the last 50 years, for draining separate districts within its limits, yet they all contain a clause, reserving the powers of the Corporation as established in the 15th Charles II.