River Welland

The River Welland is a river in the east of England, 56 km (35 m) long, and it has been a main waterway across the part of The Fens called "South Holland" for thousands of years. It rises near Market Harborough in Leicestershire, then flows eastwards to Ketton, Stamford, Market Deeping, Deeping St. James, Crowland, Cowbit and Spalding, then into The Wash at Fosdyke Bridge.

It is one of the Fenland rivers which were laid out with washes. There are two channels between widely-spaced embankments with the intention that flood waters would have space in which to spread while the tide in the estuary prevented free egress. However, after the floods of 1947, new works such as the Coronation Channel were constructed to control flooding in Spalding and the washes are no longer, of necessity, pasture but may be used for arable farming.

Outside the banks lies fertile arable land, much of it marine silt, which suits the bulb-growing for which Spalding is famous, though this is less a feature of Spalding than it once was.

Tributaries of the River Welland:

• Eye Brook
• River Chater
• River Gwash
• River Glen
• Vernatt's Drain

See also

• Rivers of the United Kingdom
• Welland for alternate meanings

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