Sixteen Foot Drain

Introduction

This watercourse is not actually part of the Ouse Washes but it is one of several where there are sufficient connections to warrant some mention on this site.

It was mostly cut in 1651 during Vermuyden's second phase of drainage works in the Bedford Level,  running nearly 12 miles from a little way north of the Forty Foot River in the south to Popham's Eau near Three Holes in the north. Contrary to many accounts, it doesn't seem to have been connected to the Forty Foot River until the Middle Level Act of 1844 authorised that.

Most waterways in the Fens have more than one name, and this is no exception. It is show on Thomas Badeslade's 1723 map as "Thurlos Drain" (or "Thurles Drain", difficult to read the reduced size copy I've seen); the Middle Level Act of 1810 refers to just "Sixteen Feet River"; and Samuel Wells in 1830 refers to both "Thurlow's Drain, or Sixteen Feet River". On OS maps it was "Sixteen Foot River" in 1824 but since 1901 (at least) it has been "Sixteen Foot Drain", and I will use that later variation on this page.

The drain is navigable but there are no public moorings. Unusually for fenland drains, ithas no locks or sluices. It is a popular fishing venue, notable for Zander.


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In c1844-8 the Middle Level Commissioners had a new channel, the Middle Level Main Drain, cut from the northern end of the Sixteen Foot Drain (the line of Pohams Eau was changed to allow for that) to Wigginhall St. Germans where the waters have to be pumped via a huge pumping station (rebuilt 2011, and said to be one of the largest in Europe) up into the tidal Great Ouse.

Oh, the connection that warrants inclusion on this site? Well, the Sixteen Foot Drain connects to the Forty Foot River, which connected with the Old Bedford River/Counterdrain (OBR/CD) via a lock at Welches Dam until c2003. Since then, the limit of navigation has been Horseway Lock where the Middle Level's responsibility ends and the EA's begins.  The short stretch from there to the OBR/CD has dried out and the lock at Welches Dam is closed and sealed off. The EA say their part of the Fort Foot leaks, and the lock was unsafe.

page last updated 25 March 2026

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Bridges

Name or location	MLC ref	OS map ref	type	construction	built rebuilt	access
Bensons Fm			road
Mount Pleasant Br			road
Honey Br			road
Boots Br	31	TL 4459 9120	road	built  by Isle of Ely County Ccl	1931
Pooles Br			road
Railway bidge			rail		c1840s 1928?
Stone(a?) Br			road
Bedlam Br	17	TL 4679 9478	road		1968
to Chapel of Ease Fm			road
nr Wheatsheaf			road
Iron Br			road
Cotton Corner			road

During the late 1970s/early 1980s MLC did extensive works on the drain (as elsewhere in their district) and nine old bridges/culverts which were in poor condition and severely restricted flow, were demolished and replaced by eight new reinforced concrete structures.

Boots Bridge (MLC ref no 31)

OS map ref TL44599120
An OS Bench Mark, flush bracket S8411 is in the west end of the north parapet wall, facing in.

Bedlam Bridge (MLC ref no. 17)

OS map ref TL46799478

Cotton Corner

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Pumping Stations

From south to north	discharge from/to1	OS grid ref	built, power	output2 m3/s	owner (IDB)
		TL

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Slackers (Irigation inlets)

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Pubs & Inns

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Churches & Chapels

related pages on this site

Forty Foot River

Well Creek

Old Croft River

• related external websites/pages

• Middle Level Commissioners
• Wisbech and the Fenlands
• St. Germans Pumping Station

Most of the rivers and drains of East Anglia are listed and their courses described on the "Wisbech and the Fenlands" website, which also has a wealth of historical information about the area.