A Lot of Digging: Eau Brink Cut

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In June 1818 it was agreed that the contractors, Joliffe and Banks, would be paid to evacuate 25,000 floors of earth at 13 shillings and nine pence a floor. One floor of earth was approximately 324 cubic feet. One wheelbarrow holds approximately two and a half cubic feet. This meant that approximately 3,000,000 barrows of earth would be involved in evacuating the Eau Brink Cut.

Eau Brink Cut: What Is It?

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Although it always hadn’t done so (see HERE), by 1821 the River Great Ouse had flowed into the Wash at King’s Lynn for several centuries. In the East Anglian heartlands, there was much interest in the river. When all was well it provided transport, trade, and irrigated crops. Cloth, corn, wool, and other goods were brought into the port for export to the Continent, and goods such as wine, timber, and coal were carried inland. If the river flooded, crops were ruined and banks were damaged. If the flow dropped the transport and trade were disrupted. As far back as 1775 there was talk of improving the river.

At King’s Lynn there were two particular problems. First, before arriving at Lynn on its way to the Wash, the river left Wiggenhall St Germans and took a six mile detour in the direction of the Tilneys, and then Clenchwarton before bending back towards West Lynn. The route, with several twists and turns, was prone to silting up. The inevitable slowing down of the flow was also contributing to silting in Lynn.

The second issue, which seems incredible with hindsight, is that there was no bridge crossing the river at King’s Lynn. For the public and traders making the journey to the port and its markets, the only way across the river at Lynn was via ferry. Traders with larger loads had to use the bridge at St Germans.

The Eau Brink Cut Development was planned to provide a two and a half mile straight route bypassing the bend. It would provide a more direct route for the river to flow to the Wash, as well as providing a new road and a bridge at Lynn. The Bridge was part of the requirements of the Eau Brink Act 1795 and removed the need for a 12 mile detour to St Germans in order to cross the rivier.

The Cut’s name derives from the Eau Brink mansion and farm on the river bank. The mansion was demolished in the late 1990s although the area retains the name. 

Eau Brink Cut: The Concerns

Of course, not everybody was concerned. The local shopkeepers and publicans were very happy to keep the hundreds of incoming workers supplied with goods.

Upstream, landowners were worried about new tolls and about flooding or drought. In King’s Lynn it was feared that the intended increased flow in the river would result in boats being ripped from their moorings and being carried out to sea.

South Quay, King’s Lynn, looking towards the bend where the Cut reaches the Town
Photo © James Rye 2023

Eau Brink Cut: The Construction

Despite discussions and arguments going back many years, Lord William Bentinck revealed in September 1817 that parliament had agreed a loan of £15,000. It was estimated that it was going to cost over £20,000 just to move the earth. In the end, the total cost of the project was over £500,00. John Rennie was appointed as chief engineer, with Thomas Townsend as his assistant. Both Thomas Telford and John McAdam were consulted about the construction of the new road to ensure that it is not damaged by metal carriage wheels. The contractors started work in 1818.

In the previous century it had been recommended that the Cut should be between 200 – 480 feet wide. Rennie decided that it should be an average of 240 feet wide. It would mean moving approximately 3,000,000 barrow-loads of earth.

On Tuesday 28 June 1821 great crowds gathered at the Walks. Carts were parked everywhere. Food sellers offered bread buns, strawberries, cherries, rhubarb, cordials, toffee-apples, and a variety of seafood to those wanting refreshment before the expedition. At 13:00 the procession, led by a group of dignitaries, set off down the newly-paved London Road and through the South Gates. Several horse-drawn carriages and coaches followed behind.

At the bridge, men who had worked on it, unhitched the horses of one of the landowner’s (Hoseason’s) carriage and pulled it across. The public walked back and forth across the bridge for several hours. Food booths sold beer and roasted sheep. And later that night, guests of Joliffe and Banks went to the Freemasons’ Tavern (Thorpe’s Coffee House) at the junction of High Street and Surrey Street, to continue celebrations.

On Tuesday 31 July 1821 the Swiftsure, a recently commissioned passenger steam barge from London, was watched by crowds as it made its journey to Common Staithe. Later it would take parties along the Cut and out into the Estuary (and back).

The immediate effect of the Cut was to reduce the risk of flooding. The water dropped approximately five and a half feet at St Germans, and this reduced the levels and the pressure on the banks in the Middle and South part of the flow.

Eau Brink Cut: Afterwards

  • Despite initial improvement in the flow, the silting in King’s Lynn harbour continued to worsen. In 1825, following recommendations from Thomas Telford, the cut was widened. This eased navigation, but did little to improve drainage.
  • In 1831 the road from King’s Lynn to Walpole Cross Keys was extended to the Cross Keys Bridge at Sutton Bridge.
  • The river became less and less important during the course of the C19th. The Grand Junction Canal opened a cheaper route for coal, and by 1820 coal deliveries on the Great River Ouse had halved. The Railway arrived at King’s Lynn in 1845 and took over trade transport of goods. By 1870 the river was commercially derelict.
  • In 1853 the Norfolk Estuary Company provided a deeper and straighter outfall from Lynn to the Wash.
  • 1869 The Alexandra Dock (with a railway junction) was opened. By 1876 over 500 ships were using the dock each year. In 1883 the larger Bentinck Dock was opened. The docks provided deep water moorings for the new, larger ships.

© James Rye 2024

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