It was some time before I could recover from the shock. I had been absent abroad nearly two years and four months, and had passed through so many different scenes, that when I returned to England everything seemed perfectly new to me; being deprived of my father so unexpectedly threw me almost into a state of despair, so that I scarcely felt myself equal to undertake the responsibility of following his noble career, which I could never expect to equal. After giving way to my melancholy reflections for about a month, I determined to rouse myself to the utmost and to do my best, and with his brilliant example before me, and cheered on by his numerous attached friends, I felt that if I had no chance of attaining the same degree of celebrity as my dear father, I might still do something, and although lungo intervÁllo, I might still keep up the name. I determined therefore to set to work in right earnest and endeavour to obtain some of my father’s numerous appointments. My first ambition was to succeed him in his numerous great works then being carried on by the Admiralty, such as the Plymouth Breakwater, and the new Chatham and Woolwich dockyards.

That most excellent and able man, the late Lord Melville, was at the head of the Admiralty; the distinguished and gallant Sir George Cockburn, one of Nelson’s officers at the Nile and elsewhere, was the First Naval Lord; John Wilson Croker and Sir John Barrow were the Secretaries; and there never has been such a galaxy of talent at the Admiralty since. All these great and good men have since passed away from us, not without, however, leaving behind them indisputable monuments of their skill and the great benefits they conferred upon their country. As for myself, I owe them my deepest gratitude, and shall never forget their kindness. I was appointed by the Admiralty to succeed my father as their engineer. This high honour at my early age (for I was only seven-and-twenty) filled me with the greatest thankfulness, although I felt it was due to no merit of my own, but rather to the regard and respect which they entertained for my father; I therefore resolved to do everything in my power to render myself worthy of it, and set to work with right good will.

The next appointment I obtained was as drainage engineer to the Eau Brink Commissioners. This was at that time the greatest work of the kind, at the head of which were the late General Lord William Bentinck, afterwards Governor-General of India; the late Sir Andrew Hammond, Bart.; the late Sir Charles Browne, physician to the King of Prussia; and the late Thomas Hoseason, Esq., of Banklands, in the district of Marshland, near Lynn. These able and distinguished men formed the Committee for carrying into effect the Eau Brink Cut, for the improvement of the drainage of the great level of the fens, called the Bedford Level, amounting to about 300,000 acres of valuable land. This work consisted of a cut for altering the channel of the Ouse, by means of which nearly two miles of the navigation of that river would be saved, and an additional fall for the drainage of five feet perpendicular would be gained. This great work had been planned nearly a century before, but had always been opposed by the inhabitants of the fens, as being in their opinion inadequate to effect the desired object. At length, after great opposition on the part of the townspeople, who alleged that it would ruin their harbour and trade, the plan was decided on, and an Act of Parliament was obtained, in the year 1781, to carry it into effect, and to lay a tax of 4d. per acre per annum upon all fen lands which it was supposed would derive benefit from it; certain guarantees were given to Lynn Harbour and the interior navigation interests, as well as to the owners of the banks of the Ouse, that they should be indemnified for any damages they might sustain in consequence of the Eau Brink Cut being executed. Under this Act it was decreed that there should be two engineers, one appointed by the drainage interests, namely, the late Robert Mylne (the architect of Blackfriars Bridge), and Sir Thomas Hyde Page, R.E., as the engineer for navigation. These two gentlemen were to decide the direction and dimensions of the proposed Eau Brink Cut, which was to commence below German’s Bridge and to terminate a short distance above the boat wharf at Lynn. They, however, differed so materially that it was necessary to call in an umpire to decide between them, and the late scientific Captain Joseph Huddart, of the Trinity Board, and the inventor of the celebrated patent cable machinery, was appointed arbitrator. Captain Huddart made his award; but when it was determined to carry on the works, it was found that the whole of the funds appropriated for that purpose, which amounted to about 80,000l., had been expended in litigation and the cost of obtaining the Act of Parliament, so that the whole matter fell to the ground.

Meanwhile the defective state of drainage of the great level of the fens still continued, and everybody was convinced that the only remedy was to carry into effect the Eau Brink Cut as awarded by Captain Huddart. It was therefore resolved that a new Act of Parliament should be obtained for this purpose, increasing the tax upon the lands proposed to be benefited sufficiently to cover the costs according to the estimate of my father, who was appointed engineer-in-chief of the drainage interests; and the above-mentioned gentlemen, Lord W. Bentinck, Sir A. Hammond, Sir Charles Browne, and Thomas Hoseason, Esq., were appointed as the executive committee.

The Act having passed, Messrs. Jolliffe and Banks tendered for, and received and executed the contract.

The effect of this work greatly exceeded the most sanguine expectations of its supporters. Immediately after it was opened the low-water mark at the upper end of the cut fell five feet, and the drainage waters were carried off with a degree of rapidity which astonished the whole country. The autumn and winter of 1821-2 was characterized by an unusual quantity of rainfall, and if it had not been for the opening of the Eau Brink Cut the whole, or the greater part, of the level of the fens would have been under water, and therefore the fenmen were very well pleased with the result. At this time I was appointed to succeed my father as chief drainage engineer, and the late Mr. Telford had been previously appointed the chief engineer for navigation. Immediately after my appointment, which was in the month of December, 1821, I went to Lynn to examine the works, and was much astonished to find the great effects which had been produced by the Eau Brink Cut. Instead of the circuitous old shallow course, full of shoals and obstructions of every kind, there was a fine straight, deep channel, two miles shorter than the old one, of the proper width, bordered by strong banks of the full height; the floods passed off without difficulty, and the navigation was so much improved that the lighters and barges going up the river from Lynn saved several tides. It is true that upon examining the country between Denver Sluice and Cambridge, there was a great deal of water out in several places, but this was attributed to the interior drains and rivers not being properly defended and embanked, so that they could carry off the water to the main outfall below. I also examined the new steam pumping apparatus, which had lately been erected for draining Soham and other fens. This, although proposed by my father in 1786, was the first of the kind that had been erected. It consisted of a scoop wheel, with a perpendicular lift, worked by a condensing engine. It answered its object completely, and has since been imitated by numerous others with equal success in different parts of the fen and lowland districts. Yet in many places it has been found very difficult to induce the fen proprietors to combine together in order to effect a natural drainage, which would be better and less expensive; they prefer to act independently of each other, and adopt the steam wheel. Still, even with this, the main outfalls must be improved to their fullest extent, otherwise the water cannot run off; and when the floods in the adjacent rivers rise so high that the banks are endangered, the pumping must be discontinued, otherwise the banks will break, and then a greater injury will ensue. Nevertheless, the steam pumping apparatus is an immense improvement on the old windmill, which could only work when there was wind.

My next appointment was to succeed my father as engineer-in-chief to Ramsgate Harbour.

This harbour was established by special Act of Parliament for the purpose of affording shelter to vessels of 300 tons lying in the Downs during south-west gales. When these winds prevail that anchorage is crowded with all classes of vessels, and the smaller ones, not being so well found with ground tackle as the larger, are liable to be driven from their moorings and fall foul of the larger vessels, causing them to go adrift also, and thus creating considerable confusion and damage; but by having Ramsgate under their lee, the small vessels can always get under way, run for it at the commencement of the flood, and reach it in safety long before high water, at which time the Goodwin Sands are covered, and a heavy sea rolls into the Downs. In fact, Ramsgate Harbour was made for clearing the Downs of small vessels, so that the large ones may ride in safety, and so far has effectually answered its object.

There were a certain number of trustees appointed under the Act, who were selected from the principal merchants and shipowners of London, and the Deputy Master and three or four Elder Brethren of the Trinity were members of the Board of Trustees ex officio. At the time I was appointed engineer, the celebrated Sir William Curtis, Bart., member for the City of London, was chairman, and the worthy Deputy Master of the Trinity House, Sir John Woolmore, represented that Corporation with three others of the Elder Brethren. As this was one of the oldest and most important harbour trusts in the kingdom, I felt great honour in being appointed their chief engineer, the more so as the celebrated Smeaton and my father had previously occupied that position. It was here that Smeaton followed out the idea that had been originally proposed at Dundee, of establishing an inner basin with sluices for the purpose of scouring away the mud which continually accumulated in the outer harbour, owing to the great quantity of alluvial matter brought in from the adjacent coast and waters, which otherwise in a very short time would have filled it up and rendered it useless. Ramsgate Harbour was also celebrated for being the first place of the kind where the diving bell was introduced by Smeaton for the purpose of laying down moorings and removing obstacles under water. The diving bell was afterwards, in 1813, much improved, and rendered, for the first time, applicable to building masonry under water with as much security and accuracy as building upon dry land. In such an exposed situation it was more economical and expeditious than the old cofferdams; it was in this manner Mr. Rennie rebuilt the east pier-head in 17 feet at low-water spring tides, which was originally made by Smeaton, and which failed. I also succeeded my father at Sunderland, Donaghadee, Port Patrick, and Kingstown harbours, the West India Docks, besides other places soon afterwards, so that I had a large business, and was daily getting more.

The most difficult and anxious work, however, at that time was the new dockyard at Sheerness, designed and partly carried into effect by my father. He originally, in the year 1807, recommended that the old dockyard, which was composed only of some old wooden slips imbedded in the mud, a few storehouses, a wretched basin, lined with wooden walls, and some timber jetties, should be abolished. He said that it was on the lee or wrong side of the harbour, that the foundation for new works was of mud and quicksand, that the space, on account of the buildings in the old town, was very confined, and, therefore, that to make a good dockyard there would be very expensive, and he thought it would be far better to make a new complete establishment at Northfleet, just above Gravesend, and to get rid of Woolwich, Deptford, and Sheerness altogether. Mr. Pitt, then Prime Minister, decided that it should be done; but when he died the matter fell to the ground, as I have before said, although the land was bought for the purpose.

However, after the great war had terminated, in 1815, the nation was naturally anxious to reduce the expenditure as much as possible, so that the House of Commons would not listen to the idea of expending any large sums upon great new works either for the navy or the army; and it was only after considerable difficulty that the House of Commons would grant money for the repairs of Sheerness Dockyard, and, like most extensive repairs, it was found, when too late, that it would have been far better to have abandoned Sheerness altogether.

Nevertheless it was absolutely necessary to do something to the Thames and Medway dockyards, to keep in repair the large fleet of vessels which was there laid up in ordinary. The total number of pennants flying at the close of the war was about 1000, and the last vote for seamen in 1815 included 127,000 sailors and marines. As there was greater depth of water at Sheerness than at any of the dockyards, and as the harbour immediately contiguous was capable of accommodating with ease any number of large vessels, Sheerness was decided upon as the place where the greatest repairs and improvements should be made, and it ended in an entirely new dockyard being built. The works accordingly commenced in 1815, and the late Lord Melville laid the first stone at the north end that year. It ended in expending nearly 3,000,000l., 1,700,000l. of which went to the engineering department, and the remainder in the purchase of ground, buildings in the town of Sheerness, in storehouses, mast and timber ponds, smithery, admiral’s and officers’ houses. The engineering works were of the most difficult kind; the foundations were composed of nothing but soft mud and loose quicksands to an almost interminable depth, so that my father was obliged to invent an entirely new system of hollow walls faced with granite in front and brick behind. This system of walls, which was entirely new, by giving a greater superficial area of bearing surface with the same weight of materials, rendered them thoroughly secure. He had adopted this kind of construction with perfect success at the docks at Great Grimsby, in Lincolnshire, and they succeeded equally well at Sheerness, although exposed to much greater difficulties. The dockyard as completed consists of one basin of nearly 3 acres, at the east end of which are three docks for first-rate vessels of war, with a depth of 9 feet at low water of spring tides, the basin being of the same depth, so that with a rise of tide of 18 feet at spring tides the largest vessels can always be docked at those times. There is also another tidal basin of about the same size, together with large storehouses, smithery, mast ponds, boathouses, admiral’s and officers’ houses, chapel, &c., and ample space for timber and other materials. This dockyard, therefore, as was the intention, is well adapted for keeping in repair the numerous vessels lying up in ordinary in the adjacent harbour, or for executing any repairs which vessels on the northern stations may require; it never was intended to be a building yard, and it answers its original purpose well. It should be mentioned, that here Mr. Rennie first introduced cast-iron gates for the dry docks; these fitted to the granite quoins so nicely by polishing the two surfaces, iron and stone, with emery, that they worked together perfectly, and were completely water-tight; and although they have now been in use forty-five years, they are as good as on the day when they were made.

At the time that these works were proceeding, it was decided to make a new large granite dry dock at Chatham, similar to those at Sheerness; and some improvements in the line of river wall, which partly interfered with the free circulation of the tide there, were being constructed when I was appointed, and I finished them.

The breakwater in Plymouth Sound, which was designed by my father and commenced in 1815, had made considerable progress; in fact, the great mass of rubble stone had been deposited throughout its entire length, so that vessels of war as well as merchantmen could safely lie under its protection during the heaviest gales from the westward. When I was appointed engineer to the Admiralty, the late excellent Mr. Joseph Whidbey, who was distinguished for his scientific acquirements, and who had sailed round the world with Vancouver, was the superintendent of the breakwater, so that I had but little to do with it until the latter end of 1824, when, on the 22nd and 23rd of November of that year, a violent storm occurred from the south-south-west, the most dangerous wind, and its effect upon the breakwater above low water of spring tides was to disarrange nearly the whole of the superstructure, and to transfer a very large portion of the stone from the south to the north slope. The effects of this severe storm were considered to be so serious as to create considerable doubts as to the security of the breakwater, and even Mr. Whidbey was alarmed. I was accordingly sent by the Admiralty to make a detailed report as to what had occurred. I carefully examined the whole work, and had numerous transverse and longitudinal sections taken to show its exact state, and reported that the main body of the work remained as substantial as ever, but that the rubble from above low water to the top, on the south or sea slope, had only been laid at an angle of 3 to 1, and the waves during the storm above mentioned had in a great measure disturbed it, and had transferred a very large portion from the south to the north slope, increasing the south slope to 5 to 1. Now it is singular that my father, when it was decided to raise the breakwater from the level of half tide (which was the original intention) to above high water of spring tides, always said that the outer slope should be laid at 5 to 1. After his death, however, Mr. Whidbey, with an idea of economy, reduced the south slope to 3 to 1, so that the effects of the storm had been to confirm my father’s views; and not only had no real damage been done, but it had consolidated and strengthened the breakwater materially, and had given a practical example as to the best mode of completing it, and I recommended that the outer slope should be finished at 5 to 1, and the inner at 2 to 1. The Admiralty, however, feeling their responsibility, thought it advisable, in addition to myself, to consult three other experienced engineers, and the late Mr. Telford, Mr. Josias Jessop, and my eldest brother, George, were appointed for that purpose.

We proceeded to Plymouth in the month of March, 1825, and spent several days in examining the breakwater. We finally recommended that the outer slope should be finished at 5 to 1 and the inner at 2 to 1 (as I had previously suggested to the Admiralty), that the outer slope and top should be paved with rough square blocks set closely together, and that the inside slope should be paved with rubble. Mr. Whidbey was, unfortunately, of a different opinion, and recommended a nearly vertical wall of solid masonry on the top, of which the Admiralty did not approve, and adopted our plan, which was ordered to be carried into effect. Mr. Whidbey was so much annoyed that he resigned his situation and retired into private life near Taunton. This was much regretted, as he was a most able and honest public servant, and beloved and respected by everybody who knew him. I was then appointed chief engineer, and upon considering the subject again, I thought that, as the base or toe of the outer slope was the most exposed part of the work, it would be better to strengthen it by benching, which would effectually break the force of the waves before they could reach the main body of the work. This was approved by the Admiralty, and has since been carried into effect with complete success.

I may here relate a curious anecdote in connection with the death of Mr. Perceval. Messrs. Fox, Williams, and Co., the great mining contractors in Cornwall, took the first contract for blasting the rock and depositing the stones on the breakwater. In 1815 Mr. John Fox, a Quaker, having come to town on business, breakfasted with my father and several others, including myself. The conversation happened to turn on the death of Mr. Perceval. Mr. Fox said in a simple, unaffected manner, “I remember it very well; it is a curious story, and now I will tell it you. I was then visiting my friend Williams at Redruth. I went to bed as usual, and awoke in a most restless state, having had an extraordinary dream. I dreamed that I went to the House of Commons, where I had never been before, and having no admission into the interior of the House, I sat down quietly on one of the benches in the lobby, expecting a Cornish member who had promised when I came to London to give me a ticket of admission to hear the debates. Beside me on the bench sat a tall, muscular man (describing Bellingham most exactly), who appeared to be very restless, and continually asking whether Mr. Perceval had come to the House, and every now and then putting his right hand into his left breast pocket. At length, after waiting some minutes, there was a bustle, and several persons near me said that Mr. Perceval was coming; and shortly after Mr. Perceval made his appearance (Mr. Fox describing the exact dress he wore, namely, a blue coat with gilt metal buttons, white cravat and waistcoat, with nankeen shorts, white stockings, and shoes, according to his usual attire in the summer). Immediately after Mr. Perceval made his appearance, the man who sat next to me got up, and, advancing close to Mr. Perceval, drew a pistol from his left breast pocket, fired, and Mr. Perceval fell at his feet. This occasioned great commotion. The man who fired the pistol was at once seized, and I rushed out and asked what had happened, and the bystanders told me that Mr. Perceval had been shot by a man named Bellingham, who was the identical individual who had been a few minutes before sitting by my side. When my dream had come to this point I awoke in the greatest agitation. I could not account for it. I had never seen Mr. Perceval, nor his murderer, Bellingham; I had never been in the lobby of the House, and I had been in no way connected with Mr. Perceval, either by correspondence or otherwise, still I was so much affected by the dream that I felt convinced that Mr. Perceval had been murdered. I passed the remainder of the night in great restlessness. I could not sleep, but was always thinking of the dream, being thoroughly convinced that it was true. I came down to breakfast at the usual hour, in the most anxious and nervous state, which I in vain endeavoured to conceal as much as possible; but my friend and partner Williams and his whole family observed it, and said that I looked very ill, and kindly asked me to explain the cause. After much pressing, I told my story. Friend Williams and the whole of his amiable family said that it was nonsense; that I had been unwell, and still was so, and said that they would send for their family doctor. I said no; I felt perfectly convinced that my dream would, unfortunately, prove but too true, and that the mail, which would arrive in the evening, would bring a confirmation of it. They tried to laugh me out of it, but nothing would do; I therefore went about with my friend Williams, transacting our mining business, being convinced that the arrival of the mail in the evening would confirm the truth of my dream in all particulars. We returned to dinner at five o’clock; at nine the mail arrived, and confirmed every particular of my dream. I was afterwards taken to the House of Commons, where I had never been before, and I correctly pointed out the whole particulars of the melancholy transaction exactly as they occurred, to the astonishment of my friends and the bystanders. The whole story seems so strange that I cannot account for it. I relate it to you just as it occurred to me.”[2]

This is certainly one of those marvellous instances of foresight which baffles all comprehension. John Fox was generally considered by his numerous friends and acquaintance to be a most honest, plain, straightforward, business man, and incapable of stating anything but what he believed to be true. I heard him relate the dream, and my father and all present believed it. The curious part of the story is how he should have dreamed such a thing, being in no way connected with it.

About this time (1825) the several victualling departments of the navy at Plymouth were very inefficient, and divided into three or four establishments—one at Southdown, opposite to Devonport, another at Cremill Point, near Stonehouse, a third at Plymouth, and the fourth in Plymouth town—being several miles from each other, so that the extra expense and delay in provisioning vessels of war was considerable. Upon this being represented to the Admiralty by the Victualling Board, of which the late General Stapleton was the chairman, they determined to make an entirely new victualling establishment, concentrating the whole of the several departments into one, upon a well-organized plan, so that every operation should be carried out with the greatest dispatch and economy.

After much discussion Cremill Point, being nearest to the dockyard at Devonport, and being in other respects, as to depth of water, &c., possessed of peculiar advantages, was finally selected as the best place for the new establishment, and I was ordered by the Victualling Board to prepare the necessary plans, specifications, and estimates, and to see them carried into effect.

Whilst these works were proceeding, a proposal was made to the Admiralty to apply the Cornish system of engines to the Admiralty steam-vessels. Up to this time steam, according to the principle of Watt, not exceeding 5 lb. pressure upon the square inch, was only used, whereas in the Cornish condensing engines steam of the pressure of 37 lb. per square inch was then usual, with much greater effect and economy. I was accordingly sent by the Admiralty to Cornwall to investigate their scheme. I took with me my principal assistant, the late Mr. William Lewin, a very zealous, able, practical engineer. We examined the whole system very carefully at different mines, measured the actual work done and the quantity of fuel consumed, and came to the conclusion that the Cornish system of high-pressure condensing might be applied to the navy with the greatest advantage, and reported the same to the Admiralty. It was not adopted at the time, although high-pressure condensing engines have since been introduced into the navy; at the present time the pressure has advanced to 27 and 28 lb. per square inch, and in the non-condensing engines to 100 and 120 lb. Watt, although he had tried steam at every temperature, yet generally preferred low pressure; his reason for this must have been the imperfect means then at command for controlling it, and perhaps he was right at the time, for the manufacture of wrought iron had not then made sufficient progress to render it capable of resisting with safety the great power of high-pressure steam. He pointed out the way, and others, through the improvements in the manufacture of iron, have profited by his discoveries. I must not omit, in justice to the very talented Mr. Perkins, his views as to the value of high-pressure steam, upon which he made numerous experiments; amongst other things, he proposed to use it as a destructive power in war, by means of his celebrated steam gun, which created much sensation at the time; and it is rather singular that this has not been taken up in modern times, when every invention which can add to the methods of destruction is most greedily adopted. There can be no doubt that the “steam gun” may be used with the most terrible effect in fixed batteries either for musketry or artillery, and probably the day will come when we shall see batteries worked by steam, with a great diminution of manual agency; and the men employed to work them will be so protected as to render the destruction of human life comparatively trifling.

Amongst the other legacies which my dear father had left to me, was that of building London Bridge. He had shown, to the satisfaction of the Committee of the House of Commons, the impracticability of keeping up the old bridge by any amount of repair or alteration; that it could not be rendered fit for the improvement of the river Thames, nor for the continually increasing traffic which must pass over it, at any reasonable expense, and that therefore an entirely new bridge would be by far the most satisfactory. The House of Commons was so fully convinced by his arguments that it unanimously condemned the old bridge, and refused to comply with the recommendation of the City of London that it should be altered, but resolved that a new bridge should be built according to the design made by my father. An Act of Parliament was accordingly passed to this effect, the late talented and energetic Mr. Holme Sumner being the leading member of the Committee. The Corporation demurred to this, saying that there were other engineers equal to Mr. Rennie, and demanding a public competition. The advertisement for designs was accordingly issued, and a great number were sent in and referred to the Committee of the House of Commons and the Government, according to the previous Act. After considering the various rival plans, it was finally decided that that of my father was the only one which complied with all the required conditions, and it was therefore adopted. At this resolution great discontent was manifested by the different competitors. The Corporation of London also objected to this decision, as they considered that they ought to have been the sole judges. But finding that the Government adhered to its decision, they submitted, at the same time urging that they, who were to pay the expense of the new bridge, ought to select the engineer that was to execute the work. The Government agreed to this, subject to their approval; and finally the Committee appointed by the Corporation to carry into effect my father’s design, fixed upon me as the engineer-in-chief; Mr. Richard Lambert Jones was appointed the chairman of the executive committee of the Corporation. A very able and efficient chairman he was, and conducted the whole to a conclusion, to the great satisfaction of the Corporation and of the Government.

The design, as I have already observed, was made by my father, but no detailed working drawings, specification, or estimate, had been prepared by him; it fell to my lot, therefore, to do this. As I had acted under my father during the construction of the Waterloo and Southwark bridges, I had become so thoroughly acquainted with his system, that I had no very great difficulty about it.

The design consisted of five semi-elliptical arches, the centre being 150 feet span, the two next arches 140 feet span each, the two side or land arches 130 feet span each; the two centre piers were 24 feet thick at the springing, and the two side piers 22 feet each; the whole was to be built of the best grey granite. The width of the roadway was originally designed to be 48 feet, but was afterwards increased to 54 feet wide, at an extra cost of 46,000l.

It was intended by my father that the new bridge should be built on the site of the old one, which was to be pulled down in the first instance, and a temporary wooden one was to be built above it to accommodate the traffic whilst the new bridge was building. It was considered that as soon as the fall of 5 feet occasioned by the old bridge should be removed, the river would be restored to its natural state, and there would then be less difficulty and expense in making the cofferdams and founding the piers and abutments; the old approaches to the bridge would then be preserved, and thus a less quantity of valuable property would be required. The wish, however, of the Corporation to preserve the old bridge during the construction of the new one was so strong, that there was no possibility of resisting it. I therefore yielded to their desire, and agreed to build the new bridge immediately above the old one, and as near as practicable to it; notwithstanding, I felt at the time that there would be considerable difficulty, risk, and extra expense in so doing, on account of the great depth of water in which the piers must be founded, namely, 28 feet at low water of spring tides, and the strong current and fall through the old bridge both during the flood and ebb, particularly during the latter. It should be observed that the old bridge stood as it were upon a hill, the foundations of the piers being from 28 to 30 feet above the bottom of the river immediately above and below it, occasioned by the great fall and scour produced by the contracted waterway; thus it was necessary to secure the piers by large projecting starlings, and to throw considerable quantities of stone continually round them, in order to prevent the old bridge from being carried away. However, there was no alternative but to build the new bridge above the old one, and I accordingly set about taking every possible precaution in order to prevent accident.

As the loose stone thrown round the piers of the old bridge was continually washed into the holes immediately above and below, it was in vain to attempt driving the piles for the cofferdams of the piers until this stone was removed, which was done by dredging. The cofferdams for the piers were elliptical in form, this shape being the best adapted for resisting the strong current in which they were placed; they consisted of two main rows of piles each 14 inches square, each pile being properly hooped and shod with wrought iron, and driven 25 feet into the bed of the river. These piles were connected together in the horizontal direction by three rows of braces 15 inches square, namely, one at the level of the lowest tides, another at the level of half tide, and the third at the level of high water. At every 10 feet the two rows of piles were fastened together with wrought-iron bolts 2½ inches diameter, which passed through the horizontal braces or walings, as they are technically termed, and were secured outside and inside with additional wooden cleats 15 inches square and 8 feet long, so as to cover the joints where the main horizontal braces met; outside of these were large iron plates, and as the bolts were screwed at each end, they could be tightened up to the full bearing without crushing the timber. On the outside of these two main rows of piles was a third row of the same dimensions, and driven the same depth into the bed of the river at a distance of 6 feet in the clear from the two main rows, and connected together with a tier of horizontal braces, and to the two main rows of piles with bolts, cleats, and plates of the same dimensions as those already described. When the piles had been driven to their proper depth, and had been properly secured to each other as above described, the joints between every pile, which had been previously fitted to each other, were well caulked with oakum, and the outside joints were covered with melted pitch, so as to render them water-tight; the spaces between the three rows of piles were then filled with strong well-puddled clay.

In addition to the above three rows of piles, there was a fourth row on the inside, driven down in the form of a parallelogram, corresponding with the exact size of the foundation of the piers, and to the same depth as the outer piles. Every tenth pile, and those at the corners or angles, extended up to the level of low water. Upon the heads of these piles longitudinal and transverse braces were fixed across the inside of the dam, at the level of low water, half tide, and high water; so that the dam was braced internally and externally in every direction to resist the pressure of the water, like a well-made cask. There was a powerful steam engine, with the requisite pumps, attached to each dam, to remove any water which might either rise from the foundation or from the outside. Each dam was provided with a trunk secured by a valve 3 feet diameter, laid at the level of low water, so that in the event of any unusual pressure of water coming against the dam, these valves were opened, and the dam was then filled with water, and all mischief was prevented. The first pier cofferdam on the Southwark side was completed, the water pumped out, and the earth was excavated to the depth of 30 feet, going below low-water mark of spring tides; the bottom consisted of the stiff London clay. Piles, consisting of Baltic fir, elm, and beech, 22 feet long, and 12 inches diameter in the middle, properly hooped and shod with wrought iron, were then driven 20 feet into the solid ground, or until, with a weight of 12 cwt. falling 18 to 20 feet, they would not move above an inch at a blow. These piles were driven 3 feet 6 inches from centre to centre, both in the longitudinal and transverse direction. After having driven them, their heads were cut off and accurately levelled. The loose earth between their heads was then removed, to the depth of 12 inches, and the spaces filled in with stone bedded in concrete; all the rows of piles were then connected together in the transverse direction by Baltic fir sills or beams 14 inches square, well fitted to each pile head by jagged wrought-iron spikes 20 inches long and three quarters of an inch square, driven through the sills into the pile heads below; the spaces between the sills were well filled in with stone and brickwork; another row of sills was then laid in the transverse direction above the pile heads and spiked down to the lower sills in the same manner; the spaces between the upper sills were then filled in with stone and brickwork. The whole surface of the foundation was covered with elm plank 6 inches thick, closely jointed together and bedded in mortar, and well spiked down to the sills below with jagged spikes 10 inches long and half an inch square. Upon this platform the masonry was built, each course diminishing in length and width by a series of offsets 12 inches wide, until they reached the shaft of the pier, when it was carried up solid to the springing of the arches. The whole of the exterior masonry was of the best whitish-grey granite, and the interior stone was of the best hard Yorkshire grit stone from the quarries of Bramley Fall. The abutments were constructed upon piles and masonry of the same character as the piers.

The first stone was laid with considerable ceremony on the first pier cofferdam from the Surrey shore by His Royal Highness the late Duke of York. The dam was fitted up with great taste like an amphitheatre, with seats all round, the whole being covered at top with a handsome coloured canvas awning adorned with numerous flags of all nations. The Lord Mayor, assisted by the Aldermen, Common Councilmen, and Committee, with Mr. Jones, the Chairman, attended in great state, and everything went off well. After this pier had advanced nearly to the level of high water, one day whilst examining it, standing upon one of the cross beams, my foot slipped, and I fell headlong into the dam upon the top of the masonry; fortunately, my left foot caught in a nail in the beam, and I hung by it for a few seconds. This somewhat broke and changed the direction of my fall, and I pitched upon an inclined plank, upon which I slid until I struck my head against a stone; my hat deadened the blow; as it was, however, I was cut about the forehead and half stunned. The after effects of this fall were very serious; my whole system got such a severe shaking, that I did not recover thoroughly until nearly ten years afterwards, and I carried on my large professional business with the greatest difficulty. The works made satisfactory progress, and the centres for the first and second arches from the Surrey shore were soon fixed.

Each centre was composed of eight ribs, framed upon the truss principle, resting upon a continued series of wedges in one piece, laid horizontally and resting upon tressels or legs formed by the piles of the cofferdams, which had been cut off and levelled for that purpose. The mode of setting and fixing the ribs was the same as that adopted at the Waterloo and Southwark bridges. A large lighter was constructed especially for this purpose. In the centre was placed a strong framing, which rested upon eight screws, four in each row, working in a strong cast-iron box, to which levers were attached, by means of which the screws and framing above them could be gradually raised and lowered at pleasure; at one end of the framing there was an upright scaffold. The centres, I have already said, consisted of eight main ribs framed together separately. As there was no room to frame these centres near the bridge, a special workshop and wharf were provided by the contractors at Millwall, in the Isle of Dogs; when ready they were launched in one piece, from a properly-prepared platform, into the river, and towed to the Southwark end of the bridge, where the lighter, with its apparatus of powerful sheers, crabs, and tackle, was in readiness to receive them; by these means they were gradually hauled up an inclined plane, and then raised upright upon the platform, supported by the frame and screws beneath, and firmly braced to the scaffolding in the lighter; two centre frames were thus placed upon it at one time, and adjusted by the screws to an extra height of 2 feet, so as to allow for any deficiency in the rise of the tide. Two ribs having been placed upon the framing, the lighter was hauled off from the shore and placed in front of the opening in which the centre was to be, the lighter being moored 100 yards from it, about half an hour before high water; upon the turning of the tide it was gradually allowed to float down with the ebb current to its place. By the time that the lighter with the centre ribs arrived in its exact position there was always 2 feet to spare, in order to allow for any deficiency of the tide; as the tide fell the two ribs were securely deposited in their places upon the framing and wedges below them. It should be observed, that upon the wedges there was an additional framing so as to reduce the weight of the main ribs of the centring. When the main ribs had been deposited upon the framing wedges, they were securely braced together until the whole number of ribs required for each centre was fixed, when they were all braced firmly together longitudinally, transversely, and diagonally. This mode of fixing centres for arches of any span was most successful and economical, and I believe that my father was the inventor of it, if it may be termed an invention. My excellent and talented friend, the late Robert Stephenson, adopted the same method for fixing the tubes of the Conway and Menai Straits bridges. He told me that he was not aware that my father had proposed it before him; but in the ‘History of the Britannia and Conway Bridges,’ edited, I believe, by the present Mr. Edwin Clarke, who was employed under Mr. Stephenson at the Conway Bridge, it is expressly mentioned that my father had previously employed the same plan.[3]

But to return to London Bridge. The works proceeded successfully; the fifth or last arch on the City side was completed in 1829. The centres of the first, second, and centre arches having been removed, it was found that they had subsided only 3 inches each, which was the exact distance that had been allowed for, with an extra half inch for the centre arch. Upon examining the arches and piers after it was supposed that they had subsided, it was found that there had been an unequal sinking, that the two centre piers had subsided on the east side slightly more than on the west side. I was much puzzled at this, and could not for some time account for the difference. Three or four of the quoin arch-stones of the second arch from the City shore had been fractured for about 8 or 9 inches; this, however, was of no consequence, for it is always difficult in such large arches to get the workmen to bed the quoins accurately. The same thing had occurred in the Waterloo and other bridges; I was therefore led to investigate the subject more thoroughly during the construction of the new bridge. It was found that the cofferdams for the piers in several instances were made in front of the openings or arches of the old bridge, which could not be avoided. These dams necessarily still further obstructed the waterway through the old bridge; I therefore felt that it was absolutely essential to find relief for the ebbing and flowing tides, detained both by the old bridge and the cofferdams of the new bridge, and accordingly recommended that, on the south side of the main arch of the old bridge, which was only 80 feet wide, two arches should be thrown into one, and that the intermediate pier should be removed, by which means a single wide opening would be made facing the space between the cofferdams of the arch and the centre on the Surrey side of the new bridge, but the difficulty of doing this arose from the fact that the traffic over the old bridge could not be interrupted for a moment. I soon, however, found an expedient; I ordered that the requisite number of logs of the best Baltic fir timber 15 inches square should be prepared sufficiently long to extend over the two arches and piers of the old bridge which I proposed to remove. Having got these ready, I stopped up one half of the roadway, leaving the other half open for the traffic, and working night and day, I laid these whole timbers spanning the two arches to the adjoining piers close together, bolted them to each other, and secured them to a longitudinal bearer of the same dimensions imbedded in the masonry of the adjoining piers, so that the timbers which were to form the increased opening rested firmly upon them. Having done this, I removed the masonry of the intermediate arch by degrees from beneath the timber girders, placing a strong diagonal strut or support under each girder as I proceeded, at the same time connecting together all these diagonal struts. Having completed one half of the temporary arch or opening, the traffic was diverted over it, and the other half was completed in the same manner; the whole operation was accomplished within ten days, and the traffic was not stopped for one hour. The intermediate pier of the old arch was then removed entirely. As the work advanced to the fourth pier on the City side another similar opening was made. These alterations relieved the river materially, and enabled the works to be carried on much more securely, and greatly diminished the fall through the old bridge at low water. Nevertheless, there was increased scour against the dams where the openings were made, which occasioned the slight unequal subsidence before mentioned. The last or fifth arch was completed on the City side, January, 1829.

It has been mentioned that Lord Liverpool’s Government had always taken the greatest interest in the construction of new London Bridge, and gave the Corporation of London every support in their power, not only for the accommodation of the great traffic across it, but for the improvement of the Thames, which the removal of the old bridge would effect; and amongst the men most zealous in Lord Liverpool’s Government were the late Marquis of Salisbury, then Lord Cranbourne, and the late Earl of Lonsdale, then Lord Lowther; both these noblemen had considerable talent, and, fully alive to the advancing ideas of the day, were mainly instrumental in forwarding this great work. That amiable, able, and conscientious nobleman, the Earl of Liverpool, had succumbed to the effects of a paralytic stroke, and the Duke of Wellington was now Premier; he took the greatest interest in the promotion of London Bridge and everything connected with it; so that the Corporation of London, who had hitherto been radically inclined, or had rather been opposed to the Tory Government, turned rather Conservative than otherwise, and the Duke became most popular with them; he invariably, whenever he could, accepted their invitations to Guildhall and the Mansion House, and was always received by them with the greatest respect and attention. Richard Lambert Jones, the Chairman of the London Bridge Committee, was his particular favourite, and he always shook Jones by the hand, a favour which he did not accord to everyone.

At this time the bridge had made considerable progress towards completion, and the important question arose, what was the best plan for the approaches? It was originally intended, in order to save expense, that the old line of Fish Street Hill, on the City side, should be adopted, pulling down such of the houses on this line as might be necessary to make the incline not steeper than 1 in 30; but inasmuch as the great traffic of Upper and Lower Thames Street interposed materially with the main body of the traffic coming north and south, it became most important to consider how this might be avoided, and the old idea of making an arch over Thames Street was revived, and was favourably received by the London Bridge Committee; the question was accordingly referred by them to me. I had always felt that the old approach by Fish Street Hill was a very great difficulty; but, restricted as I was to the old line of approach, I felt that I could not get out of it without some pressing necessity; I was therefore glad to have the opportunity of reconsidering the subject, particularly when proposed by the Committee. It was quite clear, that in any case an arch over Thames Street to separate the great cart traffic of that quarter from the main coach and passenger traffic coming from the City, Southwark, and the northern and southern parts of the town, was absolutely necessary, and I should have proposed it myself in the first instance, if there had at that time been any chance of its adoption, and I am quite sure that my father would have done the same. But if it had been proposed to divert the traffic from the old line of Fish Street Hill at the first, it is most probable that it would never have been carried; I was obliged, therefore, to confine myself to the old approaches, leaving the future to develop itself. The Committee, however, having taken up the idea of an arch over Thames Street, I was only too happy to fall in with it; but as nothing could be done without the sanction of the Government, it was determined by the Committee to bring the subject before them at once; the more so, as it would require a much larger sum than originally calculated to make the approaches, for which the Committee had no funds, and a new Act of Parliament would be required. Plans and estimates were accordingly prepared for the new approaches, and submitted to His Majesty’s Government. The Duke of Wellington took the greatest interest in the subject, and investigated it to the fullest extent; he visited the place himself, he interrogated the Chairman of the Committee and myself most closely, and at length, being fully convinced that it was necessary, gave the consent of the Government, provided that the funds could be found. In order to meet this difficulty, the Committee proposed to increase the coal tax, which, with the necessary sinking fund, would pay off the whole sum necessary to make the new approaches, which were estimated at 1,400,000l., in a given number of years. The Government consented to this, and the requisite notices, plans, &c., were given and deposited in the month of November, 1828.

Early in 1829 the Bill was brought into Parliament, and was most strongly opposed by the great northern coal-owners, Lord Durham, Lord Londonderry, Lord Lauderdale, and others, as well as by a considerable body of Londoners, and after a hard fight the Bill passed the House of Commons and got into the Lords; but here the opposition was more violent and powerful than ever. The Duke of Wellington, however, having been thoroughly convinced of the necessity and justice of the measure, determined that it should be carried if possible, whilst the Opposition were equally determined to throw it out. The Committee accordingly met in the Painted Chamber of the House of Lords, and the extraordinary number of forty peers, including seven cabinet ministers, assembled, the Duke of Wellington being in the chair. The Opposition comprised, amongst others, Earl Grey, his son-in-law the Earl of Durham, the Marquis of Londonderry, the Earl of Lauderdale, &c. Such a committee upon a private Bill has never since been seen in the Lords, and perhaps never will be again. The brunt of the battle fell upon me; I was the leading witness, and had to establish the whole case. I never felt more nervous in my life; I was to be prepared upon all points to defend everybody else’s errors as well as my own. I knew there were several weak points, and though I had an excellent case upon the whole, I still felt the greatest difficulty about it; I knew also perfectly well, that if I broke down, my career as an engineer was ruined for ever, for the Government had pinned their faith upon me; I therefore had made myself thoroughly master of the subject, and determined to sink or swim with it. Mr. W. Montague, then surveyor to the City, was a very sensible, practical man, and of great experience in the valuation of property, and possessed considerable influence with the Corporation; but whether it was jealousy at my being so much younger than himself, or whether he thought the post of honour should have been given to him, I cannot say, but he did not act cordially with me. That very remarkable man, Richard Lambert Jones, the Chairman of the Bridge, with his usual tact and sagacity, at once saw this, and thought that if he was examined there might be some discrepancy which our enemies would take advantage of; he therefore, with the concurrence of his Committee, determined that I alone should fight the battle of the estimates, upon which the whole fate of the Bill depended. It was well, both for Montague and myself, that this course was taken; for Montague, when the first Bill of 1821 was carried, had made the surveys of the property to be taken for the approaches on both sides of the bridge, which was confined to 180 feet above the old bridge. This limit ought to have been taken in a direct line, at right angles to the old bridge; but unfortunately it was taken according to the line of the shore, which near the old bridge receded considerably, whilst the old Fishmongers’ Hall projected beyond it, making the direct line, if taken, as it ought to have been, at right angles to the old bridge, 20 feet longer than if measured according to the line of the shore. This difference of 20 feet rendered it necessary that old Fishmongers’ Hall should be removed, and negotiations immediately commenced between the London Bridge Committee and the Fishmongers’ Company with respect to the purchase of this piece of land. The Fishmongers’ Company behaved very fairly; they said that they did not wish to build a new hall, as the existing structure answered their purpose very well; but if they were compelled to part with this 20 feet of ground, they must build a new hall, which they did not want to do. However, as they had no wish to impede the construction of the bridge and approaches, they were willing to sell the strip of land on which part of their hall stood, namely, 20 feet in width, for 20,000l. 1000l. per foot at first sight appeared a very large sum, although at present it would be considered remarkably cheap. The Committee of the bridge, looking at the matter fairly, resolved to pay the Fishmongers’ Company the required sum in full compensation for everything, and the Fishmongers’ Company might, if they thought fit, build a new hall at their own expense. This agreement was then settled, provided that the Bill for making the new approaches by an arch across Thames Street should pass the legislature. Knowing this fact, I was very anxious that this error of Mr. Montague’s should not come out before the Committee of the House of Lords, as it was no doubt a great mistake, and if it had transpired, it might materially have injured our case. I determined, therefore, during my examination, to keep it out of view as far as possible; at the same time, if it was fairly put to me, of course I felt myself bound to give every honest explanation. Perhaps Mr. Montague was not anxious to be examined; anyhow, he was not, and the whole burthen fell upon me.

The opposition in the Lords’ Committee was headed by the Earl of Durham, a very able and intelligent man; he would have made an excellent lawyer if Providence had so designed it, and in this instance he conducted his case admirably. I got through the examination in chief very well, and the opposing counsel commenced his cross-examination, and made nothing of it. Then Lord Durham got up and for three days I underwent as severe a cross-examination as I ever experienced, either before or since. He seemed to be aware of all the facts, and omitted nothing to render his case triumphant. I always feared that he was coming to the mistake about Fishmongers’ Hall, but he never did, and I had to lead him away from it as far as possible; at last he got to the frontages in the different streets of the respective parishes which were proposed to be taken, and the new frontages of the new streets which were to be erected. Here I showed very clearly that the lineal frontage according to the proposed new streets would be greater than the frontages taken away. This, however, did not satisfy his Lordship, for he contended that some of the parishes would lose a great deal more frontage than they would obtain. I had some idea that this would be the case, and therefore did not think it necessary to take the individual frontage gained and lost by each parish. I thought it was quite sufficient to know that upon the whole a greater line of frontage would be given by the new approaches, than taken away from the old. The parishes which had petitioned against the Bill on this account, argued that in some of them the rates would be greatly diminished, and that in others they would be greatly increased, which would cause an unequal and unjust distribution. I still kept to my point, and said upon the whole, without going into detail, the parishes would be the gainers, and it was for them to adjust the rates amongst themselves. Lord Durham was very indignant at my obstinacy in maintaining this point, and tried in every way to make me confess that I had made a mistake; I nevertheless stuck to it, and said that if I had tried to equalize all the frontages, my survey might have extended to the Tower, and there would have been no end of the expense. By this time he was losing his temper, and said that if I was not very careful I might go to the Tower still. At this the Committee smiled, and his Lordship, being fairly baffled, sat down, and I, having been told that they had no further questions, left the witness-box with the greatest alacrity.

It was considered that I had made out the case for the Bill so completely, both as regards the estimates and the absolute necessity, in a public point of view, of carrying the new approaches into effect, that no other professional witness was put into the box, except the present able chamberlain, Mr. Scott, then chamberlain’s chief assistant, who gave such clear and straightforward evidence with regard to the funds which were disposable by the Corporation, and the way in which they were administered, that the Committee of the Lords passed the Bill for the London Bridge Approaches with but few dissentient voices. The Duke of Wellington, and five or six Cabinet Ministers with him, attended every day, and in fact kept Parliament sitting to pass the Bill. It was curious to observe that he never for a moment interrupted the opponents of the measure; he gave them full scope, and never said a word until they had had their say, then he put the question, and carried it without difficulty.

After the fifth arch, the first on the Surrey side, was keyed, the sinking was observed to be 4 inches, or about 1 inch more than the others. I could not very well account for this. I also observed that two of the quoins on the south-east end of the fourth arch from the Surrey shore had splintered off at the soffit, but no crack could be observed in the spandril walls; but upon levelling the piers, it was found that the east end had subsided from 10 to 14 inches more than the upper or west end. This I could account for in no other way but that there had been a greater scour here than at the upper end, and that the piles had to some extent been laid bare. I levelled the arches and piers constantly after this for several months from a fixed standard gauge, but could find no alteration; I therefore felt satisfied that the whole of the pier abutments had come to their final bearing, and the works were continued as fast as possible towards completion.

In 1830 the Duke’s Government retired, and he himself became as unpopular as he before had been popular; yet he never deserted London Bridge, and was more frequent in his visits than ever. I often used to attend him at five and six in the summer mornings; he generally came on horseback, and remained from half an hour to an hour, and sometimes more if necessary. At length the whole bridge and the approaches were completed, and His Majesty, King William, at the special request of the Corporation of London, condescended to fix a day on which he would open the bridge in person. Earl Grey, who had strongly opposed the Bill for the improved approaches two years before, now, as Premier, accompanied His Majesty to inaugurate the opening of the same. Perhaps, as a spectacle of the kind, it was the most brilliant of any that had taken place for fully a century; and the whole Corporation, including the Bridge Committee, did everything in their power, for the honour of the City of London, to render the pageant as splendid as possible. The whole of the space at the north or City end of the bridge was covered with a magnificent tent, several hundred feet long, decorated in the greatest taste with the flags of all nations, and with ancient and modern arms grouped round the standards forming the supports of the tent, under which were arranged tables for 1400 guests, for whom a splendid collation was provided. His Majesty, King William, came in the royal barge in state, accompanied by all his ministers, and upon his arrival was greeted with a salute of twenty-one guns from the Tower. All the piers and arches were decorated with lofty standards displaying the national emblems; the whole of these, as well as the great tent and decorations, were under the direction of Mr. Stacey, of the Ordnance department of the Tower, and the greatest credit is due to him for the admirable taste which he displayed. The ceremony consisted in King William walking over the bridge, accompanied by his ministers, the Lord Mayor and Corporation, and the Bridge Committee. When His Majesty arrived at the Southwark end a balloon ascended, carrying Mr. Richard Crawshay; the Tower guns then sent forth another salute, and King William and his cortÈge returned to the tent at the City end of the bridge, where they partook of lunch with the usual ceremonies, and returned by water as they came, with another royal salute from the Tower. The day was remarkably fine, the river was covered with boats filled with gaily-dressed people; the wharves, warehouses, and bridges were thronged with spectators; in fact, it was a great metropolitan holiday; everything went off well, and all appeared to be satisfied; I was particularly so. I had been very hard worked, I may say almost night and day, for some time past, to get things ready, and was of course rather tried; nevertheless, the success which attended the whole rendered me completely unmindful of myself, and I forgot all my fatigues, for I was amply rewarded for all my troubles and anxieties.

A few days after the opening of London Bridge, Jeffreys, the cheesemonger of Ludgate Hill, presented a petition to Parliament through the well-known Henry Hunt, stating that the new bridge was coming down. Jeffreys was very much annoyed because he had received no recompense for his repeated proposals with regard to the new approaches, though he was never regularly employed; but he was one of those active, intelligent persons, who are always interfering in matters which do not concern them. If he had devoted himself to his own business he might have done well; but, unfortunately, he neglected this, and fancied himself a great engineer, a post for which he was absurdly incompetent. He mistook his vocation, and in attempting to do that for which he was wholly unfit, he neglected the business of a tradesman, for which he was thoroughly suited. The petition ended in its being referred to a Commission, consisting of J. Walker, Telford, and Tierney Clark, who examined the bridge carefully and made their report, which was colourless and came to nothing, as the subsidence spoken of had taken place two years and a half before, and had not increased, nor has it done so up to the present day.

In all works of great magnitude, and particularly in such a difficult situation as that in which London Bridge is built, it is impossible to be certain of attaining absolute perfection, but the Committee, being perfectly satisfied of the stability of the new bridge, determined to remove the old one forthwith, and I received orders accordingly. The removal was contracted for by Messrs. Jolliffe and Banks, for the sum of 10,000l., they having the benefit of the old materials, except in so far that they were to fill up the holes in the river below both bridges, to the extent of 14 feet below low water of spring tides, which was rather more than the average depth of the river in the vicinity; they were also bound to remove the whole of the foundations of the piers, starlings, &c., of the old bridge, to the same depth. The whole of these operations were completed in the year 1834, when the river, after a lapse of 658 years, was restored to its natural state.

The history of old London Bridge is replete with interest, and forms a very curious epoch in the annals of bridge building before the embankment of the river Thames by the Romans. The Southwark side, which is in many places considerably below the level of high water of spring tides, was frequently flooded, and numerous creeks were formed in it, so that the river must have been very unequal in its depth, and filled with numerous shoals, and fordable at low water in several places near London; and there was evidently an appearance of a ford at the site of old London Bridge, as in many cases the piers were founded on the original ground, which must have been dry, or nearly so, at low water; these piers were in many instances wider than the adjoining arches, so that they offered considerable obstruction to the free flow of the tidal and fresh waters through the bridge. These obstructions necessarily increased the velocity and scour of the current, and threatened to carry away the old bridge. Great starlings, or timber casings of piles, were erected round the bridge piers, and the spaces between them were filled in with chalk. These starlings still further narrowed the openings of the arches, so that at low water some of them were little more than 8 or 10 feet wide, and the obstructions became so great, that the fall at low water increased to 5 feet perpendicular. Five openings on the south end and one in the north end were occupied by water-wheels for pumping water for the City. The obstruction caused by these works was so great that the celebrated Smeaton was employed by the Corporation of London to take down the two arches near the centre, and replace them by a single one of 80 feet span.

The original bridge is said to have been built in the year 1176; but between that time and the period of its removal in 1834, it underwent so many alterations and changes that it may almost be said to have been rebuilt several times. It was originally covered with houses, as everyone knows, leaving a narrow passage between for the traffic. To describe the numerous alterations would require a large volume, and the reader is therefore referred to an interesting account of this curious old structure called ‘The Chronicles of Old London Bridge.’

Numerous speculations were made by scientific men, engineers and others, on the effect the removal of the old bridge would have upon the river. My father pointed out the probable results in a very simple manner; he said that the river was in an artificial state in consequence of the old bridge acting as a dam to the free passage of the waters upwards and downwards, both tidal and fresh; and the consequence was, that the river above had to a certain extent accommodated itself to circumstances. By the removal of this obstruction the river would soon be reduced to its natural level; the fall of 4 to 5 feet through the bridge would be removed, consequently the tide would rise so much higher and fall so much lower above bridge, and so much more tidal water would be admitted above the old bridge throughout the whole length of the tidal flow as far as Teddington Lock; and this increased quantity of tidal water passing up and down twice each way during the twenty-four hours would scour the bed of the river, and thus remove the great quantity of mud deposited along the shores. And further, that the drainage of the metropolis, and in fact the whole valley of the Thames, at least as far as Teddington, would be greatly improved; and the water, being constantly changed, would be clearer and fresher. He further said, that the actual level of high water would scarcely be materially affected, perhaps not exceeding 5 or 6 inches; and lastly, that the process would be gradual, and that it would take several years before the river would attain its final and natural state. Such has proved to be the result.

As the works of new London Bridge proceeded attention was drawn to the irregular outline of the wharves, which were not only unsightly but extremely injurious to the regular passage of the waters. At this time also, people having visited Paris and other great continental cities, were struck with the architectural beauties which they had seen, and became much disgusted with the mean, shabby-looking appearance of London; and well they might, for there were no great leading thoroughfares worthy of the name. Cockspur Street, leading from the Strand to Pall Mall, was scarcely 20 feet wide; the Royal Mews occupied Trafalgar Square; the Haymarket was encumbered by haycarts; Cross’s Menagerie and Exeter Change blocked up the Strand near Waterloo Bridge; the connection between Holborn and Oxford Street was round by old St. Giles’, and Farringdon Street was filled with a market, and surrounded by undertakers. Regent Street had been commenced under the direction of that clever architect Nash, which, from his novel mode of grouping shops into distinct masses of different styles, excited considerable attention, and was totally different to anything we had hitherto seen in the metropolis. This great and really magnificent street was, I am told, entirely his own idea, and according to the opinion of the late Sir Robert Smirke, was a Herculean task, on account of the great variety of interests to be dealt with, and he told me that nobody but the indefatigable Nash could have carried it through. He built a house there for himself, now the Gallery of Illustration, opposite to the Club Chambers near Waterloo Place, where George IV. honoured him with a visit. In fact, just about this time there was a perfect mania for architectural improvements.

A committee, called the Committee of Taste, was accordingly appointed, in order to design such improvements as were imperatively required in the neighbourhood of Charing Cross, the Strand, and Holborn and Oxford Street. This Committee consisted of the late Lord Farnborough, John Wilson Croker, Sir John Soane, Sir Robert Smirke, Nash, and two or three others, and certainly no committee ever discharged its duties better. To its labours we are indebted for Trafalgar Square and the improvements in the Strand, Cockspur Street, the Haymarket, the old Opera House, and those between Oxford Street and Holborn, which are really very good, and the architecture, although not altogether faultless, is nevertheless, taken as a whole, very effective; in fact, nothing like these improvements has been effected since. The new street from Waterloo Bridge to Oxford Street, undertaken soon after, has been a miserable failure; instead of taking a direct line, they availed themselves as far as they could of the old miserable intervening streets, so that this thoroughfare, which ought to have been one of the best in London, is now one of the worst, and the increase in the value of the property on each side has been very little. But if this street had been made in a straight line, and of ample width, the shops and buildings on both sides would have been of a superior character, and would have yielded far higher rents, which would have gone a long way towards paying part of the expenses, if not the whole.

About this time Sir F. Trench, who moved in the most fashionable circles and was a great amateur in architecture and fine arts, was seized and enraptured with the idea of constructing quays along the banks of the Thames, between Whitehall and Blackfriars Bridge, and converting the space so recovered from the shore of the Thames into a handsome carriage-drive and promenade ornamented with gardens and fountains. He applied to the late Mr. Philip Wyatt and myself to assist him in preparing the designs and in obtaining an Act of Parliament to carry it into effect. At the request of the London Bridge Committee I had previously, in company with the late Mr. W. Mylne, prepared a general plan for this object, but it went no farther on account of the difficulty of raising the funds. Trench, however, overlooked this, and said he had no doubt that sufficient money would be obtained. He accordingly, with his great influence and indefatigable activity, formed a committee of the highest class; neither were the ladies excluded; amongst others, the beautiful Duchess of Rutland took the greatest interest in the undertaking, and at the first meeting, which took place at Her Grace’s house, she was unanimously voted to the chair, and conducted everything in the most business-like manner. Lord Palmerston, then Secretary for War, took a leading part, and it is singular that many years later his Lordship, then Premier, should have proposed a similar measure, and the continuation of the coal duties for carrying it into effect, which was adopted; but when we proposed the undertaking and the mode of raising the funds, notwithstanding our powerful committee, the idea was considered as chimerical. Trench, however, was so confident that the means would be found, that he went to considerable expense in preparing a book ornamented with numerous beautiful engravings showing the effect which would be produced by the undertaking, to which Wyatt and myself contributed our share. A solicitor, named Leech, was appointed, notices for going to Parliament were duly given, and the necessary plans and estimates were deposited; but when the question as to the means of raising the funds came before the Managing Committee, everybody was at a loss. To form a company appeared impossible, as it did not appear that sufficient revenue would be derived from the undertaking; and as to raising funds by increasing and extending the coal tax, the Government was decidedly opposed to it; they said they had done as much in this way as possible for London Bridge, and that the public would not submit to any further tax of the kind. Thus, after a considerable deal of useless trouble and expense, Trench, Wyatt, and myself were obliged to abandon this great undertaking, which has since been carried into effect nearly upon the same principles as we recommended.

As to the architecture of the approaches to London Bridge, I referred the subject to my brother-in-law, Cockerell, a very accomplished and competent authority, and I exhibited his designs to the Committee as well as some of my own. They, however, considered them to be too ornamental and costly, although they were as plain and simple as these important approaches rendered necessary. The Committee, having rejected them, referred the subject to the late Sir Robert Smirke, then one of the Crown architects, and he designed the present buildings on both sides of the bridge, as far as King William Street on the north, and the old townhall of Southwark on the south; and certainly, with all due respect to my late friend Sir Robert Smirke, a more unworthy set of buildings was never designed. Thus not only has a rare opportunity of making handsome and appropriate buildings to one of the greatest thoroughfares in the world been lost, but the buildings are so low and badly built, that the advantages of the ground, which it must have been foreseen were capable of almost unlimited development as regards rental, have been in a great measure thrown away.

Whilst building London Bridge I had also numerous other works to attend to, namely, the Admiralty works, the harbours of Ramsgate, Sunderland, Donaghadee, Port Patrick, Kingstown, and Port Rush, Staines Bridge, the bridge across the Serpentine in Hyde Park, finishing the Eau Brink Works, the Nene and Witham outfalls, the Ancholme Drainage, together with a good deal of miscellaneous business. As the harbours and Admiralty works are fully described in my book on ‘British and Foreign Harbours,’ I will proceed to the drainage: first, the Eau Brink. I have already said that the Great Cut was opened in 1821, just at the period of my father’s death; according to the latest Act, the engineers of drainage and navigation were obliged to report within twelve months after the opening of the cut; they were obliged to examine the whole, and report how far they had been completed, and what further was necessary in order to render them efficient. Mr. Telford and myself accordingly devoted several days to this; on examining the Eau Brink Cut we found that it had been made in exact conformity with Huddart’s design, as specified by the Act; but, notwithstanding, the upper end was too small, and the scour there was so great that it threatened to break through the bank across the upper end of the old channel, and thus revert to its old course. We therefore recommended that it should be increased one-third in area, the greatest part of the increase being at the upper end, and that the money destined in the estimate for clearing away the shoals in the river between the cut and Denver Sluice should be used for the purpose of widening the cut, as the bed of the river did not require clearing. This report took the Commissioners by surprise. They said they had been deceived, and did not believe that it was required, and would have the whole subject investigated by other engineers, which was accordingly done. However, it ended in proving that Mr. Telford and myself were right, and the enlargement of the Eau Brink Cut was made under my direction; this had the effect of lowering the low-water mark at the upper end 2 feet more, making 7 feet altogether. The scour of the cut was so much more than estimated, that the banks between Denver Sluice and the cut were in many places undermined, the channel was diverted from the old quays in Lynn, and several buildings on the opposite shore were washed down, and as the Eau Brink Commissioners were bound under the Act to compensate for any damages done to any interest or party, they, the Commissioners, were compelled to pay for all these damages—50,000l. to the bank owners, 28,000l., and 700l. a year to Lynn Harbour, 10,000l. to the Marshland Drainage, and other minor sums. Having settled this, they obtained an Act to relieve themselves from all further liability.

My father had been employed by the Duke of Bedford, and other great landowners in the north level of the fens, to consider the best plan of improving the Nene, so as to render it a good outfall for the drainage of the extensive low fen lands bordering it, which, on account of their bad drainage, were frequently subject to floods, and comparatively valueless. My father wrote a very able report on the subject, and recommended that the Nene should be deepened, enlarged, and lowered throughout its course from Peterborough to the sea; that a new channel should be made from a place called Rummery Mill above, to the Horse-shoe Bend, below Wisbeach (for the course followed by the river through the town was so crooked and confined that it could not be sufficiently improved without incurring great unnecessary expense) and that the navigation to and from the town should still be preserved by locks connecting the old with the new channel; and also to make a new outfall for the river from Kinderly’s Cut to a place called Crab Hole, in the Great Wash, where there was ample depth of water. He said that the new outfall might be made partly within the estuary and partly in the marshes without, to Skates Corner, but that then it would neither be so direct nor so effectual as if made entirely within the banks of the Nene estuary. Mr. Rennie’s report was approved of, but the necessary means for carrying it into effect were wanting, so the matter for the time lay dormant. Subsequently Mr. Telford and myself were appointed the engineers, and reconsidered the whole matter. Finding the people of Wisbeach were violently opposed to the main channel passing by their town, we were obliged to give up this part, as well as the upper portion of the channel to Peterborough, and confine ourselves to the improvement of the outfall below Wisbeach, and to commence the new outfall near the lower end of Kinderly’s Cut. I strongly advocated my father’s plan of making the new outfall direct to Crab Hole, within the old banks, but as the first expense would have been a little more, although far less in the end, as has been proved, it was resolved to make the new outfall to Skates Corner, partly within, partly without the old banks.

An Act of Parliament was accordingly obtained, and Messrs. Jolliffe and Banks became the contractors. The works commenced, and the outfall was opened in 1831. Whilst it was in progress Mr. Telford and myself frequently visited the works together, and in June we went down the old estuary of the Nene in a boat at low water, for the purpose of examining more minutely the state of the channels near Crab Hole and Skates, where we proposed that the new outfall should enter the estuary. It was a very stormy day, accompanied by lightning, thunder, rain, and a strong south-west wind. We got as far as Crab Hole at low water, when the weather beat us completely, and we were obliged to walk over the muddy shore half-way up to our knees, and drenched to the skin. We had sent some refreshment to an old house, called King John’s House, near the bank, said to have been erected during his reign, and to have afforded His Majesty shelter after his retreat from Lynn. The rain now came down heavier than ever, so that we had no alternative but to retrace our steps back to the dirty old “public” at the Ferry, called Cross Keys, about 3½ miles distant. We got back, thoroughly soaked, about three in the afternoon. I immediately stripped and went to bed. Old Telford, being a strong, hearty man, of about seventy, instead of following my example, ordered a large fire to be made in the only sitting-room there was, called for the newspaper, and sat himself down to dry. After two hours’ nap I was thoroughly refreshed, and went down to the sitting-room. When I entered there was such a steam that I could hardly see anything; but, approaching the fire, found Telford had nearly dried himself, and he abused me thoroughly for being so effeminate as to go to bed. He suffered, however, severely afterwards for his imprudence; for he was taken with a violent diarrhoea at Cambridge on his return, and was confined there for a fortnight, and escaped with difficulty with his life; but the diarrhoea haunted him more or less ever after, until his death. He was a most agreeable, facetious companion, and I passed many happy days with him. Previous to the diversion of the old channel through the new outfall, Mr. Telford and myself ordered the contractors to assemble as many men, horses, carts, and materials as possible, in order that the old channel should be stopped up during the neap tides.

When everything was ready we went down and met the contractors, Messrs. Jolliffe and Banks, and immediately gave them orders to commence filling up the old channel; they had about thirteen hundred men, and horses, carts, and materials, and appliances of all kinds, and set to work in right good earnest. The Corporation of Wisbeach, who had always opposed the measure, although they were compelled by the Act to contribute 30,000l. towards it, which was perhaps the cause, offered every obstruction in their power, and said that the new outfall was not excavated deep enough according to the Act, and came down in their barge with their law officers, giving us official written notices to stop all proceedings. At this critical moment the contractors were rather taken aback; Mr. Telford and I, however, nothing daunted, ordered the men to proceed stopping the channel, and to take no notice of the Corporation. We further told them, that if they did not go away, their barge and all in it would be swamped, and that the responsibility would rest entirely with them. Seeing that we were in earnest they turned tail, and, leaving their protest, returned to Wisbeach. The third day afterwards the old channel was completely closed, and the Nene diverted to its new outfall. It should be observed here, that Mr. Telford and myself, calculating upon the loose nature of the soil, which was silt, and which we felt confident would scour when fairly acted upon by the current, only made the contract for the excavation to the level of low water of spring tides; and therefore it would have wasted money to have excavated that which we knew the current would do for nothing. The current at first appeared to have very little effect; and the Duke of Bedford’s manager, the late excellent and talented Tycho Wing, a schoolfellow of mine at Dr. Burney’s, became much alarmed, and was sadly afraid that the outfall would be a failure. Telford and I knew better, and assured him that our only doubt was whether the current would not be too strong, and render it necessary to protect the sides with stone. This we considered to be no disadvantage—on the contrary a great benefit; for making the cut small in the first instance, we should always be able to regulate the scour whenever it might have a tendency to enlarge the cut beyond the size necessary to discharge the drainage water effectually, at the same time preserving a sufficient depth for navigation; but if it had been too large in the first instance, it could not have been properly adjusted afterwards. Mr. Wing was comforted by our assurances; still he had his doubts, and two months elapsed before any sensible scour appeared to take place. The fact was, the fall in the bottom was so little, that the current had to remove the obstacles to its progress, which it could only do by degrees, when it had accumulated sufficient fall or head; having done this, its progress was most rapid, and increased daily, so that within six months after it had been opened it had scoured out the bottom to 9 feet below low water of spring tides; the sides also had been regularly scoured away, and the area of the cut was increased to three times its original size. Spring tides, which had scarcely exceeded a few feet at Wisbeach, and not much more at Cross Keys, rose remarkably at both places, so that vessels of considerable tonnage could reach Wisbeach even at neaps, whereas before they could only get up there at spring tides. The trade of the port increased so rapidly, that they were soon enabled to pay off the 30,000l. which they had been previously obliged to borrow to contribute to the cost of the outfall.

The outfall by the scour had now attained its proper dimensions, and we recommended that the banks should be paved with stone, in order to prevent them from being enlarged, which was accordingly done. The outfall went on improving until the year 1837, when I examined it, and found that the low-water mark had fallen 10 feet 3 inches at Cross Keys Bridge, that there was a rise of tide of 20 feet at springs, and depth of 9 feet at low water, and a rise proportionate at Wisbeach at both springs and neaps; so that vessels drawing 16 feet could go up to the town at springs, and 12 feet at neaps, and the whole of the surrounding lowland country was completely drained and the property nearly doubled in value. Mr. John Young was appointed engineer under me for paving the new outfall with stone, and afterwards entered business upon his own account as merchant and shipowner at Wisbeach; and by his talents, energy, and industry has since realized an ample fortune, has been elected mayor several times, and has become member for the county of Cambridge.

It had long been a favourite idea with the late Lord William Bentinck and his friend Mr. Thomas Hoseason, of Banklands, to make a bridge across the Nene estuary, at Cross Keys, in order to shorten the distance between the south of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The bridge over the lower end of the Eau Brink had been completed, and another had been made at the Fossdyke Wash by my father, for the Welland; so that it was only necessary to make another across the Nene estuary, at Cross Keys, to complete this desirable line of communication. A company was accordingly formed for this purpose, of which Lord William Bentinck was the head. An Act was obtained at the same time as the Nene Outfall Act, and I was appointed the engineer. The Nene Outfall Commissioners obtained a clause in the Bridge Act compelling the Company to build the bridge over the Nene Outfall Cut at the same time; this I told them was very unwise, for as the bridge was to be built of wood, with a drawbridge opening in the centre to allow vessels to pass, it would be impossible to drive the great piles forming the piers of the bridge sufficiently deep to be below the scour in the outfall; the better plan would be to wait until the outfall had been scoured to its full depth, and then build the bridge. My opinion was overruled; the bridge was built; and it was impossible, as I expected, to drive the piles to the requisite depth. Where the full effect of the scour had taken place it was found necessary to secure the piles of the bridge by throwing a great mass of stone round them. This materially obstructed the current through the bridge, until at length there was a fall through it of from two to three feet, which greatly injured the drainage, so that the Nene Outfall Commissioners ultimately got an Act to make a new bridge for the Company at the Commissioners’ expense. All this might have been avoided if the bridge had been built as I originally recommended. The spot where this bridge and line of embankment is made is the same place where King John’s army was lost, and where my father was nearly drowned some years before, crossing in his carriage, being overtaken by the tide. Six thousand acres of this Wash have been reclaimed from the sea by myself; and where once the tides used to ebb and flow, are now fields under culture producing the finest crops.

Notwithstanding all the attempts to improve the river Nene above Wisbeach, nothing had been done, and I was again requested by the Duke of Bedford’s advisers to examine the subject and make a comprehensive plan by means of which Whittlesea Mere and all the low fenny country around it might be drained, to the extent of 55,000 acres, it being then little better than a marsh. I accordingly surveyed and levelled the whole country, and made my report in 1837. I showed that by improving the Nene from Peterborough to the outfall, and making a main drain to Whittlesea Mere to connect it with the Nene, and by making a catchwater drain round the base of the surrounding hills, so as to discharge the highland water into the Nene at Peterborough and the Ouse at Hermitage Sluice, the whole country would be thoroughly well drained, the navigation would be greatly improved, and there would be an ample supply of fresh water at moderate cost. This plan was approved of by the late Mr. Robert Stephenson, but was not adopted. The Middle Level Corporation, in whose district was the greatest part of the lowlands to be drained, would not listen to it, but insisted on draining them by the Ouse, 10 miles farther distant. This measure was carried out at double the cost of my plan, and a minor plan substituted for the improvement of the Nene, which is said to have cost a great deal more than any benefits derived from it, although the Eau Brink Cut had lowered the low-water mark on the Ouse nearly 6 feet. Still the sands below Lynn, at the mouth of the Ouse, accumulated to such an extent, that the navigation up to that town was so seriously obstructed that moderate-sized vessels could only come up to the town at spring tides, and they frequently got ashore upon the numerous shoals, lost their tide, and were detained for days together, besides suffering considerable injury. The drainage interests, moreover, complained that the water in the Ouse did not fall low enough to enable the middle and south level lands to be properly drained. In fact, the good effects produced by the Eau Brink Cut were decreasing, in consequence of the waters not being able to get off below Lynn, so that they were held up to the extent of 2 feet at the lower end of the Eau Brink Cut, thus reducing the original fall gained by that cut from 7 feet to 5, whilst the fall gained by the Nene Outfall had been fully 10 feet 6 inches to 11 feet, being a difference of 6 feet in favour of the Nene. A committee, consisting of Lord W. Bentinck, Sir William Foulkes, and others, leading proprietors and parties interested, requested me to examine into the whole subject and report as to what was best to be done. I accordingly employed nearly twelve months in surveying and levelling the Great Wash and the mouths of the Ouse, Nene, Welland, and Witham, which are the principal rivers discharging their waters into the Great Wash, and which drain all the adjacent fen lands, amounting to nearly a million of acres, besides the high lands. I found that by improving all the mouths of these rivers an additional fall of 7 feet might be gained for the Ouse, 2 feet for the Nene, and a similar amount for the Welland and the Witham, and recommended that all these rivers should be united and made to discharge their waters into one great main channel in the centre of the Great Wash, and that the main and minor channels should be properly embanked. By this means not only would all these rivers be much improved, and the drainage and navigation rendered as perfect as they could be made, but, in addition to this, from 150,000 to 200,000 acres of land would be gained from the Wash, or, in other words, a new county, of most valuable land, would be added to the kingdom. This project was so vast and important that it took the world by surprise. It was impossible to deny the soundness of the principles or data upon which it was founded, or the vast importance of it in a national point of view, if means could be found to carry it into effect; but here was one of the great difficulties, and another still greater presented itself, namely that of uniting together the vast number of conflicting interests concerned, so that they might combine together as one whole body for the completion of the undertaking.

After the plan had been published and promulgated for some time, all sorts of objections were raised and attacks made upon it. I replied coolly and steadily to them all, and the more it was investigated, the more the world became convinced of its practicability. Still it was impossible to combine the various conflicting interests, and equally difficult to form a company for such a vast and novel undertaking. The public naturally said, if the drainage and navigation interests and the landed proprietors, who were so much interested, did not see their way, how could it be expected that a company should? Thus the affair, although frequently agitated, lay in abeyance for several years. Its chief supporters, Lord William Bentinck and Mr. Hoseason, having gone to India, there remained none of sufficient energy and influence to push it forward. At length the late talented and indefatigable Lord George Bentinck became member for Lynn, in succession to his uncle, Lord William, when he became Governor-General of India. Lord George was unanimously chosen chairman, and examined most minutely, with his usual sagacity, every detail of the measure, and was perfectly satisfied of its practicability and value, but thought that it was too great to be undertaken as a whole, and that it would be better to divide it into two parts, one comprising the Ouse and Nene, the other the Welland and Witham. I must not omit to mention that the late Prince Consort was much pleased with the plan, and expressed his approbation to me of it. It was accordingly decided to form a company for the Norfolk half, including the Ouse and Nene, and to reclaim 35,000 acres of land from the Great Wash; and at the end of 1845 the requisite plans were prepared and notices given for a Bill to be applied for in the ensuing session, under the title of the Norfolk Estuary Act. The Company originally calculated that the land gained from the estuary would have indemnified them for making the new cut for the Ouse; and so it would, if they had been allowed all the land below high-water mark, without having any other burdens entailed upon them. But unfortunately this was not the case; they were saddled with the maintenance of the Great Cut, although, strictly speaking, it ought to have been maintained by the navigation and the drainage interests, which alone derived the benefit from it. The land frontagers claimed all the land, or green marsh, to be embanked at the expense of the Company, who were only to receive a certain portion of its improved value; the Ouse bank owners were to be indemnified to some extent also. The Crown was to have a commission of five per cent. upon the expenditure; and the Church was to have a certain portion, or tithe, upon the land gained: indeed, so many restrictions were placed on the Company that their calculated profits were materially reduced; nevertheless, as a number of the shareholders were otherwise greatly interested in the improvement of the drainage, frontage, &c., they calculated that if the shares were worth nothing, they would still be the gainers. I protested as much as I could, without avail, against all these restrictions, and I doubted much whether the Act could or would be carried into effect with any benefit to those shareholders who simply looked to their profit from the shares. It turned out as I expected. The Act passed during the session of 1846. Still there was no prospect of the Norfolk Estuary Act being carried into effect, on account of the restrictions above mentioned; and the Company wisely determined not to proceed unless the drainage and navigation interests, which were so materially concerned, came forward with a handsome contribution towards it. The Middle Level proprietors had obtained a Bill, in the year 1846, for the improvement of their drainage, which was much opposed, and in which I took a leading part. However, they carried their Bill, and the works were designed and commenced under Mr. James Walker; but they soon found that the work would be comparatively valueless. The Norfolk Estuary Act had now been carried, and they therefore entered into negotiations with the Norfolk Estuary Company, and these negotiations finally ended in the Middle Level Commissioners and the Lynn Corporation, who represented the drainage and navigation interests, agreeing to contribute each the sum of 60,000l. towards the completion of the new channel for the Ouse, contemplated by the Norfolk Estuary Company, upon condition that the late Mr. Robert Stephenson should be joint engineer to the Norfolk Estuary Company with myself, to which, of course, I had no objection; and it was agreed that an Act of Parliament should be obtained in order to ratify this agreement, which passed in the year 1850.

At that time a former Act rendered it necessary that before any improvement was made in any port or harbour, a Commission should be appointed by the Admiralty to investigate the plan, the Commission to hold its inquiry in public; Captain Washington and Captain Veitch were appointed by the Admiralty for this purpose. They held their court at the townhall, Lynn, and, singular to relate, the gallant gentlemen advocated a curved instead of a straight channel, which, under the circumstances, was so contrary to the practice of every good hydraulic engineer, that their report was simply ridiculous, and when produced by the Admiralty before the Committee of the House of Commons on the Bill, was proved by the best engineers to be wrong, and was therefore ignored by the Committee, and the plan proposed by Mr. Stephenson and myself was unanimously adopted. The Bill accordingly passed, and the agreement between the Middle Level Commissioners, the Corporation of Lynn, and the Company, the two former contributing 60,000l. each, was ratified; still there were several restrictive clauses, such as entailing the maintenance of the works upon the Company, giving up the whole of the green marsh to the several frontages, which materially abridged the profits of the Company, and increased their risks, and which I in vain protested against. The main cut commenced on the lower side of Lynn, and was continued in a straight line 2½ miles. We calculated that certain dimensions were ample in the first instance, because it was not necessary to excavate the cut artificially to the full depth, as we knew that as soon as the current began to act upon it, it would in a short time be adjusted to its proper capacity for the admission and discharge of the tidal waters, in the same manner as had taken place in the Nene estuary outfall already mentioned. From the lower end of the above cut the channel for a distance of two miles farther to deep water was to be trained through the sands, formed by guide walls of rough stone raised to about the level of half tide, with beacons upon it at certain distances to indicate the channel; and when once the channel had been thus trained, the remainder of the banks to their full height above high water would be raised naturally by the silting up on each side, combined with the gradual process of embanking the land from each of the shores of the estuary, if properly managed.

Messrs. Peto undertook the contract of the main cut. The land having been bought, and everything arranged, a day was fixed for turning the first sod, at the upper end near Lynn. The ceremony was performed by the late worthy Sir William Foulkes, the chairman of the Company, on the 1st of November, 1850. On that day a grand procession, consisting of the Company, the Corporation and trades of Lynn, the Earl of Leicester, Lord Lieutenant, together with numerous gentry, and other spectators, attended the ceremony, which went off with great Éclat, and the whole, as usual, terminated with a grand dinner to about two hundred persons at the townhall. Unfortunately my friend Mr. Stephenson was abroad and could not attend. The excavation of the great cut proceeded rapidly for some time, until Mr. Stephenson and myself, judging that enough had been done, and that the current would do the rest more effectually, ordered the dams to be removed at both ends and the water admitted, which was accordingly done. As soon as the fen proprietors heard of this, they were greatly alarmed; they said that the Company had violated their agreement with them, and had gone contrary to the Act of Parliament, in not excavating the cut to the full depth required before letting the water in. We endeavoured in vain to persuade them to the contrary. They immediately applied for a mandamus to stop the works and restore the dams until the cut had been excavated to the full dimensions required by the Act, and obtained an injunction, so that we were compelled to restore the dams and stop out the water. We determined, however, not to give up the point, and argued the question before Vice-Chancellor Turner, and were beaten. We then applied to the Admiralty, who would not assist. We appealed from the Vice-Chancellor’s decision to the Lords Justices of Appeal, and were again beaten; still we would not give up, and at last we found that there was no alternative but to get a new Act of Parliament allowing us to make the cut in any manner we pleased, provided that we made it of the dimensions originally agreed upon. The Eau Brink Commissioners opposed us by every means in their power, but our evidence, which was given by the first engineers of the day, so completely satisfied Parliament that we carried our new Bill as we wished it.

Thus, after a severe struggle for two years, we carried our point; but this was so much valuable time lost, besides a great deal of money spent in litigation. Having obtained our new Act, we set to work immediately to remove the dams of the cut, and to let the water in, and at the same time to commence the dam for stopping up the old channel of the Ouse at the lower end of the town of Lynn, near the upper end of the new cut. As the dams and bottom of the river near them were composed of strong clay, it took some time to remove them so as to admit the waters freely into the cut; but as soon as this was done, the scour began to have a sensible effect; this was increased by the closing of the dam across the old channel, so that within a few months afterwards not only had the new cut been scoured out to the full depth required by the old Act, but considerably beyond it. Thus Stephenson and myself were proved in the right, and the opposition entirely in the wrong.

The effect on the port of Lynn was very remarkable. The depth of water at spring tides was 18 to 20 feet, and neaps 14 to 16 feet; and there was a regular depth at low water of spring tides of 9 to 12 feet in the cut, so that the largest vessels could always come up and depart with their full cargoes either at spring or neap tides, and the channel was so direct and easy of navigation, that pilots, of whom there was a large establishment, became in a great measure unnecessary, and their numbers were considerably reduced as well as their charges, and the increase of trade soon enabled the town of Lynn to pay off the 60,000l. contribution to the estuary works.

The drainage interests also derived a similar benefit by the lowering of the low-water mark 6 feet, which, together with that obtained by the Eau Brink Cut, was altogether 11 feet. The Middle Level Drainage, upon which a large sum had been expended, obtained an increased fall of between 3 and 4 feet, which enabled the Commissioners to drain the greatest portion of their lands naturally instead of artificially. In fact, the Port of Lynn by means of these works has become one of the best on the east coast of England, at the least expense, and with the most moderate dues; indeed, if the Drainage and Navigation had paid double the money which they did to this great work, and which in justice they ought to have done for the benefits it has conferred upon them, they would have been more than amply indemnified.

The Estuary Company having now completed the cut, turned their attention to the best means of reclaiming from the Wash the 35,000 acres which had been allotted to them by the Crown, or at least as much of it as they could; but unfortunately there were so many different opinions among them and their advisers, that they lost a great deal of time and money in pursuing improper measures. I, who originally designed the undertaking, and had acquired great experience in this department from having carried on successfully similar works in the Great Wash and elsewhere, always adhered to one system, namely, to work with nature, and never to go against her; if we did, I invariably found that we were beaten.

We knew, from a variety of experiments that had been made, that the alluvial matter held in suspension by the waters in the Great Wash was an ascertainable quantity; that this alluvial matter was transferred from one place to another, according to the prevailing winds and currents; and that it was only deposited where circumstances were favourable, such as eddies and sheltered stagnant places. Now my great object (after having confined the fresh and tidal waters of the river Ouse to one adequate channel, so as to preserve the drainage and navigation in an efficient state) was to cause to be deposited the alluvial matter that was held in suspension in the waters spreading over the other parts of the estuary. This could only be done effectually by arresting the progress of the flowing and ebbing waters in such a manner, that as much of the alluvial matter as possible might be deposited in the places most convenient, that is, in those places where it was desired to raise the soil above the level of high water of neap tides. When this level is reached grass may be expected to grow, and in a very short time the whole is converted into a green marsh. The process simply this: when the deposit has reached a certain number of feet above low water of spring tides, a species of light green vegetation first covers the surface in patches, then by degrees extends over the whole; the reclaimed land still continues rising, and at a higher level above low water samphire makes its appearance; the accumulation of soil still goes on increasing, when the samphire disappears, and grass succeeds it, and in a short time afterwards the place assumes the appearance of a level green marsh well adapted for grazing cattle. After it has arrived at this stage, which it does at about the level of high water of neap tides, the accumulation is very slow; on our coasts it seldom attains a much higher elevation, except where the sand is blown up by strong winds from the sea, which forms dunes or banks, that, as in the case of Holland and other places, sometimes attain an elevation of 30 feet and upwards above the level of the highest tides. This, however, is not the case around the shores of the Great Wash; there the marshes are simply produced by the gradual deposit of alluvial matter in the manner above stated.

The great object, therefore, as I have said, is to facilitate this deposit or accretion as much as possible by artificial means. Nature, if left to herself, though sure, is very slow. We must therefore assist nature, by following and working in unison with her laws. We must go to work gradually, and not by great and expensive operations check the currents violently and at once, which would only produce an equally strong current elsewhere, so that while we gained in one place we should lose in another. By a series of light works composed of bushy fagots or other similar materials, raised about 12 or 15 inches above the level of the sands, and disposed in a series of lines at certain distances from each other, not continuous, but in lengths, so that the ends may overlap each other, the currents will be gently checked without being wholly obstructed, the water between them will be rendered stagnant, and the alluvial matter with which it is charged will be deposited. When the deposit has reached to the top of these works, the works themselves should be raised higher in the same place, or in an intermediate position, as circumstances shall render advisable. Where a certain space is intended to be raised or warped up, it is generally better to commence at the upper end and work downwards; the works themselves are less expensive, the height to be raised is less, and the water impelled by the mass of the tide behind brings up a greater quantity of alluvial matter, and in proportion as the space above is warped up it accumulates in a greater degree below. In carrying on works of this kind, wherever we find that there is a tendency to make a channel, and with it a strong current, it must be checked gradually from the upper end, so that the quantity of water passing through it may be decreased, and this channel will soon fill up. When a certain space has been naturally or artificially raised to the level of a fine green marsh, provided that there be a sufficient quantity to pay the expense, it should be embanked entirely from the sea. As to the expense incurred in embanking it, and the value of the land when embanked, generally speaking, we shall seldom err if we take as a rule that the land should be worth double the cost of embanking. When we have an estuary to deal with from which we may expect to reclaim several thousand acres of land, it resolves itself into a serious question both of time and money as to the best mode of accomplishing it. One object should be as far as practicable to reduce the extent of main or barrier banks, and if the situation be well adapted for the purpose, a barrier bank may be commenced at the lower end, and gradually pushed forward in proportion as the space above it exhibits a tendency to silt up; in combination with this the minor operations should be carried on, so that the one may assist the other. When a sufficient quantity of marsh above the barrier bank has been formed, it may be embanked from the sea, and by keeping the barrier bank always sufficiently in advance the interior banks will become less costly, as they will not be exposed to the main force of the waves during storms; otherwise each separate bank must be made a barrier bank, and the whole cost will be materially increased. The propriety of adopting either the one system or the other will greatly depend upon the peculiar local circumstances.

With regard to the quantity of land, when fit for the purpose, to be embanked or enclosed at one time, this also will, like the other, depend upon the local circumstances. Generally speaking it is safer to confine the operation to about 400 or 500 acres; and the proper time for closing the embankment is during neap tides, when the work will be much facilitated.

It is true that much greater quantities may be taken in at one time, according to the Dutch system, but then several closing spaces must be left open, and these must all be specially prepared for the purpose by lining the bottom and sides with wicker-work and fascines to prevent the scour, and then filling them up with clay, stone, fascines, and earth, as the case may require; and if by chance a breach should take place, which occasionally occurs under the best of management, the internal space to be filled with water is so great that the violence and strength of the inpouring current is increased in the same proportion, so that it carries all before it, scoops out great channels in the interior space, and damages the land by the great quantity of sand brought in, and it becomes difficult to clear the internal space of water. And although by this plan a less quantity of embankment is required, nevertheless the expense per lineal foot becomes greater; but where the length of the embankment is small compared to the depth of the land to be enclosed, this system, if properly managed, may be adopted with advantage. The most advisable plan must be left a good deal to the judgment and skill of the engineer-in-chief taking advantage of the local circumstances.

The above principles for warping and enclosing land I recommended in several reports to the Norfolk Estuary Company, but they were not adopted to the extent I recommended; the consequence has been that several years’ time and a good deal of money have been unnecessarily expended. But I believe that they have been finally convinced that my system was the proper one, and it has since been adopted to some extent, with considerable success, and about 1000 acres (in 1867) have been enclosed, the property of the Company, at the cost of about 15l. per acre, the land being worth 40l. They have, moreover, enclosed 600 acres more for the Prince of Wales, upon which they will be paid one-third of its improved value. As several thousand acres in the estuary belonging to the Company are rapidly approaching that state when they may be profitably embanked, I confidently believe, by proper management, that the shareholders will ultimately recover a good deal if not the whole of their capital, and perhaps a good portion of their interest also; but I shall always contend that if my recommendations had been followed from the beginning, a great deal of money would have been saved. The Company ought not to have submitted to the restrictions imposed by the Acts. The contribution from the drainage and navigation interests ought to have been double, for which they would have been amply repaid, and the land gained would have been far greater, so that even by this time it might have been a very profitable concern.

Whilst the Nene Outfall was in progress, I was employed by the Corporation of Boston to improve the outfall of the river between the Grand Sluice at the upper end of the town, and Hobhole near the mouth of the river, a distance of nearly four miles. This had previously been proposed by my father, in the year 1845, to the Corporation of Boston, previous to commencing the great drainage of the East, West, and Wildmere fens bordering upon the Witham between Lincoln and Boston, amounting to about 125,000 acres of lowland, which for the most part was little better than a marsh. It was here he proposed his grand system for the drainage of lowlands by means of catchwater drains for the waters from the highlands, and main and minor drains for the waters from the lowlands, both systems of drains being distinct and separate from each other, and which he afterwards most successfully carried into effect. In order to obtain the requisite fall, it was necessary that the outfalls of the two main drains should be carried into the Witham below the town of Boston; but in order that this might be effectual, it was also necessary that the Witham should be greatly improved between Boston and the mouth at Hobhole; and as the navigation between these two points was very defective, he thought that the Corporation should bear the expense, as they would derive the greatest benefit. For this purpose my father proposed two plans: one was to improve the old channel, partly by cutting off the bends and confining and straightening its course, and from Hobhole making a new cut to Clayhole, where there was ample depth of water at all times of tide; and the other plan was to make a direct cut within land from the lower end of Boston to Clayhole. He proposed also, for the drainage, to make an outfall for the highland water at Maudfoster, just below the town of Boston, as he said that by bringing the highland water there, it would effectually serve to keep the river open between that point and its mouth at Hobhole, and to make an outfall for the lowland waters at the latter place; and he recommended the drainage interests to contribute a certain portion of the expense towards the improvement. The Corporation of Boston declined doing anything, and the drainage was left to take care of itself. Mr. Rennie, however, foresaw that if the Witham was not improved by either one or the other of the plans that he recommended, the highland water would not be effectively discharged by the sluice at Maudfoster, and therefore he made a communication between the Maudfoster drain and the Hobhole drain at a place called Cowbridge, a few miles above Boston, where there was a gauge, so that whenever the water in Maudfoster drain exceeded the gauge it passed into the lowland main drain, and from thence into the Witham at Hobhole. What Mr. Rennie foresaw came true; the Witham, not having been improved, became worse, and the river in front of the Maudfoster Sluice was silted up, so that it could not discharge its water, and therefore the whole of the water, highland and lowland, was obliged to go by Hobhole, which drain and sluice, foreseeing what would take place, he had enlarged for the purpose.

In the year 1827, the outfall of the Witham between Boston and Hobhole had become so much silted up that at high water of neap tides there was scarcely water enough for fishing boats to come up to the town during the summer months and dry seasons, and at spring tides only sloops of very small draught could get up to the town; in fact, it might be said that at that time Boston as a seaport was lost, and the trade and navigation of the port ruined. At this the Corporation became greatly alarmed, and sent for me. I directed the late Mr. Francis Giles to make a complete survey of the river, which he did in his usual able and correct manner, and no person could do it better. Being provided with this survey, I made my report, and saw clearly that there was no remedy but to carry into effect either the one or the other of my father’s plans of 1805. As the Corporation funds were very limited, I recommended the plan for improving the old channel, partly by cutting off the bends and confining the river as far as Hobhole, and from thence making a new cut to Clayhole, as recommended by my father. There were three parties who were to contribute towards the improvement of the outfall of the Witham, namely, the Corporation of Boston, and the Witham and the Black Sluice Commissioners. The Black Sluice Commissioners demurred to the plan proposed by me, which was my father’s, on the ground that the cut ought to be made from the Black Sluice inland direct to Hobhole, otherwise they would not derive the advantages they had a right to expect from their contributions; so the whole matter was referred to Mr. Telford, who said that no improvement in the river below Boston would be of any use, unless the Grand Sluice above Boston was removed, so as to admit the tide to flow farther up the river. Now, although Telford was to a certain extent right, but by no means wholly so, because by carrying into effect either of my father’s plans there could be no doubt that considerable improvement would be made on the outfall of the Witham below Boston, as the sequel will show, nevertheless, if the Grand Sluice had been removed the tide would have flowed farther up the river and the increased quantity of tidal water passing upwards and downwards would have improved the outfall still further; but there were insuperable objections to the removal of the Grand Sluice, which neither of those parties above mentioned who were to make the improvement in the outfall could control, for the river above the Grand Sluice was under a different body. The banks must have been raised to admit the tide; compensation must have been made for the loss of fresh water, and various other interests must have been consulted that were hostile. The Black Sluice Commissioners stuck to Telford’s report, and withdrew from the contribution, so that the whole matter fell to the ground.

The outfall of the Witham became worse, and the Corporation of Boston, being left single-handed, and having determined to do what they could to improve the river, again requested my advice. I said that the best thing they could do under the circumstances would be to carry into effect by degrees, as far as their means would allow, the plan of my father already referred to for improving the old channel of the river, and to begin by cutting off the bend between Hobhole and the upper end of Burton’s Marsh (this cut would be about half a mile long), and blocking up the old channel immediately above it, which was about half a mile wide. These two works would shorten the navigation quite half a mile, and admit and discharge the tidal and fresh waters more readily, and thus produce a corresponding scour and lowering of the low-water line and bed of the river all the way up to the Grand Sluice above Boston.

The Corporation adopted my recommendation, and entered into a contract with Jolliffe and Banks for that purpose. Although a small work, it was attended with considerable difficulty, particularly in closing the old channel, on account of its great width and the great body of tidal water which passed through it. The effect of this work exceeded my most sanguine expectations; in a short time it improved the channel upwards to Boston to such an extent that spring tides rose at Boston Bridge 14 feet, and neaps 10 feet, and the bed of the river was deepened from 3 to 4 feet below low water of springs, so that vessels drawing 15 feet and 16 feet could come up to the town at springs, and vessels drawing 12 to 13 feet could come up at neaps; moreover, all the silt was scoured away from the front of the Maudfoster Sluice, so that it discharged the highland water from the fens, which it had not done for years before, and improved also the discharge of the waters from the Grand and Black sluices. I must confess that I was not a little elated at this successful result, as it most completely established the correctness of my father’s opinion as well as my own, and demonstrated the fallacy of my friend Telford’s judgment. The cost of the above works was 33,000l., which was very small compared to the advantage obtained. The Corporation of Boston were so much pleased with the success that they determined to carry into effect the remainder of the improvement in the old channel to Boston, which was afterwards done by confining the channel by degrees to a proper width by means of fascines and loose stone and clay properly combined together up to the level of half tide, so that the flood and ebb always acted to the greatest advantage in one and the same channel without materially diminishing the quantity of tidal water.

The effect of these additional works was to still further deepen the bed of the river and increase the flow of the tide by lowering the low-water mark, which improved the navigation and drainage still further, so that the trade of Boston revived and increased in prosperity, and all this was effected by the resources of Boston alone; and it is only to be regretted that the drainage interests, who derived so much benefit, were not compelled to contribute their just proportion.

In 1852 a Bill was obtained to carry into effect my plan for improving the mouths of the Witham below Hobhole, and the Welland below Fosdike Bridge, and reclaiming 35,000 acres of land from the Great Wash, as formerly described, but the Bill was clogged with so many restrictions, and neither the drainage or navigation interests would contribute anything towards it, although they would have been greatly benefited, that it was found impossible to carry it into effect so as to remunerate the shareholders, and therefore it was abandoned.

I about this time finished some minor works which had been designed and partly executed for the improvement of the Witham near Lincoln. This was part of a great plan of my father for improving the river Witham, so as to make it navigable for the Yorkshire coasting vessels, drawing 6 feet and carrying about 70 tons. From Lincoln they proceeded to the Trent by the Old Foss navigation, which entered the Trent at Torksey, and from thence to the Humber and the adjacent coasts. This improved navigation of the Witham answered very well as a commercial speculation, and in the year 1847 was sold to the Great Northern Railway Company, who established a railway on its banks, which now forms part of their loop line between Peterborough and Lincoln, which has in a great measure superseded the navigation.

During this period I was requested by the Commissioners of the Ancholme Level, consisting of about 50,000 acres of low fen lands, bordering upon the Ancholme in North Lincolnshire, to give them my advice as to the best means of improving their drainage, and at the same time the navigation of that river.

The Ancholme takes its rise near Market Rasen, in the highlands of the north of Lincolnshire, and after a course of some miles it enters the lowland district of the valley, and proceeds through it in a northerly direction for a distance of about 18 miles, when it joins the Humber at right angles to its course. The valley varies from one mile in width at the upper end to three miles at the lower end, where it joins the Humber. It is bounded on the south by a ridge of chalk hills of considerable elevation, and on the north by a similar ridge of sandstone hills.

The Ancholme having very little fall where it enters the lowlands, and being prevented from discharging its waters with facility into the Humber on account of the great mass of water and high tides in the latter river, was forced back upon the lowlands, and frequently inundated them, so that they became little better than marshes, and the river itself was necessarily extremely circuitous. In 1806 the Commissioners applied to my father for advice, and he recommended, in the first place, that the river should be straightened as far as practicable, in order to utilize the fall of the current to the fullest extent; also that a sluice should be constructed to exclude the tides at Terreby; and a catchwater drain made on the south side, with separate sluice to discharge the highland waters into the Humber. This advice was only partly followed: the river was straightened; the catchwater drain only extended as far as Brigg; a lock was made for the navigation at Hortestow Green, where the river entered the lowlands; and a sluice with a lock was made at Terreby. In principle, these works were correctly designed and well adapted for the purpose as far as they went; but I am not exactly aware whether they were carried out according to his plan, or under his immediate direction; and twenty years had elapsed before I was invited to give my opinion.

When I visited them the level was very badly drained; the river was full of shoals; the navigation, which was intended for the Yorkshire coasting vessels up to Bishop’s Bridge, was only practicable a few miles beyond Brigg, and that in a very imperfect manner; and the works generally were in a very bad state.

After having inspected the works, I recommended, first, that the main river should be deepened, widened, and enlarged throughout the entire length of the level, so as to accommodate the full-sized Yorkshire coasting vessels drawing 6 ft. 6 in.; and that the river should be of ample capacity to contain the floods fully 2 to 3 feet below the level of the lowlands, so that they could not be overflowed, and might always be able to drain into it.

Secondly, that a lock should be made with a lift of 6 feet, so that coasting vessels might be enabled to get up to Bishop’s Bridge; and that as a great deal of sand was brought down by the upper part of the river, which continually produced shoals and filled it up, I recommended that at the upper end of the lock an overfall should be made, together with a capacious reservoir, into which the sand might be discharged, in order to prevent it from getting into the river; then it could be removed whenever necessary.

Thirdly, that a new sluice and lock should be made at Terreby, where the Ancholme joined the Humber; that all the new sluices should be laid 6 feet below the old one; and that new bridges should be made across the main river to replace the old ones, which were not of sufficient capacity.

Fourthly, that the south catchwater drain should be drained out and enlarged, and extended to the upper end of the level.

Fifthly, that a catchwater drain of the requisite dimensions should be made on the north side of the level, from the new sluice to the farther extremity of the level, and that the water should be discharged through a separate opening in the new sluice.

Sixthly, that wherever a brook entered the catchwater drain on either side, there should be corresponding weirs and reservoirs for receiving the sand and other deposits, so as to prevent them from getting into the drains.

These several works were executed, under my directions, by Messrs. Jolliffe and Banks, as contractors; and Mr. Adam Smith, as resident engineer, to whom the real credit is due for the very able, honest, and zealous manner in which he discharged his duties, particularly for the execution of the new sluice at Terreby, which was done without a contractor, and is one of the cheapest and best works of the kind.

These works have answered their object completely; and the Ancholme district is as well drained as any level in the kingdom, and the navigation is complete of the kind.

Whilst carrying on these works I was the frequent guest of the Earl of Yarborough, the Commodore of the Yacht Club, and received the greatest kindness and attention from his lordship; without his support, ability, and firmness, these works would never have been attempted, nor carried to a successful conclusion.

[2] I have always heard this story in Cornwall; and a pamphlet on the subject, now very scarce, was published at the time. Mr. Fox, I have been told, was taken before a magistrate, and made an affidavit concerning it the morning after the occurrence, and before the mail came down.—C. G. C. R.