River Welland

The origin of the name for the river is unknown but appears to be Pre-English. In Old English the form was Weolud and may have changed to the Middle English form due to folk-etymology or Scandinavian influence. The Welland (Weolud) is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 921 AD. During the reign of Henry III (1207–1272), complaints were made that of the two channels below Crowland, the one to Spalding was more favourable to the passage of barges, but the Abbot of Crowland had obstructed and narrowed its course by planting willow trees. In the fourteenth century, Spalding was charged with failing to scour and repair the river, causing damage to the king's liege people, but argued…

Plans to re-route the outfall along a new channel which would meet the River Witham at The Scalp, near Boston, were authorised in 1794, but the money could not be raised at the time, due to the financial crisis caused by the French Wars. The effects of the embankments had resulted in the bed of the river below Fosdyke being around 7 ft lower by 1845. In 1867, the River Welland Outfall Act enabled the trustees to raise money to repair the walls where the tide had washed away some of the fill behind the fascines. A dredger was employed between 1889 and 1890, which had been invented by a Mr Harrison, the superintendent of works. Fulney lock was constructed at the same time to exclude the tide…