It’s said that if you climb the tower of Ely Cathedral on a clear day, you can make out the silhouette of Peterborough Cathedral, some 30 miles to the northwest. The most notable feature of the Fens is their pancake-like topography. The plan was a qualified success a vast area was now farmable, though wind-powered pumps were needed to keep the water at bay. A series of drainage channels were cut, criss-crossing the wetlands of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. Eventually, though, their value as potential agricultural land became too enticing to ignore, and the Earl of Bedford, along with a number of “gentlemen adventurers,” signed contracts with Charles I to drain the area, beginning in the 1630s. Until the 17th century, the Fens-a broad, flat swath of marshland in eastern England-were home only to game-hunters and fishermen. For posterity's sake, here's Ars' recent look at reality vs.
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