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Guthram Gowt is a small settlement in the
South Holland
South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
, England. It is situated both east from
Bourne and west from
Spalding, and at a bend in the
River Glen.
History
The word 'gowt' refers to a sluice or outflow, though the origin of the word is not known with complete certainty. It appears to be cognate with the French ''égout'', sewer. Though the modern mind associates the word 'sewer' with foul water, it was not always necessarily so. There are several 'gowt' placenames on the fens, including
Anton's Gowt
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Anton's Gowt is a hamlet in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately north-west from the market town and port of Boston. It is the most southerly village within the East Lindsey district.
Histo ...
. In a reference that predates the pumping works, the nearby turnpike toll gate was known as ''Guthram Cote''. This is indicative, as though the spelling and form of the name vary considerably, there appears to be no reference to the use of 'gowt' in connection with Guthram's Cote before the steam engine was installed. The earlier name was still in use contemporary with the use of the engine.
In 1189, when
Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
disafforested Spalding and Pinchbeck, Guthrams Gowt was known as ''Gudramsende'', and the precursor of the adjacent Forty Foot Drain was the ''Midfendic''.
Pumping station
A wind-driven
scoopwheel pump was operating here as early as 1766. In the 19th and early 20th century a steam-powered drainage engine was in existence,
set up following acts of Parliament of 1841 and 1843.
[
The Bourne Drainage Act 1841 ( 4 & 5 Vict. c. cxiii) authorized the building of an engine to drain Bourne North Fen, replacing engines (probably windmills), erected after the Bourn Inclosure Act 1766 ( 6 Geo. 3. c. ''52'' ), which were described as "dilapidated, decayed and entirely removed". The Lincolnshire Fens Drainage Act 1843 ( 6 & 7 Vict. c. xxxvii) transferred all responsibility for this engine and the drainage from the Black Sluice commissioners to the Bourne North Fen Commissioners,][ a separation of responsibilities that continued until after the Second World War.
The book goes on to describe how proposals for a replacement engine were made in 1881, but were not taken up before Wheeler went to press.
However, in 1895 the scoopwheel ''was'' replaced: with a centrifugal pump made by Easton & Anderson. Then in 1918 the steam engine was replaced by a horizontal gas engine, which drove the Easton and Anderson pump via belt. In 1933 a two-cylinder Ruston diesel and a Gwynnes pump were added.][
There are now no pumping facilities on site, only a rainfall ]telemetry
Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...
station for the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
.
Geography
Guthram Gowt falls within the drainage area of the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board
An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management wit ...
.South Forty-Foot Drain
The South Forty-Foot Drain, also known as the Black Sluice Navigation, is the main channel for the land-drainage of the Black Sluice Level in the Lincolnshire The Fens, Fens. It lies in eastern England between Guthram Gowt and the Black Sluic ...
, and the location chosen for a new lock to allow traffic into the River Glen as part of the Fens Waterways Link
The Fens Waterways Link is a project to improve recreational boating opportunities in the counties of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, England. By a combination of improvements to existing waterways and the construction of new links a circular ...
project.
A few buildings in agricultural use are located at the site, and on the opposite side of the road is Glen farm, and on the opposite side of the River Glen, Willow Tree Farm. Guthram Gowt is served by br>302
service to Spalding, and the Lincolnshire CallConnect
Lincolnshire InterConnect is a rural Public transport bus service, bus network in the Counties of England, county of Lincolnshire in the east of England.
A number of ''InterConnect''-branded Intercity bus, interurban bus routes with fixed Pub ...
minibus service.
References
External links
*
* Penhey, Robert
"The Bourne Archive: Bourne Places"
Boar.org.uk
"Images in TF1722"
Geograph.org.uk. Locational photos of Guthram Gowt, including the modern rainfall station
{{Authority control
Hamlets in Lincolnshire