Lewes and Laughton Levels
| Lewes and Laughton Levels | |
|---|---|
 Glynde Reach is the main drain for the Laughton Levels | |
  The Levels within East Sussex | |
| Location | Lewes and Laughton in East Sussex |
| OS grid | TQ435080 |
| Coordinates | 50°51′N 0°02′E / 50.85°N 0.04°E |
| Area | 6,000 acres (24 km2) |
The Lewes and Laughton Levels are an area of low-lying land bordering the River Ouse near Lewes and the Glynde Reach near Laughton in East Sussex, England. It is prone to flooding and has been affected by historic changes to the mouth of the River Ouse. John Smeaton drew up plans to make is suitable for agriculture in the 1760s, and subsequent civil engineering projects on the rivers have also assisted this process.
History
The Ouse valley was almost certainly a tidal inlet in Norman times, for the Domesday book of 1086 lists several salt works, which produced salt by evapourating sea water. Some were quite far inland, and such works were recorded at Laughton and Ripe on the Glynde.[1] Other activities around the edges of the water included fishing and agriculture. By the early 14th century, some reclamation of the flood plain had taken place, with the construction of embankments to create fertile meadows, but the process was not without risk.[2] The gradient on the lower Ouse, between Lewes and Newhaven, is just 6 inches per mile (0.1m per km)[3] and changes in the relative levels of the land and sea, together with an increase in the number of storm tides, resulted in many of the meadows being submerged in winter by the later 14th century, and sometimes remaining flooded through the summer. Meadows at Beddingham were recorded as being flooded in the summer months for five years in the 1360s and three years in the 1380s, but were not flooded during the 1370s.[4]
Bibliography
- Brandon, P (1971). The Origin of Newhaven and the Drainage of the Lewes and Laughton Levels. Vol. 109. Sussex Archaeological Collections.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Farrant, Sue (2008). John Ellman of Glynde in Sussex (PDF). British Agricultural History Society.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Robinson, D A; Williams, R B G (1983). "Chapter 3. The Sussex Coast Past and Present". In Sutton, Alan (ed.). Sussex: Environment, Landscape and Society (PDF). Sussex University.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Smeaton, John (1812). Miscellaneous Papers of John Smeaton. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
References
- ^ Robinson & Williams 1983, p. 3 (pdf).
- ^ Brandon 1971, p. 96.
- ^ Robinson & Williams 1983, p. 2 (pdf).
- ^ Brandon 1971, pp. 96–97.