Workman initially employed in draining the Fens were a cosmopolitan group, speaking a variety of tongues more familiar on the continent.

Gutteral Dutch voices mingled with those of La Belle France and Gaelic utterances of Scottish Prisoner’s-of-war cursed the flat malarial landscape which to Fen inhabitants was the familiar scene of their ancient livelihood.

The drainage story centres upon embattled legions of men valiantly attempting to control unforgiving forces of nature, confirming free ranging waters to a system of dykes, sluices, washland and drains.

A fascinating story encompassing a historically interesting area where foreigners persecuted for their faith in their own land, and others brought to the Fens against their will, pitted their skills against nature in her worst moods won.