The Haven, Boston

The Haven is the tidal river of the Port of Boston, Lincolnshire in England. It provides access for shipping between Boston Deeps in The Wash and the town, particularly, the dock. It also serves as the outfall into the sea, of the River Witham and of several major land drains of the northern Fens of eastern England. (gbmaprim|TF337426|TF 337 426).

Physical and economic development

The English settlers who arrived in The Wash, found tidal creeks which gave them entry to the habitable belt of land, inland from the salt-marshes. These creeks, they called "havens". There was a route inland from The Haven, with which this article deals, on which Boston later developed, to the upland of Lindsey. However, the port of Boston did not develop until after natural events had diverted the River Witham into The Haven during the eleventh century.

Simultaneously, this took the river away from Drayton, (gbmaprim|TF241399|TF 241 399), which had become the successor port of Swineshead as its estuary accumulated silt. The Swin had been to Swineshead what the Zwin was to Bruges but after the loss of the Witham, Bicker became more important than Drayton so its estuary became known as Bicker Haven.

At the time of the Domesday Book (1086) The accounting for Boston was still done under the heading of the manors of Drayton but the wealth of Drayton's holdings, as recorded in the Domesday Book, in Skirbeck makes the presence of a working port at Boston, which then lay in Skirbeck, near certain.

Before The Witham broke into it, The Haven's head was in the area which subsequently became the Market Place. The likely date for the switch of the Witham from Drayton to The Haven is 1014, the date recorded by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as one of unprecedented sea floods. There was another serious flood, later in the century but that came after 1086.

Subsequently, Boston and its Haven became busy with trade as wool was brought into the town for export, particularly to Flanders.

The modern port

Nowadays, the activity has moved below the old centre of the town. The fishing fleet moors below the railway bridge and trading vessels lie either in tidal berths beside the dock where there are facilities for handling scrap steel or in the dock itself where there are facilities for handling paper, steel coil and grain as well as timber and general cargo, including containers.
*gbmaprim|TF330431|map
* [http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm?lat=52.96839325298671&lon=-0.016469810268628312&scale=10000&zoom=50&type=0&icon=0&searchscope=dom&CFID=1719760&CFTOKEN=33728793&scriptfile=http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfm&latlontype=DMS Chart of the dock]
* [http://www.portofboston.co.uk/ commercial port information] There are plans afoot, to build a tidal barrage in the neighbourhood of the Black Sluice so as to reduce the incidence of flooding in the town and to manage boat access between the River Witham and the South Forty-foot drain.

Historical connection

In 1607, The Haven, between Boston and the sea (gbmaprim|TF361402|TF 361 402), was the scene of the first, abortive, attempt of the Scrooby Pilgrims, to leave England. Ultimately, in 1620, they became part of the original settlement of Plymouth, Massachusetts. See Pilgrim Fathers Memorial.

External links

* [http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/flood/floodwarning/PTID03?time=1110663000 Flood warning status]
* [http://terraserver.com/imagery/image_gx.asp?cpx=0.029232735188076154&cpy=52.94081661578836&res=15&provider_id=340&t=pan&dat= Terraserver aerial photograph] The North is to the top, Boston is to the West and the coast meets the edge of the picture at Freiston Shore. The mouth of the River Welland is to the south-west. The Haven joins Skirbeck to The Wash and is joined by the Hobhole Drain from the north.