The Baxters of Neslam Fen

Introduction

Neslam Fen, in Lincolnshire, lies between the Black Sluice, aka the South Forty Foot Drain in the East and the Car Dyke and the Horbling to Pointon road in the West, sandwiched twixt Billingborough to the North and Pointon to the South. Back in the Eighteenth Century it was a damp and desolate place, under water for most, if not all of the year. And, in Winter, taking the brunt of icy blasts straight out of the East. No doubt many “a Bittern bumbleth in this mire”, truly “the haunt of coot and hern.....” and mallard, widgeon, teal and many more: a Wildfowler’s paradise. But not everyone was content with their lands seemingly constantly under water. Sir Cornelius Vermuyden had been successful in the 1600s in draining the fens in and around Lincolnshire and may well have been the inspiration for three Gentlemen with drowned land in Neslam Fen to do something about it.


Extract from the Agreement of Three Gentlemen with Lands in Neslam

Articles of Agreement had made concluded and agreed upon by and between Joseph Burton of Spalding in the County of Lincoln gent of the first part The Reverend Robert Kelham of Billingborough in the said County Clerk of the second part and John Baxter of Helpringham in the said County Yeoman of the third part this nineteenth day of November Anno Dom 1729

Whereas the said Joseph Burton is owner of sixty three acres and a halfe of Low ground lying in the Parish of Sempringham in the said County in a place commonly called Neslam
Whereas also the said Robert Kelham is likewise owner of twenty six acres of like low ground in Neslam aforesaid
Whereas also the said John Baxter is likewise owner of thirty seven acres and an halfe of like low ground in Neslam aforesaid and whereas the said Grounds have for severall years last past been overflowed with water and rendered almost useless to the occupyers thereof In order therefore for the Drayning and meliorating the said Grounds The Partys aforesaid have agreed upon the following particulars.

That an engine or Mill shall be made and erected in Neslam aforesaid upon the Frith ffenn Drove to Drayn the said Grounds and that there shall be a Drayn from the Load to the North West corner of the said Robert kelhams Wright ffenn tenn foot wide and five feet deep.
And another Drayn leading Eastward from thereto to the said John Baxters grounds the same wideness and deepness it has always been on or before the first of June next.
That a Cart Bridge shall be likewise made and laid over the Gateshead at the South West corner of the said Robert Kelhams Wright ffenn between the Duke of Newcastles grounds and the said Robert Kelhams before the time aforesaid which said Cart Bridge must be Eleven foot one way and Nine feet another way.

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Extract from an Agreement between the Three Gentlemen aforesaid and John Adams, Carpenter of Boston

Articles of Agreement had made concluded and agreed upon by and between Joseph Burton of Billingborough in the County of Lincoln Gent the Reverend Robert Kelham of Billingborough aforesaid Clerk and John Baxter of Helpringham in the said County Yeoman of the one part and John Adams of Boston in the said County Carpenter of the other part this twenty fourth day of November one Thousand seven hundred & twenty nine.
The said John Adams hath agreed to and with the said Joseph Burton Robert Kelham and John Baxter to Erect and Build an Engine or Mill for casting Water after the fform of an Engine or Mill in great Hale ffen built some years ago by Order of Mr john Masson this difference only, viz one ffoot wider in the ffloor and half a ffoot wider in the top to be set upon Brikwork one ffoot above the soyl with sails proportionate the Water Wheel to be Oak the Ladles to be seven Inches and a half broad the Bask of the sails to be Oak and of a good and sufficient Length and strong oak whips and a good water way The Roof and Sides of the said Engine or Mill to be covered with good red harted slit fir Dale
Item The said John Adams hath also further agreed to and with the said Joseph Burton Robert Kelham and John Baxter to make a Tunnell or Bridge upon Sempringham Bank to run into Billingborough South Load twelve feet long and three ffoot wide in the inside and Four ffeet deep with a good Oak fframe and a Clow Door Also a Bridge at the South West Corner of the said Robert Kelhams Wright ffen Eleven ffoot long and Nine ffoot wide And to set up and lay down the said Engine Tunnel and Bridge attending to the particulars before mentioned on or before the ffirst of March next for the Price and Summ of ffifty four Pounds. ………

The Trouble with Maps

As well as Messrs Baxter and Burton and the Reverend Kelham, two major land owners in the area were Lord Fortescue and the Toller family. A 1759 map of “Lands called Neslam” “ Being the Estate of Revd Mr Toller show his lands contiguous with those of Lord Fortescue, Boaz Baxter, Thomas and Martin Burton. Boaz Baxter was the son of John Baxter and it seems that Thomas and Martin were Joseph Burton’s sons. The Reverend Mr Kelham’s land is not shown, as it “falls off the map”. What the map does show are two 8-Pipe Duck Decoys on the Toller land and although there is no sign of a Windmill, at the Eastern extremity of the land there is a field called Mill Yard. However, the siting of Mill Yard field does not line up with the description in the Agreement. A later map purporting to show the owners of the lands in 1766 shows the owners as before, but as it covers a far greater area, includes the land of Robert Kelham. The map moves the two Duck Decoys onto the lands of Thomas and Martin Burton and also shows two more, one apiece for Boaz Baxter and Robert Kelham. It also shows a windmill on the drove which is now the Neslam Road. It shows it to be some 6 chains (132 yards) further Westward, putting it on Lord Fortescue’s land. In his 1886 book on Duck Decoys, Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey mentions four Duck Decoys and naming one as the Millyard Farm Decoy. The 1904 Edition of the Ordnance Survey large scale map shows no sign of a windmill, but does show the outline of two fields which look like the remains of two of the Duck Decoys. Coming up to date, the OS Explorer 2 ½ inch to the mile still does not show a windmill, but does show a building on the possible site from the 1766 map. It also shows a bridge over the Billingborough Lode, at what seems to be the right place.

What did the Mill look like?

We don’t have much to go on, other than its wooden construction seems to rule out a Tower Mill as these, in the main, used brick, or stonework in their construction. That leaves either a Post Mill, or a Smock Mill. The figure on the 1766 map is very small, but does look like a Smock Mill. Post Mills were not overly popular for English Drainage Mills, so my best bet is a Smock Mill set on a brick foundation one foot high. The main structure was, perhaps Oak, but the outside and roof, or cap covered in boards laid horizontally. The material for the boards is given as “good red harted slit fir Dale” . Dale, or as it is more commonly called, Deal comes in three sorts, White , Yellow and Red. The Red comes from the Scots Fir, or Pine. When looking at most people’s idea of a windmill the individual arms are attached to a central boss, called the Poll End, or Canister. The really heavy beams at the base of the arms are called the Stocks and the somewhat lighter but obvious main beam of the sail, used to connect the Sail to the Stock is called the Whip. Lincolnshire Mills, in the main, used a different technique whereby the canister is replaced by mitred joints and the whole is fitted to a cross on the end of the Windshaft. The shaft, or combined stock and whip, is called a Back. As the Fantail Rotor was not invented until 1745, the structure, body, or cap would have been turned into the wind by pushing the Tailpole attached to the rear of the Mill. Again it is uncertain whether the Water Wheel with its Scoops was fitted inside the Mill, or on the outside. I’d go for an external Wheel, but there would have to be sufficient clearance such that the Sails did not interfere with the Water Wheel and vice versa. The main Drain was Ten foot wide and Five foot deep, which means the Water Wheel, if its central shaft was fitted at about the height of the brickwork, would have been about Eleven feet in diameter, as a minimum. The Seven and a half inch wide scoops would have lifted the water to a higher level, although it is not clear where the Clow door, or Sluice gate was to be sited. It was obviously closely linked to the bridge, or tunnel and was meant to stop water from the Billingborough South Load from running back and flooding the fields.