Denver Sluice and the Fens

About trip

One of the Downham Market area’s most famous sons was George William Manby, born at Denver Hall. In February 1807, Manby was in Great Yarmouth when HMS Snipe was wrecked on a nearby sand bar. All attempts to reach it failed and, despite heroic efforts by local people, all hands were drowned. This traumatic experience affected Manby deeply, and he decided to find a way to secure a stricken ship to the shore. Manby devised a manner in which a line could be connected to the shot fired from a mortar on shore to the ship. Then, to use that line to get stranded seamen ashore, he produced a small boat with a number of casks fixed as buoyancy chambers, developing the principle still used as a safety measure in small boats today. His apparatus was so successful that Parliament awarded him £2,000. Manby turned to a career as an inventor, including making harpoons and harpoon guns for the whaling industry. Denver is famous for its sluices, as well as for Manby. The first sluice was built by Cornelius Vermuyden to limit the tidal flow up the Great Ouse. The Duke of Bedford, who funded the project, was delighted to see his lands become viable for farming, but not everyone shared his sentiments. The Fen Tigers were a group who did not want to see their way of life changed by drainage. They blew up the sluice to make their point. Sailors and traders also resented the sluice, because it blocked the direct route to Cambridge and forced them to take their coal via Earith. It was destroyed again in 1713, this time by the sea, and was rebuilt several times before Sir John Rennie designed the one existing today. It was remodelled and new steel gates added in 1928, 1963 and 1983. The Denver Sluice (1959) stand on a newer waterway called the Relief Channel. The sluice are closed to prevent sea water rushing up the Great Ouse and opened to allow fresh water to drain the Fens. Without these gates and the pumping stations around the Fens the whole area would revert to marsh and flood plain. Downham Market has a medieval church, indicating that it was here long before the Fens were drained. If you stand at the church you will see why: the settlement stands on a ridge above the surrounding marshes. Nevertheless, most of its important buildings date from much later. While you're there: Collectors World at Hermitage Hall represents the life work of Eric St John-Foti, who has amassed memorabilia relating to Barbara Cartland, Charles Dickens, the 1960s and Nelson. What to look out for: Denver Windmill (1835) used the wind to grind corn for more than 100 years until hit by lightning in 1941. It was restored by the Norfolk Windmills Trust and visitors can explore the complex. Where to eat and drink: The Castle Hotel and Crown Hotel are 17th-century coaching inns near the start of the walk which both serve bar meals and real ales. At Denver Sluice, the Jenyns Arms is on the banks of the river, while the Bell Inn is in Denver itself. The tea shop at Denver Windmill sells sandwiches, cakes and bread made from its own milled flour. For fish and chips, try the Downham Fryer found at Somerfield car park. Directions: Leave the car park and turn right. When you reach Somerfield on your left, cut through its car park to a road running parallel to Paradise Road; turn right. The road winds downhill, passing the White Hart pub, to a level crossing and the station. Continue past Heygates flour mill on your left, and cross Hythe Bridge over the Great Ouse Relief Channel. On the far side of the bridge cross a stile on your right. Walk along a track to a junction of paths by the river bank. Take the left-hand fork, and cross a second stile to reach the Fen Rivers Way along the east bank of the River Great Ouse. The banks have been raised to prevent flooding. After about 0.25 mile (400m) you reach a bridge. Cross carefully over the busy A1122 and continue through a pair of gates to return to the river bank. The path continues until you reach the lock at Salters Lode. Proceed until the Denver Sluice comes into sight. After exploring the sluice, turn left along the lane and cross the bridge over the Relief Channel. Keep to the lane as it winds through farmland and across a level crossing. After passing a huge field on your right, look for the sails of Denver Windmill up ahead. After visiting the mill, continue along the lane for 0.5 mile (800m), then turn left up Sandy Lane. The lane becomes a track, which you follow until it ends at the junction with the B1507. Turn left and, after a few paces, you reach the A1122. Cross this road carefully to reach London Road, signposted to the town centre. Use the pavement on the left-hand side, passing the police station on your right. Eventually you reach a miniroundabout with a large Tesco supermarket on the left. Keep straight ahead passing the town sign, then fork left past the war memorial and aim for the clock tower, walking along the High Street and through the market square to the Castle Hotel. Turn left at the hotel and walk down Paradise Road a few paces until you reach the car park.