December 24, 2025

Axholme before Vermuyden – Agriculture Before the Dutch Drainage

Life in Axholme before the drains was shaped by water. Islanders were not impoverished peasants—they were skilled pastoralists, fishers, and peat cutters. Cattle were the backbone of the economy, with thousands overwintered on the commons. Fishing rights were lucrative, and peat from the moors provided essential fuel. Villagers navigated the landscape by boat, using dykes and rivers to reach markets...
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December 18, 2025

Axholme Before Vermuyden: Life, Land and Lords in a Very Different Isle

Long before Cornelius Vermuyden arrived with his Dutch engineers and radical drainage plans, the Isle of Axholme was already a distinctive, self‑contained world. Its landscape, economy, and governance had evolved over centuries in response to the challenges—and opportunities—of living on a wetland “island” surrounded by rivers and meres. Far from being a barren backwater, Axholme supported a thriving pastoral economy,...
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June 27, 2025

Portrait of Sir Philibert Vernatti, 1st Baronet (1590 – 1643) [had been thought to be portrait of Cornelius Vermuyden], after restoration, dated 1626

The artwork, an oil on panel measuring 69 cm by 59.5 cm, is housed at the Valence House Museum in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham . It was previously thought to be a portrait of Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch engineer renowned for his work on land reclamation projects in England during the 17th century. However, recent research and...
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June 13, 2025

Vermuyden and the Dagenham Breach – 1623

In the 1200s, large embankments were constructed along the Thames to protect the low-lying land from flooding. These fertile marshes provided excellent grazing for cattle, but maintaining the river walls was both time-consuming and labour-intensive. By 1400, maintaining the river defences had become unsustainable. For the next century, large areas of marshland were abandoned. While still used for some grazing...
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