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Tag: “Hatfield Chase”

February 5, 2026

1626 Agreement between Charles I and Cornelius Vermuyden to Drain the Isle of Axholme and Hatfield Chase

The full agreement may be read here After the James I, commission of 1622, Vermuyden obviously investigated the feasibility of draining the Isle of Axholme and Hatfield Chase and declared himself prepared to undertake the drainage. However, in 1625, James I died and Charles I succeeded to the throne. On 24th May 1626, the second year of Charles’ reign, an...
Categories Contract with Charles I Comments: 0
January 29, 2026

The Royal Commission on Hatfield Chase in 1622

In 1622 James I appointed a royal commission to inquire into the condition and governance of Hatfield Chase, then a flooded and largely unproductive royal hunting ground. The commissioners were instructed to survey the Chase, examine the causes of its persistent inundation, and report on the feasibility and profitability of large‑scale drainage and improvement. The Commission described the Isle of...
Categories James I Comments: 0
January 17, 2026

Before Vermuyden: Drainage and River Management in the Isle of Axholme

Long before Cornelius Vermuyden arrived in the 1620s with his grand Dutch-engineered drainage scheme, the Isle of Axholme was already a landscape shaped by centuries of human effort to manage water. The Isle’s rivers, meres, and artificial channels were central to life, economy, and identity — and the people who lived here developed sophisticated systems of communal and manorial governance...
Categories Axholme before Vermuyden Comments: 0
December 30, 2025

Rights and Protections for Isle of Axholme Tenants – Summary of the Mowbray Charter of 1360.

The tenants of the Isle of Axholme petitioned their lord, Sir John Mowbray, to resolve disputes caused by his officials. In response, Mowbray granted a series of rights and protections to all tenants and residents of the Isle, to apply permanently to them and their heirs. Key points granted: The charter was sealed by both parties at Epworth on 1...
Categories Axholme before Vermuyden Comment: 1
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...
Categories Cornelius Vermuyden Comments: 0
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...
Categories Cornelius Vermuyden Comments: 0