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- The River Witham is one of the longest rivers in England, stretching over 80 miles from its source in the Lincolnshire Wolds to its mouth at The Wash. It is a vital waterway for the region, providing drinking water, power generation, transport and recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike.
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Archaeological and documentary evidence shows the importance of the Witham as a navigable river from the Iron Age onwards. From Roman times it was navigable to Lincoln, from where the Fossdyke was constructed to link it to the River Trent. The mouth of the river moved in 1014 following severe flooding, and Boston became important as a port.
The Witham valley from Lincoln to Boston was originally formed in glacial times by an earlier course of the River Trent, and forms a northern arm of the Fens draining to The Wash. The fertile marshland environment supported a rich pre-history, and from Roman times the river was an important navigation route to the North Sea.
Today, River Witham still plays an important role as a transport artery for goods ranging from grain to timber. It supplies drinking water to over 500,000 people and provides hydroelectric power through several dams along its course.
Just north of Barkston, and free of the Jurassic sandstone capping the hills to the north-west of Grantham, the Witham swings west into the Vale of Belvoir. Its route may be similar to that taken by the 'Ancaster River' during glacial times about 500,000 years ago.
River Witham, main river of Lincolnshire, England, with a total length of about 80 miles (130 km). It flows from the northeastern Midlands, first northward past Grantham to Lincoln, where it cuts through the Lincoln Edge (a limestone ridge) in a steep-sided gap, and then eastward and later.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The River Witham is about 86 miles long. After a first mile in Leicestershire, it runs entirely through Lincolnshire (not counting where it forms the Lincolnshire-Nottinghamshire border). According to Link the origin of its name is uncertain; though an Anglo-Saxon origin from ‘Wye’ (= river) and ‘Ham’ (= farm/settlement) has been ...
The Witham valley from Lincoln to Boston was originally formed in glacial times by an earlier course of the River Trent, and forms a northern arm of the Fens draining to The Wash. The fertile marshland environment supported a rich pre-history, and from Roman times the river was an important navigation route to the North Sea.
