River Ancholme - History

History

In its natural post-glacial state, the river's valley was flat-bottomed, for it had formed the bed of the glacial Lake Ancholme, on an outwash delta as the ice retreated, and consequently fenny. As early as the 13th century local landowners paid subscriptions for work to be undertaken with the aim of facilitating navigation and land drainage.

In 1635, Owersby-based local landowner, Sir John Monson drained the Ancholme valley by cutting a straight new channel making two rivers at Brigg, which made the town less vulnerable to flooding. The draining of the Ancholme Level was a lesser project among the fenland "improvements" undertaken under contracts to patentees by the government of Charles I in the 1630s; "With the possible exception of the Ancholme Level the draining of the fens was executed and defended by a continuous and unscrupulous use of the power and authority of the royal government to manipulate local institutions and to overawe the local populace."

Boats have used the river for many centuries, and it was an important route for transporting cargo from the rural communities to the industrial towns. In the 19th century, a passenger packet boat ran from Brigg to South Ferriby and connected with a steamer to Hull. Many steamer vessels used the Ancholme up until the 1980s for transport of cargo to and from the factories along the river bank in Brigg. On Tuesday 4 July 2006 a local history group held a meeting called "The story of the Swift", which was about a barge which worked between Hull docks and the River Ancholme. The vessel was called the "Swift" and is today privately owned and used as a houseboat. The owner of the vessel plans to bring the "Swift" back to Brigg in the near future.

Just before the millennium there were plans to build a marina in the centre of the Brigg, similar to that found in Whitby. These plans however never went ahead.