History of the River Nene

Boats moored on the River Nene at Wansford

The Nene is a near-classic English river; flowing through Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, nibbling at Lincolnshire and brushing against Norfolk it skirts silently between bustling settlements, past mills and through meadows laid out upon timeless chocolate-box countryside as it meanders towards the east coast and the Wash. For much of the way its course is followed closely by the Nene Way long-distance footpath.

The navigable section extends for 91 miles and creates a link between the Middle Level Navigations, the Great Ouse Navigation and the canals of the Midlands and beyond. The river is tidal for 25 miles downstream of Dog-in-a-Doublet lock, itself five miles downstream of Peterborough. The tidal limit used to be Peterborough until the lock was built in the 1930s. An earlier cut to the Wash gave easier access into the Nene; the old line is now part of the Middle Level.

The navigation is accessed on the inland side via the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal though the section between Northampton and Peterborough is much older and underwent works during the reign of Queen Anne. History abounds; the remains of Fotheringhay Castle, birthplace of Richard III in 1452 and execution-chamber of Mary Queen of Scots in 1587, can still be seen. Elton Hall is said to have provided inspiration for Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

Peterborough dominates the route through Cambridgeshire and its cathedral is almost constantly visible across the flat fenland. Below Dog-in-a-Doublet Lock the river flows through Lincolnshire to Wisbech, a once-busy port given a Dutch flavour by its distinctive architecture, before entering the North Sea at the Wash between two towers known as The Lighthouses.

The Nene exercises an important drainage function and the locks form an integral part of its flood control system. Navigation should be planned in advance as special procedures apply, particularly with regard to lock usage and mooring, and bridge clearance heights may vary especially after heavy rainfall.