River Witham, A15 Lindum Road bridge, Lincoln

The River Witham has a transport history dating from Roman times. It becomes tidal at Boston, a seaport for over 800 years, before entering The Wash. The Sleaford Navigation (Kyme Eau) connects with the River Witham at Chapel Hill. The Romans connected the river with Lindum Colonia, now known as Lincoln, and westwards to the River Trent via the Fossdyke Navigation in around 120AD.  Agricultural produce was a staple. High Bridge in Lincoln, known to boaters as the ‘Glory Hole’, was built about 1160 AD, and thus is reputedly the oldest bridge in the country with buildings still standing on it. A sluice was erected at Boston in 1500, later named the Grand Sluice, and rebuilt in 1766 with a lock alongside.  Further locks were built on the river in the following years.  The channel under High Bridge at Lincoln was deepened in 1795. The navigation was leased to the Great Northern Railway in 1846 and the Boston–Lincoln line built alongside if for much of the way.