(IVCP) Ivel Valley Histoyy

Geology and Mineral Extraction
The geology of the Ivel valley is dominated by the sand and gravel deposits which were laid over Gault and Oxford clays during the last Ice Age. The River Ivel has since meandered across the valley floor depositing alluvial sand and gravel. Towards the north of the valley, the land rises onto the east-west Greensand Ridge. For many centuries, man has utilised the various minerals of the valley, having a major and lasting impact upon the landscape.

Gravel Pits.

The landscape around Biggleswade and Sandy has evolved with the extraction of sand and gravel from open pits. As early as 1507 an area of land in Northill called 'Grawelpitts' was bequeathed for the repairing of highways in the Parish. Since the last war, gravel workings have greatly increased in size as quarrying and processing has become a major industry, meeting the growing demand for housing and road construction. Once the pits are 'quarried out' they are restored to a variety of uses including agriculture, fishing lakes and nature reserves.

Sandstone Quarries. The Romans were the first to recognise sandstone's value as a building material - there is evidence in Sandy of its use in house construction and sculpture. Quarrying has continued along the Greensand Ridge ever since. By medieval times, each community had its own sandpit or quarry where local people obtained building materials for houses, churches and bridges. Many of these structures still exist today, including bridges at Tempsford and Blunham and churches at Sutton and Henlow.

Brickworks. In medieval times, bricks and tiles were made from local clays in temporary on-site brick kilns for the construction and decoration of local buildings. These small brickworks were a common sight until the arrival of the railway in about 1850, when fewer, larger brickworks such as that at Arlesey, provided bricks for a much wider area.

Coprolites. In the mid 1800's, another mineral was found in the Ivel valley and utilised by man. 'Coprolites' are phosphatic nodules, including fossilised dinosaur dung, which were discovered laid over the Gault clays in around the villages of Arlesey, Shefford, Stotfold and Potton. With a yield of 300 tons/ acre, the coprolites were dug out in trenches, washed, ground at a local mill and sold for £3/ton as a natural fertiliser, some going to the French vineyards.


Ivel Valley History

Greensand Ridge The Greensand Ridge is a narrow band of sandstone which runs east-west from Cambridgeshire, through Bedfordshire into Buckinghamshire. The Ridge passes through our Project area between Everton and Northill and is most obvious to the east of Sandy. Around 125 million years ago, during the cretaceous period, this area of land was a shallow sea. Sand washed off the land, settled on the seabed and overtime, areas were compressed to form sandstone. Iron deposits in the stone give it a distinctive rust-brown colour, and in places the mineral glauconite gives a distinctive green coloration - the origin of the name 'Greensand'. Since the deposition of the sand, earth movements raised and tilted the beds of sand and sandstone to create the ridge we see today.

Geology and Mineral Extraction The geology of the Ivel valley is dominated by the sand and gravel deposits which were laid over Gault and Oxford clays during the last Ice Age. The River Ivel has since meandered across the valley floor depositing alluvial sand and gravel. Towards the north of the valley, the land rises onto the east-west Greensand Ridge. For many centuries, man has utilised the various minerals of the valley, having a major and lasting impact upon the landscape. Gravel Pits. The landscape around Biggleswade and Sandy has evolved with the extraction of sand and gravel from open pits. As early as 1507 an area of land in Northill called 'Grawelpitts' was bequeathed for the repairing of highways in the Parish. Since the last war, gravel workings have greatly increased in size as quarrying and processing has become a major industry, meeting the growing demand for housing and road construction. Once the pits are 'quarried out' they are restored to a variety of uses including agriculture, fishing lakes and nature reserves. Sandstone Quarries. The Romans were the first to recognise sandstone's value as a building material - there is evidence in Sandy of its use in house construction and sculpture. Quarrying has continued along the Greensand Ridge ever since. By medieval times, each community had its own sandpit or quarry where local people obtained building materials for houses, churches and bridges. Many of these structures still exist today, including bridges at Tempsford and Blunham and churches at Sutton and Henlow. Brickworks. In medieval times, bricks and tiles were made from local clays in temporary on-site brick kilns for the construction and decoration of local buildings. These small brickworks were a common sight until the arrival of the railway in about 1850, when fewer, larger brickworks such as that at Arlesey, provided bricks for a much wider area. Coprolites. In the mid 1800's, another mineral was found in the Ivel valley and utilised by man. 'Coprolites' are phosphatic nodules, including fossilised dinosaur dung, which were discovered laid over the Gault clays in around the villages of Arlesey, Shefford, Stotfold and Potton. With a yield of 300 tons/ acre, the coprolites were dug out in trenches, washed, ground at a local mill and sold for £3/ton as a natural fertiliser, some going to the French vineyards.

Water Mills Milling was one of the earliest industries to influence the River Ivel, with many records dating back to the Domesday Book of 1086. Mills were often built by Lords of the Manors who held a milling monopoly, with tenant farmers being obliged to bring their corn to be ground at the manorial mill. Water mills were sited on the main river, or on purpose cut mill streams where the main channel needed to be kept open. The flow of the river, maintained by the use of sluices, was sufficient to drive the water wheels which in turn, powered the mill stones, grinding the grain. Today, the only mill still in production along the River Ivel, is at Holme Mills, home of Jordan's 'Crunchy Bar'!

Ivel Navigation The River Ivel was made navigable between Tempsford and Biggleswade in 1758. Goods such as timber and coal were shipped from Newcastle to King's Lynn where they were transferred onto barges or 'lighters'. The lighters were then drawn by horses along the River Great Ouse and the River Ivel, with the goods being delivered to the many wharves on the way. The lighters returned to King's Lynn with flour, grain and vegetables. In 1823 the Navigation was extended from Biggleswade to Shefford. Many new structures were required along the river, including locks, tow paths, wharves and bridges. Where water mills obstructed the passage of the lighters, as at Blunham and Holme, by-pass channels were dug and bridges constructed. Until the 1850's business on the Navigation thrived as the primary means of transporting goods to and from the Ivel valley. But trade rapidly declined after the arrival of the railway and in 1876, the Navigation was closed by the 'Ivel Navigation Abandonment Act', with debts of £14,350.

Agriculture The fertile land of the Ivel valley has seen a long history of agricultural activity. The regular flooding of the river fertilised the land leading to harvest of corn and grain sufficient to support the local population and to export further afield. Many water mills used to grind flour were present on the River Ivel at the time of the Domesday Book of 1086. Many areas of grassland have been grazed by livestock for centuries, including Biggleswade Common which dates back to 1200AD. The various Parliamentary Enclosure Acts of the 18th and 19th centuries led to the division of land into regular field patterns separated by hedges, creating the patchwork landscape we see today. However, in the mid 1900's, many of these hedges were removed in the drive to increase field size as a result of increased mechanisation. Until recently, many people living in the Ivel valley made their living from market gardening, producing vegetables, (most famously the brussel sprout!), primarily for local consumption and London markets. However, with increased imports and commercial pressures, many of these market gardens are closing down. Historically, many crafts people also relied on the agricultural use of the land, especially basket makers, hurdle makers and thatchers who used the plentiful supply of willows to provide their materials. Today, the farmed landscape of the Ivel valley is characterised by grazed pasture running alongside the river, a few remaining market gardens and large arable fields.