The Fossdyke Canal
The canal connects Torksey and the River Trent to Lincoln’s Brayford, which was once a Roman port. It should be more correctly described as a ‘canalised river’, as it is fed by the River Till, which flows into it at Odder. Whilst there is little doubt that the canal is the oldest in the UK, there has been considerable discussion over the centuries as to when it was built. The name is Roman, ‘Foss’ being Latin for a ditch, dyke, or trench. Some historians consider it to be Roman, built around AD120. Evidence for this is the site of a Roman pottery kiln at Little London close to the canal. Additionally, a bronze statuette of the Roman God Mars (now in the British Museum) and a Roman sepulchral tablet were found in the canal during dredging in 1774. The first documentary evidence we have of the canal is in 1121, when King Henry I made the Bishop of Lincoln responsible for clearing it. A monk, Simeon of Durham, wrote – ‘ In the same year, King Henry cut a large canal from Torksey t