the people of market deeping, deeping gate and deeping st james, together with other villages along the river presented a petition to elizabeth i, requesting that the fens should be drained, as the banks of the river and of the neighbouring glen were in a poor state of repair. they suggested that thomas lovell should undertake the work, which he did, at a cost of £12,000, for which he received of the land which was reclaimed as a result of the work. unrest in the early 1600s resulted in most of the works being destroyed, but in 1632 a group of adventurers led by the earl of bedford were granted permission to drain deeping fen, south fen and crowland. the work included making the welland deeper and wider from deeping st james to its outfall beyond spalding, and the construction of side drains. these included a drain running from pode hole to below spalding, which is still known as vernatt's drain, after one of the adventurers called sir philibert vernatti. although declared completed in 1637, efficient drainage would have to wait until the construction of pode hole pumping station in 1827.