Agricultural History Review, Volume 63 Part 2 (2015), pp. 221–242

Wetland reclamation in early modern England is generally associated with the Fens and the large drainage projects initiated by James I in the 1620s. In these schemes, syndicates of landowners ventured their capital in risky projects in return for grants of land. Vast fortunes were made and huge losses incurred while local inhabitants struggled to protect their rights. These ‘adventures’ have dominated the drainage literature since H. C. Darby’s pioneering work on the Fenland in the 1940s, but little attention has been paid to the piecemeal reclamation of the coastal marshes of north and north-west Norfolk undertaken mostly by the local gentry throughout this period. Using the memoranda and farming notebooks kept by four generations of the Le Strange family of Hunstanton from 1605 to 1724, this article casts light on their drainage projects and assesses what distinguishes them from the more spectacular and familiar schemes elsewhere. 

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