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All the United Kingdom England Peterborough Holme Fen Posts
AO Edited

Holme Fen Posts

Once-buried markers show England’s lowest land point keeps getting lower.

Peterborough, England

Added By
E Capemarsh
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The lowest of the low.   Rodney Burton
The two posts were once completely buried.   JThomas
Entrance off the road   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
One of the two posts, photo, Sep 2022.   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
The senior post.   Rodney Burton
Some of the detail off one of the three information panels   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
The “newer” post.   Michael Trolove
Date markers on the newer post   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Two monolithic cast iron posts anomalously lurk in a birch forest. At nine feet below sea level, they mark the lowest land point in England. Once completely buried, these improvised geographical tools became gradually exposed as the peaty earth around them sank 13 feet.

The first Holme Fen Posts were commissioned by a landowner William Wells, who was concerned about the effects of his scheme to drain a local wetland, Whittlesey Mere, on the already uniform, low-lying landscape of the East of England. Similar projects elsewhere had resulted in sunken land and the need for costly water management solutions like the Denver Sluice. 

The posts were purposely driven through the soft, waterlogged peat into an underlying layer of clay to measure the rate the peat contracted due to marsh drainage. The idea was that as the peat sank, the posts, firmly rooted in the solid clay below, would gradually become exposed, revealing how rapidly the otherwise homogenous landscape was falling below the level of the all-too-close North Sea. Thirty years after the first post was sunk, the land had already dropped eight feet.

The older of the two posts dates to 1851 and replaced an earlier wooden post. Its ornate nature suggests it may have been sourced from ill-fated Crystal Palace in London. The later post dates to 1957 and like its older sibling was originally totally buried up to its top as a simple but effective way of measuring how the drying out of the land affects its height.

Related Tags

Intriguing Environs Forests Geographic Markers Ecosystems

Know Before You Go

The posts are located in the Holme Fen National Nature Reserve. After passing through Holme, follow the signpost onto Holme Lane and through a level crossing. The posts are clearly visible on the right-hand side across a small bridge.

Parking is available opposite the posts or along the lane.

Community Contributors

Added By

Capemarsh

Edited By

jooniur, Kerry Wolfe, Gavin

  • jooniur
  • Kerry Wolfe
  • Gavin

Published

March 15, 2018

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Sources
  • http://www.greatfen.org.uk/holme-fen-posts
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holme_Fen
Holme Fen Posts
Heights Drove Road
Ramsey Heights
Peterborough, England, PE26 2RS
United Kingdom
52.487889, -0.23254
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