THE

HISTORY OF WISBECH,

WITH AN

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE FENS.

Hinc tibi concretâ radice tenacius hæsit,
Et penitus totis inolevit Roma medullis;
Dilectæque urbis tenero conceptus ab ungue
Tecum crevit amor.

Claud. de Cons. Hon. VI. v. 77.

Then Rome's firm roots, upon thy bosom fix'd,
Increas'd in depth, and with the vitals mix'd;
The city, in thy infancy rever'd

To thee, as youth advanc'd, more dear appear'd.

Hawkins.

WISBECH:

PRINTED AND SOLD BY WILLIAM WATTS

SOLD ALSO BY

WHITTAKER, TREACHER, AND CO., LONDON.

MDCCCXXXIV.

PREFACE.

THERE is an active element in the mind of man, which is every day becoming more ostensibly developed, and a thirst for literary information is now pervading all classes of society. Man is no longer contented in simply contemplating with indifference the ordinary events that pass before him; but he carries his enquiries back to the earliest periods of history, and traces the progress of civilized society from its first infant state. It is to this increasing intelligence that we would appeal, and, next to the promulgation of the Holy Scriptures, we know not how the press can be better occupied, than by sending forth histories of countries and towns, emerging from a state of insignificance, by the unceasing industry of man.