Soak Dike - Counter Drain

Counter Drain

Counter drain is another term for much the same thing though in this case, it may have been designed also to deal with water overflowing the river bank. The counter drain would therefore need to be bigger than the soak dike. Counter drain has tended to supersede the other term, particularly in its use as a proper name.

The Counter Drain in Deeping Fen is a good example, where the land between it and the bank of the River Glen was designed as a wash. In other words, the land between the river and the outer bank of the counter drain was originally intended to act as a reservoir in the event of an overflow from the river.

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