River Witham

In my work as a prehistorian, I had discovered ritual traditions in which weapons were disposed of in watery places and where islands had particular potency.

How did these ancient British traditions find their way into the story of King Arthur, written centuries later? The answer lies just north of the Fens in a region known as the Witham Valley.

In 1981, archaeologists digging here came across a remarkable discovery.

Just under the surface of the fen, a series of upright posts and horizontal timbers were uncovered.

Throughout the valley, there are these slightly higher sandbanks and ridges.

These were the remains of ancient causeways, which once formed part of this extraordinary landscape.

The Witham Valley stretches in a long, thin line up to the city of Lincoln.

Until these fens were drained in the 1780s, the Witham would have sprawled all over the low-lying land, weaving a network of islands and marshes.

Stephen was besieging Lincoln Castle early in 1141 when the two earls attacked him.

A great flood had overflowed the banks of the old Fosdyke and the little river Witham, and the city was protected by the fordless stream.

But the army of the disinherited lords, whom Stephen had driven from their lands to bestow them on his own men, under the bold leadership of Earl Robert, plunged into the stream and swam across.

Step into the world of power, loyalty, and luck.

Elsewhere, life went on.

It was a typical spring day as shards of light intermittently burst across the River Witham in Lincolnshire, just off the coast of the east of England.

Near the hamlet of Anton's Gout, two miles north of Boston, a dog walker was savouring the fresh air of these wide waters as several boats navigated Anton Gout's lock to explore the backwaters beyond.

The reed beds bristled, the trees swung softly, and everywhere there was peace and tranquility.

The skin was jagged and ripped, not surgically cut like in an operation, as the muscle was shredded as if it had been severed by something brutal.

And with the thigh bone sheared off near to the hip and the knee, those who found it didn't need the festering maggots, the buzzing of flies, or the fetid stench to tell them that this was the upper part of an adult male thigh.

But what was it doing here Had it been misplaced on its way to a medical incinerator? Was it a prank by a junior doctor? Or had a bad lad received his comeuppance, having crossed a big-time criminal? Two days later, and ten miles north, along the serene banks of the River Witham, running through the leafy village of Tattershall, another parcel was found floating.

Owing to the decomposition, it was hard to tell if it was from the same person but identification was made easier, as this package comprised of two hands and a head.

Stephen was besieging Lincoln Castle early in 1141 when the two earls attacked him.

A great flood had overflowed the banks of the old Fosdyke and the little river Witham, and the city was protected by the fordless stream.

But the army of the disinherited lords, whom Stephen had driven from their lands to bestow them on his own men, under the bold leadership of Earl Robert, plunged into the stream and swam across.

Hey, it's Bobby Bones.