Once, the lowland counties were home to 2,500 square miles of wetland known as the ‘Great Fen Basin’. Now a protected nature reserve, Wicken Fen is one of the last remaining examples of this unique environment. For hundreds of years, wind pumps were employed in great numbers, primarily to facilitate drainage and to assist in cultivation. For many generations, visitors were often warned not to stray too far into the fens because of the ‘lantern men’: strange lights that appeared to dance about after that could draw the unwary into drowning. Others have reported seeing a phantom Roman column disappear into the marshes; perhaps to or from the site of the lost Roman canal that is known to have once crossed these fens.