Wisbech Stirs Wisbech Stirs The Wisbech Stirs was a divisive quarrel between English Roman Catholic clergy held prisoner in Wisbech Castle in Cambridgeshire, towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I of England. It set the regular clergy represented by the Society of Jesus, emerging as clerical leaders, who wished for a more ordered communal life in the prison, against some of the secular clergy. The arguments came to a head in 1594–5, and were then patched up, but distrust continued; the Stirs foreshadowed two generations of conflict, including the Archpriest Controversy, and the troubles over the Old Chapter, which likewise
Wisbech Canal in the river and the canal to equalise, at which point both sets of gates could be opened. The canal did not have its own water supply, but was refilled when the water level in the Nene at Wisbech was high enough. This was normally only at spring tides, and so the water level often ran low in the period before the next spring tide was due. In 1883, the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway opened, running from Wisbech to Outwell and following a route along the course of the canal. It was extended to Upwell in 1884. Initially, there was