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Online Heritage Inventory

Broadmoor Ditch System

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of Broadmoor Ditch System
Click to see full image
Type of Resource: Landscape
Common Name: Broadmoor Ditch System
Address:
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Broadmoor
Construction Date: 1860
Current Owner:
Designated: No

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
This statement of significance applies to Richmond’s system of ditches, canals and sloughs, an extensive network of channels which drain the land, move water to the perimeter of Lulu and Sea Islands, and discharge it into the Fraser River. Ditches ranging from small residential channels to large canal systems are evident everywhere in Richmond, criss-crossing the islands and generally following the pattern of the major roadway system.

 Statement of Values
The heritage value of Richmond’s ditch system is contained its historical connection to the early history of the area, showing human settlement patterns and the efforts required to drain the land and make Richmond productive and prosperous.
Other heritage values include the form of its layout, a grid roughly following the block and range system laid out in the Trutch survey in the 1860s, and its place in stories and folklore. It also has importance as a landscape resource, visually as a defining feature of the Richmond landscape, and environmentally for groundwater recharge and as wildlife habitat.

 Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
· The continuity of form and method of construction of ditches within a range of scales, from small residential ditch to large canal.
· The occurrence of ditches in all areas of Richmond.
· The variety of human treatments of individual ditches, as seen in different types of crossings, culverted, open or covered ditches, sandbag or wooden headwalls, decorative elements, and a wide variety of vegetation types.
· The relationship between ditches, dykes, roads and pumpstations all of which function together as a system.
· The visual reminder Richmond’s place in and proximity to the Fraser River, and of the closeness of the groundwater.
· The function of ditches as a dividing feature between private and public space in residential front yards.
· The rural, informal character which ditches give to streets and roads.

 History
This statement of significance applies to Richmond’s system of ditches, canals and sloughs, an extensive network of channels which drain the land, move water to the perimeter of Lulu and Sea Islands, and discharge it into the Fraser River. Ditches ranging from small residential channels to large canal systems are evident everywhere in Richmond, criss-crossing the islands and generally following the pattern of the major roadway system.

 Architectural Significance
(No information available)

 Landscape Significance
Landscape Element
Drainage ditch and associated landscape.

 Design Attributes
Richmond’s residential ditches are generally small in scale, conform to the street grid, and are located between the front yard of the house and the road, outside the property line demarcation. As landscape features, they are similar, yet diverse, with a consistent width and depth. They also support diverse vegetation types depending upon the maintenance regime. Some ditches are lush with sedges, grasses and cattails, while others are trimmed closely.
There are a variety of treatments of these ditches: some have simple wooden crossings for vehicles and pedestrians, others are culverted with sandbag or wooden headwalls. Some ditches have decorative edges and other are covered up altogether with wooden boardwalks. Some have been filled in and planted over with grass. Each section of ditch reflects a different character, yet they all have some aspects in common.
Ditches in residential areas create a subtle demarcation between semi-private and public space. A person can stand on the house side of a ditch and feel a friendly, yet definite division between personal space and the public space of the street. Ditches define an unfinished street edge and give it a rural character, while the presence of a possible hazard calms traffic and makes pedestrians watch their step. All of these are characteristics that have continued over time.
Ditches also provide an outdoor laboratory by encouraging urban wildlife. They are landscapes of change and of manipulation, and provide a place to play and learn. Open ditches make the water cycle visible, as they collect rainwater and runoff, and allow evaporation and groundwater recharge.
Draining the land for agriculture and settlement has vastly changed the original water regimes which in turn has influenced the natural vegetation and ecosystems of Richmond, particularly the grasses and shrubs which were adapted to regular flooding. It is sometimes difficult to imagine how these narrow interventions in the landscape can be responsible for so much change to the natural environment of Richmond.

 Construction Method
Early ditches were dug by hand, with the material used to create low dykes. Later, a dredging machine was used, which could create large canals easily. Today, the latest machinery makes ditch excavation a relatively simple matter. Ditches have covers, are shored up with timber, or culverted and covered. A document from 1888 entitled “Drainage and Irrigation Ditches” contains tables showing calculations for the discharge of ditches based on width, depth, water depth, side slope and fall.

 Integrity
Alterations
Although the ditch system has evolved and changed as Richmond has grown, the system today still illustrates several aspects of historic landscape integrity. The location and setting of the ditches has not changed, although many have been culverted in the last few decades. Richmond’s ditches, in some contexts, express the feeling of an earlier period, and there is a direct link to the historic aspects of Richmond’s agricultural development.

 Original Location
Yes, in many cases.

 Condition
The ditches are, by necessity, generally well maintained.

 Lost
No

 Documentation
Evaluated By
Denise Cook, BLA, PBD (Public History).

 Date
Wednesday, January 3, 2001

 Documentation
Eric Gilfillan, Director of Operations, City of Richmond. Personal Communication.
Blair, Archie. Transcript of interview with Dellis Cleland, 1973. Oral History Transcripts Richmond Archives.
Blunden, Roy H. “The Urban Geology of Richmond: Interpreting a Delta Landscape”, 1975, UBC Library.
Jelliffe, David. “Childhood in the Early Days of Richmond, Richmond Nature Park Committee”, 1972.
Kidd, Thomas. “History of Lulu Island and Occasional Poems”, Wrigley Printing Company Ltd., 1927. University of British Columbia Special Collections.
Mohun, E. Drainage and Irrigation Ditches, n.p., 1888, University of British Columbia Special Collections.
Ross, Leslie J. “Richmond, Child of the Fraser”, Richmond Centennial Society, Richmond, B.C., 1979.
Southgate, Anthony. “Killer Ditches”, MFA thesis, University of British Columbia, 1977, Microfiche #32586.
New Lulu Island Slough Dyking District fonds. Flood Boxes 1900-1935, Richmond Archives.
“Dykes and Drainage”. Interpretive material, City of Richmond Parks Department, n.d.
“Canals, Sloughs and Ditches: Drainage and inland water habitat in Richmond”. City of Richmond Planning Department, October 1992.
Inventory Sheets by Foundation Group Designs, January 1989.
Dykes and Drainage Miscellaneous Files, Location #6619, Richmond Archives.
Dykes and Ditches Research File, Heritage Advisory Commission sous-fonds, Location #6156, file 1-3-4, Richmond Archives.
Location and Type of Plans Found: North, M.E.A. and Teversham, J.M. “The Vegetation of the Floodplain of the Fraser, Serpentine and Nikomekl Rivers, 1859 to 1890”, two maps, Geographical Information Centre, UBC.

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