Bedford Level

Bedford level, a tract of fenny land in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton, and Lincoln, drained by the Earl of Bedford in 1649. By the (English) Bedford Level Act (15 Car. 2, c. 17), all conveyances, except leases for seven years, are required to be registered. The practice is to register the instrument at length. The registry does not include wills; but conveyances omitted to be registered are valid for all purposes, except for entitling the grantees to the privileges conferred by the act on the owners of lands within the Level. See also (English) Local Acts and 4 Geo. 4, c. 46.