The River Welland is a lowland river stretching approximately 65 miles (105 km) through the east of England, rising in the Hothorpe Hills near Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire at an elevation of 157 metres (515 ft) and flowing generally northeast through Market Harborough, Stamford, and Spalding before emptying into The Wash near Fosdyke in Lincolnshire. Draining a basin of roughly 1,580 km², the Welland passes through Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, and Lincolnshire, making it one of the significant Fenland rivers of eastern England. The lower river is a major waterway through the part of the Fens known as South Holland, where it runs between widely spaced embankments with washlands designed to accommodate floodwaters. The river has been extensively managed for flood defence, including dredging and the construction of the Coronation Channel near Spalding following the floods of 1947. The upper and middle reaches, particularly around Stamford, offer more intimate fishing with classic lowland river character, while the lower reaches take on the broad, flat character typical of Fenland drainage rivers.