It was named after the fourth Earl of Bedford who contracted with the local Commission of Sewers to drain the Great Level of the Fens beginning in 1630.

It provided a steeper and shorter path for the waters of the Great Ouse, and was embanked to prevent them flooding the low ground of the South Fens.

[3] Despite their earlier reluctance to increase the area of land awarded for carrying out the work, the Earl would receive 95,000 acres (38,000 ha).

The result was the construction of the Bedford River, around 21 miles (34 km) long, and running in a straight line from a sluice near Earith to another near Salters Lode.

It was undertaken between 1630 and 1636, but although the work carried out may have been based on Vermuyden's plans, there is no firm evidence that he was involved as the supervising engineer.

The objectors destroyed dykes as they were erected, filled in channels that had been dug, and opened sluices to flood the land.

However, in 1637, the Commission of Sewers met at St Ives, and stated that the work outlined in the original agreement had been largely finished.

In this period, unrest among those who lived in the Fens, and felt that they no longer had access to what has previously been common land, did not abate.

There were disturbances in Whelpmore Fen, near Littleport, and in 1638, threats to break down Ely prison to free those who had been arrested were taken seriously enough that it was guarded during the night.

Activity on the Bedford Levels ceased when the English Civil War began in 1642, and people used the confusion of that period to destroy many of the drainage works.

This empowered William Russell, the fifth Earl of Bedford and some adventurers to drain the Great Level, without disrupting navigation on the rivers, and to make them into "winter ground".

"Winter ground" would be suitable for growing crops such as coleseed, rapeseed, corn, grain, hemp and flax, as well as providing pasture for cattle.

[14] Despite the act, the undertakers did not have a clear plan of what they would do to achieve the drainage, but were hoping that they could include the works of the Fourth Earl of Bedford.

[18] Attempts were made to create a formal organisation to ensure the works were maintained, and this resulted in the creation of the Bedford Level Corporation under the terms of the General Drainage Act 1663.

Edmund Welche, an engineer who worked with Vermuyden, then built a dam across the Old Bedford River just upstream of the junction.

Together with the sluice at Denver on the old course of the Great Ouse and that at Salters Lode on the outfall from the Middle Level, it prevented tides moving further upstream.

[29] This was replaced by two Vickers-Petters 2-stroke hot bulb diesel engines in 1923, each producing 180 hp (130 kW) and driving a 36-inch (91 cm) centrifugal pump manufactured by Gwynnes.

These were upgraded to Ruston and Hornsby 4-stroke diesel engines in 1948, again driving Gwynnes 36-inch (91 cm) pumps, developing 295 hp (220 kW).

[30] The Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners are now responsible for an area of 7,665 acres (3,102 ha), in which they maintain 25.5 miles (41 km) of waterways and operate three pumpings stations.

[34] It covers an area of 11,978 acres (4,847 ha) and the board manage 45 miles (72 km) of watercourses and operate five pumping stations.

[36] Cock Fen pumping station was built in 1975, after it became impossible to drain the area by gravity to the north or west.

It was designed by W. F. Pattison, the Mechanical Engineer of the Great Ouse Catchment Board, who died prior to the completion of the project.

A pumping station was seen as a cheaper option than raising the banks of the river for its entire length, and siting it at Welches Dam, between the outflow of the Manea and Welney District Drainage Commissioners and the Sutton and Mepal Internal Drainage Board, meant that the head against which the water had to be pumped was less than it would have been if it had been situated near the Old Bedford Sluice.

When the Upwell Internal Drainage Board wanted to discharge water into the lower Old Bedford River, the Great Ouse River Authority, successors to the Catchment Board, required them to pay for the installation of a sluice further upstream, so that Welches Dam pumping station would not be overwhelmed by the additional volumes of water.

Well Creek became impassable after commercial carrying ended on the Middle Levels in the 1940s, and Norfolk County Council wanted to fill it in to use part of the course for a road diversion in 1959.

[41] The use of Welches Dam Lock and the Old Bedford River was subsequently restricted to certain weekends by the Environment Agency, who now manage the waterway.

A new section of canal would run from the pumping station to a drainage ditch called Cranbrook Drain, which would be enlarged and join the Old Bedford River below Earith Sluice.

Upgrading of the final section of the Old Bedford River would be required, and again, a lock structure to bypass Earith Sluice would be needed.

Other reasons for the quality being less than good are low flow and physical modification of the channel, which is managed for flood protection.

Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and mercury compounds, none of which had previously been included in the assessment.