Monument record 4758/0/1 - Medieval Fishponds

Fishponds and dam cut into the valley and hillside.

{1} Two fishponds, one with ridge and furrow in the bottom.

{3} The fishpond to the west is formed by large dam 2.5m high. The limits of the former pond are marked on the south side by a steep artificial scarp up to 2m high at the east end but fading out at the west end where it becomes a bank. The north side is marked by a scarp 1.25m high, above which the stream now flows in a narrow artificial channel cut into the hillside. The bottom of the pond is ploughed in ridge-and-furrow which appears to be later than the construction of the dam although it is not clear whether the ridges were formed after the pond had been abandoned or whether the ploughing was part of a medieval rotation of fish and arable farming. However the land immediately to the north has no ridge-and-furrow on it, and none was visible in 1947 when the area was still permanent pasture. It appears, therefore, that there was no obvious shortage of arable land in the area in medieval times and it is likely that the ridge-and-furrow in this pond is indeed part of a rotational system.

To the east is a further pond in a similar situation. The valley bottom is spanned by a dam 2.5m high with two later gaps in it through one of which the stream flows. At the N.E. End of the dam and cut back into the hillside is an original overflow channel. Upstream the edges of the pond are marked by low scarps.

{4} Aerial photo NCCAP: SP7345/1

<1> Brown A.E. (Editor), 1974, Archaeology In Northamptonshire 1973, 9/107 (checked) (Article). SNN9109.

<2> 1958, OS 6 INCH MAP, SP74NW (unchecked) (Map). SNN16271.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.115/SiteS 16 & 17(checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<4> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<5> HALL D.N., 1973, Paulerspury survey 1973, 3/67 (checked) (Article). SNN77045.

<6> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, Air Photographs (RAF CPE/UK/1926, 5239-40) (Photographs). SNN104890.

Record last edited

Feb 4 2025 8:08PM