Monument record 4340/0/1 - The Engine Pond (Possible Medieval/Post Medieval Pond)

Possible site of a medieval fishpond or watermill recorded within the Deserted Medieval settlement of Kelmarsh. The site survives as an earthern bank dam spanning the narrow River Ise valley south of the Clipston road. It survives to a height of 2 metres with a modern break through which the river now flows. It probably ponded back a considerable lake.

{1} Dam across the valley of the River Ise, south of the Clipston Road. A large earthen bank up to 2m high, spanning the narrow valley, with a modern break through which the river now flows. It presumably created a considerable lake and may have been the site of a medieval fishpond or watermill.

{2} Large pond with possible island shown in 1817, though gone by end of C19th.

{3} The Engine Pond at SP731792. Only its dam, 70m long, 2m high and 7-8m across survives. The River Ise flows through a gap in the centre where a fragment of one side of a hatch constructed from crude, probably late C18th or early C19th bricks, is exposed. This dam formerly ponded back a roughly triangular lake some 350 m long. The lake is not shown on the 1864 map nor on any later ones, but in 1835 it is depicted and the surrounding woodland is called Engine Spinney. No lake is marked on the 1739 plan. The lake is therefore apparently C18th in date. It may have been constructed to provide power for a watermill but this seems unlikely and the ‘Engine’ name implies some other form of working. No other explanation for the lake can be offered.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.112 Site 15 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1811-9, First Edition Ordnance Survey Surveyors Drawings, Sheet 261 (Map). SNN104902.

<3> Taylor C.C., 2000, Kelmarsh Estate Report, p.19 (unchecked) (Report). SNN101314.

<4> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire II (Central), 890727 (Archive). SNN112900.

Record last edited

Oct 23 2024 10:59AM