Fishpond in Water Spinney 600m SE of St Giles's Church Tattenhoe
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1007931
- Date first listed:
- 23-Dec-1991
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1007931
- Date first listed:
- 23-Dec-1991
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Milton Keynes (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Shenley Brook End
- National Grid Reference:
- SP 83263 33372
Reasons for Designation
Fishponds consist of one or more artificially constructed pools of slow moving fresh water for the purpose of managing stocks of various fresh water fish. They can have a variety of forms and the type of pond-bay fishpond occurring at Water Spinney, though common elsewhere in the country, is unusual in the environs of Milton Keynes. It also occurs in association with the earthwork remains of the deserted medieval village of Tattenhoe and as such, contributes to a detailed picture of the medieval economy and land use in this area of the Midlands.
Details
The monument includes a large medieval fishpond situated in Water Spinney, Tattenhoe. It consists of a substantial earthen dam which now forms the northern boundary of Water Spinney, standing up to 1.5m high and extending north-west to south-east for some 100m. The dam was designed to hold back the waters of a small stream and so create a rectangular fishpond up to 350m long and 100m wide, orientated south-west to north-east. The pond is probably contemporary with the remains of the deserted medieval village of Tattenhoe which formerly occupied much of the area to the north-west.
MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 19018
- Legacy System:
- RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Croft, R A, M.K. Arch Unit paper in Tattenhoe Water Spinney, Medieval Fishpond And Dam, (1985)
Legal
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 20:34:11.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.