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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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Official 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

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.