Medieval fishponds 125m south of Park Farm, Thornbury

Summary

A group of eight fishponds 125m south of Park Farm, Thornbury.

Reasons for Designation

The Thornbury fishponds are scheduled for the following principal reasons:

Survival – the fishponds survive particularly well with many of the pools retaining water. They are an especially intact group retaining a range of features.
Period – fishponds are very representative of large scale animal husbandry during the medieval and post medieval period. As such they have considerable historic interest.
Potential - the likelihood of water-logged deposits means that the site has the potential to retain an especially good range of artefactual and environmental evidence.
Group Value – the historic interest of the fishponds is considerably enhanced by their association with Thornbury Castle (listed Grade I)

History

There was a market recorded at Thornbury by 1086 and a manor house, built by Hugh de Audley is mentioned in the early C14. By 1347 the manor had passed by marriage to Ralph, Earl of Stafford. Following a brief forfeiture at the execution for treason (following the Rebellion of 1483) of Henry Stafford, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, the manor was restored to the family and Edward (the son of Henry) and the 3rd Duke of Buckingham inherited it in 1498, making it his principal seat. Work began on rebuilding the existing manor house in 1507 with a licence to crenellate being granted in 1510. It is probably Buckingham’s aggrandisement of the house to create an impressive fortified residence which earned it its present name. To match his ambitious plans for the Castle, Buckingham also enclosed large areas of parkland including ‘Newe Parke’ located to the north, Marlwood and Eastwood.

The present fishponds lay within the ‘Newe Parke’ and are likely to date to this period of heavy investment in the estate. An Inventory of 1521 records a ‘coneygar’ (rabbit warren) and some 1500 head of deer within the three parks. Although no specific mention is made of the fishponds, the cost of constructing and maintaining them meant that in general only the wealthy individuals and institutions, such as monasteries, could afford them. Fishponds were constructed for the breeding, raising and storing of freshwater fish and represented a significant investment. It is likely therefore, that if not already in existence serving the manor, Buckingham would have constructed them along with the other measures he put in place to ensure a constant supply of fresh, and relatively prestigious, meat and fish to his household. Species of fish commonly raised from the later Middle Ages onwards include carp, tench, bream, pike and perch.

Buckingham was executed by Henry VIII following an investigation for treason in 1521 and the ownership of the estate subsequently passed out of the ownership of the Stafford family in 1637. In 1679, the area of the castle was sold and subsequently came to be known as Thornbury Park by 1775. The castle subsequently came into the ownership of the Howard family and is now (2010) a hotel. An estate map of 1716 shows the eight ponds in their present arrangement (albeit in a stylised manner on the plan). The date when they ceased to be managed as productive fish ponds is not known; typically this would have been in the C18, or even early C19.

Details

The fishponds at Thornbury comprise a series of eight interconnected pools of varying size and depth arranged in a tight group of three broadly rectangular ponds, aligned north-west to south-east, at right angles to either side of a rectangular central pool with an outlying pond to the south. The ponds, used for the breeding, raising and storing of freshwater fish, are fed by springs and a stream to the west and are interconnected by a series of leats and sluices to allow control of the water levels within them. The ponds, range in size from the smallest at c.8m by 6m, probably used for the breeding of fish, to the largest at c.29m by 6m, with individual ponds being used for different species or sizes of fish.

As well as the more obvious ponds, other features such as further leats and sluices, additional tanks, and buildings such as fish stores may survive in the immediate area. Although no longer visible, these will survive as buried deposits, adding to the archaeological potential of the site. The very water-logged nature of the site will mean that it has the potential to preserve very rare artefacts which might not normally survive burial such as remains of the original wooden sluice-gates and leats.

EXCLUSIONS: The modern post and wire fencing and notice boards are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

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