Castle Fishponds, 300m E of Castle Farm

Description of this historic site

Castle Fishponds, a series of Medieval fishponds used for the breeding and storage of fish. Most of the 14 ponds are still visible as earthworks, and they are situated 200m south east of Kenilworth Castle.

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Notes about this historic site

1 A number of fishponds are shown in a field described as ‘Pondyards’.
2 Castle fishponds – a number of shallow, oblong, depressions situated on the floodplain of the Finham Brook. When visited a large proportion of these fishponds were inundated, but under normal conditions they are dry.
3 Fourteen possible ponds are marked. Some are partly filled in. In a few cases they survive only as waterfilled hollows.
4 1970: Fourteen approximately rectangular ponds in a low meadow alongside a stream 230m SE of ‘The Brays’ outworks of the castle. The condition of the monument is good, although part of the NW pond has been obliterated by a modern raised garden and the central W part hidden by dumped material which is now grassed over. The remaining pools are well-defined rectangular hollows which hold about 0.3m of water. 1980: Most of the area is covered in coarse tufted grass which is blurring the edges of the ponds. Most of the ponds still hold water.
7 Sketch plan.