Fishponds at Newland Hall Farm

1 S and E of Newland Hall Farm a depression, now mostly drained of water, probably marks the site of fish ponds; there is no evidence of it having been part of a moat. The depression is crossed by a causeway some 46m long where large stumps of recently-felled trees suggest an Avenue; and its grass banks are broken by ancient sandstone retaining walls of varying height. The occupier mentioned a bridge of some sort having been here until fairly recently.
3 The Birmingham motorway will destroy a fine series of fishponds.
4 The fishponds were filled in in 1960, when the farmer took advantage of the nearby construction of the M6 motorway to hire earthmoving equipment. A site visit revealed that traces of the ponds survive. To the E of the farm a bank about 0.5m high exists around a large hollow. W of the farm, along a hedgerow, a substantial bank over 1m high remains.
5 Photographed in 1980.