Fishponds S and W of Merevale Abbey

Description of this historic site

A series of fishponds, used for breeding and storing fish, dating to the Medieval period. They lie 200m south of Abbey Farm.

Notes about this historic site

1 ‘Abbey Pool’ and ‘Black Pool’ were mentioned in 1550 as among the seven pools or ponds.
2 There are two fishponds in Double Pans Wood and three more to the NW of it. All are dry. There are also several associated water channels, some wet.
3 ‘Abbey Pool’ and ‘Black Pool’ are two extensive ponds SE of Abbey Farm.
4 These two pools date from the period of monastic occupation. They were created by damming the stream in the valley bottom. The water in ‘Black Pool’ is held behind a 14m wide dam to the west of the monastic church. It is connected via a sluice within this dam to ‘Abbey Pool’. The dam forming this pool has been modified greatly but does remain as an earthwork. Both pools are thought to have been enlarged and landscaped since the Dissolution. Water was carried away from ‘Abbey Pool’ by a large drainage channel (see WA 3954).

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